These WWII Facts Will Give You a Different Perspective

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 9/22/20 | K Eppes

[w1n1]

Historian John Keegan words on World War II, was "the largest single event in human history," a conflict "fought across six of the world's seven continents and all its oceans. It killed 50 million human beings, left hundreds of millions of others wounded in mind or body and materially devastated much of the heartland of civilization."
Much have been analyzed and explored from numerous angles in history books, films and art.
Common figures and events are familiar to the average high school student who is buried in the history books. This era is filled with complex and endless fascinating stories that packs plenty of overlooked or under-appreciated stories, characters, and facts for the rest of us. Here are some different perspectives to view.

1. Believe it or not, Koreans were among the first German soldiers captured at Normandy. They were first forced to fight for the Japanese and then the Soviets and finally by the Germans.

2. Another horrific face when the Russians moved through open fields they would force convicts to walk ahead of the troops and tanks. This often cost the convicts their lives but it would spare the Russian army and allow them to continue to advance.

3. James Hill managed a feat that few thought imagine possible when he captured two tanks with nothing but a revolver. He attempted to capture a third tank with his trusty revolver but was wounded.

4. Bomber crews were signed on to do 25 mission tours but what most didn’t know was that from 1942-1943 air losses were so common that it became statistically impossible for a bomber to complete a full tour.

5. The massive Japanese submarine I-401 was the size of an aircraft carrier and even had three folded up bombers secured inside the sub. The mission of the submarine was to bomb the Panama Canal but instead the behemoth of a sub ended up at the bottom of the ocean. Read the rest of more World War 2 facts.

[2banana]

The US Airforce didn’t exist in WWII.

“During World War 2 you were more likely to die as a member of the U.S. Air Force than as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps...”

[Chuckster]

later

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

#1 The B17 really sucked. The Mosquito could have done a much better job. But that’s war business.

#2 The Japanese’s fate was sealed after Coral Sea and Midway. They didn’t have a ghosts chance in hell. They were just stubborn little bastards.

[left that other site]

The US Airforce didn’t exist in WWII.

Yep. You are right.

Makes you wonder about the other "facts".

[OKSooner]

Par for the course.

[Mastador1]

Yup, my FIL was a bomber pilot trainer, he was very either very good or lucky to have served stateside, in the Army Air Corps.

United States Army Air Corps

The United States Army Air Corps was the aerial warfare

service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. Wikipedia

Founded: July 2, 1926

The U.S. Air Force Role: Aerial warfare Disbanded: 18 September 1947

[GOP Poet]

Interesting. To think too that just the other day Joe Biden said “200 million US citizens died from Covid-19” and that was just during his talk. lol

[real saxophonist]

‘Am Shooting Journal’ is a fact-free blog.

[familyop]

The Army Air Corps did. I met a former crew member (a rancher nearly 20 years ago) and enjoyed listening to his stories about the experience. Very interesting.

[lodi90]

There where hardly any heavy bomber ETO missions in 1942. By 1944 they upped the mission tour to 35 because 25 was doable.

[PIF]

4. Bomber crews were signed on to do 25 mission tours but what most didn’t know was that from 1942-1943 air losses were so common that it became statistically impossible for a bomber to complete a full tour

—
Not true!!

Stepdad (USAAF, languages: English, French, Italian, Lithuanian) as Bombardier completed several full missions including Ploesti raids. B-24, 343 Bomb Squadron , 98th Bomb Group, Pyramidiers with Colonel John ‘Killer’ Kane, assigned 9th, 12th and 15th AF. 43 combat missions, 247 combat hours. Many medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Shot down twice - once repatriated by Serb Resistance, another time rescued after floating on raft in the Med for a week. Sole survivor both times.

Buried Arlington, full honors:
At burial service: one chaplain, one personal representative, one Arlington Lady, one Arlington Lady escort, one Observer, one Guard at attention on site, eight Flag bearers (six flag bearers, or head bearer, and one Air Force honor bearer), 21 marching band soldiers, 1 caisson pulled by 7 horses, 4 horsemen, 8 body bearers,and one bugler to play Taps.

Over 70,000 USAAF were killed in WWII.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Their was a United States Army Air Force, under five-star Hap Arnold. The Army Air Corps was redesigned the Army Air Force in 1942.

[pfflier]

A Downed Japanese Pilot Was Welcomed onto U.S. Territory Japanese pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi, among those who bombed Pearl Harbor, crash-landed onto Hawaii. The locals, unaware that the Japanese had just set off hostilities with their country, welcomed the enemy fighter graciously, offering him breakfast and even throwing him a luau—with Nishikaichi grabbing a guitar and treating the crowd to a traditional Japanese song.

There is so much more to this story. The pilot then tried to take over the island and held it's inhabitants at gunpoint with the help of collaborators that were ethnic Japanese but living on the island.

This is one of the events that convince president Roosevelt to issue the executive order interning the Japanese.

Here's the details:

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor-japanese-pilot-crash-landed-hawaiian-island-tried-occupy.html

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The Army Air Corps was redesignated the Army Air Force in March 1942.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

#2 The Japanese’s fate was sealed after Coral Sea and Midway.

The Japanese recognized prior to the war that the U.S. could easily out produce them. They were counting on U.S. public apathy and lack of taste for the war. After Pearl Harbor, U.S. public opinion shifted drastically. Yamamoto, who had attended Harvard and served as Naval attache in Washington told the military leaders not to start a war unless they were prepared to march down Pennsylvania Avenue and dictate surrender terms in the White House.

By 1945, Japanese public opinion had shifted and the militarists who brought disaster on their country were held in contempt and hatred by the public.

[pfflier]

Bomber crews were signed on to do 25 mission tours but what most didn’t know was that from 1942-1943 air losses were so common that it became statistically impossible for a bomber to complete a full tour.

This is absolute BS. The crews quickly figured out that they couldn't statistically survive 25 missions. The morale was plummeting.

That is one reason why Jimmy Doolittle was sent to take over the 8th Air Force from Eaker.

Doolittle changed tactics and the air war changed in favor of the bomber crews to the point where the mission count for rotation was upped to 30 then 35 missions by the end of the war

[Professional]

I suppose the Japanese counted on Germany doing its part to deal with the USA.

Here’s a fact many don’t know.

The turning point of the US stock market, the point where the market would go higher and higher after the depression?

The euphoria of the Doolittle raid....

[Don Corleone]

Fighter cover to and from the targets didn’t hurt.

[pfflier]

True. The arrival of the P-51 provided fighter escort all the way in and out on the bomber raids.

Doolittle also released the escorts from just staying with the bomber formations to seeking out the Germans before they got close to the bomber formations. The Luftwaffe was decimated when that tactic was employed...and the mission count went to 30.

Boy, was my dad pissed over that. He was at 24 and they added 6.