89 obscure facts from the depths of WWII history. Even Mike might not know these.
The famous 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III involved three tunnels (Tom, Dick, and Harry). Few people know that Dick was never found by the Germans and remained hidden. After the war, it was rediscovered but collapsed. What is even less known: the…
Japan launched over 9,000 Fu-Go balloon bombs across the Pacific using jet streams — the first intercontinental weapons delivery system in history. These paper-mache balloons carried explosive payloads and traveled 6,000 miles in 3-5 days, reaching a…
The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA) — the 'Monuments Men' — consisted of 345 men from 13 nations who recovered and returned more than 5 million artworks stolen by the Nazis. They found caches in salt mines, castles, and caves across…
The Allies created two massive artificial harbors (Mulberry A at Omaha Beach, Mulberry B at Arromanches) by towing 115 massive concrete caissons — each the size of a small building — across the English Channel. Each caisson weighed up to 6,000 tons. …
The very first combat action of D-Day occurred at 00:16 on 6 June — even before the naval bombardment — when six Horsa gliders carried 181 men of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, commanded by 26-year-old Major John Howard, to captu…
Over 2.5 million Indian soldiers served in WWII — the largest volunteer force in history. The Sikh Regiment was particularly decorated. At the Battle of Monte Cassino, Sikh soldiers led three separate charges up the mountain against the German positi…
Most people confuse the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943) with the Warsaw Uprising (1944). They were entirely separate events. The Warsaw Uprising of 1944 was led by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) who rose up expecting Soviet support. Stalin delibe…
A Syrian brown bear named Wojtek was enlisted as a Private in the 22nd Polish Artillery Supply Company. He carried 25-pound artillery shells under fire at Monte Cassino. He drank beer, smoked cigarettes, and became the regiments official insignia. Af…
Audie Murphy was rejected by every branch including the Marines for being 5 foot 5 and 112 pounds. He was accepted by the infantry and became the most decorated American soldier of WWII. He received the Medal of Honor at Holtzwihr, France on January …
Conscientious objector Desmond Doss served as a medic with the 77th Infantry Division and single-handedly lowered 75 wounded men from the Maeda Escarpment (Hacksaw Ridge) on Okinawa — one by one — while under heavy Japanese fire. He used a rope-and-p…
General Douglas MacArthur was a 33rd-degree Scottish Rite Freemason and served as Grand Master of the Philippines. During the occupation of Japan after WWII, several Japanese military officers who were Freemasons before the war (the Japanese military…
Hermann Goering's personal art collection contained over 1,500 works stolen from Jewish collectors across Europe, valued at over $200 million at the time. The collection was so vast that it required a special train to transport it to his country esta…