What were some interesting events that happened during World War II?
Poster Fiasco
During World War II, communication between Italy and Japan was done in a very unique way: through aviation transport, codenamed “Project G.”
(The “G” stands for the initials of “Giappion,” which is Japanese in Italian).
For this mission, Alfa Romeo specially designed the SM.75GA transport plane, which flew from Rome to Zaporozhye, through Soviet airspace to Baotou, and finally arrived in Tokyo. The flight was executed flawlessly.
Italian military officials and Japanese officials took part in Project G.
To celebrate the successful flight, Alfa Romeo produced a commemorative poster.
However, this poster became a major blunder:
Yes, that’s right, it was already 1942, but the Japanese figures in the poster still carried samurai swords, wore conical hats, and had top-knot hairstyles…
Soviet predicament and the five escapees
Doolittle bombed Tokyo and most of the crew members were forced to make emergency landings in the Soviet Union due to insufficient fuel, as they couldn’t reach their planned destination in China. Amidst these daring circumstances, only one crew decided to fly to the Soviet Union to escape, even though the Soviet Union was considered a “neutral country” and strictly prohibited as a destination during the mission planning.
Upon landing, the Soviets were shocked: “Ah, it turns out these are the revolutionary comrades who bombed Tokyo! And they even brought us such a nice aircraft!” At the time, the Soviet Union “impounded” these five foolish individuals in accordance with the law, treating them as “prisoners of war”. The aircraft was confiscated and seized. Due to treaty restrictions, there was no other option but to act as such. By calling them “foolish,” it refers to the subsequent events that caused the Soviets much frustration.
According to the recollections of the five individuals themselves, the Soviets' treatment towards them essentially boiled down to “eat, drink, and urging them to eat and drink.”
It is easy to guess the mentality of the Soviets. Certain matters couldn’t be openly talked about, and everything relied on their own “understanding.” However, these five individuals proved to be such a headache for both the Americans and the Soviets due to their slow-wittedness. It even alarmed the busy Marshal (presumably referring to the Soviet military marshal). This was a matter of great significance, to the point that the Marshal personally summoned officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and berated them over this issue.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also felt very aggrieved because they couldn’t have acted more openly. Being located deep within the Soviet Union made it difficult to manipulate the situation. Hence, these individuals were kept “detained” near the border of the Soviet Union and Iran, right next to their friendly territory, reportedly only a few tens of kilometers away. The Soviets specially provided them with uniforms of the Red Army officers under the pretext of being Allied prisoners of war. They would wear these uniforms whenever they went out. Yes, these five Red Army officers had the freedom to go out and walk around, with no social restrictions. Every time they went out, they would come across smugglers who were familiar with the border roads. The “POW camp” was just an ordinary residence where they would eat high-quality food intended for senior officials. There was officially a guard at night, but that guard was actually their assigned chef. They themselves described how the chef’s rifle was also broken. Every day, the chef would go out at a fixed time to visit prostitutes and come back drunk. Yes, every day…
You could say that as helicopter officers, they were not accustomed to ground combat. They were specialists in their own field, practicing a different kind of military operation. It is just like how ancient generals wouldn’t fight without horses. Well, that’s how it was.
The Soviets claimed that according to policy, prisoners of war needed to have labor and reform tasks, so they couldn’t just eat and drink without doing any work. The Japanese protested, so they were assigned a “reform through labor” task: repairing the least valuable Po-2 aircraft. They had to repair these aircraft on the border. These five individuals, who were top-level pilots capable of flying army bombers taking off from an aircraft carrier, obediently repaired countless Po-2 aircraft… It is worth mentioning that these Po-2 aircraft were difficult to make them completely inoperable.
Every night when they returned to their “camp,” they would despair and complain. Their restless and frustrated emotions were evident. They would angrily accuse the Soviets of being “pro-Japanese” for detaining their own comrades for so many years! One day, one of them, who had drunk too much, even made disrespectful remarks about the Marshal and was beaten by the others to make their positions clear. Upon learning this information later, the Marshal grew even more anxious.
The planes couldn’t be repaired, and the land border was deemed too far away. The special operations for crossing over the border posed a real challenge for the American Red Army officers. They encountered various difficulties and right-leaning tendencies. The Marshal’s headaches were becoming unbearable, and it is said that eventually, he personally issued an important directive.
During the most difficult period of the anti-fascist war, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had expended too many resources on these five individuals. In the end, when they ran out of options, they had no choice but to construct a fake border wire fence and a fake watchtower. Then, a smuggler brought them to the fake border to boost their morale and incite them to cross over the wire fence. “You are now in Iran. Only then will you finally have successfully escaped from captivity.”
This part is just speculation, as there is no concrete evidence. This speculation arises because the British who received them took out military maps to investigate their escape route, but they couldn’t find the border line they mentioned. The marching distance after crossing the border never matched up either.
To make the plot more realistic, the smuggler from the Ministry of Internal Affairs also extorted $400 from them as a guide fee. This was all the assets these innocent young men had. They had been carrying it since their departure from the aircraft carrier and couldn’t bear to use it.
Once the prisoners of war violated regulations and escaped, the Soviets pulled out their files and formally protested to the United States. The Japanese also presented documents to protest to the Soviets. These five individuals had heroically escaped and went through hardships before returning to their unit. What heroic achievement is this?! They were awarded and honored, but the entire country couldn’t help but complain about the Soviet government. Even now, the complaints persist.
The Marshal said, “Do you think it’s easy for me to manage such a big country?”
Celebrations after the end of World War II
On August 15, 1945, Japan declared unconditional surrender. On the same day, General William Halsey broadcast a victory announcement to all ships of the Allied third fleet engaged in the war against Japan, expressing special thanks to the officers and soldiers of the British Pacific Fleet. Shortly after, Halsey called the commanders of the special operations squadrons of the third fleet and ordered them to “splice the mainbrace.” However, he then modified the recipients of this order to include “all personnel except for the 38.1, 38.2, 38.3, and 38.4 special operations squadrons.”
At this time, the British Pacific Fleet was operating as the 37th special operations fleet under Halsey’s command, and the reaction to this order was quite enthusiastic. In the Royal Navy tradition, this order actually meant that an extra ration of rum would be distributed to sailors as part of the celebration. However, the United States Navy stopped issuing rum in the mid-19th century, so this order was not effective for them. During World War I, American battleships had joined the Royal Navy’s grand fleet and fought as part of the 6th battle squadron. On the day of the war’s end, Admiral David Beatty, commander of the grand fleet, ordered all ships except for the 6th battle squadron to “splice the mainbrace.” As a veteran of World War I, Halsey must have remembered this tradition for 27 years, and now that he finally had the opportunity, he had to reciprocate the gesture to the British.
The Soviet Air Force mistakenly attacks its own bombers
This incident occurred shortly after the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, and it marked the first achievement of the Soviet Air Force.
On June 22, 1941, the German army launched a surprise attack on the Soviet Union, officially starting the Soviet-German War.
Due to the advancement in bomber technology during World War II, the air force was able to launch bombing operations against important targets even from far away. Therefore, as soon as the war broke out, the Moscow air defense forces entered a high state of alert, especially fearing German air raids on Moscow.
On the night of June 23, the air defense zone received intelligence that 60 German bombers were flying from Lezhev-Vyazma towards Moscow. Consequently, the Moscow air defense forces immediately went on high alert, ready to open fire and intercept them.
At 2:40 am on June 24, the air defense intelligence department reported that enemy aircraft were approaching Moscow’s airspace.
After consulting with Stalin, Major General Romanenko, the head of air defense, ordered the air defense alarm to be sounded to intercept these aircraft. In the end, under the fierce firepower of the Soviet anti-aircraft artillery, this “German bomber squadron” did not drop bombs on Moscow but instead, four of them were shot down.
However, the Soviet side soon discovered that this bomber squadron was not German, but rather their own Soviet Air Force bombers.
At that time, this bomber squadron mistakenly flew towards the Moscow area due to getting lost, combined with poor communication resulting in the failure to notify the Moscow air defense zone in advance, leading to this misunderstanding.
But Major General Romanenko cannot be blamed for this.
You see, at that time, Moscow was one of the main targets of the German offensive, and most of the Soviet military and political institutions were concentrated in Moscow. Therefore, from Comrade Stalin to the ordinary Soviet soldiers, everyone was very concerned about the aerial security of Moscow.
Stalin himself once personally called the secretary of the Party Committee of the Moscow Oblast, asking him, “Our bombers flew over Moscow last night, fortunately they were not shot down - but why weren’t they shot down?”
The secretary at the time was probably thinking, “Comrade Stalin, how do you expect me to answer that?!”
Therefore, for Major General Romanenko at the time, shooting down their own aircraft was not a problem, not shooting them down would have been a big problem.
Meeting the Enemy
Is it possible to be friends with enemy soldiers? Why? Yes, it is possible.
During World War II, there was a famous case called “The Meeting of Franz Stigler and Charles Brown.” These two gentlemen were involved:
Charles Brown was piloting a bomber during a raid on Bremen, and his plane was heavily damaged by German anti-aircraft fire. One engine had stopped working, and the other was severely damaged. The American aircraft was flying low and slow and was continuously attacked by German fighter planes because it was at the back of the formation, an easy target for attacks.
Most of the crew had already died or sustained serious injuries. Charles Brown, the American pilot, was injured in the shoulder, and due to a lack of oxygen, he had lost consciousness multiple times.
German pilot Stigler, flying a fighter plane, followed the aircraft and saw the dangerous situation on board. He saw the casualties and noticed that no one could fight back. Instead of shooting down the plane, Stigler treated the American bomber crew as if they were parachutists waiting to jump. In Stigler’s eyes, shooting them down would be dishonorable and against the code of chivalry. He flew alongside the American pilot and made eye contact:
Through gestures, Stigler tried to get Brown to land the plane. For example, to land in a neutral country like Sweden or any other safe location.
But Brown did not understand his gestures or refused to comply. So, Stigler escorted the American aircraft, ensuring it was no longer seen as a target by German anti-aircraft weapons, as cases of enemy bombers being hijacked had occurred. Therefore, this escort was somewhat unusual but not absurd. When the two aircraft reached the North Sea, Stigler saluted and turned back to land in Bremen for repairs. American pilot Brown reported this incident to his superiors and was sworn to secrecy, and Stigler did not tell anyone about it.
Fifty years later, Brown began searching through archives to find the German who had escorted him. Up until that point, Brown did not know the German’s motives, and Stigler did not know if the plane had safely reached England. After Brown made a request in the Jägerblatt, a newspaper organized by retired German pilots from World War II, the two men met and became good friends.
The Relationship Between Thailand and Japan and War Compensation
On June 12, 1940, Thailand and Japan signed the “Japan-Thailand Friendship Treaty.”
On January 25, 1942, Thailand joined the Axis powers and declared war on China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union.
In 1943, Thai forces attacked Yunnan Province and the Xishuangbanna region in China. They also carried out air strikes in Myanmar and occupied four states of Malaysia, which were incorporated into Thailand.
On August 16, 1945, the Thai government suddenly announced that the declaration of war on the Axis powers in 1942 was a mistake made by the spokesperson who either read the wrong script or misinterpreted the map. Therefore, the declaration of war on China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union was invalid.
That same year, Thailand announced the return of the four occupied states of Malaysia and, at the same time, demanded ¥15 billion in war compensation from Japan as victims.
In 1955, Japan and Thailand signed the “Japan-Thailand Special Yen Issue Resolution Agreement,” and Japan provided ¥15 billion as war compensation to Thailand.
¥15 billion was a huge amount in 1955. In that year, a bath in Tokyo cost only ¥15, whereas now it costs ¥470.
The diplomatic finesse of the Thai government is truly remarkable. If it were another country, it would probably be torn apart.
The Reasons Why American Soldiers Use Spam Cans to Shine Shoes
The US military includes Spam canned lunch meat in their rations. Due to the shortage of logistical supplies during wartime, the starch content in the cans increased. Therefore, American soldiers often use it to shine their shoes.
One time, Margaret Thatcher told someone that the happiest moment of her childhood during World War II was when she had the chance to eat Spam canned lunch meat.