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Nevada Convert

Compelling WWII Fact You Didn’t Know?

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Churchill was nearly killed by the German’s in March 1945. He decided to make a daring visit to see the troops as they crossed the Rhine. The Germans were right there on the east side and began shelling Churchill’s position. Along with him was General Bradley and Montgomery. Of course, the Germans had no idea Churchill and the generals were there. The first shells landed 100 yards away in the water. The second barrage landed adjacent to their parked vehicles. They got out and shells hit exactly where they were at when shelling started. 

Once a bunch of Germans were taken prisoner on the east side, Churchill drove across the pontoon water bridge and pulled up right next to the captured Germans. When the Germans saw Churchill get out of his vehicle next to them, you could see the total shock on their faces as they couldn’t believe he was right there in a combat zone. 

Churchill just loved doing it. He really boosted morale amongst the soldiers and they were simply amazed to see him there. You have to remember he saw combat in India in 1895, and was a commander in the trenches right at the front fighting Germans in WWI. He was quite a decorated soldier and leader in combat. So knowing that, it makes his WWII actions easier to understand. 

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A total of 350,000 airmen served with the Eighth Air Force in England, and to this number, 26,000 were killed, or 7.42 percent. Compared to the percentages of other military branches – U.S. Marines 3.29%, U.S. Army 2.25%, and U.S. Navy 0.41%. - the Air Corps sustained the heaviest losses. More airman with the Eighth Air Force lost their lives than the entire Marine Corps, whose enrollment included 250,000 more people. Strictly measuring the mortality rate for the 210,000 air crewmen the casualty figure soars to 12.38% and in addition, 21,000 from the Eighth Air Force wound up in prison of war camps.

The same production group that created Band of Brothers and The Pacific just started filming Masters of the Air this last week. It will cover the B-17 crews fighting the air war over Europe.

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Random point. There is a museum in London where you can tour the bunker that Churchill used to coordinate war efforts during WWII. I’d highly recommend it for all you war buffs. It’s called Churchill War Rooms??? I think. It’s probably just contrived but the stories told on the headsets and the setting is well done. 

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When I was in Okinawa Japan I got to tour a bunker where the Japanese top military leaders were holed up in the last few days of the battle for Okinawa. Rather than surrender to the Americans they all gathered in a room and blew themselves up. You could still see the marks on the stone wall from the shrapnel.  

I got to tour a WWII museum about the battle for Okinawa. It was interesting seeing things from the Japanese civilian perspective. 

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17 minutes ago, NevadaFan said:

Random point. There is a museum in London where you can tour the bunker that Churchill used to coordinate war efforts during WWII. I’d highly recommend it for all you war buffs. It’s called Churchill War Rooms??? I think. It’s probably just contrived but the stories told on the headsets and the setting is well done. 

I never had the chance to visit the War Rooms when I was in London as it was under construction at the time. I did have the chance to visit the Imperial War Museum and it was amazing, I spent nearly 4 hours in there and still never got to see all of it. The Blitz Bomb Shelter experience was really good.   

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How would I post it if I didn't know it? Or am I supposed to look one up and then post?

On 12/1/2016 at 12:26 PM, WyomingCoog said:

I own a vehicle likely worth more than everything you own combined and just flew first class (including a ticket for a 2 1/2 year old), round trip to Las Vegas and I'm not 35 yet. When you accomplish something outside of finishing a book, let me know. When's the last time you saw a 2 year old fly first class in their own seat? Don't tell me about elite.  

28 minutes ago, NorCalCoug said:

I’d happily compare IQ’s with you any day of the week.

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3 hours ago, ridgeview2 said:

I never had the chance to visit the War Rooms when I was in London as it was under construction at the time. I did have the chance to visit the Imperial War Museum and it was amazing, I spent nearly 4 hours in there and still never got to see all of it. The Blitz Bomb Shelter experience was really good.   

London visit in 2022.

I surely plan to go to the IWM.

and I just send my US passport to Philly for renewal.

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27 minutes ago, Lester_in_reno said:

London visit in 2022.

I surely plan to go to the IWM.

and I just send my US passport to Philly for renewal.

One of the best vacations of my life. England played and won a key World Cup qualifying match against a European rival. It was mayhem and so much fun acting like I knew chit about euro football. 😂

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The single leading cause of death for soldiers in WW2 was vampires sneaking into camps at night and killing them...........Since this is something I just made up its definately a fact I didn't know and it certainly is compelling.

 

But speaking of WW2 museums. A couple summers ago I was in Gdansk, Poland. They had a massive WW2 museum there. Was very interesting to see WW2 from the polish POV. Would highly recommend if ever in that part of Europe. Plus Gdansk is a very cool city.

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1 minute ago, tspoke said:

The single leading cause of death for soldiers in WW2 was vampires sneaking into camps at night and killing them...........Since this is something I just made up its definately a fact I didn't know and it certainly is compelling.

 

But speaking of WW2 museums. A couple summers ago I was in Gdansk, Poland. They had a massive WW2 museum there. Was very interesting to see WW2 from the polish POV. Would highly recommend if ever in that part of Europe. Plus Gdansk is a very cool city.

Oof. Poland got spitroasted by Germany and Russia.

Most people have probably heard how the Nazis tried to breed more "aryan" members, not just in Germany, but in the Nordic countries they occupied as well. Well, Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad, better known for being a member of ABBA, was a daughter of one such union.

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11 minutes ago, son of a gun said:

Oof. Poland got spitroasted by Germany and Russia.

Most people have probably heard how the Nazis tried to breed more "aryan" members, not just in Germany, but in the Nordic countries they occupied as well. Well, Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad, better known for being a member of ABBA, was a daughter of one such union.

Yeah they had it rough which I knew but it was really interesting to see everything framed from their POV instead of swwing what happened over there through the eyes of the US and our involvement in the war.

Would have liked to spend more time there but my travel partners were not as interested as me so after they left I figured I should only spend an extra hour or so there instead of all afternoon.

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58 minutes ago, Lester_in_reno said:

London visit in 2022.

I surely plan to go to the IWM.

and I just send my US passport to Philly for renewal.

How long are you going for? I went to London for a month during my study abroad program back in college. We went to all of the museums, art galleries, the Roman Baths, Stonehenge, Cambridge. If you want to take your lady on a classy date I suggest booking a night at the Proms to see the London Symphony. I saw their performance of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite and it was simply fantastic. Also there is a bullet train that goes from London to Paris that's a 2 hour trip if you want to go to France.  

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3 hours ago, halfmanhalfbronco said:

Only 20% of the men born in the Soviet Union in 1923 survived the war.

 

So, help me understand why you are a russohphile?  I generally find you a centrist, but am curious why you are a russian apologist.  Are you ethnic Russian?

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Gino Bartali hid a Jewish family in his apartment and transported false papers for the Catholic Church to protect Jews from the holocaust. And then he lived the rest of his life and talked about it to almost no one.

We’re all sitting in the dugout. Thinking we should pitch. How you gonna throw a shutout when all you do is bitch.

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10 hours ago, halfmanhalfbronco said:

Only 20% of the men born in the Soviet Union in 1923 survived the war.

 

Which is why we’re so blessed to have @UNLV2001and @Akkulawith us here today. 

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On 5/4/2021 at 10:53 AM, NevadaFan said:

Random point. There is a museum in London where you can tour the bunker that Churchill used to coordinate war efforts during WWII. I’d highly recommend it for all you war buffs. It’s called Churchill War Rooms??? I think. It’s probably just contrived but the stories told on the headsets and the setting is well done. 

Been there and it’s not “contrived.” 

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This is a wild story, and I didn't know it happened at all until only about 10 years ago!

 

There was a Jewish family living in France who, around 1941, found themselves hiding under the floorboards of a neighbors farmhouse when SS officers arrived to try and locate them. Through some negotiation with the farmer, the SS realized the location of the Dreyfus family and opened fire. The only person able to crawl out and escape with their life was the teenage daughter, Shosanna.

A few years later, she was living in Paris and operating her own cinema. She caught the attention of a young Nazi war hero who was having a film made about his wartime heroics. Unaware of her Jewish heritage, the soldier decided he wanted Shosanna's theater to host the movie premier. This was a huge deal, as key Nazi figures such as Hitler, Goebbels, and the very officer who ordered the murder of her family, Hans Landa, would be in attendance.

Shosanna decides to go along with allowing the Nazi film to be shown in her theater, but devises an elaborate plan to sabotage the film reel, setting fire to the theater and killing all the Nazi officials inside. Unknown to her, there is an Allied effort to sneak a few men into the theater at the premier as well, led by Lt. Aldo Raine.

Shosanna is able to successfully complete her plan of starting a fire with all Nazi officials inside with the help of her projection aide Marcel, despite losing her life at the hands of the Nazi war hero in the process. SS officer Landa is able to identify a few of the Allied officers and takes them prisoner, however he ultimately decides to allow their mission to be completed in exchange for safe passage beyond enemy lines and a full pardon for his crimes. Back inside the theater, 2 Allied operatives enter the opera box where Hitler and Goebbels were seated and shot them to death with machine guns until explosives in the theater were soon detonated, killing all patrons.

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4 hours ago, misplacedcowboy said:

This is a wild story, and I didn't know it happened at all until only about 10 years ago!

 

There was a Jewish family living in France who, around 1941, found themselves hiding under the floorboards of a neighbors farmhouse when SS officers arrived to try and locate them. Through some negotiation with the farmer, the SS realized the location of the Dreyfus family and opened fire. The only person able to crawl out and escape with their life was the teenage daughter, Shosanna.

A few years later, she was living in Paris and operating her own cinema. She caught the attention of a young Nazi war hero who was having a film made about his wartime heroics. Unaware of her Jewish heritage, the soldier decided he wanted Shosanna's theater to host the movie premier. This was a huge deal, as key Nazi figures such as Hitler, Goebbels, and the very officer who ordered the murder of her family, Hans Landa, would be in attendance.

Shosanna decides to go along with allowing the Nazi film to be shown in her theater, but devises an elaborate plan to sabotage the film reel, setting fire to the theater and killing all the Nazi officials inside. Unknown to her, there is an Allied effort to sneak a few men into the theater at the premier as well, led by Lt. Aldo Raine.

Shosanna is able to successfully complete her plan of starting a fire with all Nazi officials inside with the help of her projection aide Marcel, despite losing her life at the hands of the Nazi war hero in the process. SS officer Landa is able to identify a few of the Allied officers and takes them prisoner, however he ultimately decides to allow their mission to be completed in exchange for safe passage beyond enemy lines and a full pardon for his crimes. Back inside the theater, 2 Allied operatives enter the opera box where Hitler and Goebbels were seated and shot them to death with machine guns until explosives in the theater were soon detonated, killing all patrons.

This story would make for a great movie. They should get Brad Pitt to play the lead role...

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