Would you believe or Did you know?

[von Poop]

Originally Posted by spidge

THE MOTHERHOOD CROSS
This award was presented each year on the 12th of August (the birthday of Hitler's mother) to all German mothers of large families.

• The Motherhood Cross of Iron was given to mothers with four children
• the Silver Cross to mothers of six
• the Gold Cross to a mother of eight
• the Cross in Gold and Diamonds for ten, plus Hitler always acted as honorary godfather.

This was a continuation of the practice initiated by President Hindenburg. Hitler Youth organizations were expected to salute mothers wearing the Cross. By 1939 around three million German mothers had been so decorated by what the ordinary man in the street called the 'Order of the Rabbit' (Kaninchenorden)

Not forgetting the Soviets similar Order of Maternal Glory,


1st Class-Awarded to Mothers of 9 children.
2nd Class-Awarded to Mothers of 8 children.
3rd Class-Awarded to Mothers of 7 children.

I bought my other half the 1st class one of these after quite a bit of searching... Ironically one of the sprogs then lost it a few weeks later .
Hohum.

[Kyt]

Originally Posted by Von Poop

1st Class-Awarded to Mothers of 9 children.

I bought my other half the 1st class one of these after quite a bit of searching...

How on earth do you find the time to be here?!?

[von Poop]

Originally Posted by Kyt

How on earth do you find the time to be here?!?

Those 2nd & 3rd class lightweights eh?

[jacobtowne]

The Weight of Money

U.S. folding currency weighs 490 bills to the pound. A million dollars in one-dollar bills weighs more than a ton. In 100s, it's just over 20 pounds.

This is absolutely essential to know, especially for those Willie Sutton wannabes out there.

JT

[Peter Clare]

SUICIDE?
Stalin's son, Jakov Dzhugashvili, a 2nd Lieutenant in the artillery corps, was captured on May 16, 1942 and interned in the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp where he was later shot while trying to escape. (Some sources say he committed suicide). In 1943, an attempt was made by the Germans to exchange Jakov for Field Marshal Paulus who was captured after the fall of Stalingrad. The request was refused by Stalin. Although he grieved for his son he is quoted as saying "I will not exchange a private for a Field Marshal".
Over two million Soviet prisoners of war were liberated by the Red Army. All were to suffer at the hands of Stalin who always maintained that Russia had no POW's, all were considered traitors to the Motherland for allowing themselves to be captured.

[Peter Clare]

The term "the whole 9 yards" came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the
South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target,it got "the whole 9 yards."

[spidge]

AIR RAID SHELTERS
During the war, a total of 2,250,000 Anderson air raid shelters were erected in Britain. Named after its designer, Dr David A. Anderson, they cost seven pounds for those earning over 250 Pounds Sterling per year, free for those earning less. The Ministry of Home Security ordered that these shelters must be up by June 11, 1940, and that they be covered by earth to a depth of 15 inches on top and 30 inches on sides and back. In the spring of 1941, the Morison shelter was introduced, a low steel cage for use indoors. Cost was the same as for the Anderson shelter. When the sides were folded down the steel top could be used as a table. A total of 38 million gas-masks were also distributed. By 1941, public air raid shelters in London were fitted with 462,000 bunks for adults and 11,000 for children. Bunks were also provided in 46 of London's Tube Stations. Stacked in warehouses were millions of cardboard coffins in expectations of many dead from air raids.


BOMB SHELTERS
After the German Luftwaffe was defeated in the Battle of Britain and the cancellation of 'Operation Seelowe' , the planed invasion of Britain in late 1940, Germany set about protecting its own citizens from attack by enemy bombers. In October 1940, Hitler ordered the construction of bomb shelters and flak towers in all the major cities. The cost was enormous. Around 120 thousand million Reichsmarks and 200 million cubic metres of reinforced concrete was the estimate given prior to the work proceeding. Thirty major cities were included in the programme which employed some 80,000 workers and aimed at 3,000 shelters being built. In addition to this, thousands of smaller shelters were built into tunnels, caves and mines. In late 1941, construction was somewhat delayed by the building of the Atlantic Wall and construction of U-boat pens in France. After the war many of these shelters and bunkers were blown up by the Allied authorities but were used first as emergency accommodation for Displaced Persons. By the end of the war, 131 cities and towns in Germany had been bombed. (Air raid deaths in Germany has been calculated at 443,000) One may ask where is the moral justification in killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in the hope that doing so will force a military surrender?

[Kyt]

Originally Posted by spidge

Around 120 thousand million Reichsmarks and 200 million cubic metres of reinforced concrete was the estimate given prior to the work proceeding. Thirty major cities were included in the programme which employed some 80,000 workers and aimed at 3,000 shelters being built. In addition to this, thousands of smaller shelters were built into tunnels, caves and mines.

I've read about some of the shelters which were vast. And of some horrific experiences of rescuers who found that the shelters had held up physically to the
bombings, but the people inside had died from suffocation or been cooked by the immense heat. terrible.

[Peter Clare]

The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in W.W.II killed the only elephant in the Berlin zoo.

[lancesergeant]

Originally Posted by Kitty

Worthwhile reading up on the Air Transport Auxiliary, the British version which had male and female pilots. And these people were in the front line.

Brave people indeed.

A certain lady by the name of Amy Johnson was in their ranks until she crashed in the Thames in the early forties. You probably knew that Kitty - but I thought I'd mention it!!!