Movies, conspiracy theories, and generations of hearsay have turned certain myths about World War II into perceived truths.
German army was entirely mechanized
Although Allied propaganda during the war promoted an image of the German army as a completely motorized army of technological superiority, horses were the prime method of transportation for the German military.
Germany deployed over 2.7 million horses throughout the war, more than they had in WWI. Supplies, artillery, and even infantry units were predominantly horse-drawn. Germany’s tanks and armored transports were often hampered by mechanical failures and fuel shortages.
The United States single-handedly defeated Nazi Germany
The war effort of the United States, especially its aid to the USSR (Lend-Lease program) and entry into the war, proved to be pivotal to victory. However, it was on the Eastern Front that Germany’s army was destroyed.
Approximately 80% of German military casualties were inflicted by the Soviet Union, with some of the largest battles of the war including Stalingrad, Kursk, and Leningrad happening on Soviet soil.
The French army surrendered without a fight
France’s rapid defeat in May-June 1940 was not due to cowardice, but due to a failure of doctrine and high- command strategy
French troops fought tenaciously and courageously over the course of six weeks, sacrificing over 85,000 soldiers and inflicting upwards of 120,000 casualties on the Germans. At Dunkirk, French soldiers fought to the last bullet and were the only reason over 330,000 Allied soldiers made it back to Britain.
Polish cavalry charged German tanks with swords and lances
This long-lived story began as Italian and German wartime propaganda, and was repeated by Soviet historians. In September 1939, Polish cavalry charging German infantry were caught off guard by arriving armored cars.
They never purposefully rode horses into tanks while wielding lances. Polish cavalry units were modern mobile infantry units equipped with up-to-date anti-tank rifles and artillery.
Atomic bombs were the sole reason Japan surrendered
Japan’s high command was stunned not only by the atomic devastation but also by the unexpected Soviet declaration of war and invasion of Manchuria on August 9, 1945.
The speed with which the Red Army crushed Japan’s Kwantung Army dashed Japanese hopes for negotiating a conditional surrender via Moscow and defending Japan’s northern territories.
The Maginot Line was a useless tactical failure
The heavily fortified Maginot Line did its job perfectly: it prevented the Wehrmacht from invading France through the French-German border and successfully forced the German Army to instead go around it through Belgium.
It was the Allies who had made the critical blunder of assuming that the Ardennes forest, also located in Belgium, was too thick to allow the Germans to drive armored divisions through it.
Winston Churchill was universally loved and unquestioned
Churchill was a unique wartime leader who rallied the British people with his speeches, but his domestic policies and past political record were highly mistrusted in Britain.
Churchill was liked because he was needed, but after victory in Europe in 1945, the British electorate decisively dropped Churchill and the Conservatives from office in favour of the Labour Party by a landslide.
All German soldiers were dedicated Nazi Party members
The Wehrmacht (regular armed forces) was separate from the Schutzstaffel(SS) and the formal Nazi Party organization. Millions of soldiers of the regular army were conscripts with different political ideologies.
However, claims after the war that the regular army was clean of wrongdoing and did not participate in war crimes have since been proven false; the regular army was guilty of numerous atrocities on the Eastern Front.
Pearl Harbor was a total surprise that destroyed the US Navy
The timing and target surprised military commanders, but American leaders were expecting a Japanese attack somewhere in the Pacific as oil embargoes grew more severe.
However, one important goal was not achieved by the attack: all three US Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers happened to be at sea, and thus the main force of the new naval weapon was left intact.
The RAF single-handedly won the Battle of Britain
British, Polish, Canadian and Allied pilots performed heroically, but victory was also achieved through interconnected ground support.
Britain deployed the Dowding System, which was the first air defense system in the world to utilise radar, lookouts and radio control. It allowed them to efficiently dispatch fighters right where they were needed to prevent the much larger German air force from destroying them.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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