20+ Highly Unsettling Details About World War II That Most Textbooks Leave Out

No American saw the attack on Pearl Harbor coming. That's why when pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi crashed his plane in Hawaii following the raid, locals welcomed him to their town and celebrated his unexpected visit with a luau. Once officials learned of his role in the bombing, a firefight ensued that killed the Japanese airman.

People from all walks of life joined the fray — including Queen Elizabeth. Back when she was just a princess, Elizabeth enlisted as a driver and mechanic in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. Reporters from the 1940s described, "One of her major joys was to get dirt under her nails and grease stains in her hands and display these signs of labor to her friends."

Government scientists developed plenty of unusual weapons in the 1940s. Japan sought to build a "death ray" that would send out lethal electric waves at enemy forces. This sci-fi invention didn't pan out — but it wasn't the only unconventional idea on the Axis side.

Looking to cripple enemy supply lines, German officials considered infesting British farms with the invasive potato beetle. Scientists began breeding the pests... but later abandoned the project when they calculated they would need to somehow transport 40 million of the bugs across the sea.

It's incredible how almost all American manufacturing turned to the war effort. In the auto industry, for instance, companies pumped out three million cars in 1941. But while the United States fought in World War II, the government banned the sale of domestic vehicles.

In a modern-day David and Goliath twist, the tallest German soldier surrendered to one of the shortest British soldiers. Britain honored Bob Roberts, who reached only 5'3", for capturing gunner and former circus performer Jakob Nacken, who at 7'3" towered over everyone else on the battlefield.

Many Westerners arguably don't realize that Russia made the biggest sacrifice of all nations during World War II. In the Battle of Stalingrad, for instance, 1.1 million Soviet soldiers and 40,000 civilians lost their lives. That means there were more deaths in one battle than the United States or Britain suffered throughout the entire war.

American foodies thought it was unpatriotic to eat foods with German names during the World Wars, so they coined some new terms. For example, chefs dubbed hamburgers and sauerkraut "Liberty Steak" and "Liberty Cabbage," respectively. And another treat became viewed as quintessentially American during the war.

American servicemen fighting overseas couldn't get by without their Coca-Cola. General Eisenhower worked with Coke executives to ensure that soldiers could buy one of their favorite beverages for as little as five cents, no matter the circumstances. As a result, Coke built 64 bottling plants around the various fronts — helping to spread the drink's popularity all over the world.

Dogfights and air raids were usually deadlier than battles on the ground. Enlisted Spitfire pilots fighting during the Battle of Britain were only expected to survive for four weeks. Even on the American side, the Air Corps saw more casualties than the Marines.

The U.S. Navy awarded a Purple Heart to a British-born mate named William Hitler. Though his superiors initially thought it was a joke, he was actually the half-nephew of the German dictator and even worked for him in the 1930s. William wisely changed his last name following the end of the war.

Winston Churchill proved himself to be a brilliant wartime leader, but he wasn't the easiest man to work with. The Prime Minister insisted on bathing twice a day — no matter how busy he was — and often consulted with close advisors while in the nude. Fortunately, when it came to key meetings like the Yalta Conference, he made sure he was fully dressed.

Against the advice of her loved ones, American photographer Lee Miller left Vogue to become a war correspondent. She became one of the most celebrated journalists of her time, thanks in no small part to her pictures of women contributing to the war effort. After the Allies took Berlin, Miller stuck it to the enemy by photographing and sleeping in Hitler's bath.

Bombing raids often caused collateral damage that nobody could have planned for. The very first bomb that Allied forces dropped on Berlin, for example, didn't serve much tactical purpose. That's because it missed and killed the only elephant in the city's zoo.

Although some historians dispute that he even existed, a Korean man named Yang Kyoungjong supposedly fought for three different armies throughout the war. According to some, the Japanese pressed Kyoungjong into service. After the Soviets captured him, though, Kyoungjong risked his life in the Red Army. Then the Germans apparently captured him and brought him into their own ranks.

War heroes weren't just in the armed forces. Polish midwife Stanisława Leszczyńska found herself incarcerated in Auschwitz, where she personally delivered about 3,000 babies. Although the concentration camp guards killed most of the infants, Leszczyńska's interventions likely saved many mothers' lives. She survived Auschwitz and lived until 1974.

Lesley McNair got a promotion after a horrible, unintentional act. The American lieutenant general — along with 100 others — was killed by friendly fire in France when a group of errant bombers dropped their payload well short of the intended target. After McNair's death, the U.S. government promoted him to general.

Japan formally surrendered after the United States detonated nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki — that's common knowledge. But if the Asian nation had refused to give in, the American government had secretly planned to nuke Tokyo as well.

The youngest service member in World War II was 12-year-old Calvin Graham. After lying about his age, Graham fought and was wounded in the Battle of Guadalcanal. He received multiple medals for his heroism, but these honors were revoked after his family revealed that he belonged in middle school, not on a battlefield.

As the Germans took over more and more of Europe, people were often forced to cooperate with their occupiers. Many resistance members were executed or imprisoned for their efforts in opposing the invaders. And some who collaborated — even if out of fear — lost everything. After D-Day, for example, these French women were accused of collaborating and stripped and shaved in the town square.

In December 1943 American pilot Charlie Brown's B-17 suffered significant damage from enemy fire. When German fighter pilot Franz Stigler spotted the wounded plane, he didn't finish it off and instead led Brown towards Allied territory. So, years later, Brown wanted to repay Stigler.

When WWll ended, Brown searched for Stigler using a newsletter for pilot veterans. And it worked! When the two met, Stigler revealed that it would have been dishonorable to have shot down the damaged plane. The two remained friends until they both passed away in 2008.

General Henning Von Tresckow had a simple request when Hitler's plane landed at his headquarters in 1943: for an aide on Hitler's staff to deliver liquor bottles to another officer in Berlin. But then he handed over towel-wrapped bottles that were not what they seemed.

The bottles were actually bombs, set to detonate mid-flight! Somehow, though, the plane landed without any explosions. Not to be defeated, Von Tresckow was involved in another failed assassination attempt — one you may know from the 2008 film Valkyrie.

Georg Elser, a carpenter, was deeply angered with his country as he traveled to Munich in November of '39. Wanting to make a difference, he planned to assassinate Hitler when the leader attended the celebration of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch.

At the event hall, Elser chiseled into a pillar and placed a timed explosive inside. But on that day, Hitler left 13 minutes before detonation. The bomb killed and injured everyone else. Elser was later executed, while Hitler was convinced it was an Allied plan.

The Auschwitz Trials hoped to hold accountable some 40 prominent members of the Nazi party. But not everyone on trial was found guilty of war crimes. Dr. Hans Münch actually had former prisoners testify in his favor.

It turned out that Münch saved prisoners from the gas chambers by means of fake experiments. He also refused to choose who lived and who died. And as the war ended, he helped an inmate escape. Münch would be the only individual acquitted during the trials.

In the Netherlands, Han Van Meegeren was a frustrated artist. So, to mock the modern art world that he felt ignored him, he created forgeries of paintings by artists such as Frans Hals, Pieter de Hooch, and Johannes Vermeer. He even sold them and earned the equivalent of $60 million. But when the Germans occupied the Netherlands in WWII, Van Meegeren found himself in a lot of trouble.

You see, Van Meegeren traded a fake Vermeer painting to Hermann Göring — and this was considered a capital sentence. To save himself, he confessed and was convicted of the lesser sentence of forgery. Before he could serve his prison time, though, Van Meegeren succumbed to a heart attack.

Edward Slovik was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944. But after being deployed in France, he deserted because he was afraid of serving along the front lines. He was later placed in a stockade and told charges against him would be dismissed if he went back to his unit. But he didn't want to fight.

Figuring he'd get a short prison term, Slovik refused to return to the fighting. But the soldier was actually given the death sentence for his actions. General Eisenhower later confirmed the severe punishment, making Slovik the only U.S. soldier in WWII to be executed for desertion.

Juan Pujol Garcia, a Spaniard, gained the trust of the German intelligence service, the Abwehr, by sending "intelligence" he had collected in Britain. But unbeknownst to the Germans, Pujol was not in Britain at the time. He had actually created the "intelligence" with the help of films, newspapers, and pure imagination.

Pujol then worked his way into MI5 and became the double-agent spy he wanted to be. His most important deception involved helping to divert the German high command away from the true location of the D-Day landings. Oblivious to this, the Nazis awarded Pujol with their highest honor, the Iron Cross.

Milwaukee-born Mildred Fish and her husband, Arvid Harnack, were in Germany as Hitler rose to power. The couple and their close associates believed the Soviet Union would be the last obstacle to stopping complete Nazi tyranny in Europe. And they wanted to do something.

So the couple joined a communist espionage network called The Red Orchestra, which provided intelligence to the USSR. The group was compromised, however, and a betrayal led to Arvid's execution. Then Mildred became the only U.S. female executed on Hitler's direct orders.

In 1945 the German ocean liner SS Cap Arcona was transporting concentration camp prisoners. But the British believed it was actually carrying escaping members of the SS — and they attacked the vessel. The results were catastrophic.

In what is considered one of the worst maritime disasters in history, the Royal Air Force bombing resulted in the deaths of roughly 5,000 passengers. Another 2,000 people were killed when two ships accompanying the Cap Arcona — the Deutschland and the Thielbek — were also sunk.

In Papago Park, Arizona, a prison camp held German POWs during WWII. But on December 23, 1944, 25 of its prisoners tried to escape. The determined team had spent three months digging a 178-foot tunnel — secretly spreading the removed dirt throughout the camp. And then they successfully fled the Camp Papago Park grounds two days before Christmas.

Of course, soldiers, the FBI, and Native American scouts went after them. Most of the POWs were caught out by bad weather and foreign conditions and were swiftly rounded up. A month later, the last escapee was captured at a railway station in Phoenix.