Odd WW2 factoids.

[Zooey72]

Thought this might be a fun thread.  I am sure we are all WW2 geeks and have some cool trivia.  Here are a couple of mine to start it off.

The term “Jerryrigging” came about in N. Africa because the Germans never really left the battlefield.  While the Brits were resting “Jerry” would come out and collect all of the equipment that was left on the battlefield, patch it together and attack them with it the next day.  So seeing something thrown together with spare parts became “Jerryrigging”.  I may be wrong, but I remember reading somewhere that Rommel used a captured Sherman tank as his command vehicle for a while.

The 2nd largest butcher of humans, (Stalin wins) Hitler was a vegitarian.

The Sturmgewehr (the first operational assault riffle) was rejected by Hitler for production.  Hitler thought it was a waste of resources (coming from a man who wanted to make the Mause and Ratte tank).  The smarter people in the Reich made it anyway, they just classified it as an uzi.  In late 1944 Hitler had a meeting in the Wolf’s lair and asked his Generals “what do you need”, and one of them said he wanted more Sturmgewhrs.  Hitler had a WTF! moment, but than came around and started making more of them.  On a personal note, I have a picture of me holding one.  Much heavier than an M16.  The weapon’s owner said it cost him 15k, holy crap!  Strange holding a weapon that I feel would of had us all speaking German right now if it was mass produced in 1939.

[Gargantua]

@Zooey72:

Thought this might be a fun thread.  I am sure we are all WW2 geeks and have some cool trivia.  Here are a couple of mine to start it off.

The term “Jerryrigging” came about in N. Africa because the Germans never really left the battlefield.  While the Brits were resting “Jerry” would come out and collect all of the equipment that was left on the battlefield, patch it together and attack them with it the next day.  So seeing something thrown together with spare parts became “Jerryrigging”.  I may be wrong, but I remember reading somewhere that Rommel used a captured Sherman tank as his command vehicle for a while.

The 2nd largest butcher of humans, (Stalin wins) Hitler was a vegitarian.

The Sturmgewehr (the first operational assault riffle) was rejected by Hitler for production.  Hitler thought it was a waste of resources (coming from a man who wanted to make the Mause and Ratte tank).  The smarter people in the Reich made it anyway, they just classified it as an uzi.  In late 1944 Hitler had a meeting in the Wolf’s lair and asked his Generals “what do you need”, and one of them said he wanted more Sturmgewhrs.  Hitler had a WTF! moment, but than came around and started making more of them.  On a personal note, I have a picture of me holding one.  Much heavier than an M16.  The weapon’s owner said it cost him 15k, holy crap!  Strange holding a weapon that I feel would of had us all speaking German right now if it was mass produced in 1939.

It was a captured British vehicle.  The AEC Armored command vehicle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEC_Armoured_Command_Vehicle

[Gargantua]

The last American bomber shot down in WW2, was shot-down off the coast of Japan.

By no less, than an Italian submarine and crew!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_submarine_Luigi_Torelli

[Witt]

Thanks Garg. I liked that one.
Flew under all 3 flags!

[Tall Paul]

Guys,

––As it’s been quite a while since I’ve read much on the desert war so feel free to correct me if necessary. But I seem to remember Rommel used a captured British vehicle, and If I remember correctly it was called a “Mastodon”.

----And I remember reading a story of a pilot in the pacific who had confirmed kill markings of German, French, American, and Japanese a/c on his plane. He started out as an American in the R.A.F. “Eagle Squadron” where he got the German, then became a U.S. Army Air Force pilot that flew off of an aircraft carrier and shot down a French a/c in the “Operation Torch” landings, then went to the Pacific and got the Japanese and American kills. The American was an accident but ended up saving the lives of the C-47 crew and passengers as they were lost and headed to the wrong island. The kill was “officially” credited to him but “hushed-up” as far as publicity. He got some strange looks every time he landed his plane at an allied airbase!

––There are several more examples like the above when countries fought against each other, then with each other.

----Also, for some really crazy experiences you should read about the Mexican Air Force’s contribution that flew P-47’s in combat. /it should be easy to “Google” on the net.

“Tall Paul”

[suprise attack]

Abwehr
German name for the secret service branch of the German Navy. Headed by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, it was divided into 3 subsections: espionage, sabotage, and counterespionage. Hitler and the high command depended on the Abwehr for world-wide intelligence and counterintelligence support. The insignia for the organization consisted of 3 brass monkeys–- hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil

Operation Golden Eye
Plan of Prime Minister Winston Churchill to seal off Gibraltar in the event that Spain entered the war on the side of the Axis. Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, was involved in this operation as a member of British Naval Intelligence. He later gave the name “Golden Eye” to his estate in Jamaica  where he wrote his James Bond novels

[Gargantua]

@suprise:

Abwehr
German name for the secret service branch of the German Navy. Headed by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, it was divided into 3 subsections: espionage, sabotage, and counterespionage. Hitler and the high command depended on the Abwehr for world-wide intelligence and counterintelligence support. The insignia for the organization consisted of 3 brass monkeys–- hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil

Operation Golden Eye
Plan of Prime Minister Winston Churchill to seal off Gibraltar in the event that Spain entered the war on the side of the Axis. Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, was involved in this operation as a member of British Naval Intelligence. He later gave the name “Golden Eye” to his estate in Jamaica  where he wrote his James Bond novels

Canaris was a traitor!

[aequitas-et-veritas]

@Gargantua:

@suprise:

Abwehr
German name for the secret service branch of the German Navy. Headed by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, it was divided into 3 subsections: espionage, sabotage, and counterespionage. Hitler and the high command depended on the Abwehr for world-wide intelligence and counterintelligence support. The insignia for the organization consisted of 3 brass monkeys–- hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil

Operation Golden Eye
Plan of Prime Minister Winston Churchill to seal off Gibraltar in the event that Spain entered the war on the side of the Axis. Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, was involved in this operation as a member of British Naval Intelligence. He later gave the name “Golden Eye” to his estate in Jamaica�  where he wrote his James Bond novels

Canaris was a traitor!

what makes you think that?…lol  :roll: :roll: 8-)

[CWO Marc]

On November 14, 1943, while travelling on the battleship USS Iowa to the Tehran Conference, President Roosevelt, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and several high-ranking military officers narrowly escaped being torpedoed by the destroyer USS William D. Porter.  The torpedo was fired by error during a drill which (ironically enough) was intended to impress the Presidential party, which was gathered on the Iowa’s deck at the time.  The Iowa’s captain turned sharply to avoid the incoming torpedo, and the battleship’s gunners opened fire at it, finally detonating it some 3,000 yards away.  The entire crew of the destroyer was subsequently placed under arrest, something which had never before happened in the history of the US Navy.

[CWO Marc]

One of Hollywood’s contributions to the war effort was to allow at least one of its soundstages to be borrowed for the construction of a huge 3D scale model of the Tokyo area, which was used by Air Force planners to work out in advance the details of bombing runs over the city.  A photograph of the model – whose size can be discerned by comparing it with the two men who are standing in the lower right corner of the picture – is shown on page 312 of this article:

http://www.academia.edu/1581424/A_Cartographic_Fade_to_Black_Mapping_the_Destruction_of_Urban_Japan

[Gargantua]

Great comments Marc!

Lets be sure that no one forgets the Iceberg Aircraft Carrier…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habakkuk

[Tall Paul]

Guys,

@CWO:

One of Hollywood’s contributions to the war effort was to allow at least one of its soundstages to be borrowed for the
construction of a huge 3D scale model of the Tokyo area, which was used by Air Force planners to work out in advance the details of bombing runs over the city.� A photograph of the model – whose size can be discerned by comparing it with the two men who are standing in the lower right corner of the picture – is shown on page 312 of this article:

http://www.academia.edu/1581424/A_Cartographic_Fade_to_Black_Mapping_the_Destruction_of_Urban_Japan

––This would make a fantastic tactical level A&A game for 50+ players! We could call it “Downfall,….the Invasion of Japan” or “Target Tokyo”. Maybe the “Coach” from HBG investigate the whereabouts of this map,….(grin).

“Tall Paul”

[Tall Paul]

Guys,

––As I recall German Intelligence had learned of the up-coming Casa Blanca conference of world leaders. But they mistakenly assumed that the conference would take place at the White House in Washington, D.C. instead of Casa Blanca in Africa,…because White House is the direct translation of Casa Blanca.
––They really blew that opportunity!

“Tall Paul”

[CWO Marc]

@Tall:

This would make a fantastic tactical level A&A game for 50+ players! We could call it “Downfall,….the Invasion of Japan” or “Target Tokyo”. Maybe the “Coach” from HBG investigate the whereabouts of this map,….(grin).

A very neat gaming idea.  The model was built somewhere in the greater Los Angeles area, but sadly it was no doubt dismantled after the war.  But yes, it would have been very cool to play a tactical game on this model.

[CWO Marc]

In addition to developing the two well-known A-bomb designs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – the uranium-based Little Boy design, which used a gun-type detonation mechanism, and the plutonium-based Fat Man design, which used an implosion-type detonation mechanism – Manhattan Project scientists also experimented with a third bomb design called Thin Man.  This design attempted to combine the use of plutonium (which was easier to manufacture in large quanties than uranium) as the fissile material with the use of a gun-type detonation mechanism (which was mechanically simpler than the implosion method).  Several Thin Man bomb casings were manufactured, but their great length-to-width ratio was aerodynamically unstable.  More crucially, a gun-type detonation mechanism proved unsuitable for use with plutonium because plutonium has a higher spontaneous fission rate than uranium: when the plutonium slug was fired into the plutonium mass, the fissile material would not have time to reach criticality before detonating, thus producing a “fizzle” rather than a nuclear explosion.  The only way to make the Thin Man design work would have been to build a bomb casing long enough to accelerate the plutonium slug to a high enough speed to overcome the predetonation problem; such a casing would have been too long to be carried by any bomber in the US inventory.  The Thin Man design was therefore abandoned.

[wheatbeer]

Great thread  :-D

I am sure some of you guys already know about the bear who served in the Polish army, but if not:

"Wojtek, who was adopted as a cub by Polish soldiers stationed in Iran during 1941, liked to share beers and a cigarette with his fellow comrades, was taught to salute when greeted, and provided a welcome distraction to the horrors of war.

By 1944 and at 6ft tall on his hind legs and weighing in at close to 500lbs he was enrolled in the Polish army with his own rank and service number to circumvent orders that forbade animals from being taken to the frontline.

Showing no fear under fire, the Syrian brown bear joined the 22nd company of the Polish Army and carried live munitions during the battle at Monte Cassino, a feat that led him to become one of Poland’s best loved war heroes."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/8995013/Brown-bear-hero-of-battle-of-Monte-Cassino-to-be-honoured.html

[Tall Paul]

Guys,

@wheatbeer:

Great thread  :-D
I am sure some of you guys already know about the bear who served in the Polish army, but if not:
“Wojtek, who was adopted as a cub by Polish soldiers stationed in Iran during 1941, liked to share beers and a cigarette with his fellow comrades, was taught to salute when greeted, and provided a welcome distraction to the horrors of war.
By 1944 and at 6ft tall on his hind legs and weighing in at close to 500lbs he was enrolled in the Polish army with his own rank and service number to circumvent orders that forbade animals from being taken to the frontline.
Showing no fear under fire, the Syrian brown bear joined the 22nd company of the Polish Army and carried live munitions during the battle at Monte Cassino, a feat that led him to become one of Poland’s best loved war heroes.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/8995013/Brown-bear-hero-of-battle-of-Monte-Cassino-to-be-honoured.html

––I had previously only read just a few paragraphs about this great story. But thanks to you, Wheatbeer, I learned of his 224 page biography,…“Wojtek, the /bear,….Polish War Hero”, by Aileen Orr. I just ordered the e-book from Amazon and it’s my next book in line to be read.

––On a somewhat related note,…I just recently read another interesting book;
“The Most Decorated Dog in History,….Sergeant Stubby”,…by Isabel George. A Dog that warned of Gas attacks, caught a German spy, and even saluted the Officers! It is a fascinating TRUE STORY that occurred in WW1 and well worth reading!

––Some time ago I read another book about a dog in war called “A Dog with a Destiny, Smokey”, also by Isabel George. It’s about Smokey, a Yorkshire Terrier in WW2-Pacific theater. He actually helped out by crawling through small pipes pulling a communication wire that his owner obviously couldn’t fit through. If you like dogs, get this book.

“Tall Paul”

[Tall Paul]

Guys,

––Oh, I almost forgot about the Lions that the WW1 pilots in France adopted. I’m sure everyone has seen the movie that included them, “Flyboys”.

––Thanks again, Wheatbeer as I’m sure I’ll get quite a lot of enjoyment reading about Wojtek, the Polish War Hero. There’s several pics of him in the book including one of him talking/entertaining several army women in a truck,….and another of Wojtek boarding a ship with his comrades while several astonished dock workers look on, haha!  :-D

“Tall Paul”

[Gargantua]

@Tall:

Guys,

@wheatbeer:

Great thread�  :-D
I am sure some of you guys already know about the bear who served in the Polish army, but if not:
“Wojtek, who was adopted as a cub by Polish soldiers stationed in Iran during 1941, liked to share beers and a cigarette with his fellow comrades, was taught to salute when greeted, and provided a welcome distraction to the horrors of war.
By 1944 and at 6ft tall on his hind legs and weighing in at close to 500lbs he was enrolled in the Polish army with his own rank and service number to circumvent orders that forbade animals from being taken to the frontline.
Showing no fear under fire, the Syrian brown bear joined the 22nd company of the Polish Army and carried live munitions during the battle at Monte Cassino, a feat that led him to become one of Poland’s best loved war heroes.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/8995013/Brown-bear-hero-of-battle-of-Monte-Cassino-to-be-honoured.html

––I had previously only read just a few paragraphs about this great story. But thanks to you, Wheatbeer, I learned of his 224 page biography,…“Wojtek, the /bear,….Polish War Hero”, by Aileen Orr. I just ordered the e-book from Amazon and it’s my next book in line to be read.

––On a somewhat related note,…I just recently read another interesting book;
“The Most Decorated Dog in History,….Sergeant Stubby”,…by Isabel George. A Dog that warned of Gas attacks, caught a German spy, and even saluted the Officers! It is a fascinating TRUE STORY that occurred in WW1 and well worth reading!

––Some time ago I read another book about a dog in war called “A Dog with a Destiny, Smokey”, also by Isabel George. It’s about Smokey, a Yorkshire Terrier in WW2-Pacific theater. He actually helped out by crawling through small pipes pulling a communication wire that his owner obviously couldn’t fit through. If you like dogs, get this book.

“Tall Paul”

You forgot the cat “unsinkable sam”!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsinkable_Sam

Survived the sinking of no less than 3 ships.  The first being the Bismark.

[Gargantua]

I read somewhere once too that the British used celebrities to spy on the Americans…