World War 2 Trivia

I’m currently writing the biography of a World War 2 veteran who was captured by the Germans and liberated by the Russians. He has many fascinating stories about his war and post-war experiences. He is also an amateur historian and has taught me many things about the World War 2 era.

Here’s one I didn’t know before. After the Normandy landing, the American troops had a problem getting through the German hedgerows. The Sherman tanks couldn’t destroy the hedgerows and became vulnerable when their weak underbellies were exposed in trying to mount the hedgerows. An American sergeant came up with the idea to turn the Sherman tanks into bulldozers by welding scrap iron blades on the front of the tanks. Using leftover metal from the German defenses against landing craft, the modified tanks nicknamed “rhinoceros” tore through the hedgerows.