Any war is a serious matter, however, military operations are not complete without entertaining, curious and interesting cases. Every person tends to make mistakes, be original and even perform feats. And almost all entertaining and curious cases occur due to human stupidity or resourcefulness. Below are some interesting facts about the Second World War.
Eisenhower Memories
Eisenhower wrote that the minefields that the Germans created were a powerful obstacle to the rapid advance of the American army. Once he had a chance to talk with Marshal Zhukov. The latter shared Soviet practice, saying that the infantry attacked right across the field, ignoring the mines. And the losses of soldiers were equated to those that could have been if the Germans defended this area with artillery and machine guns.
This story by Zhukov shocked Eisenhower. If any American or European general thought this way,he could be demoted immediately. We do not undertake to judge whether the Soviet commander acted correctly or not, in any case, only he could know what motivated such decisions. However, this tactic is rightfully included in the interesting facts of the Second World War 1941-1945
Capture of bridgehead
There were curious cases not only with foot soldiers. Interesting facts about the Second World War are replete with incidents involving pilots. One day, a squadron of attack aircraft received an order to drop bombs on a bridgehead occupied by the Germans. The enemy anti-aircraft guns fired so densely that they could disable all the aircraft even before approaching the target. The commander took pity on his subordinates and violated the order. On his instructions, the attack aircraft dropped bombs into the forest, which was located near the bridgehead, and returned safely.
Of course, the German units did not receive any damage and continued to defend stubbornly. The next morning a miracle happened. Our troops were able to take the bridgehead almost without a fight. It turned out that the headquarters of the enemy troops was located in that forest, and the pilots completely destroyed it. The authorities were looking for those who distinguished themselves to present the award, but the one who did this was never found. The pilots were silent, as it was reported that they had bombed the enemy bridgehead in accordance with the order.
Battering ram
The Great Patriotic War was rich in exploits. Interesting facts include the heroic behavior of individual pilots. For example, pilot Boris Kovzan once returned from a combat mission. Suddenly he was attacked by six German aces. Pilotshot all the ammunition and was wounded in the head. Then he reported on the radio that he was leaving the car and opened the hatch. At the last moment, he noticed that an enemy aircraft was rushing towards him. Boris leveled his car and aimed it at the ram. Both planes exploded.
Kovzan was saved by the fact that he opened the hatch in front of the battering ram. The unconscious pilot fell out of the cockpit, the automated parachute opened, and Boris landed safely on the ground, where he was picked up and sent to the hospital. Kovzan was twice awarded the honorary title "Hero of the Soviet Union".
Camels
Interesting facts from the history of the Second World War include cases of domestication of wild camels by the military. In 1942, the 28th reserve army was formed in Astrakhan. There was not enough draft power for the guns. For this reason, the military was forced to catch wild camels in the vicinity of Astrakhan and tame them.
In total, 350 "ships of the desert" were used for the needs of the 28th Army. Most of them died in battles. Surviving animals were gradually transferred to economic units, and then transferred to zoos. One camel named Yashka went with the fighters all the way to Berlin.
Hitler
Interesting WWII facts include the story of Hitler. But not about the one who was in Berlin, but about his namesake, a Jew. Semyon Hitler was a machine gunner and bravely proved himself in battle. The archives preserved the award sheet, where it is written that Hitler was presented to the medal "For Military Merit". However, in another award list for the medal"For courage" was a mistake. Instead of Hitler they wrote Gitlev. Whether this was done by accident or on purpose is unknown.
Tractors
Unknown facts about the war tells about the case when they tried to convert tractors into tanks. During the fighting near Odessa, there was an acute shortage of equipment. The command ordered to sheathe 20 tractors with armor sheets and install dummies of guns on them. The emphasis was on the psychological effect. The attack took place at night, and in the dark, tractors with headlights on and dummies of guns caused panic in the ranks of the Romanian units besieging Odessa. The soldiers nicknamed these vehicles NI-1, which means “To be scared.”
Feat of Dmitry Ovcharenko
What other interesting facts of the Second World War are known? The heroic deeds of Soviet soldiers do not occupy the last place in them. In 1941, private Dmitry Ovcharenko was awarded the honorary title "Hero of the USSR". On July 13, a soldier was carrying ammunition to his company on a cart. Suddenly he was surrounded by a German detachment of 50 people.
Ovcharenko hesitated, and the Germans took away his rifle. But the fighter did not lose his head and grabbed an ax from the cart, with which he cut off the head of a German officer who was standing nearby. Then he grabbed three grenades from the cart and threw them at the soldiers, who managed to relax and move away a little. 20 people died on the spot, the rest fled in horror. Ovcharenko caught up with another officer and cut off his head as well.
Leonid Gaidai
What else was unusual to rememberThe Great Patriotic War? Interesting facts include the story that happened to the famous film director Leonid Gaidai. He was drafted into the army in 1942. He did not get to the front, as he was sent to Mongolia to go round horses for military needs. Once a military commissar arrived to them, recruiting volunteers to go to the army. He asked: "Who is in the cavalry?" The director replied: "I am." The military commissar asked a number of similar questions about the infantry, fleet, intelligence - Gaidai was called everywhere. The boss got angry and said, "Don't rush, I'll announce the whole list first." A few years later, Gaidai used this dialogue in his comedy film Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures.
Other interesting facts about the Second World War
And finally, a few other interesting cases:
- Adolf Hitler considered his personal enemy not Stalin, but Levitan (announcer). A reward of DM 250,000 was promised on his head.
- Sometimes the troops had to use donkeys as a draft force. However, these animals are known for their stubbornness. And in some cases, the soldiers had to carry them on themselves.
- German intelligence successfully operated in the Soviet rear. Absolutely everywhere except Leningrad. The Germans sent spies to the besieged city, supplying them with all the necessary things: documents, clothes, money, etc. However, they were calculated by the first patrol that came across when checking documents. The Germans tried all the tricks, achieved the complete resemblance of fake documents to real ones. But still "fake"detected by any semi-literate fighter called up from Central Asia. The Germans were never able to solve this problem. And the reason was simple: ours made paper clips for sheets from ordinary iron, and the enemy from stainless steel. Accordingly, in besieged Leningrad there was no person who would have documents with new paper clips, they all had rusty ones. And the Germans gave themselves away with their brilliance.
- A fascist submarine discovered transport ships that were carrying ammunition, fuel and tanks from America to Murmansk. Since the ships were practically not armed, the Germans, apparently, decided to make fun of them. They surfaced next to one ship at a distance of 20-30 meters and fired a torpedo at close range. The blast wave lifted the tanks that were on the deck into the air. Two of them fell directly on the submarine, which received a hole and sank.
