Ridiculous Events During World War 2

Not all moments in World War II are filled with heroic glory. When the whole world is plunged into war, of course, not all who go to war are really tactical savvy.

World War II has always been known as the most brutal war in human history. However, did you know that World War II also had many unique events that even seemed ridiculous.

Some of these events were deliberately carried out as part of the strategy and some happened unexpectedly outside of the plan. Curious about the unique events in World War II that will make us shake our heads? Let's discuss it in the following list.

1. Empty Island Invasion

In 1943, United States (US) and Canadian troops jointly invaded Kiska Island and determined to seize it from the occupying Japanese forces. The attack was truly ferocious. For more than a month, the island was bombarded with bombings that dropped about 424 tons of explosives from the air and 330 tons from the ocean. When it calmed down a bit, the combined forces came charging.

United States troops, about 35,000 men, landed on the island's coast to begin the invasion. Meanwhile, Canadian troops came from the other side. The two armies fought in thick fog and darkness while trying to dodge sniper fire. Absolutely brutal.

The soldiers were hit by bullets as if from various directions, then mines exploded here and there. They fought for several days with the loss of hundreds of lives, then realized that there was no one on the island.

The Japanese troops had left 3 weeks earlier, so the American and Canadian troops were actually shooting at each other. In fact, the death toll is at least 313 soldiers.

2. Chasing American Pilots

Hazel Ying-Lee is the first Chinese-American woman to pilot for the US military. He was born in the US and sees it as his home. Thus, when the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor, he signed up for war. However, there are Americans who can't tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese descent.

It became a big problem for Hazel when she made an emergency landing in a field in Kansas. A farmer there peeked at an airplane and an Asian female pilot was out.

The farmer was flabbergasted and thought the Japanese had started the invasion by sending a female pilot to a farm in Kansas.

The farmer grabbed a straw fork, ran outside and chased Hazel around his plane, shouting to the neighbors that the Japanese had landed.

Several times, Hazel had to hide under the plane's wings to avoid being stabbed until she finally convinced the farmer that she was an American.

3. Japanese Bombs Hit the Fence

In 1945, the Japanese launched a shipment of explosive balloons to North America with the intention of starting fires in the forests so as to spread fear among the people.

But the attempt was not very successful. Of the 9000 balloons delivered, only about 300 made it across the ocean, including 1 that landed in the flat Canadian province of Saskatchewan. There, a bomb exploded and damaged the fence of a farm.

It seems trivial, but Canada is so determined to prevent panic in the community that every daily in the country is banned from reporting on it. The government even asked a 15-year-old boy to keep his mouth shut about what he witnessed on the farm.

4. Emergency Landing Takes Island

The British pilot, Sergeant Sydney Cohen, ran out of fuel for the plane he was traveling in and was forced to carry out emergency landing procedures on Lampedusa Island, which is actually under Italian control. Because Cohen did not want to risk falling in the sea so he decided to land on the island belonging to the enemy.

As soon as he landed, Italian troops rushed to him. However, the troops did not carry weapons. They even waved the white flag as a sign of surrender.

Surprisingly, the group leader told Cohen that they were about to give up. They thought that Cohen's landing was the start of a full-blown invasion, and they didn't want to take the risk.

Cohen was calm and asked to meet the top management there. While receiving the surrender statement, the Allies actually bombarded the island and strengthened Cohen's position at the same time.

Cohen also took advantage of this strange thing so that his emergency landing turned into a seizure of the entire island. instead it became a struggle for the whole island.

5. Torpedo Turning Direction

The submarine USS Tang is one of the most successful in the performance of its duties. Less than a year, the United States submarine has sunk 31 enemy ships. The crew was brave and immediately attacked the Japanese ships, even though they were outnumbered.

During that time, they always escaped the counterattack, except when the attack actually came from themselves. When it launched the final torpedo, the explosive device veered unexpectedly and returned exactly where it had launched it from.

As a result of the torpedo, the hull of the submarine was torn and the crew then had to come to the surface to await rescue. Ironic, because the rescue actually came from the Japanese destroyer they were supposed to sink.

6. Bomb attack on school

In 1945, British bombers attacked the NASI Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. However, there was something missing from the plan of attack 3 waves.

In the first wave of attacks, a British airplane crashed into a streetlight pole. Thus, the plane veered uncontrollably and one of the plane's wings crashed into the side of a house.

The bomb that was on the wing detached and fell on the civilians below. The plane itself then crashed and damaged a Catholic school.

The second wave of attacks saw the damage to the building below them and guessed that it was one of the targets, so the next bombers dropped bombs on it.

When the third wave arrived, the elementary school was already a smoking hole in the ground.

7. Drowning Due to Broken Bridge

The Germans became a pioneer in the technology of treating feces in submarines. It's quite complicated to imagine the process, but disposing of feces in a submarine is a tricky thing.

Usually, new submariners do this when they are close to sea level, but the Germans had "high pressure deep water latrines" technology that allowed them to excrete feces when the submarine was on the seabed.

The process is not easy. When the German submarine U-1206 tried at first, the engineers opened the wrong valve and the submarine sank.

Instead of directing the feces into the sea, the engineer opened a valve that allowed a mixture of feces and seawater into the submarine. Feces began to fill the submarine until it reached the batteries and emitted chlorine gas.

The submarines were forced to float to the surface to prevent gas poisoning, but they were immediately beaten by British warships when they surfaced.

The crew jumped into rubber lifeboats and paddled toward the nearest shore, leaving the submarine covered in their own feces.

8. US Air Force Attacks US Army

The US Army II Corps was on the island of Sicily when it came under attack from US Air Force aircraft, firing and dropping bombs on a ground troop tank convoy.

The ground troops then emitted a yellow glow of smoke to let the other troops know they were on the side, but the planes continued to attack.

The ground troops were surprised, there was even a suspicion that their invader was a German disguise. With no other choice, the ground forces returned fire, bringing down one plane.

The pilot of the plane managed to land safely by parachute and ground troops came to see who attacked them.

Seeing the American pilot, the tank commander shouted, "You idiot, don't you understand the yellow identification signal?"

The pilot looked confused and said curtly, "Oh, that's what that means, right?".