On January 3, 1945, the first Canadian draftees sailed for Europe from Halifax. Prior to departure, 7,800 had gone absent without leave. At sailing time 6,300 were still absent. Many of the draftees, as they boarded the ship, dropped their rifles from the gangplank into the water as a form of protest to going into a combat zone in Europe.
Most of the protesters were French Canadians. Eventually, 13,000 of these draftees did go to Europe but only 2,463 managed to reach their respective units before the war ended. Of these, sixty-nine were killed in battle. Total military casualties were 39,319 dead.
Hold on....I'll get the linky-dinky.
http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/1944.htmlModified to add another.......Germans in blackface?????
On May 26, 1944, the beachhead at Anzio/Nettuno ceased to exist. It had now become a bridgehead. British and American troops had broken out and were pushing forward to cut the retreat of Kesselring's forces on Route 6, the main highway leading to Rome. A few minutes after noon on the 26th on the outskirts of Cori, a squadron of five American P-40 fighter-bombers of the 99th Fighter Group, US 12th Air Force, flew over the Anzio/Nettuno area, turned back and prepared for a strafing run. Soldiers of the US 15th Infantry froze in terror as bombs started falling in their midst. Within seconds, 120 men were either dead or wounded. The 2nd Battalion of the 15th Infantry, US 3rd Division, suffered seventy-two casualties. A number of bombs hit their jeeps which were loaded with ammunition and the exploding 37mm anti-tank shells caused additional casualties; some of the bodies were never found. This held up the advance to Giuglianello for five to six hours. A week later, headlines in the 'Stars and Stripes' proclaimed "American troops at Anzio bombed by Germans flying American planes". Strange, since the pilots were clearly seen to be black. This incident has been covered up for over fifty years, the 12th Air Force never having admitted its error. One of the many witnesses to this tragedy was ex-Corporal Robert Steele, of Cannon Company, 15th Infantry Regiment, who now lives in Columbus, Georgia.
http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/more_facts.html#lesser_known_misc_facts
