Leo Marks, a WWII cryptographer, suspected that Germans had infiltrated the Dutch network in 1943 because all messages were being sent without any errors. To test his theory, Marks sent a message with “HH” and received “HH” in response. “HH” was a common German sign-off for “Heil Hitler.”
WW2
World War II Spitfires only had…
World War II Spitfires only had about 20 seconds of ‘gun time’ before running out of ammo, making most movie depictions wildly inaccurate.
Also one of the biggest issues any historian of WW2 aircombat notices in movies depicting it, is that anyone shoots anything down.
D-Day was originally supposed…
D-Day was originally supposed to happen on 5th June but meteorologist James Stagg persuaded Dwight Eisenhower to postpone by a day right at the last minute. The weather conditions had to be just right for the landings and planners took the tide, wind speed and even the moon cycle into account.
In effort to keep morale high for WWII…
In effort to keep morale high for WWII troops fighting in the Pacific, the British built a floating brewery and dispatched it to the South Seas. America did something similar with ice cream. They recommissioned a warship to make ice cream during WWII.
21 leading Nazis were given…
21 leading Nazis were given IQ tests at Nuremberg. The average score was 128. The smartest Nazi was Hjalmar Schacht, a key resistance fighter who was acquitted on all charges. He scored 143.
Rolex gave watches to British prisoners…
Rolex gave watches to British prisoners in WW2 and allowed them to pay after they had been released. One of these watches was sold for more than $65,000 in Sydney, Australia in 2006.
During Germany’s invasion of Russia….
During Germany’s invasion of Russia, Joseph Goebbels sent a plea to the citizens of Germany to send in their winter clothing for the troops. This resulted in many Nazis on the grim Russian front wearing incongruously festive Christmas outfits.
Hitler accused Czechoslovakia…
Hitler accused Czechoslovakia of committing genocide against ethnic Germans, prior to annexing and invading the country.
The Ritchie Boys was a group of…
The Ritchie Boys was a group of German-born Jews who fled their homeland, came to America, and then joined the U.S. Army to use their knowledge of the German language and culture to return to Europe and fight Nazism.
Operation Alaska, Finalaska or New Finland…
Operation Alaska, Finalaska or New Finland was a proposed plan to evacuate entire Finnish population (3.8 million) to Alaska during the WW2.