some 40 facts about World war 2

source = http://www.express.co.uk 

Having served four years on the Western Front the 40-year-old was killed at 9.30am, despite the armistice being signed at 5am.

He was one of a staggering 11,000 tragic souls who became casualties on the last day of the war, even though an end to the conflict had already been agreed.

Here, in the run up to Armistice Day and the 100th anniversary of the start of hostilities, we've put together 40 other incredible facts about the 1914-1918 war that was meant to end all wars...

1. Officially a British soldier had to be 19 years old to serve overseas but many lied about their age. About 250,000 under-age boys served. The youngest was discovered to be just 12.


2. Average life expectancy in the trenches was about six weeks. Junior officers and stretcher bearers were some of the people most at risk.

3. During four years 25 million tons of supplies were shipped to the British forces on the Western Front including three million tons of food and five million tons of oats and hay for the horses.

4. As the war went on the amount of food given to soldiers was reduced. A common meal in the trenches was maconochie - a stew of turnips, potatoes and carrots. Other rations included bully beef and even Marmite. There was a small rum ration but tea tasted horrible thanks to the chloride of lime used to purify the water.

5. The war claimed the lives of at least 6,000 men a day. More than nine million soldiers died during the fighting.

6. An incredible 65 million men from 30 countries fought.

7. Some 25,000 miles of zig-zagging trenches were dug on the Western Front alone. Many had nicknames like Bond Street or Death Valley. German lines were given names like Pilsen Trench.

8. German trenches were far superior to Allied ones. Built to last some had shuttered windows and even doorbells. At Hooge, near Ypres, opposing trenches were 50 yards apart.

9. A soldier spent 15 per cent of the year on the frontline, usually for no more than two weeks at a time.

10. At the Battle of Mons in 1914, the British infantry fired their Lee-Enfield rifles so efficiently that the Germans thought they were facing machine guns.

11. At Christmas 1914 an unofficial truce was observed along two--thirds of the Western Front. Near Ypres, Belgium, some German and British troops played a football match in No Man's Land. Germany won 3--2 (but not on penalties).

12. Sixty per cent of casualties on the Western Front came from shellfire. There were also 80,000 recorded cases of shell shock.

13. In 1917 anti--German sentiment forced George V to change the Royal Family's name from Saxe--Coburg and Gotha to Windsor. Many road names in Britain were changed too.

14. Famous people who served include the writers AA Milne, creator of Winnie The Pooh, Lord Of The Rings author JRR Tolkien, sculptor Henry Moore and the actor Basil Rathbone.

15. None of the soldiers had metal helmets in 1914. The French were the first to introduce them, in 1915. Future prime minister Winston Churchill wore a French one during his time on the front in 1916.

16. Air raids on Britain, carried out by Zeppelins and aircraft, along with the naval shelling of Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, killed more than 700 people.

17. Disease accounted for a third of deaths during the war. Duck boards eventually helped ease cases of trench foot, an infection caused by damp and cold. But with semi--sanctioned brothels being set up behind the frontline a massive 150,000 British soldiers came down with venereal infections.

18. A total of 346 British soldiers were shot by their own side, mostly for desertion. Another sanction, called Field Punishment No 1, saw offenders strapped to a gun wheel or post, sometimes within range of enemy fire.

19. As well as taking up thousands of male jobs at home some 9,000 women served in France as part of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps working in such roles as cooks and drivers.

20. There were 16,000 British conscientious objectors who refused to fight. Many received white feathers as a sign of cowardice. Some were given non--combatant roles, others were imprisoned.

21. The prominent war recruitment poster Your Country Needs You famously featured Lord Kitchener with a pointing finger.

Kitchener himself was killed when the ship he was on struck a German mine in 1916.

22. So--called Pals Battalions included groups that had joined up together. They included schoolboys, railway workers and two made up of professional footballers.

23. By the end of 1915, 2,446,719 Brits had volunteered. But conscription was still needed. It was introduced for 18-41 year olds during 1916.

24. The Victoria Cross was awarded 628 times. The youngest recipient was Jack Cornwell, 16, who remained at his post during the Battle of Jutland despite suffering ultimately fatal injuries.

25. One of the biggest blasts of the war occurred when the British detonated a million pounds of explosives under the Germans at Messines Ridge, in Belgian West Flanders. The resulting explosion could be heard 150 miles away in London.

26. In 1917 food shortages at home caused by the loss of British shipping to German U--boats meant the government banned the use of rice at weddings and the feeding of pigeons.

27. More than There 16,000 conscientious who refused 27. More than 100,000 homing pigeons were used. In 1918 one called Cher Ami, saved 200 US soldiers who had been cut off when it delivered a message to rescuing forces despite being injured by a bullet.

28. At the height of the war the British Army had 870,000 horses. Dead ones were melted down for fat which was later used for making explosives.

29. Dogs were used to lay down telegraph wires. Terriers were put to work hunting rats.

30. Periscope rifles were developed to see over the 12ft trenches. Other new weapons included flame throwers and tanks - the first tank, in 1915, was called Little Willie. Tanks were split into males (armed with cannons) and females (with machine guns).

31. Trench language contributed many words to the English language: lousy and crummy for the lice that infested soldiers as well as dud, bumf and blotto. Trench butterflies were bits of toilet paper blowing around the battlefield.

32. The Eiffel Tower intercepted German radio messages that led to the execution of Dutch dancer and German spy Mata Hari. British nurse Edith Cavell was shot for helping soldiers escape behind German lines.

33. Initially the only protection against gas attacks was a cloth soaked in a soldier's own urine. British officer Edward Harrison invented the first practical gas mask, saving thousands of lives.

34. The Defence Of The Realm Act 1914 included stopping Britons from talking on the phone in a foreign language, buying binoculars or hailing a cab at night. Alcoholic drinks were watered down and pubs had to close at 10pm.

had 35. Away from the Western Front the fighting was just as fierce. Lawrence Of Arabia made his name during the war in the Middle East, while during the failed Gallipoli campaign the Allies suffered 250,000 casualties fighting the Turks.

36. The war in the air saw Germany's Baron von Richthofen, dubbed the Red Baron, shoot down 80 Allied aircraft. The top British ace, Major Edward Mannock, shot down 61 enemy planes. Both later died in action.

37. Soldiers in the trenches were highly superstitious. Some believed that angels had appeared over the trenches to save them from disaster while phantom cavalry were also seen.

38. By 1918 Britain was spending £6million a day on the war. The total cost has been estimated at £9,000million.

39. When soldiers returned there was a baby boom. Births increased by 45 per cent between 1918 and 1920. But the 1918 influenza pandemic killed more people worldwide than the war.

40. On the morning of the Battle Of The Somme, July 1, 1916, the British suffered 60,000 casualties - 20,000 dead. It was the worst toll for a single day in military history. Allied forces advanced six miles.