Interesting WWII trivia

[Snooz]

From an email... I did check the very last one and it's true. I didn't check the rest but I'm sure spot will.

You might enjoy this from Col D. G. Swinford, USMC, Ret and history

buff. You would really have to dig deep to get this kind of ringside

seat to history:

1. The first German serviceman killed in WW II was killed by

the Japanese ( China , 1937), the first American serviceman killed was

killed by the Russians ( Finland 1940); highest ranking American killed

was Lt Gen Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps. So much

for allies.

2. The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham,

USN. He was wounded and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying about

his age. His benefits were later restored by act of Congress.

3. At the time of Pearl Harbor , the top US Navy command was

called CINCUS (pronounced 'sink us'), the shoulder patch of the US

Army's 45th Infantry division was the Swastika, and Hitler's private

train was named 'Amerika.' All three were soon changed for PR purposes.

4. More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine

Corps. While completing the required 30 missions, your chance of

being killed was 71%.

5. Generally speaking, there was no such thing as an average

fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For instance,

Japanese Ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes.

He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.

6. It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every

5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. This was a mistake.

Tracers had different ballistics so (at long range) if your tracers

were hitting the target 80% of your rounds were missing. Worse yet

tracers instantly told your enemy he was under fire and from which

direction. Worst of all was the practice of loading a string of

tracers at the end of the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo.

This was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units

that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and

their loss rate go down.

7. When allied armies reached the Rhine , the first thing men

did was pee in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest private

to Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and Gen. Patton (who

had himself photographed in the act).

8. German Me-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York

City, but they decided it wasn't worth the effort.

9. German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.

10. Among the first 'Germans' captured at Normandy were

several Koreans. They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army

until they were captured by the Russians and forced to fight for the

Russian Army until they were captured by the Germans and forced to

fight for the German Army until they were captured by the US Army.

AND I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST....

11. Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 United

States and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska, in the Aleutian

Islands. 21 troops were killed in the assault on the island. It could

have been worse if there had been any Japanese on the island.

[spot]

I'm not sure how one would check oddments like that. The chap who compiled them seems likely to have been careful, I have no problem accepting what he's written.

Distinguished Flying Cross citation for David G. Swinford

Here, if anyone would like to read it, is Calvin Graham's obituary in the New York Times.

[tabby]

An interesting read! Love the one about the Koreans ... that would be my luck! :-2: