|
- The two atomic bombs that were used by the United States against the Japanese in World War II to end the war actually had nicknames. The nicknames given to the bombs were "fat man" and "little boy". The nickname "fat man" was given to, you guessed it, the bigger, slightly more powerful bomb. The nickname "little man" was given to the smaller bomb which appeared thinner.
|
- Italy was on both sides of the war at certain points. At the beginning of the war, Italy was officially on the Axis side. In the year of 1943, Benito Mussolini, the present dictator of Italy, was "shut down" from power. At the same time, the Axis were losing the war, therefore the Italians were losing the war. The country decided it was time to make a change, so they changed sides.
|
- One of the most common known German World War II era weapons is the MP-40 sub-machine-gun. This weapon was invented by the Erma Werke firearms company. The full name of this weapon is the Maschinenpistole 40
|
- One of the most common known American World War II era weapon is the Thompson sub-machine-gun. This weapon was invented by a man named John T. Thompson who obviously named the gun after himself. The gun was invented In the year 1918, a couple of years after World War I. The gun was in service from 1938 to the year 1971. You also see this gun a lot in mobster movies.
|
- The well known soft drink, "Coca-Cola" was actually used in World War II. An official at the Coca-Cola business said that each military official or "the man in charge" will get five bottles of Coca-Cola no matter the cost to the company. Coca-Cola after the war, went on the be a very successful company and now everyone knows the name of this "War Hero" of a drink.
|
- As you probably know, the main reason why World War II ended was because the Americans had two atomic bombs that we had "wanted" to use. These atomic bombs came in handy on August 6 and August 9, 1945 when we dropped two of the most horrific weapons ever seen in action. However as you might not know, the planes that dropped bombs had nicknames. The nicknames that planes had were "Enola Gay" and the "Bockscar".
|
- "The Red Army" was somewhat known for its big, cruel, effective, and mean looking, weapons. Some Red Army tanks had flamethrowes attached so that it could either burn down forests, houses, or burn alive the unfortunate soldiers who were standing too close. Then there was the PTRD-40 anti tank rifle. This monster of a rifle was designed to take out the operators of enemy tanks. The bullet of the rifle had a bigger caliber than most snipers today use. The rifle had flaws however. It was way too big for only one operator and reqiured two. When fired, the rifle had a huge recoil and blew dust everywhere and made it impossible for the operators to target another tank for at least another forty seconds. If the operators missed the tank, it was a death sentence as because the tank would have shot the operators before they could get another shot.
|
- The president of the United States of America at the time during World War II was the well known, Franklin Delano Roosevelt or F.D.R.. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the one, aside congress, who declared war on the Japanese Empire after Pearl Harbor. F.D.R. was also the one who served three terms in the presidential office which was never done before. Here is one of his most famous quotes, "A date which will live in infamy".
|
- In the Red Army, weapon attachments were given as a soldier gained a higher rank in the army or did something brave, honorable, etc. Even sniper/rifle squads were not kept from this rule. Sniper scopes were given to "rifle/sniper squads" after they did something brave, honorable, etc. just like any other soldier. This meant that some snipers had worse scopes or no scopes and were expected to "be at par" with the snipers who had scopes.
|
- Did you know that there is an amazing documentary that the "History" channel made describing the entire events of World War II called, "World War II From Space". You may check out this video on youtube or you can check it out here!
|
|
- During World War II, arounf the year 1942, Japan's resources were running low, including soldiers and pilots. More pilots were dying than there were being trained. In order to counter this, Japan did the only thing they could and started to send out inexperience pilots into battle. Captain Motoharu Okamura was credited for creating the first kamikaze squads. Japanese men were willing to dive bomb into enemy ships because in Japanese culture, death before defeat was a very known an respected practice.
|
- Most people know the swastika and associate the symbol with the cruel Nazi Germany however the Germans were not the first people to use this symbol. In fact, the swastika can be found in many old religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. The swastika actually means good fortune and in Japanese culture it is called by the term manji. The Nazis simply adopted this symbol and placed it on their flag. Now the symbol is well hated for obvious reasons.
|
- As almost everyone knows, Adolf Hitler was one of the most cruelest people on the planet. He killed anyone he didn't like including Germans. When a German officer did not meet with his standards or did not do what Hitler commanded, he was executed. In fact, eight-four German generals were shot dead by Adolf Hitler during his dictatorship meaning Hitler has personally killed more of his own generals than enemy's generals.
|
- The Medal of Honor is the highest medal a soldier can recieve after participating in combat against an enemy force. Four hundred and thirty-three Medal of Honor medals were given to soldiers who had fought in World War II. Two hundred nineteen of these medals were awarded to soldiers who were K.I.A. or killed in action. This meant that more Medal of Honors have been given to dead soldiers than living soldiers after World War II.
|