10.
GERMAN HIDEOUT IN SOUTH AMERICA
Nestled in the thick vegetation of Argentina’s Teyú Cuaré National Park is a mysterious
site that has long been associated with legends of a secretive German settlement.
For decades following World War II, rumors circulated about the alleged Nazi hideout.
It wasn’t until 2015 that archaeologists finally announced with some level of certainty
that there might actually be some truth behind these stories.
There’s not much to see at first glance when looking near the border of Paraguay in
the northeastern province of Misiones.
The team painstakingly excavated the overgrown site and found just enough evidence to believe
that German immigrants may have lived there.
Their discoveries included fragments of a German-made plate and five German coins that
were minted between 1938 and 1941, which falls in line nicely with the timeline of a post-World
War II settlement.
There are also several structures, including what’s left of a house that had enough room
for six to eight families.
It’s surrounded by 10-foot-thick (3 meters) walls and there’s a nearby hilltop watchtower.
The location is extremely remote.
It would’ve been difficult to reach back in the 1940s and even harder to survive in.
Between the end of the war and 1955, at least 5,000 German immigrants moved to Argentina.
Most of them lived in cities or on ranches, rather than bunkers, suggesting that the clandestine
refuge was built before Germans began migrating to Argentina in large numbers.
Or perhaps the secretive settlement housed former military members who were trying to
avoid facing their war crimes.
There are some skeptics, who have suggested that perhaps the site was a failed homestead,
or maybe that it was built by a group of people who didn’t necessarily come from Germany.
Some believe that the popular legends surrounding the settlement may have been perpetuated as
a way to boost tourism profits.
9.
ATOMIC BOMB LOADING PITS
American forces dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima
from a B-29 bomber on August 6, 1945.
Just days later, they dropped another atomic bomb over Nagasaki.
The aircraft left for its mission from an airfield on Tinian Island, which is part of
the Mariana Islands.
It made sense for the military to launch the operation from Tinian, which sits just over
1,500 miles (2,414 km) from Japan.
After capturing the island from the Japanese, soldiers spent 45 days working day and night
building runways, docks, barracks, an administration building, oil storage facilities, a weapons
depot, two bomb loading pits, and an air-conditioned bomb assembly building on the northern end
of the island.
Known as North Field, it was the world’s biggest airport at the time.
It was impossible to load the massive bombs onto the airplane the old-fashioned way.
Instead, they were hoisted into the plane’s underside and secured to a hydraulic mount.
Pit number one was used to load the four-ton (3.6 metric tons) uranium bomb that fell over
Hiroshima, known as “Little Boy.”
A plutonium bomb nicknamed “Fat Man” was loaded onto the aircraft using pit number
two.
After the second bombing, the Japanese Emperor surrendered unconditionally to the Allies,
officially bringing World War II to an end.
Today, the takeoff site has been almost completely retaken by wildlife.
Very little remains there besides two loading pits that were used for getting the nuclear
weapons onto the plane.
On the 60th anniversary of the Battles of Saipan and Tinian in 2004, two commemorative
plaques were placed at the site.
Those who look closely enough can also see the remnants of some of the old buildings
and runways, which are becoming less and less noticeable as the man-made structures continue
to be overtaken by foliage.
8.
BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL Gaudacanal is one of the southern Solomon
Islands in the South Pacific.
During World War 2 the battle of Gaudacanal consisted of a series of land and sea clashes
between allied and Japanese forces, marking a turning point in favor of the allies in
the Pacific war.
On July 6, 1942, the Japanese moved troops and laborers to Guadalcanal and began constructing
an airfield.
The Allies recognized that operating from this field would threaten other military bases
in nearby ports and immediate steps were taken to rid the Japanese of the areas, utilizing
forces that were available in the South Pacific.
Some 6,000 men of the U.S. 1st Marine Division launched an amphibious assault on Guadalcanal,
surprising the 2,000 Japanese defenders.
The landings were made with strong naval and air support and met with little resistance.
The airfield was seized within 36 hours.
Losses were heavy on both sides, but the battle was necessary to make sure the Solomon islands
were never seriously threatened again.
Thousands lost their lives while several more thousand died from malaria and other tropical
diseases.
The various naval battles cost each side warships, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and tanks,
some of which are still visible today in the jungles of Guadalcanal.
7.
PLANE WRECK IN PARADISE
During the long battle of Peleliu in 1944, U.S. soldiers shot down a Japanese Aichi E13A
fighter plane in the Republic of Palau.
It sank to the bottom of the sea in the waters off the state of Koror and remains remarkably
intact to this day.
Of course, time and mother nature have taken their toll on the submerged aircraft.
But it’s in good shape for its age, making it a popular diving site.
Images of the wreck circulated on social media in recent years, sparking discussion about
how it’s hard to imagine what such a serene, peaceful place looked like as a warzone.
Used by the Japanese military from 1941 to 1945, the Aichi E13A was a reconnaissance
aircraft that was capable of carrying 550 pounds (250 kg) of bombs.
It was designed for three crew members.
Over 1,400 of them were made during the war, but there are no known surviving airworthy
examples.
The sunken plane is just one of around 60 abandoned World War II era vehicles throughout
Palau, leading some to call it the “wreck capital of the world.”
Have you ever been up close to a war plane?
Let us know in the comments and be sure to subscribe while you’re at it!
:)
6.
JOHNSTON ISLAND AIR FORCE BASE
In 1935, the U.S. Navy got to work turning a coral atoll in the South Pacific, known
as Johnston Island, into a military base and airport.
Located several hundred miles southwest of Hawaii, the site consisted of an airfield,
an aircraft parking area, and a causeway connecting the base to nearby Sand Island, where the
barracks were located.
At its peak, the base was home to around 1,200 military members and contractors.
In addition to its military use, the airport serviced a small number of commercial flights
under Aloha Airlines and Continental Micronesia, neither of which are still in business.
Whenever an aircraft landed, it was surrounded by military personnel.
Passengers were not allowed to leave the plane unsupervised.
During the 1960s, the government used the site for performing nuclear tests on barges
full of monkeys.
By then, the base no longer serviced civilian flights.
The explosive experiments left the area highly contaminated with plutonium.
The tiny airport remained in operation until the base officially closed in 2005.
For a while after that, it functioned as a diversion airport for emergency landings.
Because the runway is no longer maintained, it’s no longer considered appropriate to
use.
But it’s a better alternative to landing in the water in the event of an extreme flight
emergency.
All that’s left of the facility is the single 9,000-foot (2,743 meters) runway and taxiway,
along with a paved ramp.
Nobody lives on the island, and the only visitors it receives are government employees and military
members.
The Air Force still owns and controls the site, where pollution from the nuclear tests
is an ongoing concern.
5.
PACIFIC RADAR BARRIER III
Saipan is the largest of the Northern Mariana islands and a U.S. Commonwealth.
The island is located in the western Pacific roughly 5,900 miles (9,495 km) from the American
mainland.
This remote tropical paradise is where the U.S. and Japan came face-to-face in 1944 in
a gruesome weeks-long battle that lasted for nearly a month.
During the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force installed a radar tower on the highest point in Saipan,
known as Mount Petosukura.
They removed a patch of dense foliage and put the 40-foot (12.2 meters) structure in
its place.
Saipan became the American military’s third Pacific Barrier Radar site, or PACBAR III
for short.
Built with parts that were salvaged from a decommissioned Navy ship, these towers were
implemented with the intention of detecting and tracking Soviet satellites and missile
launches.
The other two radar sites, known as PACBAR I AND PACBAR II, were in the Marshall Islands
and the Philippines.
PACBAR III wasn’t in service for long before it was no longer needed.
The military cleared out when the Cold War ended during the early 1990s, and it hasn’t
been used since.
Since then, the tower and its surrounding buildings have fallen into disrepair.
Nature has started to reclaim the site, which is slowly being swallowed by the encroaching
jungle.
All that’s left of the former outpost is the tower itself and a few rusting, graffiti-covered
buildings.
4.
CORREGIDOR ISLAND
After arriving in the Philippines in the 16th century, Spanish colonizers built a defense
fortress, a jail, and inspection station on a small landmass in Manila Bay called Corregidor
Island.
Many battles have occurred there throughout history, including during the Spanish-American
War and during the American colonial period.
The island’s oldest structure is a lighthouse dating back to 1853, but most of Corregidor’s
decaying buildings reflect the brutal fighting that went on there during World War II.
Included among the ruins are several defense and battery buildings, shops, a movie theater,
a swimming pool, and a golf course, which were built and used by American soldiers who
were stationed at Corregidor.
When the Japanese invaded Manila during the Battle of the Philippines in 1941, American
and Filipino troops fought with all their strength to try driving the intruders out.
But they lost the battle and surrendered Corregidor to the Japanese in 1942, after months of fighting.
American and Philippine forces recaptured the island in 1945.
Today, it remains very much how it was left at the end of the war.
It almost seems like the fighting has just stopped and nobody has gotten around to cleaning
up the mess that was left behind.
Tour guides are still discovering things on the island dating as far back as the early
20th century, when American and Filipino soldiers were first stationed on the island together.
In addition to the ground-level structures at Corregidor, there’s a series of dark,
underground tunnels.
Legend has it that the corridors are haunted by the ghosts of Japanese soldiers who took
their own lives in the face of defeat.
But even if there are no spirits inside the tunnels, they’re eerie nevertheless, especially
considering all the violence that went on at Corregidor.
Today, the site is a war memorial and a designated national monument.
The ruins are maintained out of respect and in the memory of the American, Philippine,
and Japanese soldiers who lost their lives on Corregidor.
3.
THE TUNNELS OF RABAUL
In 1942, Japanese forces occupied the town of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea.
The region is known for being one of the world’s most active earthquake regions, but this didn’t
stop the Japanese from building a military complex there.
More than 97,000 soldiers and other personnel lived there at its peak.
Due to its remoteness, Rabaul was extremely vulnerable to air attacks, which happened
frequently.
To avoid death as much as possible, workers dug 300 miles (483 km) of underground tunnels
and numerous fully-functioning facilities, including a hospital, barracks, storehouses,
command centers, and more.
The structure was truly impressive, with some of its chambers measuring four stories tall.
By the time it was finished, it was one of the world’s longest and most elaborate tunnel
systems.
Some of the pathways were cut right out of the rock, while others were supported by palm
beams.
In addition to the tunnels, the workers carved out entire concrete bunkers.
Allied forces drove the Japanese out of Rabaul toward the end of the war.
The base and tunnels were abandoned and most of their contents were eventually cleared
out.
In 1994, a volcanic eruption buried most of the city in ash.
The area’s recovery has been slow-going but seems promising.
As things continue to improve, locals are rediscovering the tunnels along with numerous
decaying relics that were left behind after the conflict, including wrecked fighter jets.
Military graffiti still covers the command center’s walls.
Sadly, the individuals who built the subterranean system were forced laborers who had been captured
in Malaysia, China, and Singapore.
Many died from starvation, disease, being overworked, and other forms of cruel treatment
that they endured.
Prisoners of war were also forced to endure the hellish conditions at Rabaul.
They were crammed into a filthy and unbearably hot cave, where they received no food or water.
In a desperate attempt to stay alive, the soldiers sucked moisture out of a blackout
curtain.
After an especially brutal Allied air raid one day, Japanese guards marched 21 prisoners
outside and executed them in what became known as the Tunnel Hill Massacre.
2.
TILLAMOOK BAY
In 1942, the U.S. Navy built a sprawling, 1,600-acre (647 hectares) base at Tillamook
Bay, Oregon.
The sprawling property originally contained more than 60 buildings.
For the next three years, blimp squadrons operated out of Tillamook Bay, patrolling
the Pacific and searching for signs of nearby enemies.
But the military presence there was short-lived.
The base was all but forgotten about after the war, and it was officially decommissioned
in 1948.
Since then, the site has been slowly rusting away in the Oregon forest.
Many people don’t even know that the ruins exist because they’re so well-hidden.
Thirty-five of the original buildings still stand, including an airplane hangar.
But they’re rapidly falling into disrepair from years of neglect as nature takes back
over.
The property is also scattered with numerous objects that were left behind, including trains,
a boat, planes, and other decaying vehicles.
1.
TALASEA AIRFIELD
Both the Americans and the Japanese occupied the village of Talasea in Papua New Guinea
at various points throughout World War II.
It was home to an airstrip built by the Australian Army, which was too small to accommodate fighter
planes.
Instead, it functioned as an emergency landing strip and for lighter aircraft.
The Japanese occupied Talasea in 1942 and remained there until early 1944, when U.S.
Marines captured it.
Two emergency landings were made there within a week’s time in September of that year.
The first, an American B25H bomber, began experiencing engine trouble shortly after
taking off toward another base.
Not wanting to risk the flight, the pilot returned to Talasea and brought the plane
back down to the ground.
Just days later, an engine failed on a Lockheed Ventura after the successful bombing of a
Japanese occupied airstrip in the region.
Knowing that the aircraft wouldn’t make it all the way back to its base, the pilot
landed at Talasea.
The military abandoned the site when the war ended, leaving behind the B25H bomber and
the Lockheed Ventura that had emergency landed there.
They’re still there, where they’ve become surrounded by the encroaching plantlife that’s
taking over the base.
The airstrip has become nearly completely concealed and is tough to spot.
A four-wheel-drive vehicle is required to visit what’s left of the Talasea Airfield,
which sits along a cutaway path that runs through the forest.
Thanks for watching!
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