35 Incredible World War II Facts

These Finnish snipers didn’t let the freezing environment hinder their skills. They killed 40 Soviet soldiers for every man killed in their troop. That’s vengeance!

This Japanese submarine was set to bomb the Panama Canal. It was as large as an aircraft carrier and contained bombs. The submarine failed its mission and it was found at the bottom of the ocean. A failed plan and now a sight for exploration for historians.

At the start of the war, each bomber needed to complete 25 missions but in 1942-43, when too many bombs were dropped, the air was so thick, and they were unable to complete a tour. That’s one WWII fact that you might want to know.

POWs are among the most unfortunate people during war. Whether they were captured by the Germans or the Japanese, they all suffered and most of them died. That’s one of the results of war that will make you thankful you weren’t around for those times.

The youngest enlisted soldier was Calvin Graham. He was severely wounded from the Battle of Guadalcanal where it was discovered that he was just 12. He entered the army after lying about his age. He was given a dishonorable discharge but his benefits were later reinstated.

795 of this terrifying German submarine were sunk in the ocean with 40,000 men manning the vessel. It is believed that 75% of those men died in the ocean.  That’s one of the most horrifying results of WWII.

During WWII, US Marine Corps had higher probability to live than the US Air Force men. Each pilot used to complete 30 tours, which amounted to a 71% possibility of being killed. That’s a fact of the WWII that  you might not be able to find in your history books.

Tracers were used to help pilot aim at their targets. But tracers were not always accurate and bullets actually missed targets.  The tracers technology was not as accurate as many of the modern war crafts developed today.

Tracers also sent signals when pilots were out of ammunitions, with the issue that this signal was also sent to their enemies.  Pilots who stopped using tracers improved their chances of survival and reduced civilian casualties.

Pilots have sacrificed themselves when they were left with no choice but to ram the aircraft of their enemies. Sometimes it was the only way left to get the enemy aircraft down.

At one point during the war, US Army had actually more ships than the Navy.  The US ships were used for landing.

Coca Cola built a bottling plant in Saipan during the war to keep the US frontiers refreshed. That’s a great way to refresh the soldiers. This fact is probably one of those that surprised us.

Captured Korean soldiers were forced to fight for several different countries like Japan, Soviet Union, and Germany. Therefore Koreans soldiers can be found in all camps.

Germany attacked numerous countries across Europe and invaded a large portion of them. The USA was its main opponent but Germany never manage to invade it.

The Dachau Concentration Camp opened 6 years before the war and expanded throughout the war.

It is Poland that suffered the highest number of casualty during war. 20% of its people died. That was 1/5 of the Polish population.

For more than a year, the Japanese occupied two American islands nearby Alaska. It took 1500 lives of American soldiers before the US retrieved the islands.

During the war, there was a Polish midwife who delivered 3000 babies in Auschwitz concentration camp. She was Stanislawa Leszczyńska. She is about to become a saint.

Only 20% of men who were born in 1923 in the Soviet Union survived the war. Babies were not be able to survive the harsh conditions during war.

It seemed like Adolf Hitler’s family was not all rooting for him! His nephew, William Hitler wasn’t on his side during the war. He fought against the German troops and joined US Navy.

Hiroo Onoda might be the last Japanese soldier to surrender. He was a Japanese Intelligence officer based in the Philippines who only gave up his post in 1974. His former commander personally convinced him to surrender.

The war caused 50-70 million casualties—mostly from China, Germany, Poland and Russia. Poland, being the most devastated. These countries suffered from much devastation. For Poland, 20% of its population was killed.

The Russians used convicts as open field frontiers – ahead of their massive tanks and troops. The convicts often died, sparing the Russian soldiers.

Adrian Carton de Wiart’s storyis a real survival war tale. He fought in both WWI and II. He managed to live after two plane crashes, he was shot multiple times and endured being POW. It is said that he managed to rip his fingers off when the doctor refused to cut them off.

Penicillin was in its highest demand during WWII to treat wounded soldiers. It was needed so much that it is said to have been extracted from soldiers’ urine and recycled to treat more wounded troops.

Austria’s S.S. Wren was sunk twice. It sank during WWI and II. It was salvaged after sinking in WWI to serve its purpose in WWII but sank again in 1941.

James Hill has an incredible war story when he captured two tanks from enemies with only his revolver. He even attempted to capture the third one but he was severely wounded.

Initially called Pasta Gianduja and eventually renamed in 1964 as Nutella, this chocolate spread was created during WWII, just when the chocolate was too expensive and the world suffered from cocoa scarcity.

300,000 Russian soldiers died during the siege of Leningrad. On the other hand, 400,000 US soldiers died throughout the war. So many casualties during the war. Perhaps more are not documented.

One of the best snipers during WWII was a woman. She was Roza Shanina from the Soviet Union. She fought in the Battle of Vilnius and East Prussia and recorded 54 confirmed kills.

Aside from its pilots, Kamikaze also used suicide subs called Kaiten. They were approximately 100 of them. They were killed during their war missions.

The war killed 14, 903 US Army pilots which resulted from about 50,000 accidents. There were also 1, 000 missing planes. That’s a lot of casualties.

Yes, not only the Nazis but also the US Army 45th Infantry used Swastika as insignia. This is in honor of the Native Americans in Southwest region.

If only 1% of the bombs were dropped on German power plants, it would have been enough to neutralize the German army. The allies didn’t think that maybe bombing those power plants would cripple the whole German troops and infrastructure.

405, 000 of 16, 000, 000 deployed US soldiers never came home during and after WWII.  Obviously, many of them died and were never able to return home to their loved ones