Offbeat Warfare Facts that Will Confound History Buffs

1. The Strange Battle That Was Fought – and Lost – Without an Enemy in Sight

The infantry found the missing hussars and demanded a share of their schnapps. The hussars refused, resulting in a brawl that escalated into an exchange of gunfire. During the fight, an infantryman pranked the hussars by shouting “Turci! Turci!” (“Turks! Turks!”). That caused the drunken hussars to flee in terror. However, they were accompanied in their panicked flight by many infantrymen, unaware that the alarm was a trick by a comrade. Across the river, the Austrian camp stirred uneasily at the sounds of distant gunfire and screams. When the panicked hussars and infantry neared the camp, shouting “Turci! Turci!“, they were challenged by sentries who shouted “Halt! Halt!”

That was misheard by non-German speaking soldiers as “Allah! Allah!” In the confusion, an artillery officer thought that the camp was under attack, and ordered his cannons to open fire. As startled and confused soldiers woke up to the sounds of combat, some began firing wildly. Within minutes, the panic and wild firing spread had engulfed the camp. Soon, entire regiments were firing volleys at each other, before the entire army dissolved and scattered in panicked flight. The Turks arrived two days later and captured the Austrian camp, where they found 10,000 dead and wounded.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Albuquerque Journal, February 3^rd, 2004 – Man Survived 22,000 Foot Fall From Bomber

Bronx Pinstripes – On This Day in History: Yogi Berra Takes Part in D-Day

First News, The – Strangest War in History? Seventy-One Years Ago Today, Poland Declared War on its Old Friend Japan, and it Lasted for 16 Years

Historic Wings – The Miracle of Saint Nazaire

Hogg, Ian V. – German Artillery of World War II (2002)

Imperial War Museum – Life and Death in Bomber Command

Intelligence and National Security Journal, Vol 17, No. 2, Summer 2002 – Pearl Harbor Revisionism: Robert Stinnett’s Day of Deceit

Johnson, Brian – The Secret War (2004)

Jones, Don – Oba, the Last Samurai: Saipan 1944-1945 (1986)

La Brujala Verde – The World War II Airmen Who Survived Falls From Thousands of Feet High