I’m sure none of us would ever want to relive our dark history and experience once again the horrors
of war. But as a wise man once said, “Those wo cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat
it.” Wartime memorabilia serve as living proofs of the human cost of war, but some discoveries
are more shocking than others, just like these 10 Most Amazing Unexpected Military Finds!
What's up, fact-natics! This is Discovery Amuse, serving up your daily dose of the most outrageous,
outlandish, and out-of-this-world fun facts! Stick around, because our number one
entry made one tank collector an instant millionaire! Well, almost.
Squad! Attention! #10: The Lost Battlefield
For years, the actual site of the largest World War II battle between Australian
forces and Imperial Japanese soldiers in Papua New Guinea has remained a mystery,
until it was finally located in 2010. Former Australian Army Capt. Brian Freeman,
who has spent years researching and attempting to discover the elusive battleground in the
jungles of Papua New Guinea, hit the jackpot on April 23, 2010 with the help of the Alola tribe.
Within the 600-square meter area on the Kokoda Track, Freeman initially discovered the skeleton
of a Japanese soldier slumped against a tree, still with his helmet on. Not far from the
remains are piles of Australian machine guns, ammo, and Japanese shells and hand grenades.
It is believed that the clash on the Kokoda Track in 1942, 79 Australians and 69 Japanese soldiers
were killed after four nights of firefight. Freeman hopes to find the fallen soldiers’
bodies to be able to return them to their families and be given a proper burial.
Keep watching because our number one entry deserves a tanks-giving party!
#9: World’s Deepest Shipwreck Deep down the Philippine Sea lies
the world's deepest shipwreck ever discovered, which is a World War II Destroyer lying 20,400
feet under the ocean's surface. This fantastic find is credited to a private exploration that
had to use an undersea drone called the Petrel. Based on the footage, the ship is totally mangled
and surrounded by chunks of debris scattered around the site. Even World War II shipwreck
experts had a hard time identifying the fletcher-class destroyer because of its
poor shape. But researchers believe that it is the remains of the warship USS Johnston,
which was sunk by Japanese forces during a 1944 battle off the coast of Samar island.
Of the ship's crew of 341, 186 lost their lives either on the ground or at sea. This includes the
warship's commander Ernest E. Evans, who is known as the first Native American member of the U.S.
Navy to earn the distinguished Medal of Honor. #8: World War II German Tanks
During the Second World War, Bulgarian forces received 97 of the German-built
Panzer IV tanks when they joined forces with the Nazis. About 40 of these were
buried as defensive units near Bulgaria's southeastern border to serve as stationary
defense weapons if the NATO forces attacked. However, when the war dust finally settled,
these killing machines had also been forgotten by the Bulgarian army… but
not by looters who went searching for weapons to peddle to the highest bidder.
It was only in late 2007 when the Bulgarian government scrambled to recover the tanks in
the southeast borders when news of a stolen rare model came to light.
Collectors are so eager to pour vast amounts of money just to get their hands on one of these war
relics. Even a Russian collector tried to offer an estimated 3.6 million U.S. dollars
to buy the German Panzer IV that belongs to the National Museum of Military History in the
country's capital of Sofia. #7: Strange Beach Ball
In March 2020, when no one was supposed to be out in the beach due to the pandemic,
an unexpected visitor was washed ashore on the Outer Banks region of North Carolina.
The black spherical object measuring several feet in diameter was covered in
barnacles and marine algae. Onlookers assumed it was a bomb,
prompting local police to investigate the suspicious sphere. They then declared it safe
and immediately called up the Navy for disposal. It was later found out that it wasn't a bomb but a
mine warfare target called Mark 49. It looks like a sea mine because it was designed to resemble one
from World War I. These were created to train minesweepers and teams tasked to hunt mines.
#6: Rare War Photos Although he didn’t exactly live through
the horrors of war, American collector Levi Bettweiser could also be considered a modern-day
war hero for kickstarting this amazing project . In 2013, Bettweiser founded the Rescued Film
Project, an initiative that aims to restore old and undeveloped film rolls from across the globe.
One of his most notable finds are 31 undeveloped film rolls shot by a soldier
who served during World War II more than 70 years ago.
Some of the rolls were labeled with various locations like Lucky Strike Beach, Boston Harbor,
and Le Havre Harbor, and Bettweiser had been able to produce over 5,500
images from the rolls so far. Although the original photographer's identity remains unknown,
the photos provide a stunning first-person view of what it was like living during that dark era
through a brave soldier’s perspective. #5: Secret Alcatraz Fort
For years, historians have theorized that a U.S. military fort from the 1860s might actually be
hiding underneath the most infamous prison site in the world. After all, Alcatraz island served as a
military base before it became an offshore federal penitentiary that housed some of America’s most
notorious criminals. But it was only in early 2019 that their hunches were proven correct.
Researchers from the Binghamton university were finally able to uncover this mysterious
underground structures using hi-tech radar and laser scans,
which featured a vaulted brick tunnel, ventilation ducts and a bombproof
traverse. Turns out that these are part of a U.S. fort used to protect California in the 1840s!
After more than a century, the truth about this military fort was finally set free!
#4: Repatriating Fallen Soldiers More than 70 years after the Second World War,
the US Army is still on the lookout for the remains of American soldiers whose bodies remain
missing to this day, in the hopes of bringing them back to the homeland and given a proper burial.
It's said that over 400 G.I.s went missing in aircraft crashes while flying through an area
over the Himalayas, also known back then as The Hump. According to the US Department of Defense,
over 500 aircraft are still listed as missing in the China-India-Burma theatre
of the Second World War, and joint operations to recover the remains were started in late 2008.
In September of 20117, the US government sent a team to Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India for
the recovery operations, and the team unearthed what they believe to be the remains of one
or two of the eight missing airmen aboard a downed B-24 Liberator plane in 1944.
#3: Military Planes in a Lagoon An organization aiming to find American MIAs
called Project Recover recently had a milestone discovery while scouring through the Truk Lagoon
in Micronesia. They found 3 U.S. bomber aircraft that were shot down during the Second World War.
Project Recover launched four expeditions from April 2018 to December 2019.
Geared with remote-controlled submersibles, they scoured through 40 square miles of seabed before
stumbling upon the debris of the 3 planes. The aircraft, which have been missing for 76
years, were two SBD-5 Dauntless dive bombers and a TBM/F-1 Avenger torpedo bomber. These planes
were part of the U.S. military's plan to fend off Japanese forces from the lagoon. Dubbed as
Operation Hailstone, the whole mission lost an estimated 40 American soldiers and 30 aircraft.
#2: The Wolf's Lair Deep in the Masurian woods in
present-day Poland is an old abandoned complex that used to be a top-secret military headquarters
of the infamous Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, during World War II. Created in 1941,
this site was dedicated to planned invasion of Soviet Union, known as Operation Barbarossa.
In 1944, the most notable assassination attempt against Hitler was carried out on this site.
After the failed attack, they started enlarging and reinforcing the complex. However,
it never came into completion due to the rapid advance of the Red Army. On January 25, 1945,
about 48 hours before the Soviet forces arrived, the Nazis swiftly blew up and fled the base.
After the war, Poland's Communist Government cleared the site of land
mines and left it abandoned. It has since become a tourist attraction that draws in
around 300 thousand visitors a year. Before we go to our number 1 pick,
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#1: Gold Bars in a Tank Tank enthusiast Nick Mead is not
just into restoring military tanks as a hobby. He also makes a living around these machines and owns
“Tanks Alot,” a company that offers tank driving experiences in Northamptonshire, England.
As if the 150 military vehicles he had weren’t enough, he didn't miss out on striking up a
37-grand deal for a Chinese type 69 tank on eBay. It was modeled after the Russian T54
and produced by Chinese manufacturers for the Iraqis during the Gulf War.
While trying to strip down his new toy for restoration, he got the shock of his life
when he struck gold—literally. Stashed inside the fuel tank were gold bars weighing around
5 kilograms each. Based on their estimates, the lot could fetch more than $2.4 million!
Mead had no idea what to do with the gold bars, so he handed over the bars of bullion to authorities.
Thank you for your service, I mean, generosity, Mr. Mead!
So, which of these discoveries would you like to see in person?
Let us know in the comments section below. Take home any of our exclusive gear by browsing
our merch shelf or clicking the link in the video description! And while you're at it, take
our quiz to find out how you can earn extra cash online doing what you do best! Awesome, right!
If these wartime relics got you craving for more historical treasures,
then get a load of our list of the 10 Most Incredible Underwater Discoveries, Ever!
'Til then, stay valiant, fact-natics! And see you in the next video!