Each day of World War II Soviet military personnel received 100 grams of vodka as part of their food ration. The soldiers’ vodka ration remained vital enough for Soviet forces to drop alcohol bottles by air during the Battle of Stalingrad when river transports became impossible.
Lieutenant Ivan Bezditko received the “Terrible” nickname for his constant desire to obtain additional vodka rations. The additional alcohol rations he wanted led to his repeated claims about surviving dead soldiers within his combat unit. Taking the vodka distributions from deceased soldiers was how he acquired additional rations.
The masquerade operated throughout a brief period. Major Malygin identified abnormal supply patterns when he conducted his supply inspections. For any fighting troop in Stalingrad to persevere they had to suffer substantial losses of their personnel. The supply officer Malygin contacted Ivan by phone for warning him about reporting his made-up stories. The major erred when he informed Ivan his supplies of vodka would cease.
During their phone conversation Ivan began shouting loudly at Major Malygin saying “If I don’t receive it then you will get it!” The supply officer Malygin paid no attention to him and revoked his vodka provisions.
They drove Ivan to a state of rage which led him to call his artillery unit and communicate firing coordinates. Shells targeted the vodka warehouse just after Malygin got there. Hundreds of bottles shattered while Malygin managed to get away from the destruction zone.
The broken glass covered his body as Malygin held a phone while smelling alcohol while trying to report the attack to Ivan. The headquarters responded to the incident by ordering him to provide the vodka to Ivan. Newly awarded with the Order of the Red Star he received his vodka ration as a prize. Give it to him.”
As a result of this incident no one ever attempted to seize Ivan The Terrible’s supply of vodka.
A straightforward World War II anecdote tells about the following comic incident:
The medical officer serving with the British forces experienced an inexplicable occurrence at the Arnhem theater of combat during 1944. The doctor treated injured soldiers at a hospital before a German tank exited from a forest to fire at the facility.
The doctor got really mad. During that moment he chose to move outside directly toward the approaching German tank. He exhibited aggressive behavior while pointing at the Red Cross sign that marked the hospital since the German soldiers did not understand his message.
The doctor ended his shouting before he returned to the hospital facility. The tank occupants remained thoroughly mystified by this incident. Then something strange happened. The tank transformed into the woods as though there were no recent incident. After displaying his anger the doctor returned to his work.
It becomes clear that war sometimes brings unexpected hilarious situations during the story. A furious courageous mentally unstable individual caused the tank to vanish. Human nature reveals through these events that individuals enact illogical behaviors that achieve positive outcomes during unfavorable conditions.
Who was the last German soldier to surrender after WWII whereas the last Japanese soldier surrendered in 1974?
I’d have to give ‘last German holdouts’ prize to the 11 men in the weather forecast unit under the command of lieutenant Wilhelm Dege stranded at a weather station on the… (Read Full)
I wouldn’t describe world war two as being “fun”
But here one story that did made me laugh.
Meet Jacques Remmingler, he was born in England but he was raised by a French mother and a French father who worked in England. This is why he was in England at the time France fell in 1940.
In late 1941 he finally joined De Gaulle forces and volunteer for the Free French air force. After signing up he had the opportunity to meet De Gaulle who was intersted in meeting those few frenchmen that dared to join his cause to free France. He met him in his bureau in London and was aligned with other Free French.
De Gaulle came into the office, intrigued by those men and ask one single question to the first men of the line.
“So soldiers how did you get here”
the first men promptly tells a full story on how he was in the vichy air force and decided to steal a fighter plane and nearly crashed in Gilbraltar so he could join his mouvement.
De Gaulle shook his hand and ask the other men who was just beside him and ask the same question
“And you soldiers how did you get here?”
the 2nd man say’s another story, on how he jumped from a train transporting him to a POW camp or how he crossed the Franco-spannish border witheout being caught by the Spannish.
De Gaulle, astonished by all those stories finally met the last one, who was Jacques Remmigler and De Gaulle promptly ask his question
“and you soldier how did you get here?”
Jacques rumbles for a seconde a mutters a phrase that is almost unheard due to the stammering
“Well sir… i took the bus to get here..”
A French army officer escaped from the notorious Oflag IV-C (Colditz Castle) on his first day there by the simple means of waiting until the guards backs were turned, and walking out of the front door.
From there he strolled on down to the town of Colditz, and wandered casually into the train station.
The station master was suspicious, to the point of phoning the guardroom at the castle. But they assured him that the person in question couldn’t possibly be an escaped PoW because it was well known that Colditz was escape proof.
Reluctantly, the station master sold the French officer a ticket and he went on his merry way to neutral territory.
The escape wasn’t uncovered until the PoW’s roll call the following morning when the guards discovered they were a prisoner short.
They searched his quarters, and, on the neatly made bed found a polite note – “Dear Commandant, if you are reading this, I have successfully escaped. Please kindly forward my baggage to the French Embassy in Geneva.”
William Craig’s book “Enemy at the Gates: The battle for Stalingrad” had an interesting story about a ‘friendly fire’ incident:
In World War II, each Red Army soldier received a daily ration that included 100 grams of vodka. The liquor was so indispensable to the troops that during the winter months of the battle of Stalingrad when supply boats could not cross the Volga, bottles of vodka had to be parachuted down. For Lieutenant Ivan Bezditko, nicknamed Ivan The Terrible after the 16th century Russian Tsar, 100 grams was simply not enough. To quench his raging thirst for liquor, when men from his artillery battalion died, Ivan The Terrible would report that they were still ‘present and accounted for’ so that when their liquor rations arrived, he would take them all.
Predictably, his scam was easily discovered by the supply officer Major Malygin, because it was impossible for any unit to be in Stalingrad for any lengthy period of time without suffering heavy casualties. Major Malygin telephoned Ivan and threatened to report his fraudulent behavior to Army headquarters. Okay, fair game. But Major Malygin went one step further, probably one step too far, he said he would cut off Ivan The Terrible’s vodka ration.
Ivan screamed over the telephone “If I don’t get it, you’ll get it”. Not intimidated, or probably not getting the threat, Major Malygin went ahead and canceled Ivan’s vodka ration like he’d said. Now infuriated, Ivan The Terrible contacted his 122 mm batteries, gave them a precise set of coordinates and ordered them to open fire.
Three rounds hit the vodka warehouse with Major Malygin still inside, shattering hundreds of bottles. Luckily, the Major survived the ‘friendly fire’ incident, he staggered out of the wreckage to the nearest telephone and contacted headquarters to accuse Ivan The Terrible of this terrible crime.
The person on the other end listened to his story patiently, but replied unsympathetically: “Give him the vodka. He was just awarded the Order of the Red Star, so give it to him.”
From then on, no supply officer would mess with Ivan The Terrible’s vodka ration.
