Interesting Facts and Stories

[Nort]

There are some things "native" to America to be proud of ...

 

[Louis]

Dickey Chapelle, born Georgette Louise Meyer (born in Milwaukee on March 14, 1919), was an American photojournalist known for her work as a war correspondent from World War II through the Vietnam War.-

She covering the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa with the Marines, the Hungarian Uprising in 1956, where she was captured and jailed for seven weeks. This was followed by spells in Algeria and Lebanon. In the summer of 1958 she was sent by The Reader's Digest to cover the uprising against Fulgencio Batista in Cuba.- Also interview Fidel Castro.-

During the Vietnam War, on 4th November, 1965, the lieutenant in front of her kicked a tripwire boobytrap. Chapelle was hit in the neck by a piece of shrapnel which severed her carotid artery and died soon after. -

She became the first female war correspondent to be killed in action.-

According to the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation, 59 female civilians died during the conflict.-

 

[Combat Wombat]

wow. Thanks for putting that up .. what an amazing bloody life she must have lived ... It is biographies of women such as her that I want my daughters to read -

 

[Louis]

Although the Battle of Palmito Ranch is generally considered a post-war battle, its final fatality, John J. Williams, has the dubious honor of being recognized as the last soldier to die in battle in the Civil War.

John Jefferson Williams (1843 – May 13, 1865) was a Union soldier and private in Company B the 34th Regiment Indiana Infantry.-

Williams was born in 1843 in Jay County, Indiana, and joined the Union Army September 1863, probably in Anderson. He moved to Camp Joe Holt where his unit drilled before being put on duty in the field. His regiment spent most of the war on guard and garrison duty in the Western Theatre, including New Orleans where he was stationed before his unit joined the army forming for the invasion and occupation of Texas in spring of 1865. He first saw action in the Battle of Palmito Ranch near Brownsville, Texas where he died May 13, 1865. Williams is recognized as being the last soldier to have been killed in action during the Civil War.-

 

[Louis]

During World War II, cigarettes were a mainstay of a soldier's life. They appeared in soldiers' C-rations and were either smoked for a bit of relaxation or sold on the black market for any number of items. Tobacco companies loved it when soldiers smoked during the war for many became addicted and bought cigarettes for decades after the war ended. -

In addition to adding new customers, World War II affected the tobacco companies by forcing them to change their packaging due to rationing. -

In 1941, U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had made tobacco a protected crop. Cigarettes, though, were included in GI C-rations, and tobacco companies sent millions of free "butts" to GIs, mostly the popular brands; the people on the home front had to make do with off-brands like Rameses or Pacayunes. Tobacco consumption was so fierce during the war that a shortage developed. By the end of the war, cigarette sales were at an all-time high.-

skylighters.org
history1900s.about.com

 

[Louis]

The Baby Boom in US post war

More babies were born in 1946 than ever before: 3.4 million, 20 percent more than in 1945.-
This was the beginning of the so-called “baby boom.” In 1947, another 3.8 million babies were born; 3.9 million were born in 1952; and more than 4 million were born every year from 1954 until 1964, when the boom finally tapered off. By then, there were 76.4 million “baby boomers” in the United States. They made up almost 40 percent of the nation’s population.-

Some historians have argued that it was a part of a desire for normalcy after 16 years of depression and war. Others have argued that it was a part of a Cold War campaign to fight communism by outnumbering communists.-

Most likely, however, the postwar baby boom happened for more quotidian reasons. Older Americans, who had postponed marriage and childbirth during the Great Depression and World War II, were joined in the nation’s maternity wards by young adults who were eager to start families. (In 1940, the average American woman got married when she was almost 22 years old; in 1956, the average American woman got married when she was just 20. And just 8 percent of married women in the 1940s opted not to have children, compared to 15 percent in the 1930s.)

history.com
dailyfinance.com

 

[Louis]

During the Civil War in Sri Lanka between 1987 to 2009, the separatist suicide bombers of Tamil Tigers wore a potassium cyanide necklace. If they were captured by the Sri Lanka Army, they would bite in to the tablet at the end of the necklace. In addition to suicide bombers, since 1976 almost all separatists of this organization wore suicide pills. This is the most modern day wide scale use of potassium cyanide as a suicide tool. The women were the most publicized, carrying a tablet attached to their tooth.-

September 2008: Velupillai Prabhakaran (founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) with 10 alleged Tamil Tiger suicide bombers who carried out a devastating attack against a military complex in northern Sri Lanka on 9 September.

 

[Louis]

Irish neutrality in World War Two was a most extraordinary thing. The first RAF bomber pilot to be shot down and killed in 1939 was Willie Murphy from Cork. His navigator, Larry Slattery, from Thurles, became the longest-serving 'British' POW of the war.-

The co-pilot of the last RAF bomber to be shot down over Germany, in May 1945, Sgt W Mackay, who was killed, was Irish too.-

In all, some 250 men from neutral independent Ireland died with RAF Bomber Command, compared with 218 Frenchmen, 136 Czechs and 34 Norwegians, all of whose countries were at war.-

Irish soldiers who volunteered to fight for the british during the war.

For every 10,000 Irishmen in the British army, 28 joined the SAS: the overall average was six. At least 11 Irishmen serving with Special Forces were executed by the nazis.-

From the liberation of Sicily in 1943 to the defeat of Germany, more than 800 soldiers from neutral Ireland were killed. In 1944 alone, from North and South, some 1,900 Irishmen were killed in action: over five a day. And 16pc of all British military nurses killed in the war were Irish.-


independent.ie
ww2incolor.com

 

[Ithikial]

In May 1618, two Catholic Imperial Governors by the names of Wilhelm Grav Slavata and Jaroslav Borzita Graf Von Martinicz, along with their scribe Philip Fabricius, came to administer the state of Bohemia on King Ferdinand II behalf. Ferdinand II himself was more preoccupied with his upcoming accession as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Both Governors and their scribe were immediately tried by local Protestant Counts for ignoring the ‘Letter of Majesty,’ which insisted on religious freedom in Bohemia. On being found guilty, their punishment was to be thrown out of the windows of the Bohemian Chancellery. The punishment was promptly carried out, with all in attendance expecting the guilty to fall to their deaths since it was a fifteen meter fall, but they survived.

Catholic Pamphlets across Europe reported that Catholic Angels had appeared to carry the three to safety, thus showing that the Catholicism was the true faith in their ongoing struggle against the new religions. Protestant pamphlets meanwhile reported what has become accepted as fact; that the three fell (luckily for their lives though not their honour or reputation), into Horse Excrement, which was piled alongside the Chancellery Building for later use. The ensuing revolt and chaos between Catholics and Protestants in Bohemia could have remained a Bohemian event if Ferdinand II had not involved himself in the local problems, however for the sake of both personal and Catholic pride he did intervene. This began the Thirty Years War, the largest and most destructive and far reaching of the European Wars so far (until the Napoleonic Wars centuries later). The war itself began quite literally with a big pile of crap.

 

[Louis]

Jakob Grimminger (born on 25 April 1892 in Augsburg, Bavaria) as a member of the SS, he was given the honour of carrying the blood-stained Blutfahne from the Munich putsch. was put on trial by the Allies in 1946 for being a member of the SS and carrying the Blutfahne for nineteen years. He was not sent to prison for this, but all of his property was confiscated. He died in poverty in 1969, in Munich.-

 

[Louis]

Werner Goldberg (October 3, 1919 – September 28, 2004) was a german who was of part jewish ancestry, who served briefly as a soldier during World War II and whose image appeared in a german newspaper as "The Ideal German Soldier".

 

[Louis]

Private Johnson Gideon Beharry, of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in Iraq in 2004.
He is the first recipient of the award since 1982 and the first non-posthumous British Forces recipient since 1965.-

 

[Louis]

In December 1941, British airfields in Northern Malaya came under heavy Japanese air attack and the situation was becoming desperate. -

By the 8th of December, the airfields of Singora and Patani, just over the border in Thailand, were in enemy hands and an Allied attack on them was essential if the Japanese raids originating from them were to be stemmed.-

Accordingly, on 9 December, the remaining machines from two badly-depleted Blenheim squadrons, No.s 34 and 62, attempted two counter-attacks. The first mission was successful, but just before the second could be launched, Japanese bombers arrived overhead as the Blenheims were preparing to take off. Only one Blenheim, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Arthur Stewart King Scarf was able to leave the ground.-

Undaunted by the vulnerability of his solitary aircraft, Scarf headed for his target, the airfield at Singora. There, despite being attacked by fighters, he dropped his bombs, but was hit in the back and left arm and mortally wounded. Struggling to maintain consciousness, he turned back to the Malayan border and although now very weak from loss of blood, he managed to put the Blenheim down in a padi-field near Alor Star. His navigator was unhurt but Scarf himself died that night from his wounds.-

His actions were recognized five years later in the award of the Victoria Cross, Malaya's first.-

3squadron.org.au
wiki

 

[Louis]

Nathan Hale (June 6, 1755 – September 22, 1776) was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.-

He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British and hung.-

He is probably best remembered for his purported last words before being hanged: "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country."-

 

[Louis]

Squadron Leader Mohinder Singh Pujji was an Indian Sikh fighter pilot who joined the Royal Air Force in World War II and fought the Luftwaffe just after the Battle of Britain. He later served in North Africa and Burma.-

In 1940, Mohinder Singh was one of 18 qualified Indian pilots who volunteered for the Royal Air Force.-

Was a member of 'Fighting Cocks' fighter squadron. He flew Hurricanes.- He was forced down twice; in one instance, his aircraft was disabled over the English Channel by a Messerschmitt.-

Rescuers boarded boats to help the young flyer, who crashed landed near the White Cliffs of Dover, and pulled him from the wreckage with bad head injuries.

He said: 'The padding of my turban saved me, it was full of blood. I was taken to the hospital but after seven days I was back to flying again.'

He added: 'I couldn't swim. I carried on until I saw the white cliffs of Dover and I thought, "I'll make it."

'The aircraft was a total wreck. I was dragged out and I heard voices saying, "He's still alive, he's still alive." Because my eyes were closed I couldn't see.'

Sqdn Ldr Pujji added how his turban was fitted so that the earphones could go over the top and how he carried a spare in his cockpit.-

'I had a special strap made to hold my earphones. I used to carry a spare turban with me so I would have one if I got shot down.

'I thought I was a very religious man, I shouldn't take off my turban.'

After a week in hospital, Mohinder Singh returned to duty.-

After the Battle of Britain, Mohinder Singh was sent to the Middle East where, in 1941, he was forced down, for the second time, in the North African desert and was picked up by British troops. He had dietary problems, as he could not eat the standard issue bully beef for religious reasons. He returned to south Asia and served in Afghanistan and Burma, where he was awarded a DFC.

Squadron Leader Mohinder Singh Pujji, died aged 92, on 18 September 2010.-

dailymail, wiki & sikhchic.com

 

[Louis]

On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas.-
The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce.-

 

[Ithikial]

On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas.-
The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce.-

And played soccer/football if the stories are correct for some parts. Must admit it's one of those strange historical events when the goodness of people even during wartime shine through. At the same time it also shows our worst, as the same soldiers went back to shelling each other on Boxing Day. I'll never understand how you can go from playing a game of soccer with someone to shooting them, all within the space of 24 hours.

 

[Louis]

The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770.- A squad of british soldiers, come to support a sentry who was being pressed by a heckling, snowballing crowd, let loose a volley of shots.-
Three persons were killed immediately and two died later of their wounds; among the victims was Crispus Attucks, a man of black or Indian parentage.-
The British officer in charge, Capt. Thomas Preston, was arrested for manslaughter, along with eight of his men.

 

[Louis]

John "Barney" Hines (1873–1958) was a British-born Australian soldier of World War I, known for his prowess at collecting 'souvenirs' from German soldiers.-

Hines was the subject of a famous photo taken by Frank Hurley which depicted him surrounded by the loot he had captured during the Battle of Polygon Wood in September 1917. This image is among the best-known Australian photographs of the war.-

The photograph of Hines at the Battle of Polygon Wood was published in late 1917 under the title Wild Eye, the souvenir king and became one of the best-known Australian photographs of the war.-
Many soldiers identified with Hines and were amused by his collection of souvenirs.- The photograph was used as propaganda, and a false story developed that the German Kaiser Wilhelm II had become enraged after seeing it.-

 

[Louis]

During Berlin blockade, nearly 700 aircraft were used in the Berlin Airlift, more than 100 of which belonged to civilian operators.-