WORLD WAR II FACTSEdited Jonathan Wood

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On this day in 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany, two days after Hitler invaded Poland.

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Today there are approximately 47 Spitfires and a few Seafires in airworthy condition worldwide. Although more than 20,000 Spitfires were built in Britain during the Second World War.Although more than 20,000 Spitfires were built in Britain during the Second World War.

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Hilter declared that the bombing of British cities should begin on this day in 1940. This was known as the Blitz.This was known as the Blitz.

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In the 1930s Over one million people were working on farms yet Britain still had to import most of its food from abroad, using the empire to source cheap grain. At the outbreak of World War Two this supply was cut off and Britain needed to become

more self-sufficient.

www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/changes-in-british-farming-world-war-two/7435.htmlwww.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/changes-in-british-farming-world-war-two/7435.htmlwww.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/changes-in-british-farming-world-war-two/7435.html5

On this day in 1943, Operation Avalanche, the Allied land invasion of Salerno, and Operation Slapstick, the British airborne invasion of Taranto, both in southern Italy, are launched.

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Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS[1] (18 March 1869 – 9 November 1940) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement

foreign policy. ‘Peace In Our Time’

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X-Craft: The X class was a World War II midget submarine class built for the Royal Navy during 1943–44.

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On this day in 1942, a German U-boat sinks a British troop ship, the Laconia, killing more than 1,400 men. The commander of the German sub, Capt. Werner Hartenstein, realizing that Italians POWs were among the passengers, strove to aid in their

rescue. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8243478/Video-The-Sinking-of-the-Laconia-As-the-Attack-Happens.html

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Focke Wulf 190: The Fw 190 became the backbone of the Jagdwaffe (Fighter Force), along with the Bf 109. On the Eastern Front, the Fw 190 was versatile enough to use in Schlachtgeschwader (Battle Wings or Strike Wings), specialised ground

attack units which achieved much success against Soviet ground forces.

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During World War II, Willys produced 363,000 Jeeps and Ford some 280,000.

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On this day in 1939, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov declares that the Polish government has ceased to exist, as the U.S.S.R. exercises the "fine print" of the Hitler-Stalin Non-aggression pact—the invasion and occupation of

eastern Poland.

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When it was introduced early in World War II, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero was considered the most capable carrier-based fighter in the world, combining excellent manoeuvrability and very long range.

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Ack-AckBy the late 1930s the British definition of effective ceiling was "that height at which a directly approaching target at 400 mph can be engaged for 20 seconds before the gun reaches 70 degrees elevation"By the late 1930s the British definition of effective ceiling was "that height at which a directly approaching target at 400 mph can be engaged for 20 seconds before the gun reaches 70 degrees elevation"

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Schutzstaffel (SS). According to the Nuremberg Trials, as well as many war crimes investigations and trials conducted since then,

the SS was responsible for the vast majority of Nazi war crimes. investigations and trials conducted since then, the SS was responsible for the vast majority of Nazi war crimes.

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Sherman TankA Sherman Tank has a 175 US Gallon fuel tank. That is the same as 662 litres. A litre of petrol costs about £1.37.

To fill a Sherman Tank you would need 662 x 1.37 = £906.94A Sherman Tank has a 175 US Gallon fuel tank. That is the same as 662 litres. A litre of petrol costs about £1.37.

To fill a Sherman Tank you would need 662 x 1.37 = £906.9416

Blitz (German for lightning)Between 7 September 1940 and 21 May 1941 there were major aerial raids (attacks in which more than 100

tonnes of high explosives were dropped) on 16 British cities.Between 7 September 1940 and 21 May 1941 there were major aerial raids (attacks in which more than 100

tonnes of high explosives were dropped) on 16 British cities.17

Ratios Of Aircraft During The Battle Of Britain

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RAF

Luftwaffe

Single Seat Fighters

754

1107

Two Seat Fighters

149

357

Bombers 560

1380

Dive Bombers 0 428

Coastal 500

233

Reconnaissance n/a

569

Total 1963

4074

Total Fighters 903

1464

German Assumption

500

1107

RAF needed to shoot down

903

3272

Ratio Of Aircraft In The Battle Of Britain

Total Fighters

German Assumption Of Fighter Numbers

The Ratio Of Aircraft To Be Destroyed

V-weapons, known in the original German as Vergeltungswaffen (German: "retaliatory weapons", "reprisal weapons"), were a particular set of long range artillery weapons designed for

strategic bombing during World War II. V1s were known as Doodlebugs.19

On this day in 1939 Poland surrenders

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Khaki drill or KD was the term for a type of fabric and the British military uniforms made from them. Khaki Drill was worn as a combat uniform from 1900 to 1949 and was most often used in desert and tropical service.

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Radius of fire of WWII Tanks

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Jungle warfare is a term used to cover the special techniques needed for military units to survive and fight in jungle terrain. In WW2 Allied forces fought the Japanese in Malaysia and Burma.

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Germany conducts first successful V-2 rocket test. On This Day 1942.

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Arc de Triomphe de l'ÉtoileFamous victory marches around or under the Arc have included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1919, the

Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies in 1944[10] and 1945. in 1944[10] and 1945.25

France was divided in three during WW2. German Occupied France, Italian Occupied France and Vichy FranceItalian Occupied France and Vichy France

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The Leader Of the Free French was General Charles De Gaulle

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On 6 June 1944 - D-Day - Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. This successful action signalled the beginning of the end of the Second World War: it was the first stage in the liberation of western Europe and a

major step towards the defeat of Nazi Germany. The campaign was code-named Operation Overlord.

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During the Second World War prisoners of war were used as farm labourers. Italian prisoners worked on my Great Grandad’s Farm.Italian prisoners worked on my Great Grandad’s Farm.

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At the outbreak of World War 2 thousands of Britain’s pigeon fanciers gave their pigeons to the war effort to act as message carriers. During the period of the war nearly a quarter of a million birds were used by the army, the RAF and the Civil Defence Services including the police, the fire service, Home Guard and even Bletchley Park.

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The wolfpacks, known to the Germans as Rudeltaktik, were created by Karl Dönitz as a means to defeat the allied convoy system after his experiences as U-boat commander in World War 1.

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The Observer Corps (later the Royal Observer Corps) played an important part in the Battle of Britain. When the Luftwaffe started to attack Chain Home – a string of radar stations – there was the potential for

Fighter Command to have been left ‘blinded’ by this loss. However, the Observer Corps made up for this. When Fighter Command used the information from Chain Home and the Observer Corps, they could get fighters into the air within the 20 minutes time zone that they required for the fighters to reach their optimum flying height.

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German Nazism had theories of racial hierarchy and claimed the superiority of an Aryan master race and criticised both capitalism and communism for being associated with Jewish materialism. Many people in Germany felt had they had not been defeated in WWI but the bankers and businessmen betrayed them; in

particular Jewish people.

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The Holocaust was the mass murder or genocide of approximately six million Jews during World War II. The persecution and genocide were carried out in stages. Various laws to exclude the Jews from civil society were

made in Germany before the outbreak of World War II in Europe. Concentration camps were established in which inmates were subjected to slave labour until they died of exhaustion or disease.

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A concentration camp is a place which a government uses to keep people who are either against that government or who it thinks are too dangerous to remain free. Sometimes these are called internment camps, where a large

number of people are put in prison without a trial. The first concentration camps were found in the United States in 1838, when the Van Buren administration saw fit to remove the indigenous Cherokee population.

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Adolf Eichmann was in charge of organising the mass deportation of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps in German-occupied Eastern Europe. At his trail his defence was, ‘had to follow orders...what I was ordered to do,

unfortunately I had to carry out’

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The estimated death toll in World War II ranges from 60 to 85 million, making it the deadliest war in world history. It is believed that from 38 to 55 million civilians were killed, including 13 to 20 million from war-related

disease and famine. Approximately 6 million Jewish people were killed in the Holocaust.

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The Messerschmitt 262 was the first operational jet fighter.

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B17s were used by the USAAF in daylight raids over Germany.

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By 1943 the Short Sunderland was equipped with eighteen machines guns, and was nicknamed ‘The Flying Porcupine’.

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The De Havilland Mosquito was made mainly from plywood and balsa wood.

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On this day in 1939 Adolf Hitler survived one of several attempts to assassinate him. A bomb was planted by Georg Elser, a German communist.

Hitler had left the building before the bomb went off.Hitler had left the building before the bomb went off.Hitler had left the building before the bomb went off.

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Armistice Day

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The Royal Air Force sank the Tirpitz. 12th November 1944.

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The word tank was a secret code name for a new war machine developed by Britain during WWI; it doesn’t really mean anything.developed by Britain during WWI; it doesn’t really mean anything.

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1940: Germans bomb Coventry to destruction.The German Luftwaffe has bombed Coventry in a massive raid which lasted more than 10 hours and left much of

the city devastated.The German Luftwaffe has bombed Coventry in a massive raid which lasted more than 10 hours and left much of

the city devastated.

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The Home Guard (initially "Local Defence Volunteers" or LDV) was a defence organisation of the British Army during the Second World War. Operational from 1940 until 1944.

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