Some odd WW2 facts

[chikara]

ComradeJoe wrote:
Another odd fact would be the Dog Bombs that the soviets were playing with at the beginning of the war. As the name implies, it consisted in an explosive charge tied to the back of a dog trained to run at enemy tanks. It was used in combat only once because the dogs got scared and ran back at their soviet masters, and you can guess what happened.....

Sounds like a famous Australian short story "The Loaded Dog" by "Banjo" Paterson. Three mates on the gold fields decide to do a bit of fishing with explosives. They throw the charge into the river but their faithful retriever dog does what he has been bred to do and brings it back to the men. They run for their lives but the dog thinks it is part of the game so he chases them.........

[Charlie Brown]

On August 17, 1943, an invasion force consisting of 34,426 Allied troops, including 5,300 Canadians, 95 ships (including three battleships and a heavy cruiser), and 168 aircraft landed on Kiska, only to find the island completely abandoned. The Japanese, aware of the loss of Attu and the impending arrival of the larger Allied force, had successfully removed their troops on July 28 under the cover of severe fog, without the Allies noticing. That night, however, the Imperial Japanese Navy warships, thinking they were engaged by Americans, shelled and attempted to torpedo the island of Little Kiska and the Japanese soldiers waiting to embark.
Allied casualties during the August invasion nevertheless numbered close to 200, all from friendly fire, booby traps set out by the Japanese to inflict damage on the invading allied forces, or disease. There were seventeen Americans and four Canadians killed from either friendly fire or booby traps, fifty more were wounded as a result of friendly fire or booby traps, and an additional 130 men came down with trench foot. The destroyer USS Abner Read hit a mine, resulting in 87 casualties.

Even though the island was abandoned there still existed the threat. This was US soil, recovering it in grand style was a morale booster.

[sgtkwol]

There were 22 Hitlers in the NYC phonebook prior to WWII, and 0 after.