Those Who Don’t Know Their History Are Doomed

In my last column, “mature” readers liked the review of American WWII actors and actresses who played important roles during another war to end all wars. The book “World War II: 4,139 Strange and Fascinating Facts,” which I ransomed with 50 cents from a goodwill store “library” in Sun City West, is loaded with hot stuff rescued from the historical trash heap. I still have a lot of actors to cover, but here are other fascinating tidbits that may tug your lobes.

The German Navy Secret Service Admiral Wilhelm Canaris of Hitler’s staff commanded the Abwehr, which was divided into three sections: espionage, sabotage and counterespionage. I thought the selection of the insignia for the organization was a bit bizarre. The three sections were identified by three brass monkeys named “Hear No Evil,” “Speak No Evil,” and “See No Evil.” It reminded me of Senator Bob Dole’s humorous description of three presidents: Jimmy Carter played “No Evil,” Jerry Ford was “Hear No Evil,” and Richard Nixon was “Evil.”

The Aluminum Trail

So many Allied transport aircraft were lost flying the dangerous routes over the Himalayas from India to China, it became known as the “Aluminum Trail” for the number of crashed aircraft littering the mountains. The famous cowboy Gene Autry flew the route for years and never had an accident. After all, he was a “white-hat” kind of guy.

A Bitter Pill To Swallow—In More Ways Than One

American servicemen in the Pacific Theater were required to take atabrine daily to ward off the malaria bug. The drug not only turned the skin yellow, it tasted like bitter body waste. Ironically, atabrine was invented by the I G. Farben Co. of Germany, one of the largest chemical companies in the world. It also manufactured the gas used to kill millions of Jews and minorities in the gas chambers of Holocaust concentration camps.

Boy, Those Pancakes Really Blew Me Away!

I had demolition training in the Marine Corps, blowing up buildings and things in various forms, but I had never heard of the explosive “Aunt Jemima” until I acquired this book. The Office of Strategic Services (055), which was later turned into the CIA, developed an explosive substance that looked like flour. It could be mixed with water, baked into what looked like bread and in emergencies could even be eaten. It was easy to cross enemy lines with because of its appearance. It was used primarily in the Pacific Theater.

How About A Little Dachshund With Your Sauerkraut?

On January 1, 1940, it became legal to sell and buy dog meat in Germany. The Germans called it “Blockade Mutton” because they knew they would be battling the English soon. Dog meat was actually part of the German diet in every major crisis since the beginning of the 17th century. Dachshunds had the reputation of being the tastiest. Do you suppose that’s where “wiener dog” came from?

Treachery In Uniform

On August 31, 1939, men in Polish uniforms attacked a German radio station near the border at Gleiwitz. After the attack the German SS killed all of those in Polish uniforms so they could not be witnesses. They had been Germans hired to attack the station by Reinhard Heydrich, the commander of the SS. This operation was planned by him as a ruse to start the war with Poland on the next day because Germany was “attacked.” The Germans killed after the attack were known by the code words “Canned Goods.”

A Valuable Piece Of Military Equipment

The largest supply of condoms ever issued for one military operation occurred on the D-Day landings at Normandy. They were stretched over the muzzles of rifles by the troops to keep out water when they plunged ashore from the landing boats.

Big Dora

The Germans were always quite innovative in the development of unusual weapons. They built “Dora,” a cannon with a barrel 107 feet long which fired a shell 31.5 inches across weighing five tons up to 29 miles. It took 60 railroad cars and a crew of 4,120 to service and fire it. In one battle situation it destroyed an ammunition dump which had been buried 100 feet below the ground. It also could fire a seven ton shell over 24 miles. The British developed a ten-ton bomb they used against dams and concrete fortifications. They called it the “Earthquake Bomb” and “The Grand Slam.”

Why Europe Is Loaded With Raccoons

Hermann Goering was one of the more interesting characters in Hitler’s inner circle. The Nazi head of the Luffwaffe in WWII, Hermann was a WWI fighter pilot who replaced the Red Baron, Manfred von Richtofen, who had a WWI world record of 80 downed aircraft when he was killed by Canadian pilot Roy Brown. Goering was no slouch as a pilot either, being credited with shooting down 22 Allied aircraft after assuming command of von Richtofen’s squadron. Goering was wounded in the famous 1923 Beer Hall Putsch in Munich and became a drug addict from treatments of his wounds.

Goering was a clothes horse known as “The Flying Tailor” because of the many different uniforms he had made. At one time Goering fell in love with raccoon coats and wanted to start his own fur coat business. As raccoons were not native to Europe, he imported four raccoons from the United States to breed them. The raccoons failed to breed under his charge so he turned them loose in forests close by. Evidently, the raccoons still remembered how to do it because Europe is now overrun with descendants of Goering’s famous four. When he surrendered in Bavaria in 1945, he had over 20,000 paracodin pills, a synthetic morphine drug, with him. Convicted of war crimes at Nuremburg, Goering swallowed pills and committed suicide before the Allies could execute him.

Eric Hartmann of the Luffwaffe has to be the leading air ace of all-time. In WWII he was credited with shooting down 352 enemy aircraft. Flying 1,425 missions in an ME109, the famous German fighter, Hartmann fought in 800 air combats and was shot down 16 times! He survived and surrendered to the Americans at the end of the war. We turned him over to the Russians, who then unceremoniously sentenced him to ten years in prison for some reason. He was returned to Germany in 1955 and given their highest decorations.

Fight Fiercely, Harvard!

How many historians know that the “Sieg Heil Sieg Heil” marching song of the Nazi Party was stolen from Harvard University’s famous “Fight Fight Fight” song? The most probable thief was Ernst Hanfstaengl, a close friend of Hitler’s, an adviser to him in the early days of the Nazis—and a graduate of Harvard!

A Battle Which Involved 1,300,000 Men And Women

Being a teen during WWII, I had an avid interest in all things military: making ships, planes and tanks out of cardboard and paste. I just don’t remember anything about the battle of Kursk, a Russian railway junction and industrial center. But it proved to be the greatest clash of armor and men in history over a period of 17 days starting on July 5, 1941. This epic battle engaged over 1,300,000 men, 3,600 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 3,130 aircraft. The Germans lost 500,000 men and 1,500 tanks out of over 100 divisions of troops. Russian losses were not recorded, but Kursk was the turning point of the Russo-German part of the war. The battle for Stalingrad has always been mentioned as the tipping point, but the losses endured by Hitler’s armies at Kursk weakened Germany considerably—and they never recovered.

The Nazi Legacy Of Lidice

After SS General Reinhart Heydrich was assassinated by the Czech underground, the SS decided to make the Village of Lidice and its citizens an example. Every male over the age of 15 was shot in the village, every adult female was sent to a concentration camp and then shot. All children were sent to Germany for adoption. All buildings were blown up and leveled and the ground was heavily salted so that nothing would grow there again. In memorials after the war, towns in Mexico and the United States changed their names to Lidice.

Remember “The Deadly Dozen” and The Drunk Cowboy On The Sleeping Horse?

Lee Marvin got to Hollywood late, but the ex-Marine played many a hero and many a villain in dozens of films even though he had earned 100 percent disability from his WWII wounds. He was even terrific in comedic roles. Lee enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 17 and might hold the record of participating in 21 major beach assaults in the Pacific Theater from Kwajelein to Saipan. In the battle for Saipan Lee’s company hit the beach with 247 Marines. At the end of the battle Lee was one of six to survive, but he had to spend 13 months in the hospital to recover from his injuries. He was on physical disability payments all of his life. While Lee was fighting on tropical islands, his father fought his way across Europe as an Army sergeant.

The Sloppy One Was A Pretty Good Shot

Walter Matthau, the sloppy one of “The Odd Couple,” enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942 and served as a radio operator and gunner in the European Theater. He won six battle stars and was discharged as a staff sergeant in 1945.

A Real Spooky Duo

To end this column on WWII facts, I’m going to quote directly a section on comparing Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte. This is spooky stuff, almost a reincarnation.

—Both had photographic memories.
—Both were foreigners to the countries they headed.
—Both were contemptuously called “carpet chewers.”
—Napoleon was 5’ 7” tall and Hitler was 5’ 8”.
—Napoleon’s coup d’etat of Bramise was on November 9, 1799. Hitler’s attempted Putsch in Munich was on November 9, 1923.
—Both started planning their invasions of Russia while still preparing for an invasion of Britain.
—Napoleon crossed the Niernan River en route to Moscow on June 22,1813.
—Hitler launched his invasion of Russia on June 22, 1941.
—Napoleon captured Vilna on June 24, 1813; Hitler captured it on June 24, 1941.
—Napoleon took eight weeks to advance nearly to Moscow and was thrown back to his starting point in half that time, four weeks. Hitler took two summer campaigns to advance nearly to Moscow and was thrown back in half that time, one summer campaign.
—Napoleon died on May 5; Hitler attempted to hold out in Berlin until May 5, but committed suicide April 30, 1945.