Yes, there were soldiers who served in both World War I and World War II. Some examples include: My great-uncle Arthur Levesley was one of many. As a major in the trenches in WW1, on behalf of his hungry men, he gave chase to a chicken they had spotted in No-Man's Land, with his officer's revolver.
Yes, a great many men served in both. Obvious examples include Hitler, who was a runner in the army in WW1 and then supreme commander of German forces in WW2, and the vast majority of generals such as Rommel and Maczek who had both commanded battalions in the first war..
Yes, absolutely many lads joined up in WW1 underage as young as 16 years old. They would be under 40 at the outbreak of the second. Many of the officers and commanders on both sides served in both wars: Field Marshal Montgomery, General Patton and Field Marshal Rommel, to name a few.
Phil Bucklew, who served in every significant Naval Special Warfare unit between WWII and Vietnam; and Maj. Gen. Salve H. Matheson, one of the officers from the unit recognized in the Band of Brothers series.
The central powers group consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. The Allied powers group consisted of France, Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, Canada and (from 1917) the U.S. World War II (a.k.a the Second World War), the opposing alliances are now referred to as 'The Axis' and 'The Allies'.
World War II was the most destructive war in history. Estimates of those killed vary from 35 million to 60 million. The total for Europe alone was 15 million to 20 million—more than twice as many as in World War I.
Russians also point to the fact that Soviet forces killed more German soldiers than their Western counterparts, accounting for 76 percent of Germany's military dead.
The Soviet Army Once Shot Its Own Troops For Retreating.
Those who supported the war resented the veterans for losing the war, which left Vietnam veterans feeling like outsiders to veterans of other wars. The Vietnam War divided American society. Those who served were often treated as traitors instead of heroes, and found it difficult to adjust to life back home.
Billy Chinnis grew up in Toledo and joined the Navy in 1942 to serve in World War II. Mr. Chinnis says he enjoyed serving his country so much that he stayed in the Navy for 30 years, also serving in the Korean War and Vietnam War.
Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart was a one-eyed, one-handed war hero who fought in three major conflicts across six decades, surviving plane crashes and PoW camps.
About 70 million people fought in World War II between 1939 and 1945 and, as of 2022, there are still approximately 167,000 living veterans in the United States alone.
Most of the casualties during WWI are due to war related famine and disease. Civilian deaths due to the Spanish flu have been excluded from these figures, whenever possible. Moreover, civilian deaths include the Armenian Genocide.
Although the name of the last German soldier to die before the armistice is unknown, it is widely accepted that a Lieutenant Tomas was probably the last German casualty on the Western Front. As he approached some American soldiers shortly after 11 a.m. to tell them the war was over, they opened fire and shot him.
Axis casualties during the Battle of Stalingrad are estimated to have been around 800,000, including those missing or captured. Soviet forces are estimated to have suffered 1,100,000 casualties, and approximately 40,000 civilians died. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the deadliest battles in World War II.
Troops who arrived home by air were invited to join them, but few accepted the offer. Some returning veterans were subjected to abuse by anti-war protesters. All Australian combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam by late 1971, although the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam remained until 1972.
They sense that if they share their stories, memories and war invade their home and contaminate it. A last thing I talk to with families about why Veterans don't share involves their fear of facing it themselves. This goes to the concept of avoidance.
Ages range from 97 to 55 years old (born between 1918 and 1960). Median age is 68 years.
The Soviet Union also had blocking units in the Second World War to shoot troops who retreated when defending their country from Nazi invaders. Josef Stalin's infamous order 227 in July 1942 told soldiers that they were not to take "one step back".
Acts of mass rape and other war crimes were committed by Soviet troops during the occupation of East Prussia (Danzig), parts of Pomerania and Silesia, during the Battle of Berlin, and during the Battle of Budapest.
In the winter of 1942/43, Hitler sacrificed twenty-two divisions through his command to hold out at Stalingrad. More than 100,000 German soldiers fell, froze, or starved to death even before the surrender of the Sixth Army. Over 90,000 men ended up in Soviet prisoner-of-war camps—only around 6,000 of them survived.
Axis powers. The Axis powers (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan) were some of the most systematic perpetrators of war crimes in modern history.
World War II
The war pitted the Allies and the Axis power in the deadliest war in history, and was responsible for the deaths of over 70 million people.
Military deaths from all causes totaled 21–25 million, including deaths in captivity of about 5 million prisoners of war. More than half of the total number of casualties are accounted for by the dead of the Republic of China and of the Soviet Union.