Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • WWII Lesser Known Events

    Uploaded by

    mari
    139 views2 pages
    1. The document summarizes several lesser-known events from World War II, including the Japanese invasion of Aleutian Islands in Alaska, South American countries' contributions to the war efforts, Nazi U-boats attacking ships along the US coast as part of Operation Drumbeat, Japan launching incendiary balloons called "Fireballs" towards North America, and the failed mass escape attempt by Allied prisoners from Stalag Luft III depicted in The Great Escape film. 2. The campaign in the Aleutian Islands saw Japanese forces occupy two Alaskan islands in 1942 and engage in low-intensity combat with US-Canadian forces for nearly a year until being evacuated. 3. While often overlooked,

    Original Description:

    Original Title

    Historical Events M

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    1. The document summarizes several lesser-known events from World War II, including the Japanese invasion of Aleutian Islands in Alaska, South American countries' contributions to the war efforts, Nazi U-boats attacking ships along the US coast as part of Operation Drumbeat, Japan launching incendiary balloons called "Fireballs" towards North America, and the failed mass escape attempt by Allied prisoners from Stalag Luft III depicted in The Great Escape film. 2. The campaign in the Aleutian Islands saw Japanese forces occupy two Alaskan islands in 1942 and engage in low-intensity combat with US-Canadian forces for nearly a year until being evacuated. 3. While often overlooked,

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    139 views2 pages

    WWII Lesser Known Events

    Uploaded by

    mari
    1. The document summarizes several lesser-known events from World War II, including the Japanese invasion of Aleutian Islands in Alaska, South American countries' contributions to the war efforts, Nazi U-boats attacking ships along the US coast as part of Operation Drumbeat, Japan launching incendiary balloons called "Fireballs" towards North America, and the failed mass escape attempt by Allied prisoners from Stalag Luft III depicted in The Great Escape film. 2. The campaign in the Aleutian Islands saw Japanese forces occupy two Alaskan islands in 1942 and engage in low-intensity combat with US-Canadian forces for nearly a year until being evacuated. 3. While often overlooked,

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 2

    Historical Events

    World War II fascinated many researchers, but also passionate about history. So, I decided to
    present a few lesser-known events; events that are not mentioned.

    1. Campaign in the Aleutian Islands: On June 3, 1942 the Japanese forces invaded and
    occupied Attu and Kiska, islands belonging to the state of Alaska. Due to the isolated
    location of the islands and the vitreous weather and geographical conditions, it took almost
    a year until the US-Canadian forces managed to evacuate the Japanese. The confrontations
    were of relatively low intensity, and many of the victims were not caused by gunfire, but by
    traps, weather and the wrong shots of some soldiers with their heads in the clouds towards
    their colleagues.
    2. South American involvement: Although it is called World War II, many do not
    include any of the countries of South America on the list of combatants. However, Brazil,
    ”during the eight months of the Italian campaign, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force
    managed to take 20,573 Axis prisoners, including two generals and 892 officers. During the
    war, Brazil lost 948 people, killed in action from all three services. ”Other South American
    states contributed to the war efforts by supplying raw materials and sending soldiers to join
    the Free French Forces.
    3. Operation Drumbeat: Nazi U-boats are usually spoken of as attacking ships in the
    Atlantic, around Greenland or closer to Europe, and less about an action by German
    submarines on the US coast. Operation Drumbeat assumed that 40 U-Boats would attack
    transport vessels very close to the coastline of various US states. Furthermore, the Nazi
    submarines launched eight saboteurs on American soil - at Long Island, New York and Ponte
    Vedra, Florida (four, from Long Island, were captured within a few weeks).
    4. Japanese Fireballs: From the autumn of 1944 to the beginning of 1945, Japan began
    launching more than 9,000 "Fireballs" on Honshu Island. These balloons were made of
    Japanese paper (washi), filled with hydrogen and explosives and were to be carried by Jet
    Stream (airflow at very high altitudes, with a speed of over 200 km / h) to North America
    where, ideally for the Japanese, they were going to explode. However, the plan was
    extremely inefficient and only 1,000 of these balloons arrived in America, where, in 1945,
    6 Americans died in a single explosion.
    5. “ The Great Escape” from Stalag Luft III: Stalag Luft III was a Nazi camp for
    prisoners of war, intended mainly for the pilots of the Allies who were shot down and taken
    captive. However, these pilots were very skilled and over 600 managed to organize an escape
    committee that secretly started digging tunnels and making plans. On March 24, 1944, the
    plan was implemented, but from the beginning, everything went wrong. Only 77 people
    managed to enter the escape tunnels and were quickly discovered. Out of the 77, only 3
    escaped. 50 of the evaders were executed at Hitler's command. This attempt to escape was
    transposed, in 1963, in the film "The Great Escape".
    This information was related based on the sources of information, but for me this topic
    brought a big plus to my general culture, because, honestly, I didn't know these events.
    Thank you!

    You might also like