Interesting Facts from WW11

[Arizona Slim]

>
> Thought you would find some of this interesting.


>> > > 1. The first German serviceman killed in WW II was killed by the
>> > > Japanese (China, 1937); the first American serviceman killed was
>> > > killed by the Russians (Finland 1940); the highest ranking
>> > > American killed was Lt Gen Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps.
>> > >
>> > > 2. The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham, USN.
>> > > He was wounded and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying about
>> > > his age. His benefits were later restored by act of Congress.
>> > >
>> > > 3. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the top US Navy command was
>> > > called CINCUS (pronounced 'sink us'); the shoulder patch of the
>> > > US Army's 45th Infantry division was the swastika; Hitler's
>> > > private train was named 'Amerika.' All three were soon changed for PR purposes.
>> > >
>> > > 4. More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine
>> > > Corps. While completing the required 30 missions, an airman's
>> > > chance of being killed was 71%.
>> > >
>> > > 5. Generally speaking, there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot.
>> > > You were either an ace or a target. For instance, Japanese Ace
>> > > Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a
>> > > passenger on a cargo plane.
>> > >
>> > > 6. It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th
>> > > round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. This was a big
>> > > mistake. Tracers had different ballistics so (at long range) if
>> > > your tracers were hitting the target, 80% of your rounds were
>> > > missing. Worse yet, tracers instantly told your enemy he was
>> > > under fire and from which direction. Worst of all was the
>> > > practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. This was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy.
>> > > Units that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly
>> > > double and their loss rate go down.
>> > >
>> > > 7. When allied armies reached the Rhine, the first thing men did
>> > > was pee in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest private
>> > > to Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and Gen. Patton
>> > > (who had himself photographed in the act).
>> > >
>> > > 8. German Me-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York City,
>> > > but they decided it wasn't worth the effort.
>> > >
>> > > 9. German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.
>> > >
>> > > 10. Among the first 'Germans' captured at Normandy were several Koreans.
>> > > They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army until they
>> > > were captured by the Russians and forced to fight for the Russian
>> > > Army until they were captured by the Germans and forced to fight
>> > > for the German Army until they were captured by the US Army.
>> > >
>> > > 11. Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 United States
>> > > and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska, in the Aleutian
>> > > Islands. 21 troops were killed in the assault on the island ...
>> > > It could have been worse if there had actually been any Japanese on the island.
>> > >
>> > > 12. The last marine killed in WW2 was killed by a can of spam.
>> > > He was on the ground as a POW in Japan when rescue flights
>> > > dropping food and supplies came over, the package came apart in
>> > > the air, and a stray can of spam hit him and killed him.

Lon
>> > >