Zeros vs. Hellcats

The Mitsubishi A6M Zero, designed by chief engineer Horikoshi Jiro, introduced itself in 1940, upon which it was met with unanimous fear from all Allied forces that opposed it. It was a lightweight, extremely maneuverable, long-range carrier-based fighter plane, armed with two 7.7mm machine guns, both high in ammo, and two 20mm cannons. With its 1,130 horsepower engine, the Zero could fly at top speeds of 350 miles per hour while at its max altitude of around 20,000 feet. Zeros were exceptional dogfighters, outmaneuvering any enemy planes they encountered, quickly dominating the skies of the West Pacific and becoming invincible in the eyes of the Allies. However, the reign of the Zero soon came to an abrupt close. 

The Grumman F6F Hellcat was introduced in 1943 as a replacement for the Grumman F4F Wildcat and as a counter to the Mitsubishi Zero. They were an ultimate success. Boasting a 2,000 horsepower engine and a durable body, Hellcats shut down the once dominant Zeros, greatly aiding the Allied war effort against Japan. They even shot down more enemy aircraft than any other Allied naval aircraft during WWII, totaling a reported 5,223 destroyed enemy planes. Japan, however, had no counter-play. They had produced more Zeros than any other plane during WWII and continued trying to rely on them. The domination of Hellcats over Zeros eventually got to the point where, in the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June of 1944, US pilots found shooting down Japanese planes so easy that the battle was described as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot". Towards the end of the war, Japan began primarily using Zeros in kamikaze tactics, as Zeros had more of an effect on the Allies by blowing up than actually being used normally. However, after the introduction of Hellcats, Japan had forever lost its power in the battles of the skies.

https://www.britannica.com/technology/Zero-Japanese-aircraft

https://www.historynet.com/goldilocks-fighter-f6f-hellcat.htm

https://www.historynet.com/myth-of-the-zero.htm

The Beginnings of Nuclear Warfare

When, in 1938, German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann released an incredible two hundred million electron volts of energy by being the first to successfully split uranium, physicians across the globe were ecstatic. Hahn and Strassmann had discovered what became known as fission, which scientists had been theorizing over and searching for ever since the discovery of radioactivity in the 1890s and James Chadwick’s discovery of the neutron in 1932. With the discovery of fission, and along with it the confirmation that the production of nuclear weapons was indeed possible, came a frenzy of nuclear research. America, fearful of Germany creating nuclear weapons before them, did not exclude itself from this.

However, before any actual engineering could be done, several questions needed to first be addressed: what element(s) could and should be used, and, though proven to be potentially possible, was creating a nuclear bomb actually a feasible goal? Further research showed that the isotope used in Hahn and Strassmann’s experiment was a rare isotope of uranium, uranium-235, and the only other reasonable contender for making nuclear bombs was Plutonium, a man-made element first created in 1940. However, both uranium-235 and plutonium were extremely difficult to procure, and scientists were estimating that many tons would be needed in order to sustain a nuclear chain reaction. These estimates, however, weren’t very accurate. It wasn’t until the summer of 1941 that credible estimates were made, approximating that just a few kilograms of U-235 would be required. Suddenly, things were finally looking possible. 

By 1939, up until 1946, the Manhattan Project—its intent kept a secret from all but a select few—was underway, but it wasn’t until 1942 that the project was led by Major General Leslie Groves and featured notable scientists such as Julius Robert Oppenheimer, who is often credited as “the father of the atomic bomb”. Whereas Groves directed the project and managed the project’s budget, Oppenheimer was more of the brains of the project, as he was a mathematical genius. Groves was ambitious, testing every encountered possibility regardless of budget concerns. Under the project, fifty-nine thousand acres of land near Oak Ridge, Tennessee had been transformed for the purpose of extracting uranium-235. A total of two billion dollars, well over twenty billion dollars today, was consumed by the Manhattan Project.

By 1945, the US had produced two bombs: a uranium-based bomb called “the Little Boy”, and a plutonium-based bomb called “the Fat Man”. The Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber plane, dropped the Little Boy on Hiroshima in August of 1945. Shortly after, the Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki, ending the war with Japan, but killing or wounding hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians in the process. Through this, the US demonstrated to the world just how terrifying modern science could truly be.

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/atomic-bomb-history

https://www.britannica.com/event/Manhattan-Project

FFF: The War of Machines

Dunkirk

The evacuation of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo and also referred to as the Miracle of Dunkirk was a major event in World War II where thousands Allied troops were successfully evacuated from the coastal town of Dunkirk. It took place in the beginning years of the war from May 26 - June 4, 1940.

After the initial declaration of war from Britain against Germany, the Phony War began, which was 8 months of stalemate where very little was done. However, this ended when Nazi Germany attacked the Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands in a blitzkrieg attack, or German for lightning attack.  After the blitzkrieg started, Axis powers moved on to France. Britain had sent troops to help defend France, along with some Belgium troops also. The Allies were expecting an attack from the Magiot line, which had much weaker natural fortifications than the Ardennes forest, which was the other option. However, the Germans surprisingly attacked through the forest, pushing the Allies further and further North until they were surrounded in Dunkirk, a small stretch of French coast.

During this time, the British PM Neville Chamberlain resigned and the more well known Winston Churchill gained power. He began Operation Dynamo with the goal of rescuing the Allied forces. However, on the first day, the navy was only able to save around 8000 troops, a small fraction of the total amount. This lack of major success was largely due to the harsh natural conditions of the area, as the shallow waters were hard for British ships to maneuver in.

However, the mission didn't stop. Churchill called to the British civilians requesting for anyone who was willing to take their own ships and help contribute to saving the troops. Hundreds of civilians responded to the call, leading to around 861 total Allied ships coming to aid. Many casualties were incurred, some from bombings on the beach and some from the damage of ships. However, the German bombings were not enough to stop the evacuation. Out of a total 861 Allied ships engaged, 243 of them were sunk. In the end, out of the 400,000 troops Allied troops that fought at Dunkirk, about 350,000 of them survived.

Sources:
The Second World War by Winston Churchill
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/dunkirk

Hitler's Mother

Before he became a fascist dictator, Adolf Hitler had a deep relationship with his mother, Klara Pözl. Even as a Führer, their bond drew attention; a profile compiled by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services showed that Hitler had an oedipal complex (a feeling of desire) for his mother due to his childhood, and even though their true relationship is relatively unknown, she played a huge role in his life may have actually been the fuel for his hate for Jews.

Hitler’s father was born Alois Schicklgruber, and Klara was his second cousin. She was actually young enough to be Alois’ daughter, and initially called Alois “Uncle”. Even after Klara became Alois’ third wife, she had trouble adjusting names, and at times would continue to call him “Uncle”.

Hitler was the fourth child of Klara and Alois, but the first one to survive infancy. He became the center of Klara’s life and would focus all of her attention on him. As Hitler grew older and failed to shine at school, Alois would continuously discipline him for his failures, and some sources say that he was continuously beaten, though that may have been the norm during that time. Regardless, Klara would always do her best to protect Hitler from those beatings and attempted to shield him.

When Hitler’s father died in 1903, Hitler didn’t have much grief for him. From that point on, Hitler’s desire to pursue other careers dominated family life. When Hitler didn’t advance in school, Klara allowed him to drop out in 1905 so he could pursue whatever he wanted. Hitler’s teen years, after he dropped out of school, was filled with him trying to discover his own passion. His mother went as far as to buy him a piano. In 1907, she even gave approval for him to follow his dream of being an artist in Vienna.

While Hitler was in Vienna, Klara was diagnosed with breast cancer, and promptly after Hitler came back to take care of her. When she passed away on December 21, 1907, Hitler was devastated. The doctor that treated her throughout this process was Jewish, which led to speculation that Hitler’s hate for Jews stemmed from hate for the doctor that wasn’t able to save his mother’s life. Later as Führer, Hitler designated Klara’s birthday, August 12, as a holiday for the Germans. In his last days in a German bunker, he kept his mother’s picture in his pocket as he committed suicide on April 30, 1945.

Sources:
https://www.biography.com/news/who-was-hitlers-mother

The Inflatable Tank

The inflatable tank was a strategic decoy created by the Ghost Army, a unit that was kept secret for 40 years after the war and was responsible for the creation of these types of decoy in order to deceive german air scouts. These tanks had a multitude of uses of increasing numbers, positions, next to real artillery to fool which ones are real, and also attempting to seem like the Red Army was closing in. These dummy tanks became crucial as it created doubt in the German reconnaissance. These tanks were also equipped with fake radio transmissions detailing their movements straight to the Germans and used huge microphones to simulate tank tracks are approaching which could be heard almost 15 miles away, causing chaos and confusing within the german ranks and putting all of their forces to an area where not a single Allied soldier was present. These dummy tanks saved and spared the lives ten's of thousands of allied forces as the Germans were caught up in the deception, especially with Ghost army's deception tactics to divert german attention from Normandy and the nine crossings of the line, both in heavily fortified places where possibly hundreds of thousands of men could have died. Even today many countries still use these inflatable tanks to their advantage of creating more numbers and drawing ariel fire away from real forces.


Sources:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/ghost-army-the-inflatable-tanks-that-fooled-hitler/276137/

https://mashable.com/2017/03/04/dummy-tanks/

Out of Auschwitz: Death March

The horrors of the Holocaust did not end in the concentration camps. Thousands more innocent people lost their lives during the forced evacuation of the concentration camps.

As Soviet troops approached Germany, the SS ordered all prisoners of the camps to be evacuated to the center of Germany. Thousands who had already endured the camps lost their lives on these marches due to starvation, freezing, and general fatigue. The prisoners marched from Auschwitz to either Gliwice or Wodzislaw. Any who grew to weak to continue were shot by the SS.

Once they returned home, survivors faced hostility from the non-Jewish populations and struggled to find their family members who were separated upon arrival at camps. Very few records were kept of those who were killed, making it difficult to locate loved ones after returning home.

After the camps were evacuated, allies arrived and tried to make sense of the situation. There were corpses everywhere, hardly distinguishable from the survivors of the camps. The Allies were not equipped or prepared to care for survivors, resulting in the death of thousands of survivors even after liberation.

The Allies created Displaced Persons camps to temporarily house people who had been in camps or displaced from their homes. Displaced Persons camps existed all the way up to 1953.

https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1942-1945/death-march-from-auschwitz
https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/survival-and-legacy/liberation-the-survivors/death-marches/

Bridge on the River Kwai

"Bridge on the River Kwai" is just one example of how prisoners of war never stopped fighting the enemy. The movie is based on the experiences of prisoners of war who were forced to construct a railroad for the Japanese - "Death Railroad".

The prisoners were abused by their Japanese oppressors and beaten brutally. They worked 18 hour days to construct a railway that would be used to transport Japanese goods and troops from Bangkok to Burma. The soldiers were starving and became skin and bones. They worked in temperatures over 120 degrees. They contracted diseases such as malaria and dysentery. Thousands of soldiers died during the construction process, mostly British.

They had no contact with the outside and were not told what day it was, giving them the impression that the Japanese were winning the war.

Prisoners of war were not the only laborers working on the railroad. Local laborers from Malaysia and Burma were hired, but their death rate was much higher than that of the soldiers. A total of 90,000 local laborers died during construction.

While the bridge portion of the railway was not actually built over the River Kwai as referenced in the movie, there was indeed a bridge built that was later bombed by the Allies in 1945. While the story of the movie might not be entirely accurate, its depiction of the daily life  and decreasing sanity of prisoners of war resembles the real life event.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/10382906/Burma-Railway-British-POW-breaks-silence-over-horrors.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/10563753/Death-Railway-survivors-remember-their-experiences.html
https://www.thedailybeast.com/riding-thailands-wwii-death-railway?ref=scroll
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/death-railway-bridge-the-bridge-over-the-river-kwai

The USS Indianapolis

The USS Indianapolis stands out as one of the biggest naval disasters of WWII. But before going down, the ship had completed its mission, allowing the US to use atomic bombs on the Japanese and end the war in the Pacific.

The cruiser delivered atomic bomb components to Tinian and then went on to Guam. On July 30th 1945, while en route, the Japanese torpedoed the USS Indianapolis. 1,196 people were aboard at the time. The ship sank in 12 minutes, taking 300 soldiers with it. The rest of the men struggled for survival. Many died of exposure and dehydration, while many were consumed by the sharks in the area.

Rescue didn't come for some time. Given the secret status of their mission, it took the navy some time to realize what had happened to the USS Indianapolis. Because of this, the Navy has adjusted their procedures to make sure a similar accident isn't repeated because of communication errors.
Only 316 soldiers survived.

The accident was in some ways a matter of bad luck. The commander, Charles B. McVay had taken a calculated risk in adjusting the speed and pattern at which the ship was cruising. By chance, the ship ended up in the vicinity of the Japanese submarine I-58, led by  Lieutenant Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto.

The wreckage was discovered on August 19, 2017. 11 crew members from the voyage are still alive today and meet annually for a reunion in Indianapolis. Surely, these heroes helped win the war in the Pacific, saving thousands of lives with their sacrifice.

https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/08/24/lest-we-forget-uss-indianapolis-and-her-sailors/
https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/disasters-and-phenomena/indianapolis.html
https://www.wthr.com/article/uss-indianapolis-few-remaining-survivors-gather-reunion-indy

The 'Peashooter' Sherman Vs The Mighty Tiger

American tank:
Sherman tanks 
The Sherman tanks were the main Tank used in World war 2 by the allied powers. The Sherman Tanks where built for their low cost, easy manufacturing capabilities and their movement.
In the height of the industrial capability to make tanks, one of these Sherman tanks could be made in about a third of the amount of time that it took to make one Tiger tank, a German tank. There where about 50,000 of these Sherman tanks made in the war effort. All of the allied forces used the Sherman tanks (Russia and Britain). These Sherman tanks where specialized for all terrain movement and speed. These tanks could move at about 30 miles per hour if they needed to.
They where a medium build and they lacked the same amount of armor that the tiger had. The muzzle size for the Sherman was an underwhelming 75 MM wide. This shell wasn't very good at piercing through Tigers' armor, It would, on occasion, just bounce off of the tanks armor.
It had one 50 caliber Machine gun and a 30 caliber Machine gun. The armor on the  Sherman generally ranged from about 40-50 MM armor on the front side of the tank. The front side of the tanks was usually angled, in order to deflect any incoming bullets , rather than being impacted directly.
The Sherman weighed about 33 tons with all of its armor.
This Tank was nicknamed 'peashooter' because the shells would often just deflect from the Tigers armor. It was very practical to mass produce Sherman tanks, since they could easily outnumber and out maneuver a Tiger.



German tanks:
Tiger Tanks 
These Tanks where ABSOLUTE BEASTS. They had a Range of about 2,000 feet and could decimate A Sherman Tank in one shot. While it might have taken 4+  shots from a Sherman to puncture the Tigers armor. The Tigers were used in longer range combat. Since their range was so immense, they could sit on top of a hill, out of the reach of any Sherman fire and completely unload on the incoming army. In comparison the the Sherman, the
The worst thing about the Tigers, was that they where pretty unreliable. They would break fairly often and would need to be fixed by a professional. The Tigers also required an immense amount of resources and time to make. These tanks where basically made by hand because of how complicated and large their tanks where. The Tiger had an 88 MM wide muzzle. This allowed for the Tiger to just annihilate anything that it shot. The Tiger also weighed approximately twice as much as a Sherman did. The Front armor of the Tigers where generally from 80 - 100 Millimeters thick in order to deflect any Sherman shells that where shot at them. The Tiger basically weighed double what  a normal Sherman does.




https://www.britannica.com/technology/Sherman-tank
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/americas-m4-sherman-tank-world-war-ii-wonder-weapon-or-blunder-weapon-62772
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj0AzL95Weg

The M1 Garand

Even seeing usage well beyond World War Two, the M1 Garand was the standard-issue service rifle for the U.S. During its run in World War Two, around 5.4 million units were made, seeing use for each and every part of the US military. From D-Day to the Allied advance from Paris the Rhine, the M1 Garand saw wide usage among American troops. It also one of the most recognizable weapons from the era, synonymous with the bravery of the American G.Is, and its iconic reload accompanied by a "PING!".

The M1 Garand is an 8 shot clip-fed .30-06 caliber gas-powered semi-automatic rifle, first designed in 1928 by John C. Garand. Keeping reliability in mind, the weapon was designed for simple assembly, facilitating field maintenance. The weapon was typically equipped with a bayonet, which would serve a G.I. better in close combat. The weapon can be dismantled, even in the absence of tools, within seconds. In addition to its simplicity, it gave a significant advantage for U.S. infantry, as it's semi-auto functionality could fire the 8 rounds as fast as one could pull the trigger, whilst enemies often had bolt-action rifles that took much longer to reload or ready for the next shot.

Overall, the simplistic and reliable nature of the M1 Garand allowed the Americans to have both a tactical advantage over enemy combatants, as well as a weapon that would last them through their duties, even beyond the outlook of the war.

Sources:

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/no-rifle-was-better-why-nothing-could-stop-m-1-garand-44857

https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-m1-garand-2361245

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a24537/m1-garand-world-war-two/

The Bombardment of Ellwood

One of the only direct attacks on American soil, during the entirety of World War Two, was in the Bombardment of Ellwood. During this event, a naval attack was directed towards an oil refinery situated just off the coast of Santa Barbara, in California. On the evening of February 23rd, 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-17, with 101 men aboard, was ordered to shell the California coastline. In the 20 minute duration of the bombardment, it was estimated that between 12 and 25 explosive shells total were fired, which alluded to very minor damage. The Japanese, targeting a Richfield aviation fuel tank, were able to destroy a derrick, pump house, and cause minor damage to the Ellwood Pier and a catwalk.

In the aftermath of the incident, there was a public scare, and many believed that this minor event was a prelude to a full-on incursion by the Japanese of America, so many citizens fled inland, with a blackout being ordered for the remainder of the night. In addition, many people noticed "signal lights" in the sky or sightings of aircraft. The night proceeding the attack on Elwood saw the "Battle of Los Angeles", where the sightings of aircraft were met with anti-aircraft batteries opening fire upon the sky, alongside spotlights, which resulted in causing large panic among civilians.

The Battle of Los Angeles

Although the bombardment did not cause any considerable damage to the U.S, this event, alongside the so-called "Battle of Los Angeles", gave President Roosevelt a reason for the very controversial relocation of all Japanese Americans to internment camps, just one week after this incident. Japanese submarines continued to conduct and carry out minor attacks on allied shipping of the coast, for the remainder of the war, but there was never another incident that caused the same scare like this one.

Sources:

https://www.history.com/news/world-war-iis-bizarre-battle-of-los-angeles

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/monument-to-the-bombardment-of-ellwood

https://aoghs.org/petroleum-in-war/wwii-sub-attacks-oilfield/

Bretton Woods Conference

In 1944, just three weeks after D-Day, delegates from various countries met in New Hampshire to plan how to prevent World War III. Common motivations for the conference were the effects of the Great Depression and the end of the gold standard. They were hoping to make an international monetary system to take care of the foreign exchange problems of World War II.

Forty-three countries met at the conference. Leaders of the Allied countries, specifically the US and Britain, felt that the conference was necessary for overcoming the economic effects of the war.

Conference-planning began two weeks after Pearl Harbor when economist Harry White was told he needed to make a new framework that would prevent the "beggar-thy-neighbor" policies that actually worsened economic problems. After he drafted two new financial systems, the conference took place.

The conference ended up being a great success in establishing a post-war financial system. During the conference, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank were established to improve currency stabilization to facilitate the increase in world trade. The nations who participated in the conference formed an agreement to value various world currencies to that of American currency.





https://time.com/5617093/bretton-woods-75/
https://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/2019/01/art-320747/
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2014/06/30/what-was-decided-at-the-bretton-woods-summit
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitextlo/info_brettonwoods.html
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/bretton-woods-conference-75th-anniversary

The Civilian Cost During D-Day and How Much Worse it Could Have Been

While in class we discussed at length the unfathomable sacrifice of so many British and American soldiers during the invasion of Normandy, we only briefly touched on the effects on civilians, especially when the Allies bombed. In the D-Day documentary, there was one woman interviewed who was a French schoolgirl during the time of World War 2, and she recounted knowing that her friends were dying around her while the Allies were dropping bombs along the coast. However, these casualties are very hard to measure accurately, because unlike the militaries, the towns didn't necessarily have a list of everyone who had been in Normandy, and who came out alive or dead. It is estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed in the Allied air raids, and many of those who did escape or survived found their homes destroyed when they returned due to the Allies advancements further into France, on their way to liberate Paris. This is not to say that the Allies did not care about French civilians at all, because, within a few days, medical personnel was brought in to care for both the injured soldiers and civilians. Even in the span of a few days though, people's wounds got very serious, and if it wasn't for the advancements in medicine, the death toll would have been much higher for everyone. Penicillin was a recent advancement in Britain at the time. It was brought to France in mass quantities and since the technology to produce it advanced at a rapid rate, the cost decreased due to its availability. Nurses and medical officers were estimated to have saved up to 15% of lives with penicillin.

Death wasn't the only negative effect on the citizens of Normandy either though. The massive air raids that were dropped all over the French villages didn't only kill, but destroyed their homes and communities too. In the city of Caen, the citizens left their homes and went to huge underground stone quarries that sheltered them until Canadian soldiers came to tell them France was freed from Nazi occupation. When the American and British soldiers dropped leaflets on D-Day to run and escape the bombs, they went to the caves that stone was taken from for churches, castles, and monuments. It is arguable that the most important use of the stone of these caves was saving these people and acting as temporary bomb shelters though.

Even though the destruction of these people's lives was horrific, a French survivor acknowledges that it was necessary to achieve victory, and in an interview, still thanked the troops who liberated France, because the defeat of the Nazis, in the long run, was more important than the casualties and destruction that was caused in these few French villages. 

https://d-dayrevisited.co.uk/d-day-history/d-day-landings/cost-of-battle/
https://www.dday-overlord.com/en/battle-of-normandy/normans/losses
https://apnews.com/68aef25488f74bcaa2cdec54ae3be608

Mulberries!

The Allies were faced with a challenge since the Germans spent their time in France transforming ports into their own fortresses. This allowed the Germans to have protection from attacks out of the sea or air. In order for the Allies to land all of their men and supplies, they needed artificial harbors. They used these harbors on D-Day, and were successful. Two harbors were created to support the Allies during its invasion of Normandy, France. These harbors became code-named "mulberries" so that there was no suspicion to be had.


The idea for Mulberries came after a failed British attack on a German port, demonstrating to the Allies that it would be useful to have a way to transport supplies to the beach during an invasion. The primary use of Mulberries was to protect supply ships on the Normandy Coast.

The Mulberries were concrete blocks to make up the foundation of the ports, breakwaters, and pontoons for anchoring the ships and dropping off cargo. Each block of concrete weighed between 1,500 and 6,000 tons. Because of this, 40,000 British military engineers constructed the Mulberries. The components of the Mulberries were produced in Britain and traveled to the Normandy coast to do the final assembly.

The two Mulberries created for D-Day were called Mulberry A, which would aid US forces, and Mulberry B, which would aid British and Canadian forces.

The use of the Mulberries derived various impacts. For instance, within 10 months after D-Day, Mulberry B landed 2.5 million troops and 500,000 vehicles. They were also seen to have shortened the war by increasing the efficiency of providing supplies to the troops.



https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/DDay-Mulberry-harbours/
https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/what-do-civil-engineers-do/mulberry-harbours
https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/mulberry-harbor-d-day-engineering

Zyklon B

When many think of the Holocaust, the first that comes to mind is the use of gas chambers to kill millions of Jews and other groups the Nazi’s thought of as “subhuman.” However, not many know how this operation was conducted. Due to the Nazi’s ambitious goal of murdering millions of people, they needed fast way to kill a group of people in a cheap manner. This search led them to Zyklon B.
Zyklon B wasn’t used in the gas chambers at first--it was first used as an insecticide before World War 2. It was known to be poisonous but it hadn’t been used as a chemical weapon as of now. It had only been used to disinfect things such as machinery, clothing, warehouses, etc.

The Nazis first realized they needed something to kill Jews on a massive scale when they invaded Poland and Russia. They began their attempts to kill Jews on a mass scale in 1941 and their initial methods involved mass shootings. However, this was quickly proven as slow and ineffective. Moreover, this had a huge psychological toll on the soldiers forced to kill many innocent lives. This led to the search for a more effective way to kill humans on a large scale.

The Nazis decided to try out Zyklon B when faced with this question. They quickly found it useful and effective after testing it on a smaller scale during their attacks. They tried it on smaller chambers in Auschwitz and about 250 people inside died within minutes. They quickly scaled this in Auschwitz and other death camps and were able to kill millions in a matter of a few years.

The Nazis did a good job at hiding this as well. Even though people knew that Jews were being killed in these concentration camps, many people didn’t know how it happened, even the prisoners themselves. This is because the Nazis lured the prisoners into rooms under the presumption that they were going to take a shower (they even put fake showerheads) and when they closed the door, the released Zyklon B to kill them almost instantly.

Sources:
https://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-zyklon.htm
https://www.thoughtco.com/zyklon-b-gas-chamber-poison-1779688

M1918 BAR Machine Gun

The M1918 BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) Machine Gun was one of the most crucial machine guns in the entirety of WWII. The M1918 is a part of the BAR series, created by a man named John Browning. The M1918 was an almost 10 kg rifle, which had a round capacity of 20 and could shoot at a rate of 550 rounds per minute. The M1918 was first conceived in 1917 (in the midst of WWI) and   was first used by the U.S army in 1918, but at this point the war was almost over, and as a result only 85 M1918s were built before the end of the war. The weapon's design was so popular that many European countries rushed to get a license to produce the M1918s such as Belgium and Poland. Both the Belgian and the Polish variants of the M1918 were extremely similar to the original model besides very minor differences like how both new variants were slightly shorter, and slightly heavier than the original model.
At the outbreak of the war when Poland was first attacked, the Germans managed to get there hands on the Polish variant of the M1918. The Germans stole these M1918s and made them their own by renaming them IMG 28. Back in America, the M1918 was being modified to have two different firing rates at 500-650 rounds per minute and the slower 300-450 rounds per minute. The M1918 was a candidate for the standard light machine gun in every squad, but the idea was never implemented as there were other light machine guns which fit that specific role better. All soldiers in the U.S army were trained to operate a M1918, and the consensus regarding the rifle was that it was reliable, but it was difficult to clean and often fell victim to corrosion.
The M1918 continued to see some use after WWII, for example it was used by the Americans in the Vietnam War, but its use was on the decline. The U.S continued to use the M1918 up until the mid 1970s and some nations continued to use it up until the 1990s.

Sources: https://ww2db.com/weapon.php?q=52

442nd Regiment

The 442nd Regiment is well known for being made up of all second generation Japanese Americans. It is also known for being the most decorated group in American history. The Group had 18,000 awards given to them in the first two years of their existence.

After getting restricted in almost all sectors of the military, President Roosevelt announced the creation of a 442nd regiment and they were activated in February 1st, 1943. They were stationed in the beginning in Italy. In their very first battle in Europe, the group displayed bravery by the strategies they used and being able to successfully complete them despite having less men and less artillery back up.

Despite being at many disadvantages throughout the war. The group always seemed to get the job done and beat down a skilled opponent.

The success of the 442nd Regiment caused a change in opinion back in America of Japanese being possible spies despite being citizens. And it would also lead to the release of hundreds of thousands of Japanese men, women and children from camps in the US before World War II had even ended. Even though some Americans had a change of heart, many didn't change at all and treated the veterans with hate signs and vandalized houses. It showed that even with all of the great things the 442nd regiment did for America. The country still needed many years to overcome their prejudice.

The Supermarine Spitfire and The Hawker Hurricane

During the battle of Britain, control of the British air was the key to victory for both Germany and Britain. Because of this, many resources were put into developing the best possible air defenses which at the time were planes. The RAF (Royal Air Force) was the branch of the British army which was tasked with defending the air, and this lead to the implementation of two of Britain's most infamous planes: The Supermarine Spitfire and The Hawker Hurricane.

The Hawker Hurricane:

The Hawker Hurricane was not created as an original idea, it was more of an evolution of fighter planes from Britain's past wars. Before the Hurricane, all RAF fighter planes were biplanes which means they had two sets of wings, the Hurricane however modernized this design and became the first monoplane in the RAF. While biplanes were much more agile in the air, monoplanes could go much faster and were harder to hit. The Hurricane could also go at a speed of 300 mph whereas the previous model (The Fury) could only get to 184 mph. The Hurricane had 4 Browning machine guns in each wing because this the British needed as much firepower as they could get to take down the German bombers.

The Supermarine Spitfire:

The Supermarine Spitfire was the a plane model designed by Reginald J. Mitchell, who worked at a firm called Supermarine Ltd. Supermarine Ltd had produced racing airplanes and sailing airplanes in the 1920s-1930s. Mitchell was known in the arial racing world for implementing streamlining into his planes. Mitchell was so successful in the racing world that when the RAF began looking for a new and innovative plane to replace the Bristol Bulldog, and the Gloster Gladiator, Mitchell was given the opportunity to create this plane. Initially, Mitchell's design was not a success. His plane could only get to 238 mph and this left Mitchell feeling unsatisfied as he knew he could do better. He gave his prototype thin elliptical wings, a larger engine, and an oxygen tank for the pilot. The RAF was impressed, but demanded that the plane had 8 machine guns. He was able to add 4 machine guns to each side because the elliptical wings allowed for more space.




Sources: https://www.historynet.com/supermarine-spitfires-and-hawker-hurricanes-world-war-ii-aircraft.htm

The Rape of Nanjing

     The Rape of Nanjing (also referred to as the Rape of Nanking or the Nanking massacre) was the brutal murder, pillaging, and sexual assault that took place for 6 weeks in 1937 in the Chinese city of Nanking at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army.

     The campaign took place amid the Sino-Japanese war. At this point, the Japanese had had a bloody victory at Shanghai, and with the orders of General Matsui Iwane, the first few troops of Japan Central China Front Army marched into Nanjing on December 13. The Chinese leader at the time, Chiang Kai-shek, had as many Chinese troops as possible removed from the city in fear that they would be lost in a battle with the Japanese. Unfortunately, this left the civilians of Nanjing vulnerable and unprepared. Some Western businessmen and missionaries attempted to create a safety zone to provide some sort of protection for the civilians of Nanjing. Regardless, the Japanese troops dismantled the safety zone and continued the killings.

     First, some 90,000 Chinese soldiers (who had already surrendered) were chased down, killed, and buried in mass graves. Then, civilians, regardless of age, were cut down in the streets of their cities. These killings were not swift and merciful; innocent people were bayoneted, decapitated shot, used for killing contests, mutilated, and even burned by Japanese troops. 

     Apart from the murders, the most egregious act of violence committed in Nanjing was the raping and sexual assault of thousands of women; even women over the age of 70, as well as children as young as eight, were not spared. In most cases, the victims were killed or stabbed so that they couldn’t testify against them. Also, random acts of violence and destruction were used to terrorize the civilians of Nanjing, and city-wide burnings, property destruction, and theft took place amongst all the death.

     The Rape of Nanjing was covered in newspapers in Japan, Europe, and the US alike, but the reactions differed greatly. For Japan, the Rape of Nanjing was seen as yet another step in furthering the Japanese empire, so the fall of the city was celebrated. For the West, the magnitude of destruction left a feeling of disbelief. The Allies’ focus was on Europe and preventing Europe from being taken over, and unfortunately, Nanjing was not given the attention it deserved. However, soon after WWII, General Matsui and his lieutenant-general Tani Hisao were found guilty of war crimes and executed. 

Witnesses justifiably described Nanjing as “hell on earth.” The horrifying events that took place there left between 200,000-300,000 people dead, and for the most part, the people who had not escaped or taken shelter in safety zones perished.

Sources:

https://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm

https://www.history.com/topics/japan/nanjing-massacre

https://www.britannica.com/event/Nanjing-Massacre

To Bomb or Not to Bomb - Concentration Camps

    When an average person looks back on the Holocaust we are saddened by the millions of Jews and other minorities murdered. But, we look back knowing we fought to save as many as we could. However there are many historians who argue that the allies in no way did as much as they could have to stop concentration camps. David Wyman published a critique of the allies named The Abandonment of the Jews. It serves mainly as a harsh criticism towards underlying, anti-Semitic views from Americans.
   During WW II the allies and mainly the US decided to avoid bombing known death camps. While it can be argued that the Americans did not understand the vast and harsh scale of these centers, they had enough idea, to understand their importance. We needed to end their existence and we chose not to. For example, many American strategists and tacticians called for the bombing of the most prominent death camp, Auschwitz, and yet these were continually denied by the secretary and vice secretary of war. While it could be argued that the Nazis would find a new way to kill Jewish peoples, the inability to stop any death camps resulted in the lives of hundreds of thousands being unessacarily lost.
    It can be argued from many sides why we made this choice. However I, as well as Wyman, believe it is due to a anti-Semitic American people. We valued the lives of American Soldiers over the lives of helpless European Jews and we did not think they were valuable to save in these situations. Looking back the decision not to make an attempt to bomb the places which killed millions of innocent Jewish people reflects the deep ideals of Americans for the worse.

http://movies2.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/wyman-jews.html
https://thenewpress.com/books/abandonment-of-jews
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-united-states-and-the-holocaust-why-auschwitz-was-not-bombed

The Ghost Army

World War 2 was done in an era of astonishingly advanced military technology. Guns were made to be more effective, tanks were engineered to go in water, the sheer volume of sophisticated planes that American produced was unprecedented, not to mention the invention and use of the atomic bomb. However this war was not just a war of machinery. It was also a war of deception. Perhaps the most ingenious example being the Ghost Army of America. 

During the war, there was a special unit completely dedicated to creating and perpetuating the illusion of their existence. This unit was called the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and their only job was to deceive Axis powers. As The Atlantic put in their article, Ghost Army: The Inflatable Tanks that Fooled Hitler, “the 23rd were, essentially, the Trojan horse builders of World War II.” However, instead of a wooden horse filled with soldiers this unit had inflatable tanks and rubber planes. Not to mention false radio codes and pre recorded notices that would blast false information into France’s forests.

The “unit” was active from 1944 to 1945 and roughly 1,100 men in it, however German believed it was a force of over 30,000 men. Many of these deceptions took place on the front lines and they would create a feeling within the German army of an omnipresent US military force.

Unsurprisingly, the men in this force were not your average soldier. They were recruited from art schools, they were advertisers, salesmen. They were recruited from occupations that required them to think creatively, to stay on their toes in the ways they deceived the enemy. 

Some of their famous deceptions included:

Radio deceptions

By broadcasting false orders and movements over the air, but mimicking the style of real units and even using real units, they would confuse the enemy into moving their troops into the wrong area. Then the real units would come in and take care of the rest

“Atmosphere”: This consisted of making the enemy think that the troops were in a specific location by using dummy tanks and painting them with the insignia of known units. They would confuse the Germans into thinking that a huge unit was rolling in, when in reality it would be as little as two troops in a dummy tank. 

Sound Deception: A special unit was recruited to pre-record sounds to trick the Germans into thinking there was a huge force nearing. The sounds of men and tanks would be pre recorded in many different settings (to fit the environment of where they were) and played on repeat. They would then be mounted and amplified so loud that they could be heard more than 15 miles away. 

Sources: 

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

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/ghost-army-the-inflatable-tanks-that-fooled-hitler/276137/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wwii-ghost-army

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/ghost-army-the-inflatable-tanks-that-fooled-hitler/276137/