World War Ii: Spies, Civilian Resistance and Soldier's Equipment

Bang! Bang! Bang! Guns and tanks Shooting all over the place. This is World war II. But that’s not the full story. This all happened behind the scenes.

The Spy Network

There were many heroic spies and double agents on the allied side. Two of them are Juan Pujol García and Eddie Chapman. Here is what they did to help the fight against the Nazis.

Eddie Chapman was a former criminal who was imprisoned, hired by Nazi’s for him to spy for them. However, when he got back to Britain he became a double agent for Britain, because they wanted to learn about the Nazi spy system ,the Abwehr. The Abwehr had instructed him to blow up the De Havilland factory. The British spy agency or M15 and Chapman faked the attack by using a complex camouflage system including paper mache and wooden damaged transformers, and they made buildings look like the half-demolished remains of walls, they even scattered debris and had the Daily Express newspaper put in a fake article titled "an explosion at a factory on the outskirts of London."

Juan Pujol García was an M15 double agent who saved many lives on both sides on the the battle of Normandy beaches know more commonly as D-day. He was hired by the Nazis to hire many sub-agents as he could to give him reports on allied positions. However, all of his sub-agents were fictional. His “sub-agents” gave him many reports which earned the trust of the Nazis. Before D-day he communicated with the allies many times to decide that the attack would be on the normandy beaches. He then told Hitler that the attack was north of Normandy, and instead in the area of the Pas de Calais. This made Hitler move many of Normandy's troops.

The Jewish children that were in concentration camps or ghettos had very uncertain futures. Their fates were normally one of the following. Firstly most children were killed almost immediately when they arrived at a killing camp or killed right after birth. Secondly a few of the children born in the camps survived because they were hidden by the other prisoners. Thirdly, children that were over the age of 12 were used as laborers or subjects of medical experiments, such as giving a child a battlefield diseases like malaria and trying the untested medicine for the disease until the disease or the bad medicine killed them.

Civilian Resistance (against the Nazis)

There are many stories about people in axis territories who fought back, this one tells how three boy’s, three german boys., resisted Hitler’s rule. Rudi Wobbe, Helmuth Hübener, And Karl-Heinz Schnibbe were three teenagers who made leaflets to inform other Germans about Hitler only wanted power for himself, rather than Germany. The boys’ leaflets held messages such as “Hitler the Murderer” and ”Do You Know You Are Being Lied To” and were dropped in public places around Hamburg. Some of the leaflets were posted on bulletin boards and even dropped in the coat pockets of high-ranking Nazi officials. the Thoughts of Soldiers and Pilots in the WarMany pilots and soldiers that survived the war have shared their thoughts on their experiences. These can tell you how they felt about the war and what they did. As one pilot tells about the jeep races he saw in the jungle he says “it was nasty and inhospitable jungle … but there were relaxations. There were jeep races- the squadrons turned up in their favorite Jeeps and raced them around a course. The betting was usually heavy...”.

Another pilot describes the losses of planes and pilots by saying “The losses of aircraft(s) could be made up, but the experience(d) men … could not be replaced.”. “...The tanks were poor. We felt nothing but pity for Italian soldiers who went out to fight in what were mobile sardine tins…” said one allied soldier, describing the Italian tanks that were used in both World Wars. “They pinpointed our position from aerial photographs, then bombed, shelled, and besieged us. Within a day our position was completely destroyed.” Said one japanese soldier describing a battle he was in.

Soldier’s Equipment

A soldier in war will need multiple things that help him or her survive when they are in battle, or simply need certain equipment to help them. Basic equipment for a soldier in World War 2 normally consisted of boots, uniform, sewing kit, a weapon, A “tin hat” or a helmet (the U.S. army helmet could double as a digging tool, wash-basin, emergency toilet, cooking pot, and even a short-range weapon). A soldier may also go into a jungle climate to fight. In a jungle a soldier would need special equipment, along with their basic equipment which includes a mosquito mask, high rubber shoes, a poncho, and camouflage pants (which many soldiers found impractical to wear). Special Forces would also have their own specialized weapons and equipment for special task that they were assigned, these include short fused grenades, plastic explosives, sticky bombs (that stick to the side of vehicles), secret radios, and carrier pigeons. Any other weapons that a soldier might have had include bazookas, grenades, mortars, and heavy machine guns (in bunkers and trenches)

Life as a Soldier or Fighter Pilot

At boot camp most people got used to army life: an early wake up call, washing and shaving in a communal bathroom. They ate together in mess halls or canteens and complained about the cooking. For physical exercises the soldiers did things like marches and cross-country runs with the large weight of equipment and weapons on their backs. “We were toughened up. We learned to scrub a garbage can until you could see your face in it, make your bed so tight quarter would bounce on it,” said a U. S. Soldier describing his training. For Great Britain’s Royal Air Force or RAF at around the time of the Battle of Britain, life was the consistent signal for pilots to scramble, or run to their planes, as Germany’s Luftwaffe tried to destroy their planes. Please remember all of the brave men and women, on and off the battlefield, did all in their power, with many risking their lives, so that Europe could live.