WWII Secrets Too Strange to Believe
World War II was filled with incredible stories of heroism, tragedy, and human determination. But hidden beneath the famous battles and well-known events were some truly bizarre secrets that sound more like fiction than fact.
From animals trained as weapons to fake armies made of rubber, the war produced some of the strangest military operations in history. These unbelievable secrets show just how creative and desperate both sides became during the most destructive conflict the world had ever seen.
The Nazis tried to destroy Britain’s economy with fake money
Operation Bernhard was an exercise by Nazi Germany to forge British bank notes, with the initial plan to drop the notes over Britain to bring about a collapse of the British economy during the Second World War. Beginning late 1943, Germany printed nearly one million counterfeit notes per month.
The Nazis forced Jewish prisoners to become expert counterfeiters, producing fake British pounds so perfect that even bank experts couldn’t tell the difference. The plan involved dropping tons of fake currency over Britain to cause massive inflation and economic collapse.
America trained pigeons to guide bombs to their targets
Despite the success of Project Pigeon, pigeon-piloted bombs were never used in WWII. Instead, the Navy brass decided to go with a radio-based echolocation guidance system developed by Western Electric Co., and the NIST-built glide bomb saw action in the Pacific toward the end of WWII.
B.F. Skinner, the famous psychologist, developed this program where pigeons were taught to peck at images of enemy targets on a screen inside bombs. The birds would guide the weapons by pecking at the target, and their accuracy was surprisingly good during tests.
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The Ghost Army fooled the Germans with inflatable tanks
Military units in both the Allied and Axis powers used air-filled tanks and straw airplanes to deceive enemies. Up close, one of the Ghost Army’s inflatable tanks—a framework of inflatable tubes supporting a rubberized canvas overlay—would fool no one.
But from about a quarter-mile away it looked every bit the M4 Sherman. The unit waged war with inflatable tanks and vehicles, fake radio traffic, sound effects, and even had one of the highest IQs in the Army with an average of 119.
Hitler had a secret son who fought against him
Adolf Hitler supposedly had a son named Jean-Marie Loret with a French woman during World War I. Loret grew up not knowing his father’s identity until his mother revealed the truth when he was an adult.
During WWII, he actually fought in the French Resistance against Nazi Germany, unknowingly battling against his own father’s forces. DNA tests conducted years later provided some evidence supporting this claim, though it remains controversial among historians.
The Japanese used balloons to bomb America
Japan launched over 9,000 balloon bombs across the Pacific Ocean, hoping they would reach the American mainland and cause forest fires and panic. These balloons carried incendiary devices and were designed to ride air currents across the ocean.
Only about 300 made it to North America, but they did cause some damage and killed six people in Oregon. The American government kept this attack completely secret to prevent panic and avoid giving the Japanese information about their success.
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Both sides seriously considered using bats as weapons
The American military developed a plan to attach tiny incendiary bombs to bats and release them over Japanese cities. The idea was that bats would roost in wooden buildings and then the bombs would start fires across entire neighborhoods.
During testing, some escaped bats actually burned down a military hangar at an airbase in New Mexico. The project was eventually cancelled when the atomic bomb made it unnecessary.
The first German soldier killed in the war died fighting for China
The first German soldier killed in the war was a Lieutenant von Schmeling, a military advisor to the Nationalist Chinese (China had been at war with Japan since 1931). He died while leading a Chinese infantry battalion in 1937.
This happened because Germany was helping China fight against Japan before the two countries became allies. Many German military advisors were already in China when Japan attacked, and they found themselves fighting on the opposite side from what their country would later choose.
Britain destroyed part of the French Navy to keep it from the Germans
Despite being allies during both world wars, one of the little-known fun facts about WWII is that the British Royal Navy destroyed a portion of the French Navy. Weeks after the fall of France, the port of Mers-el-Kebir was blockaded by a detachment of the Royal Navy.
When France surrendered, Britain worried the powerful French fleet would fall into German hands. The British gave the French an ultimatum to surrender their ships or join the British fleet.
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The Soviets trained dogs to blow up German tanks
The Soviet Union attempted to use anti-tank dogs carrying explosives to destroy German armor. The dogs were trained to run under enemy tanks where bombs strapped to their backs would detonate.
The plan failed miserably because the dogs had been trained using Soviet tanks that ran on diesel fuel. When they encountered German tanks that used gasoline, the dogs became confused and often ran back toward their own lines instead.
America almost invaded Switzerland by accident
During the later stages of the war, American bombers accidentally dropped bombs on Swiss cities multiple times, thinking they were attacking German targets. The worst incident happened when 50 American bombers attacked the Swiss city of Schaffhausen, killing 40 people and destroying many buildings.
Switzerland demanded compensation and the United States had to pay millions in damages. These mistakes nearly caused Switzerland to abandon its neutrality and join the war against America.
The Japanese built submarines that could carry aircraft
Japan developed massive submarines called I-400 class boats that were designed to carry three bomber aircraft each. These underwater aircraft carriers could surface, launch their planes to attack targets like the Panama Canal, then submerge and escape.
The submarines were over 400 feet long and took years to build. Only three were completed before the war ended, and they never got to carry out their planned attack on American targets.
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Both sides used fake spies to spread false information
The British ran an operation called the Double Cross System where they captured German spies and turned them into double agents without Germany knowing. These fake spies sent incorrect information back to Germany about Allied plans and troop movements.
The system was so successful that by 1944, British intelligence controlled every single German spy operating in Britain. The false information helped make D-Day successful by convincing Germany the invasion would happen somewhere else.
Stalin had a secret plan to escape to America if Germany won
Soviet intelligence documents revealed that Stalin had prepared a secret escape route to flee to the United States if Nazi Germany defeated the Soviet Union. He had arranged for ships and planes to take him across the Pacific to America, where he planned to continue leading Soviet resistance from exile.
Roosevelt had supposedly agreed to provide sanctuary for Stalin if the situation became desperate. The plan was never used because the Soviets eventually pushed the Germans back.
The Nazis built a massive concrete bunker that still can’t be destroyed
Hitler ordered the construction of enormous concrete bunkers called flak towers in major German cities. These structures had walls up to 16 feet thick and were designed to be indestructible.
After the war, the Allies tried to demolish them with explosives but found they were too strong to destroy completely. Several of these massive concrete towers still stand in cities like Vienna and Hamburg today, serving as reminders of the war.
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Germany developed rockets that could reach space
While everyone knows about German V-2 rockets, few realize that Nazi scientists were already working on rockets capable of reaching space. The A-9/A-10 rocket program was designed to create intercontinental ballistic missiles that could hit targets in America.
These multi-stage rockets would have been powerful enough to put objects into orbit around Earth. The war ended before these space rockets could be completed, but many of the German scientists later worked on America’s space program.
When war secrets became space race foundations
The strangest aspect of these WWII secrets is how many of them laid the groundwork for the modern world we know today. The same guidance systems that were developed for pigeon-guided bombs eventually evolved into the electronic navigation systems used in modern missiles and spacecraft.
German rocket scientists who designed weapons to destroy cities later helped America reach the moon. The deception techniques used by the Ghost Army influenced military strategy for decades to come.
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