21 Interesting facts about WW2 – Part 3

In September 1941, Germany took 665,000 Red Army PoWs in Ukraine. Next month, another 663,000 Soviet soldiers surrendered. Tweet This

Soviet Army trained dogs to blow up tanks with strapped on explosives. Tweet This

During the Soviet winters, Wehrmacht used heated bricks to keep warm and operational the machine guns. Tweet This

In the winter of 1941, more Germans suffered from the cold than from battle wounds. Tweet This

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In 1920s and 1930s many German pilots and army personnel were trained in Russia in breach of Versailles Treaty. Tweet This

Stalin knew about upcoming Pearl Harbor attack (meaning that Japan will not attack USSR) and started his counter-offensive against Germans on 5 December 1941. Tweet This

Many French volunteers joined the Wehrmacht in 1941 and took part in the battle for Moscow. Tweet This

In Russian winter, units equipped with horses were moving twice as fast as mechanized ones. Tweet This

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Spanish volunteers formed the so called Blue Division. Tweet This

Encircled German troops successfully waged war over one year around Demyansk, receiving supplies on air. Hitler thought that he could repeat it in Stalingrad. Tweet This

Battle for Holm was the only case when a fortress had no artillery inside and used howitzer fire support from outside. Tweet This

The biggest gun in WW2 (named Dora) was used in the siege of Sevastopol. With one shot it destroyed ammunition depot covered with 100 feet (30 m) concrete. Tweet This

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In 1942, Turkey was supposed to enter the war against Soviets following the expected German success in Caucasus and Stalingrad. Tweet This

German deserters were attracted to improvised cinemas in German bases, apprehended by military police, equipped and sent back to the front. Tweet This

Short of tanks, German col. Went started “stealing” one tank from each transient German convoy. He formed one full tank battalion unbeknownst to his commanders. Tweet This

To mark the roads in the snow, Germans cut the legs of frozen dead horses and put them along the road. Tweet This

YOU MAY ALSO CHECK OUT: 21 INTERESTING WORLD WAR 2 FACTS – PART 1

Only one German sergeant escaped from Stalingrad encirclement. He got killed the very next day when an air bomb hit the German hospital he was in. Tweet This

Out of 105,000 German soldiers who surrendered at Stalingrad, just 5,500 came back home. Tweet This

Last German POWs came back to Germany in 1955. Tweet This

General Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach wanted to form an anti-Hitler army from the Stalingrad survivors, but Stalin refused. Tweet This

Former Soviet General Andrey Vlasov tried to unite anti-communist Russians into the Russian Liberation Army, which fought only one battle against the Red Army. Tweet This