Here are five incidents from World War II that are not as widely known as some other events from the war:
- The Ghost Army: The "Ghost Army" was a top-secret army formed by the Allies during World War II. They employed inflatable tanks, fictitious radio transmissions, and other cunning strategies to mislead the enemy about the position and power of the Allied forces. They were made up of artists, actors, and sound specialists.
- The Battle of Castle Itter: American and German soldiers came together in the closing stages of World War II to protect Castle Itter in Austria against a Waffen-SS invasion. It's a rare instance of former adversaries working together to safeguard valuable inmates.
- The Soviet-Japanese Border Wars: In the final days of World War II, the Soviet Union launched a series of offensives against Japan in Manchuria. The fighting in this theater of the war is often overshadowed by events in Europe and the Pacific.
- The Halyard Mission: The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) assisted Serbian Chetniks in the audacious rescue of American airmen who had been trapped behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia during the Halyard Mission.
- The Battle of Castle Hill: A detachment of American and French soldiers held the Castle of Brest against the German forces for several weeks during the 1944 Battle of Brest. This fight is frequently eclipsed by other significant wartime occurrences.
These are a few instances of World War II events with intriguing backstories.