re: WWII trivia thread

[

The German Naval training vessel Horst Wessel and in its current incarnation as USCG Eagle

quote:

---

Nile Kinnick, Iowa football star died in a flight training accident in the Caribbean.

---

Bobby Hutchins, aka "Wheezer" of the Little Rascals, died in a training accident May 17, 1945.

quote:

---

Hutchins was killed in a mid-air collision on May 17, 1945, while trying to land a North American AT-6D-NT Texan, serial number 42-86536, of the 3026th Base Unit, when it struck an AT-6C-15-NT Texan, 42-49068, of the same unit at Merced Army Air Field in Merced, California, later known as Castle Air Force Base,[4] during a training exercise. The other pilot, Edward F. Hamel, survived. Hutchins's mother, Olga Hagerson Hutchins, had been scheduled to travel to the airfield for his graduation from flying school, which would have occurred the week after he died.[5]

---

The Brazilian Expeditionary Force (Portuguese: Força Expedicionária Brasileira, FEB), nicknamed Cobras Fumantes (literally "the Smoking Snakes"), was a military division of the Brazilian Army and Air Force that fought as part of Allied forces in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II. It numbered around 25,900 men, including a full infantry division, liaison flight, and fighter squadron.

Placed under United States command, Brazilian troops fought primarily in the liberation of Italy from September 1944 to May 1945, while the Brazilian Navy and Air Force took part in the Battle of the Atlantic from mid-1942 until the end of the war. The FEB operated mostly at the platoon level, seeing heavy combat at the arduous Gothic Line and during the 1945 final offensive. By the end of the war, it took 20,573 Axis prisoners, including two generals and close to 900 officers. The division lost 948 men killed in action across all three services.

Vargas era Brazil was the only independent South American country to send combat troops overseas during the Second World War.Known for its tenacity and bravery, the FEB was well-regarded by both allies and adversaries; it served with distinction in several battles, most notably at Collecchio, Camaiore, Monte Prano, and Serchio Valley. Brazil's navy and air force played important roles in protecting Allied shipping and crippling Axis maritime power, inflicting disproportionately high losses on enemy munitions, supplies, and infrastructure.

quote:

---

The German Naval training vessel Horst Wessel and in its current incarnation as USCG Eagle

---

My boy did an exchange semester at the Coast Guard Academy. Included a pre-semester cruise on this. Enjoyed it, but confirmed his decision to pass on the appointment to Annapolis. Too tall for ships.

Den Brotheridge, of the British 6th Airborne was the first allied soldier killed on D-Day. He was shot in the neck crossing Pegasus Bridge after the glider force landed. He also was a very good football player and would have played professionally if it wasn’t for the war.

The highest number of boys killed on D-Day from one town were from Bedford, Virginia. Most of them never even made it off their landing craft.

The Bedford Boys by Alex Kershaw is an incredible book.

"This is Ching Chong China Lee. Get the hell out of the way, I'm coming through"

When Ford got the contract to build B-24’s, he needed to extend the Willow Run factory to almost a mile in length. The owner of the adjacent property wouldn’t sell to him, so he had to turn the factory at a 90 degree angle to finish it.

"In 1943, U.S. Rep. Andrew May bragged to reporters that the Japanese were setting their depth charges too shallow because they did not know how deep U.S. subs could dive. VADM Charles Lockwood said that the revelation caused the Japanese to adjust the charges, costing the Navy 10 subs and 800 sailors."

LINK

My grandfather was there to load both the Enola Gay and Boxcar! They probably knew each other
Grandfather welded the fins on the bombs