Any war is a serious matter, however, military operations cannot do without entertaining, curious and interesting cases. Each person tends to make mistakes, originalize, 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's Memories
Eisenhower wrote that the minefields created by the Germans 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 directly through the field, not paying attention to mines. And the losses of the soldiers were equal to those that could have happened if the Germans defended this area with artillery and machine guns.
This story of Zhukov shocked Eisenhower. If any American or European general had thought this way, then he could immediately be demoted. We do not undertake to judge whether the Soviet commander did the right thing 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 Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
Foothold
Curious cases happened not only with the infantrymen. Interesting facts about the Second World War abound with accidents and with the participation of pilots. Once, the attack squadron received orders to drop bombs on the bridgehead occupied by the Germans. Enemy anti-aircraft guns fired so tightly that they could put all aircraft out of action before approaching the target. The commander felt sorry for his subordinates and violated the order. At his direction, the attack aircraft dropped bombs into the forest, which was located near the bridgehead, and safely returned.
Of course, the German units did not receive damage and continued to defend steadily. The miracle happened the next morning. Our troops were able to take a foothold almost without a fight. It turned out that the enemy headquarters was in that forest, and the pilots completely destroyed it. The authorities looked for those who distinguished themselves for presenting 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’s bridgehead according to the order.
Ram
Rich in feats was the Great Patriotic War. 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. The pilot shot the entire ammunition and was wounded in the head. Then he reported over the radio that he was leaving the car and opened the hatch. At the last moment, he noticed that an enemy aircraft was flying at him. Boris leveled his car and aimed it at the ram. Both aircraft exploded.
Kovzan was saved by the fact that he opened a hatch in front of the ram. The pilot fell unconscious out of the cockpit, the automated parachute opened, and Boris safely landed on the ground, where he was picked up and sent to the hospital. Kovzan twice received the honorary title "Hero of the Soviet Union".
Camels
Interesting facts from the history of the Second World War include the cases of domestication of wild camels by the military. In 1942, the 28th reserve army was formed in Astrakhan. There was not enough draft force for the cannons. For this reason, the military were forced to catch wild camels in the vicinity of Astrakhan and tame them.
In total, 350 “desert ships” were used for the needs of the 28th Army. Most of them died in battle. Surviving animals were gradually transferred to household units, and then transferred to zoos. One camel, nicknamed Yashka, came with fighters all the way to Berlin.
Hitler
Interesting facts about the Second World War 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 courageously 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 sheet for the medal “For Courage”, a mistake was made. Hitler wrote instead of Hitler. Whether this is done by accident or intentionally is unknown.
Tractor
Unknown facts about the war tell about the case when tractors were trying to convert into tanks. During the fighting near Odessa experienced an acute shortage of equipment. The command ordered to sheathe 20 tractors with sheets of armor and install imitation guns on them. The stake was on the psychological effect. The attack took place at night, and in the darkness of the tractor with the headlights and imitation guns turned on, they panicked the ranks of the Romanian units besieging Odessa. The soldiers nicknamed these cars NI-1, which means "To Fright."
Feat of Dmitry Ovcharenko
What other interesting facts of WWII are known? The heroic deeds of Soviet soldiers occupy far from the last place in them. In 1941, Private Dmitry Ovcharenko was awarded the honorary title "Hero of the USSR". On July 13, a fighter carried ammunition on a cart to his company. Suddenly he was surrounded by a German detachment of 50 people.
Ovcharenko hesitated, and the Germans took his rifle from him. But the soldier was not at a loss and grabbed an ax from the cart, which chopped off the head of a German officer standing next to him. Then he grabbed three grenades from the cart and threw them at the soldiers, who managed to relax and retreat a little. 20 people died on the spot, the rest fled in horror. Ovcharenko caught up with another officer and cut off his head too.
Leonid Gaidai
What else was unusual to remember the Great Patriotic War? Interesting facts include a story that happened with the famous filmmaker Leonid Gaidai. He was drafted into the army in 1942. He did not get to the front, since they sent him to Mongolia to go round horses for military needs. One day a military commissar came to them, recruiting volunteers to join the army. He asked: "Who is in the cavalry?" The director replied: "I." The military commissar asked a number of similar questions about infantry, navy, reconnaissance - Gaidai was called everywhere. The boss got angry and said: “Do not rush, I will first publish the entire list.” A few years later, Gaidai used this dialogue in his comedy "Operation" Y "and Shurik's other adventures."
Other interesting facts about WWII
And finally, a few other interesting cases:
- Adolf Hitler did not consider his personal enemy Stalin, but Levitan (announcer). A reward was promised for his head - 250 thousand German marks.
- 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 drag 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 a complete resemblance of fake documents with real ones. But all the same, the "linden" was discovered by any semi-literate fighter called up from Central Asia. The Germans could not solve this problem. And the reason was simple: ours made paper clips for sheets of ordinary iron, and the enemy of stainless steel. Accordingly, in besieged Leningrad there was no person who would have documents with new clips, they were all rusty. And the German ones showed themselves with their brilliance.
- A fascist submarine discovered transport ships that brought ammunition, fuel and tanks from America to Murmansk. Since the ships were practically not armed, the Germans apparently decided to mock. They surfaced next to one ship at a distance of 20-30 meters and fired a torpedo at point-blank range. The blast wave lifted the tanks that stood on deck into the air. Two of them fell right on the submarine, she got a hole and sank.