The truth is stranger than fiction: WW2 facts that you would call BS if seen on a movie...

[JAG88]

It is late and I am bored, I will begin, feel free to post you own...

- Aggressively anti-communist German leader writes book in which he states his hatred for communism and declares his intention to colonize and, at the very least, displace if not get rid of the population of the nearby communist country... once he assumes power, he signs a non-aggression treaty with said neighbor and proceed to amicably divide eastern Europe like a cake among themselves.

All the hallmarks of an absurd what if... save for the fact that it happened.

 

[Bernhart]

How about a British soldier going to battle with a bow and arrow and sword.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

How about a 21 year old fighter pilot who loop-the-loop the Golden Gate bridge and who also had a flight instructor who became a US Senator and presidential candidate.

 

[michael rauls]

The Polish army charging tanks on horseback. I've read this for years but also a few that claim it never really happened. If it did you've got to admire that kind of courage if nothing else.

 

[RCAFson]

It is late and I am bored, I will begin, feel free to post you own...

- Aggressively anti-communist German leader writes book in which he states his hatred for communism and declares his intention to colonize and, at the very least, displace if not get rid of the population of the nearby communist country... once he assumes power, he signs a non-aggression treaty with said neighbor and proceed to amicably divide eastern Europe like a cake among themselves.

All the hallmarks of an absurd what if... save for the fact that it happened.

Except for the part where he then proceeds to invade the communist state ~21 months later.

The really bizarre part is that the state that the Germans first invade, in Sept 1939, steadfastly refused to sign an alliance with the communist state to provide for a common response to a German invasion.

 

[JAG88]

Except for the part where he then proceeds to invade the communist state ~21 months later.

The really bizarre part is that the state that the Germans first invade, in Sept 1939, steadfastly refused to sign an alliance with the communist state to provide for a common response to a German invasion.

A bit more complicated than that actually, Poland and the USSR fought a war immediately after WW2, Poland won and humiliated the USSR by getting a nice slice of Belarus as spoils ensuring Soviet enmity... so the USSR was actually by FAR the biggest threat to them and, in that context, the crazy part would have been not allying with Germany...

...yeah, I know.

They were in a difficult position, one that didnt left margin for error, hard to see Poland coming out somehow unscathed.

Edit: Corrected, WW1.

 

[RCAFson]

A bit more complicated than that actually, Poland and the USSR fought a war immediately after WW2, Poland won and humiliated the USSR by getting a nice slice of Belarus as spoils ensuring Soviet enmity... so the USSR was actually by FAR the biggest threat to them and, in that context, the crazy part would have been not allying with Germany...

...yeah, I know.

They were in a difficult position, one that didnt left margin for error, hard to see Poland coming out somehow unscathed.

Yes, tough decisions, but Polish diplomacy managed to ensure that they had no immediate allies... Of course, as it turned out Poland did lose Belarus, but was compensated by getting a big slice of eastern Germany. There was a Franco-Soviet alliance and the failure by the UK, France and Poland to conclude a more concrete alliance with the USSR precipitated the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

 

[wuzak]

A bit more complicated than that actually, Poland and the USSR fought a war immediately after WW2, Poland won and humiliated the USSR

WW1?

 

[wuzak]

How about a British soldier going to battle with a bow and arrow and sword.

And bagpipes.

He and a corporal also captured 42 German soldiers by themselves, and then marched them back to Allied lines in the Italy campaign.

 

[Able One]

Any Panther or Tiger driving more than 150 km without requiring a repair

 

[swampyankee]

WW1?

Post WWI. Neither Germany nor Russia believed there should be an independent Poland; the USSR tried to return Poland to its prewar state of non-existence in 1919-1920 or so.

Edited to add:

But you knew that, and were reacting to a previous posters (presumably inadvertent) error. One thing I tend to find interesting is the remarkable continuity between the behavior of the czars and the commissars towards their neighbors. How many people really think that, had the monarchy won the Russian Civil War, Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, the Baltics, etc would have been permitted to continue in unmolested independence?

 

[Snautzer01]

U.S. troops were the highest paid during World War II, with enlisted
personnel receiving (in 1994 dollars) an average of $750 a month and
officers $2,200 a month. Troops in most other armies received token
amounts, or rarely more than a few hundred dollars a month. Officers
usually did much better, with many making about half what U.S.
officers were paid. U.S. troops overseas were quick to note that not
only were their dollars valuable, but so were the numerous goods they
received as part of their normal rations. Cigarettes and candy were
particularly valuable, as were the generally despised .(by the soldiers)
rations on which they often had to subsist.

This led to the British
referring to the relatively flush GIs as "oversexed, overpaid, and over
here."
Less well known is the phrase often said of the less-affluent
British troops, "underpaid, undersexed, and under Eisenhower" (who
was in command of all the Allied forces).

 

[taly01]

That horse transport still played a large part in most armies until mid-late war years.

The large number of rounds fired without hitting the target, even the 88 anti-tank gun during its best times with Afrika Korp was ~ 7% hit rate.

 

[swampyankee]

One I think would cause a lot of people to cry "BS!" would be that Italian fascism was not intrinsically antisemitic, unlike nazism. (see, for example, Fascist Regime is Not Unfriendly to Italian Jews - Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Italy | www.yadvashem.org), [eta] until Mussolini dalliance, then alliance, with Hitler, [/eta] which started in about 1936 (note that Italian fascism was not antisemitic before then, per se, but Mussolini was).

Actually, the politics of quite a few of the European countries pre-WW2 would cause a lot of people to cry "BS!" Quite a few of them were fascist.

 

[JAG88]

WW1?

Yep, corrected.

 

[JAG88]

Yes, tough decisions, but Polish diplomacy managed to ensure that they had no immediate allies... Of course, as it turned out Poland did lose Belarus, but was compensated by getting a big slice of eastern Germany. There was a Franco-Soviet alliance and the failure by the UK, France and Poland to conclude a more concrete alliance with the USSR precipitated the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

Well, they did have allies... but they chose wrong, they opted to sit while they were being crushed in a two-front war, and those allies knew they would not help Poland even if Germany was the sole attacker, they were simply using the Poles to win time.

The Poles should have chose to bit the bullet and at least neutralize one of those fronts diplomatically, but that would have likely meant giving away lands with Polish population, not very likely. Tough spot.

 

[swampyankee]

Well, they did have allies... but they chose wrong, they opted to sit while they were being crushed in a two-front war, and those allies knew they would not help Poland even if Germany was the sole attacker, they were simply using the Poles to win time.

The Poles should have chose to bit the bullet and at least neutralize one of those fronts diplomatically, but that would have likely meant giving away lands with Polish population, not very likely. Tough spot.

I'm not sure either German or the USSR could be neutralized diplomatically; both countries (the USSR in its prveious guise as czarist Russia; Germany in its as Prussia) had a very long history of hatred for the concept of an independent Poland.

 

[JAG88]

I'm not sure either German or the USSR could be neutralized diplomatically; both countries (the USSR in its prveious guise as czarist Russia; Germany in its as Prussia) had a very long history of hatred for the concept of an independent Poland.

I dont know if hatred is the correct word, they saw it as an easy target, lacked natural borders, and it was convenient to have a buffer zone between you and a powerful neighbor.

And they got used to that.

Edit: But, yeah, it would have been very hard, cant see Hitler or Stalin honoring any treaty with Poland long term, they would have switched from being the entree to being the dessert at best...

 

[Dinger]

The most amazing story I know from WW2 that I would certainly call BS if I saw it portrayed in a movie concerns Captain Guy "Grif" Griffiths. He was a Royal Marine, one of a few serving in the Fleet Air Arm when war was declared. He was captured in the first few days of the war in the "Fanad Head Incident", itself an amazing series of events that many might deem unlikely if they were presented on screen. - Full story on one of my webpages here: Fanad Head Incident. But the most unbelievable part of his story is that concerning his escape. He was involved in many escape attempts during his time in POW camp but they were all frustrated. That was until the final months of the war when the prisoners we marched South towards Austria. During the march, Griffiths simply dropped out of the column while it was going through a small town in Southern Germany. The town was crowded with Axis troops in all types of different uniforms and he simply walked into a German canteen area and helped himself to food. You have to remember he was wearing his Dark Green Royal Marine dress uniform, quite unlike the usual khaki battledress of British soldiers. He was joined by a group of German soldiers who assumed he was a Hungarian officer. Griffiths knew a bit of German and they got into conversation. The Germans even produced some drink and they toasted "ultimate victory". Now the story gets really incredible. They asked this "Hungarian officer" since he appeared to have nothing else to do if he would interrogate the numerous escaped allied prisoners who were being brought in. He accepted- as long as he had written authority- which was promptly obtained, signed by the local chief-of-police and the Burgomeister! - So he set up an office to which escaped POWS were brought (mostly American). They came in through the front door and Griffiths promptly liberated them through the back door! The Germans apparently thought this brutal Hungarian officer was executing them! Eventually, the town was liberated by American forces and Griffiths joined them, taking part in fighting in the Danube region. There was no "official" way for Griffiths and some other escaped POWs with the Americans to be repatriated to England. The Germans refused to allow their entry to a POW camp that was liberated without official paperwork, and the Red Cross would only repatriate prisoners from official POW camps. So the prisoners had to forge German papers and be marched into the German POW camp by cooperative captured Germans. Then, when the Red Cross arrived at the camp a couple of days later the prisoners were officially "liberated". After cadging a lift to Rheims, and then another in a Lancaster bomber back to England, he arrived back at Royal Marines Easney Barracks on VE day. - The story is from an interview with Griffiths published in the Portsmouth Evening News on 13th June 1958 on the occasion of his retirement from the Royal Marines.

Story at this link - The Amazing Escape of Guy Griffiths

 

[pbehn]

The story of Winkle Brown would make a completely unbelievable movie with a "whats that stuff about him speaking to Goering" comment.