World War II was one of the worst wars the world has ever seen - but it was also pretty
weird.
What are the twenty weirdest WW2 facts - and what does Mickey Mouse have to do with them?
#20.
Some Unlikely Soldiers
As the United States went to war, so did many Hollywood animation studios.
The budgets were cut, and many animators were put to work creating cartoons to boost morale
and promote the US war effort.
But it wasn’t just the animators who got put to work - it was some of the most iconic
animated characters of all time.
Bugs Bunny was a frequent guest-star in these shorts, often promoting war bonds.
The most iconic cartoon, though, was Disney’s Der Fuhrer’s Face, where cartoon versions
of the Axis leaders including Hitler himself tormented Donald Duck in a bizarre nightmare.
It wasn’t the only industry that went to work.
#19.
No Rides
In 1941, the car industry was booming.
Driving around in an automobile was a status symbol, and American-made car companies like
General Motors and Chevrolet had them rolling off the assembly line.
Over three million cars were produced in 1941 alone - until the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor,
and suddenly those assembly lines were needed for another purpose.
Those factories turned out tanks, planes, and munitions for the next four years, and
car construction slowed.
In fact, the production for the rest of the war was roughly equivalent to 1941 alone!
World War II changed everything - especially one symbol.
#18.
Put That Away!
If you see someone waving a swastika today, the odds are your first thoughts are - hey!
Get that Nazi out of here!
The four-armed symbol was seen on the arms of every Nazi leader, but its association
with Nazi Germany is more an accident of Hitler’s bizarre interests.
The symbol - aligned differently in most cases - was associated with cultures including India
and Native American tribes for centuries before, and its name comes from the Sanskrit word
for “conducive to well-being or auspicious”.
Today, some activists are trying to make people more aware of the symbol’s original meaning
- but it’s not going too well.
It wasn’t the only meaning that changed during the war.
#17.
Well, That’s Awkward
In December 1941, the United States Fleet got a name change.
It would be known as COMINCH, and referred to the larger US naval fleet covering both
the Pacific and Atlantic divisions - all under the command of the President.
But the name change was rather abrupt - because the old name had become a little uncomfortable.
The fleet had previously been known as CINCUS, pronounced “Sink Us”.
And immediately after much of the US fleet had been sank by the Japanese, that seemed
a bit demoralizing.
It took everyone a little to figure out how to handle the outbreak of war.
#16.
Welcome to Hawaii!
Shigenori Nisikaichi had an important mission - he was one of the pilots in the Japanese
Air Force’s initial attack on Pearl Harbor.
The sneak attack on the military base was a success, but Nisikaichi’s plane was damaged
- and he crash-landed on an island of Hawaii, deep in enemy territory.
But the locals hadn’t heard about the attack yet, and all they saw was a stranger with
a damaged plane.
They threw him a Luau, treated him as an honored guest, and he regaled them with Japanese music.
When he was finally found out, one local even tried to help him escape before Nisikaichi
was killed in a skirmish - one of the only deaths of an enemy soldier on US soil.
When war broke out, almost everyone did their part.
#15.
A Majestic Driver
It’s a tradition in the British Royal Family for the heirs to serve, but in 1944, King
George VI had other plans.
He wanted his elder daughter Princess Elizabeth to focus on her royal training as the future
queen.
But she was determined, and wound up training in repairing engines so she could keep the
British war machine humming.
She even joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service to work as a driver - which means
that there were quite a few World War 2 veterans who probably got a ride from her future Majesty
Queen Elizabeth!
In America too, some bold-faced names served.
#14.
Celebrity Heroes
World War II led to a draft in the United States, and there was no pass for celebrity.
Present and future big names became soldiers, including Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, and
Kirk Douglas.
Even teenage Mel Brooks lied about his age and served in the last years of the war diffusing
land mines.
Many came home more famous than they left - but some didn’t come home at all.
Among the most famous celebrity casualties of WW2 included bandleader Glenn Miller, Heisman
Trophy winner Nile Kinnick, and British actor and Gone with the Wind co-start Leslie Howard.
But casualties were never higher than in one area.
#13.
Generation Lost
Any look at the overall casualties of World War II will indicate that the Russians got
hit hardest.
But the statistics become even starker when you look at one specific year - 1923.
The men born in that year would have come of age in the middle of the war, and most
of them would have been drafted.
The tragic result?
An estimated 68% of Russian men born in 1923 did not survive World War II.
Many died in combat, but there were other factors including civil war, famine, war rationing,
and the lack of antibiotics to treat wounds.
But being a Russian man born in 1923 wasn’t the only high-risk position.
#12.
Madness of the Fuhrer
Adolf Hitler was notoriously paranoid, and it only got worse when the end of the war
was approaching and it became clear Germany was losing.
He started turning on anyone he doubted was completely loyal to him, and even close allies
like Himmler would find themselves out of favor.
His paranoia was so bad that eighty-four of his own Generals were executed by his regime,
but not all of them were truly victims of paranoia - A large group of his Generals did
plot to kill him in a bomb attack because his madness was damaging the war effort.
But for every death, there was a story of survival.
#11.
The Youngest Hero
While not as stunning as the feats of John Lincoln Clem, the youngest Civil War soldier,
Calvin Graham broke records in WW2.
The twelve-year-old from Crockett, Texas stole his mother’s notary stamp and forged her
signature, dressed in his older brother’s clothes, and enlisted in the US Navy.
He served on a battleship - until it got damaged and taken back to the United States.
His mother saw him in news footage and informed the military, and Graham was booted out with
a dishonorable discharge.
If you ask his hometown, though, he was a pint-sized war hero.
But few heroes made their name like this one.
#10.
The 100-Man Warrior.
John R. McKinney began that day like any other - as a guard for the US army in the Philippines.
Suddenly, an army of Japanese troops attacked!
It was a group of 100, and McKinney stood alone with only an M1 rifle to fend them off.
When he eventually ran out of bullets, he turned to hand-to-hand combat and fended off
the entire group - lasting over thirty minutes and two waves of attacks.
The final casualty count?
38 dead Japanese soldiers, one severed ear, and one shiny new Medal of Honor for his bravery.
One soldier, though, had the worst luck.
#9.
The Man Who Fought on Every Side
In World War II, if you were captured by some armies, there was a good chance you just switched
sides involuntarily.
That was the legendary fate of Korean soldier Yang Kyoungjong.
He had been drafted by the Imperial Japanese Army and was on the Russian front of the war
- until he was captured by them and became a soldier of the Red Army.
That fight sent him up against the German army - and he was captured again and became
a member of the German Wehrmacht as a prisoner of war.
This was around the time that US soldiers landed in Europe, and after some time in a
prison camp, he was released and lived in the United States - where his story attracted
a lot of attention.
However, in 2005 a Korean SBS documentary cast doubt on whether this was a true story
of war - or just a colorful legend.
Historians differ on whether Tang Kyoungjong’s crazy story was likely to have happened.
He’s listed as having died in 1992 in Illinois, but hard evidence of his death - or life - is
lacking.
But much of the war’s path was influenced not by soldiers - but by weapons.
#8.
The Ultimate Arms Race
As the United States was building their first atomic bomb, they weren’t the only ones
close to this goal.
Germany’s nuclear program was making quick progress as well, and their Telemark factory
was successfully producing heavy water - a key element in creating plutonium, the key
to building atomic bombs.
But they were about to be undone by an unlikely source - Norwegian commandos snuck into the
factory, planted bombs, and destroyed much of the infrastructure without losing a single
man.
This set the German bomb effort back enough that the war ended - and only the US claimed
the ultimate prize.
But it wasn’t the only bizarre weapon of the war.
#7.
Unleash the Death Ray!
It’s a common staple of sci-fi movies.
The mad scientist reveals his massive ray gun that can destroy the world!
But don’t worry, he’ll explain his plan for ten minutes before he uses it.
But it was closer to reality than anyone thought.
Japanese scientists were developing a weapon using electric waves to kill people from miles
away, based on the work of Nikola Tesla.
They even built a prototype that could successfully hit targets up to half a mile away, but it
was slow to start and any movement could disrupt the countdown.
Ultimately, the Japanese death ray fell apart simply because it was a lot faster to keep
shooting.
But far away from the high-tech weapons, some battles kept raging.
#6.
The Longest Battle Ever
As soon as the war between Britain and Germany began in 1939, conflict kicked off in the
Atlantic ocean.
The seas were filled with German U-Boats with one purpose - disrupting the supply chain
to Britain and starving out the island nation.
The Royal Navy spring into action to fight them, and were soon joined by Canadian and
American navies.
It was a battle like any other, with one key exception - it never ended for the duration
of the war.
It would become known as the Battle of the Atlantic, and it would rage for the entire
length of the war until Germany surrendered in 1945.
The war eventually ended - but not for everyone.
#5.
The Last Soldier
Hiro Onodo was a soldier in the Imperial Japanese army when he was sent to the Philippines on
a mission.
Before he left, he was sworn by commanders to a solemn vow - no matter what, he would
not surrender and he would never give up his mission.
He became a guerilla warrior in the hills of the Philippines with a few other soldiers,
and when they were told the war was over, they refused to believe it.
Eventually, various skirmishes took the lives of Onodo’s men - but he kept on fighting.
It was 1974 when he was found and his elderly commanding officer came to the Philippines
to tell him he was finally relieved of duty.
Serving for a long time didn’t always guarantee a good ending - for people or ships.
#4.
The Unluckiest Ship
The SMS Wien saw a lot of action over its years, originally being put into service by
Austria-Hungary.
It was sunk during the first world war, but was still in relatively good working order
when it was pulled out of the depths - by Italian forces.
Mussolini and his men believed it could be repaired and be a useful ship for the Italian
navy, and it eventually became a hospital ship for Axis troops.
That is, until it was targeted by Allied forces and sunk to the bottom of the sea once again.
Not only was it the only ship sunk in both world wars, but it was sunk by different sides
in each war!
It took a lot of smarts to survive the war.
#3.
The Greatest Spy?
Juan Pujol Garcia was one of the most colorful figures of the war, a notorious Nazi spy who
gave them a lot of information while living in Britain.
But the Spanish man had an even bigger secret - he was a British double agent who specialized
in giving the Germans ridiculous false information.
While his Nazi handlers were sending him money to fund his operations in Britain, he was
actually living it up in Portugal and made up most of his information - even sending
the Nazis on the trail of a fictional Welsh fascist movement as potential allies.
And while being a spy was a dangerous game, Juan Pujol Garcia was telling his war stories
until 1988.
But other leaders had unique ways of survival as well.
#2.
Lights Out?
It was the height of the war, and major cities in both Britain and Germany were being bombarded
regularly.
The orders were in - to minimize the chances of being bombed, keep the lights off at night.
But one German city had other plans.
The small city of Konstanz decided to defy the blackout and keep their lights on - and
it paid off thanks to their proximity to the Swiss border.
Switzerland was neutral and had no fear of bombing raids, and a city with its lights
on was probably in Switzerland.
And Konstanz had bluffed its way out of the allied crosshairs.
But surviving the war required proper equipment - and in one case, it would come with some
unusual accessories.
#1.
M-I-C-K-E-Y G-A-S M-A-S-K
In 1942, no one knew the direction the war would take.
Many people feared a repeat of the first World War, where chemical weapon use was common.
If these weapons hit the US mainland, the public would need to be prepared - and one
businessman had an enterprising idea.
TW Smith Jr, the owner of Sun Rubber Company, designed a gas mask that would be more welcoming
for children to wear.
And it had a familiar face.
It was a standard gas mask with equipment to protect the eyes and mouth from harmful
gases, but it was designed to look like the face of Mickey Mouse - complete with attached
ears and a little black nose.
The military brass liked the idea, and over a thousand of these masks were produced by
1944.
But the lack of combat on the mainland meant that more weren’t needed, and these morbid
accessories became one of the strangest collector items of the Second World War.
For more on the strangest parts of World War II, check out “Weirdest World War 2 Weapons
You Never Heard Of”, or watch this video instead.