7 Things You Forgot Happened During World War II
The biggest, most pivotal events of World War II are cemented in the collective memory — the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the Battle of Stalingrad, the devastating deployment of atomic bombs. But beyond these headline-grabbers, there are many forgotten or overlooked events that shaped the course of the war, from a quirky yet panic-inducing mishap to a near-disaster that was narrowly avoided. Here are seven lesser-known moments from the Second World War.
Germany Was Ambushed by “Night Witches”
Under the cover of night and in airplanes made of plywood and canvas, an all-female Soviet bomber regiment known as the “Night Witches” became an instrumental part of the European theater of World War II. The group, officially named the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, was the brainchild of esteemed Soviet aviator Marina Raskova, sometimes called the “Soviet Amelia Earhart.” Raskova convinced Soviet leaders to allow women in combat roles as the Red Army struggled against the German invasion, and between 1942 and the end of the war in 1945, the Night Witches flew more than 30,000 bombing missions against German forces.
The planes, each crewed by a pilot and a navigator, flew in groups. The leading aircraft acted as decoys, while the last plane would cut its engine and glide in quiet darkness to the target area before firing. This move gave the group its nickname, the “Nachthexen” — German for “Night Witches” — since the approaching planes sounded like whooshing brooms. Their courageous operations and precise skills earned many of the aviators the title Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation’s highest distinction.
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Japan Sent Balloon Bombs to the U.S.
World War II was a time of unconventional weaponry experiments. There were attempts at bat bombs and rat bombs, and Japan even deployed explosives to the U.S. via balloons. The operation, known as Fu-Go, started in November 1944, when hydrogen-filled balloons equipped with incendiary bombs were launched from the north end of Japan's Honshu Island. The weapons were meant to travel across the Pacific and, upon landing in the U.S., start fires and cause panic, diverting U.S. military resources. Although more than 9,000 balloons were launched during the campaign, military damage was ultimately minimal, with fewer than 300 incidents reported. Sadly, there were a few casualties — on May 5, 1945, six people were killed while on a picnic in Gearhart Mountain, Oregon, when they unknowingly pulled one of the balloons out of the woods and triggered the explosive.
An Unlikely Alliance
It was one of the most unlikely battles of World War II: On May 5, 1945, U.S. and German soldiers joined forces to fight the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the Nazi secret police. The setting was Castle Itter, an Austrian fortress where Nazis were keeping high-profile French prisoners. As the prisoners sent out messages for help, a group of American soldiers approached. There, they discovered that German Major Josef Gangl, who had turned against the Nazis, was already there with a handful of soldiers, ready to protect the prisoners from the SS. The unlikely allies banded together and managed to hold off the SS until reinforcements arrived. Gangl was killed in the confrontation, but the Battle of Castle Itter, which happened just three days before the official end of the war in Europe, is believed to be the only time that Americans and Germans fought as allies during the war.
A Bear Served in Poland’s Military
It’s well known that animals played crucial roles in World War II, but one large creature in particular stands out as an unusual combat companion. In 1942, a Syrian brown bear cub was adopted by Polish soldiers stationed in Iran. The furry friend quickly became a beloved mascot; the soldiers named him Wojtek, meaning "happy warrior" in Polish. As Wojtek grew, he was officially enlisted as a private to ensure he could travel with his unit, and over time, his role evolved from being a morale booster to being an active participant in military operations. His most famous contribution came during 1944’s Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, where Wojtek helped carry heavy artillery shells and crates of ammunition. The regiment changed its insignia to an image of a bear carrying an artillery shell in his honor, and Wojtek was eventually made a corporal. The heroic animal lived out his veteran days at the Edinburgh Zoo, where fans and former comrades visited him until his passing in 1963.
The U.S. Navy Almost Accidentally Torpedoed President Franklin D. Roosevelt
In November 1943, the U.S. Navy was responsible for a near-disastrous incident involving President Franklin D. Roosevelt. While en route to the Tehran Conference to meet with Allied leaders, President Roosevelt traveled aboard the USS Iowa battleship. To ensure the president’s safety, his ship was accompanied by a convoy that included the destroyer USS William D. Porter. During a routine drill, the destroyer inadvertently fired a live torpedo directly at Roosevelt’s ship. As the torpedo sped toward the battleship, the destroyer crew frantically signaled the Iowa to move out of the way; Roosevelt, meanwhile, requested to have his wheelchair moved in the midst of the commotion for a better view of the action. The Iowa successfully executed a hard turn, narrowly avoiding the torpedo, which eventually exploded harmlessly in the water.
A Young Woman’s Engineering Feat Helped the Allies Win the War
The name Beatrice “Tilly” Shilling may not be known to many, but she played a pivotal role in helping the Allied forces in World War II. Shilling was a talented engineer who, after being one of only two women to earn an electrical engineering degree from the Victoria University of Manchester, joined Britain’s Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE). It was there that Shilling devised a simple yet pivotal solution for an issue with British fighter planes. During sharp maneuvers, fighter jets such as the Hurricane and Spitfire would often stall out, so Shilling came up with a way to restrict fuel from flooding the engine. Later known as "Miss Shilling's orifice," the invention went on to give Allied pilots a crucial edge in dogfights against the fearsome German Luftwaffe.
A Crossword Puzzle Panic
In the lead-up to the planned June 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, the British intelligence agency MI5 went into a panic when code words related to the operation began showing up in a British newspaper. Starting in early May 1944, words such as “Utah,” “Omaha,” “Mulberry,” and even “Overlord” — the invasion’s code name — appeared as answers in The Daily Telegraph’s crossword puzzle. MI5 tracked down the puzzle’s writer, Leonard Dawe, a headmaster at the Strand boys’ grammar school, but determined the words were a coincidence. Later, it was suggested that it likely wasn’t exactly a coincidence, but rather due to the fact that Dawe and his students were exposed to U.S. troops passing through Surrey, and inadvertently absorbed their code words.
