The V1 flying bomb was one of the most fear-inducing terror weapons of the Second World War. Thousands were killed and wounded by its warhead, but alongside those civilians are the forgotten victims of the V1 the people who made them.
1. Panjandrum – the ultimate invasion weapon. This ungainly device was intended to be used against the beach defences of Hitler's Atlantic Wall.
SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Otto Skorzeny was one of the most celebrated and feared commandos of World War II. Daring operations such as the rescue of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and missions behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge made him known as "the most dangerous man in Europe."
A German offensive in August 1942 stalls and the Red Army holds on in Stalingrad until the Russian winter arrives. It is one of the bloodiest battles in history with nearly two million military and civilian casualties.
The Allied forces were commonly using either the American Browning M2 machine gun or the British Vickers at the time, which each only fired around 450-600 rounds per minute. The increased cadence of fire inherent to the MG42 led to its nickname as “Hitler's Buzzsaw.” It was a truly ferocious weapon of war.
It is known as the L7A2 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) to the British Armed Forces, aka 'The General' and the 'Gimpy' or 'Jimpy'.
Horrors of war
In Germany's 49 largest cities, nearly 40 percent of homes were seriously damaged or destroyed. In the western Soviet Union, the destruction was even greater. Nearly 40 million European souls perished from war-related causes between 1939 and 1945, more than half of them noncombatants.
It is believed that 60 to 67 percent of all deaths were civilian fatalities, largely resulting from war-related famine or disease, and war crimes or atrocities. Systematic genocide, extermination campaigns, and forced labor, particularly by the Germans, Japanese, and Soviets, led to the deaths of millions.
Genocide. Genocide is considered one of the most severe crimes against humanity. It means the deliberate attempt to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was an American soldier, actor, and songwriter. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. He received every military combat award for valor available from the United States Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism.
Only 14 countries remained officially neutral throughout the entire war. They included Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan as well as the microstates of Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino and Vatican City.
The Gurkhas are soldiers from Nepal who are recruited into the British Army, and have been for the last 200 years. Gurkhas are known to be as fearless in combat as they are good natured in daily life. To this day, they remain renowned for their loyalty, professionalism and bravery.
Of course, nuclear weapons surpass all other weapons made to date, because they have enormous destructive power and can cut down an entire city and a large part of the population, and radiation after a nuclear attack would be present for decades.
The M1 Garand was the first standard-issue semi-automatic rifle, and General George S. Patton called it “the greatest battle implement ever devised”.
The Mosin Nagant, Short Magazine Lee Enfield, the Kar98, and the M1 Garand are the three main rifles of World War II and all are highly collectible. The M1911 pistol, the Russian Nagant revolver, and the Walther P08 are the three main handguns that are associated with the war and are rarer than the rifles.
Private First Class Charles Havlat (November 4, 1910 – May 7, 1945) is recognized as being the last United States Army soldier to be killed in combat in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.
Chinese suffering during the war is not in dispute. Some 14 million Chinese died and up to 100 million became refugees during the eight years of the conflict with Japan from 1937 to 1945.
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 was the deadliest conflict in human history marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China.
If you mean “number of people killed”, then WW2 wins by a wide margin, with anywhere from 70–90 million people killed. If you mean by the amount of suffering caused to civilians, then WW2 again wins by a wide margin.
The Heilongjiang hand cannon or hand-gun is a bronze hand cannon manufactured no later than 1288 and is the world's oldest confirmed surviving firearm. It weighs 3.55 kg (7.83 pounds) and is 34 centimeters (13.4 inches) long.
The weapon (type) that has the most kills associated with it would be the sword. For thousands of years, swords of various design from all over the world were used to spread empires, invade foreign lands, defend homelands, execute captives, and engage in total warfare.