World War II facts.

05-07-2018

gestapo

The first German serviceman killed in the war was killed by the Japanese (China, 1937

The first American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians (Finland 1940).

80% of Soviet males born in 1923 didn’t survive World War 2

The highest ranking American killed was Lieutenant General Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps.

Between 1939 and 1945 the Allies dropped 3.4 million tons of bombs, An average of about 27,700 tons of bombs each month.

12,000 heavy bombers were shot down in World War 2.

2/3 of Allied bomber crews were lost for each plane destroyed

3 or 4 ground men were wounded for each killed.

6 bomber crewmen were killed for each one wounded.

Over 100,000 Allied bomber crewmen were killed over Europe. There were 433 Medals of Honor awarded during World War 2, 219 of them were given after the receipiant’s death.

From 6 June 1944 to 8 May 1945 in Europe the Allies had 200,000 dead and 550,000 wounded.

The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham, USN.   He was wounded in combat and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying about his age. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Navy from Houston, Texas on August 15, 1942, at the age of 12. His case was similar to that of Jack Warner Hill , who was a member of the United States Marine Corps who bears the distinction of holding Marine Corps enlisted service number one million (1,000,000). Hill served a total of two enlistments in the Marine Corps, one during World War II, resulting in a discharge due to lying about this age upon enlistment (similar to Calvin Graham), and the other briefly before the outbreak of the Korean War. After his military service, Hill lived a normal and uneventful life; he was killed in an automobile accident in 1987