28 Interesting facts about WW2 – Part 2

Kamikaze means divine wind. Japanese referred to an event from their history when a storm destroyed the entire fleet of the enemy.  Tweet This

Kamikaze tactic was suggested in October 1944 in an attempt to balance the technological advantage of invading U.S. forces. Almost 3,000 kamikaze pilots died, sinking 35 and damaging 370 U.S. ships.  Tweet This

German troops, composed of English speaking soldiers and dressed in US uniforms for deception, were used in 1944-45 by Hitler. Tweet This

The Germans had the first jet fighters in the world. However, they were developed too late and did not change the course of the war. Tweet This

YOU MAY ALSO CHECK OUT: WORLD WAR II FACTS – INTRO FROM THE AUTOR

Americans used code-talkers, transmitting encoded messages in the Navajo Indian language, indecipherable to the Japanese. Tweet This

Due to the heavy losses during the airborne assault and capture of Crete, Hitler never again used his airborne troops in large-scale operations. Tweet This

Nagasaki was not the initial target for the second A-bomb: it was Kokura, which was covered in smog at the time. Nagasaki was the alternative target city. Tweet This

Allies dropped 3.5 million tons of bombs, or 28,000 tons per month. Tweet This

YOU MAY ALSO CHECK OUT: 23 WORLD WAR II FACTS – CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Battle at Stalingrad (1942-1943) is the bloodiest battle in history with over a million casualties. It’s thought to be the turning point of WWII in Europe. Tweet This

Battle of the Bulge is the deadliest battle for U.S. Army, with around 85,000 American casualties. Tweet This

U.S. Air Force was part of the Army and didn’t become a separate branch until after the war. Tweet This

German U-boats sunk 2,000 vessels of the Allies at a cost of almost 800 U-boats destroyed. Tweet This

YOU MAY ALSO CHECK OUT: 21 INTERESTING WORLD WAR 2 FACTS – PART 1

Winston Churchill endorsed a plan, named “Operation Unthinkable” to invade the USSR in a surprise attack, right after the end of WWII. Tweet This

Only one American soldier was executed for desertion during WWII. It happened for first time since the Civil War. Tweet This

More than 3,500 German and Russian tanks took part in the greatest tank battle ever, at the Kursk salient in Russia in July 1943. Tweet This

USSR was the first to have paratroopers, since 1935.  Tweet This

Though all powers possessed chemical weaponry during WWII, only Japan (in China) and Italy (in Ethiopia) used them. Tweet This

Some German pilots intentionally ruptured their eardrums to prevent air pressure issues.  Tweet This

Allied pilots intercepted V-1 rockets and made them crash by tipping them over with plane’s wingtips. Tweet This

After a massive bombardment, 35,000 US and Canadian troops stormed at Kiska island, which cost them over 20 casualties. Only then they realised that the island had been deserted. Tweet This

German city of Konstanz (at German-Swiss border) was never bombed by the Allied Forces as it left all its lights on at night. Allied bombers thought it was a city in Switzerland. Tweet This

A Russian pilot, Alexey Maresyev was shot down over Germany. He crawled 18 days to Soviet territory and had his both legs amputated. Later, he returned to flying combat missions. Tweet This

An American pilot, Alan Magee fell 20,000 feet (6 km) without a parachute and smashed through the glass roof of a train station. He survived and lived to age of 82. Tweet This

Ivan Chisov was a Soviet pilot who survived a fall of 23,000 feet (7 km) with no parachute. He could fly again just 3 months later. Tweet This

The heaviest tank ever was the German Maus II (almost 200 tons), that never took part in a battle. Tweet This

USSR suffered the largest number of WWII causalities – over 25 million. Tweet This

80% of German military casualties occurred on the Eastern Front. Tweet This

Only in the 1970s did the world learn that the British broke the Enigma code. Tweet This