Did You Know........

[cutiger83]

I thought I would start a thread where people can post little known military historical facts. This is not for well known events but for the rare and unusual.

 

Did you know that women landed in the first wave on D-Day in North Africa? Nurses were hiding behind sand dunes as snipers fired on them. The following is quoted from the Army Nurse Corps website:

 

Early in the morning of 8 November 1942, sixty nurses attached to the 48th Surgical Hospital climbed over the side of a ship off the coast of North Africa and down an iron ladder into small assault boats. Each boat carried 5 nurses, 3 medical officers, and 20 enlisted men. The nurses wore helmets and carried full packs containing musette bags, gas masks, and canteen belts. Only their Red Cross arm bands and lack of weapons distinguished them from fighting troops. They waded ashore near the coastal town of Arzew on D-day of Operation TORCH with the rest of the assault troops and huddled behind a sand dune while enemy snipers took potshots at anything that moved. That evening they found shelter in some abandoned beach houses. These poorly constructed, noisome structures seemed like a safe haven in which to rest. Before the night was over, however, their commanding officer ordered them to an abandoned civilian hospital, where they began caring for invasion casualties. There was no electricity or running water, and the only medical supplies available were those the nurses had brought themselves. The hospital was under sporadic sniper fire.

[manayunkman]

Did you know that when the 503rd jumped on Corregidor that a Red Cross civilian named Harold Sempleman jumped with them.

 

Minutes after hitting the ground under fire he was serving coffee and sandwiches to anyone who could get to him.

 

And did you know that this wasn’t his first time.

 

Included is a picture of a short snorter he signed.

[cutiger83]

2 minutes ago, manayunkman said:

Did you know that when the 503rd jumped on Corregidor that a Red Cross civilian named Harold Sempleman jumped with them.

 

Minutes after hitting the ground under fire he was serving coffee and sandwiches to anyone who could get to him.

 

And did you know that this wasn’t his first time.

 

Included is a picture of a short snorter he signed.

Great addition to the thread! 

[manayunkman]

It’s a great idea.

[Allan H.]

M&Ms were developed to allow soldiers to carry chocolate with them without having it melt on them. M&M Production began in 1941. The two M's represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr. and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey Chocolate's president William F. R. Murrie. The original M&Ms were produced by Hershey  because Hershey had control of all of the rationed chocolate during WWII. During the war, M&Ms were only sold to the US Army with the Navy and Marine Corps getting their piece later in the war.

 

The M&M partnership was dissolved after WWII, when Hershey sold their interests in M&Ms to Mars. Today, M&Ms are the most widely consumed candy on the planet.

 

Allan

[1canpara]

Another fun fact…and I mean FUN 😁 Who didn’t love Silly Putty as a kid? It was developed during WWII while research was being conducted for a synthetic rubber as the Japanese had invaded most of the rubber producing countries severely limiting the rubber required for the US Army for tires, rafts, gas masks, aircraft parts etc as they entered the war in 1941. 
 

….and of course years later provided hours of fun for kids! 
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silly_Putty

[Allan H.]

Another interesting fact about Silly Putty- it was widely used by helicopter pilots in Vietnam as hearing protection! They used the putty to make ear plugs!

 

Allan

[manayunkman]

That Americans were awarded Posthumous Purple Hearts  for having been killed in the Hiroshima atomic blast.

 

I never knew that until a forum member posted pictures of a small group.

[cutiger83]

These are some great additions!  Very interesting about the silly putty as ear protection.

 

...Kat

[cutiger83]

Did you know...the WASP flew every aircraft in the USAAF inventory including the Bell P-59 Airacomet.

[Allan H.]

Cyanoacrylate, the chemical name for Super Glue, was discovered in 1942 by scientists attempting to design clear plastic gun sights for the war effort. The substance stuck to everything, which was initially seen as a downside. Eastman Kodak researchers  rediscovered it in 1951. Super Glue was commercially marketed, in 1958.

 

I have had a number of Vietnam vets tell me that it worked like a champ as a suture material for closing wounds.

 

Allan

[LE LOUP DES MERS]

Did you know that during the winter in the Korean war there was an operation called tootsie roll? Out of ammunition, Marines called in for 60mm mortar ammo; code name “Tootsie Rolls.” The radio operator did not have the code sheets that would tell him what a “Tootsie Roll” was, but knew the request was urgent; so he called in the order. Soon, pallets of Tootsie Roll candies parachuted from the sky to the First Marine Division. While they were not ammunition, this candy from the sky provided well needed nourishment for the troops. They also learned they could use warmed Tootsie Rolls to plug bullet holes, sealing them as they refroze. Some people may know this some people may not I know I had no idea this happened until I first read about it.

[manayunkman]

Did you know that for days after the bombing attack on Pearl Harbor the armed forces in Hawaii used the Boy Scouts of America to deliver messages in their attempt to keep radio silence?

 

 

[AirForceBrat]

Did you know that there was an American fighter pilot who defected to the Germans during WW2. His name was 2nd Lt. Martin James Monti and he stole a P-38 lightning night fighter and defected to the Nazis. Supposedly he parents were German and Italian immigrants and he was raised as an anti-communist. He did not like the allied support of Russia and felt that only with the help of Germany could communism be defeated. So, he delivered a brand new P-38 to the Nazis.

[sundance]

Any idea on Martin Monti's life following his defection? I'll have to look him up.

[ScottG]

Did you know that Sgt Alvin York's maternal Grandfather was a Civil War deserter from the 11th Michigan Cavalry? William H Harrington deserted while on campaign to marry Nancy Pike. After deserting he changed his surname to Brooks. He became involved in an old feud and killed a man named Preston Huff. After this he and Nancy returned to Michigan to go into hiding from friends of Huff's. Eventually he was found and extradited to stand trial but there would be none. Brooks was taken from jail at night and dragged behind horses and shot multiple times before eventually dying. His Daughter would would eventually marry York's Father in Pall Mall Tn.          Scott

[sundance]

Interesting, albeit a bit less than wholesome.

[USMC_COLLECTOR]

My Great Uncle met Ernie Pyle on his ship at Iwo! He was a Marine and gave him his deck jacket from the Ships captain. You can even see Ernie wearing it before he was killed on Okinawa.

You can see part of the story at the bottom from my family archives.