Strange - First World War

Category: Strange --- See Latest World War I news here. See also 'WWI Rifles, Weapons', 'WW1 Memorabilia, Militaria', 'Spies, Espionage', 'Tribues'.

"King Anthony" claimed throne from George V
Police inspector Anthony Hall claimed to be related to King Henry VIII threatened to behead the reigning monarch and take his place on the throne in the 1930s, according to secret files. He wrote a letter to the king: "You have no connection with the British royal family. You are an outsider. Therefore, leave this country." George V, who changed his Germanic surname Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor during World War One, was a "pure-blood German" who had no right to be king, Hall argued. [ scotsman :: 2006-07-28 :: Strange ]

WW1 U-boat UB-85 attacked by seamonster?
April 30, 1918, in the waning days of World War I, the crew of the British patrol boat were astounded to find a German submarine (the UB-85) floating on the surface of the North Atlantic. With almost no provocation, the entire crew of the UB-85 abandoned ship. According to U-boat's commander, his submarine had surfaced in order to recharge its batteries. Suddenly, a "strange Beast" climbed onto the side of his ship. The shaken crew of the UB-85 noted that during the struggle the forward deck plating had been damaged and the U-boat could no longer submerge. The entire account was chronicled by members of the British Navy, only hours after the event. [ americanmonsters :: 2006-07-06 :: Strange ]

In the midst of carnage of WW1 apparitions began in Portugal
In the midst of the carnage of World War I, a series of apparitions began on May 17, 1917, in central Portugal. That gave rise to today's Feast of the Lady of Fatima. Three peasant children claimed to have seen a vision of "a lady brighter than the sun" standing in a cloud above an evergreen tree. The lady asked the 3 children to return to the same place on the 13th day of each month until October when the lady promised to reveal her identity. On Oct 13, 1917, a strange event occurred. The press called it "the miracle of the dancing sun." Even some hardcore skeptics among the reporters said they saw the sun dance in the sky. [ mb :: 2006-05-13 :: Strange ]

Dorothy Lawrence secretly posed as a man to become a soldier
Dorothy Lawrence was an English reporter who secretly posed as a man to become a soldier. In 1914 Dorothy was living in Paris and had a desire to be a war reporter on the front lines, but was unable to get employment because she was a woman. She persuaded two Scottish military policemen to cut her hair military style and then dyed her skin using diluted furniture polish to give it a bronzed color. With forged identity papers as Private Denis Smith of the 1st Leicestershire regiment she headed for the front lines, eventually arriving at the Somme. [ answers.com :: 2006-01-14 :: WW1 Women - Female heroines ]

The last British cavalryman to have ridden into battle on the Western Front
The last British cavalryman to have ridden into battle on the Western Front has died aged 108. Albert "Smiler" Marshall, who survived the brutal campaigns at Loos and the Somme, was one of only about a dozen remaining survivors of the First World War. Mr Marshall served with the Essex Yeomanry, and is thought to have been the last English cavalryman to have charged with a drawn sword. [ guardian :: 2005-05-22 :: Strange ]

Red Baron brought down by a shot fired the previous year
A head wound suffered by the Red Baron the year before his death was the underlying reason he was eventually shot down, according to a study by neuroscientists. There has been endless speculation over who killed the 25-year-old WW1 flying ace but the study suggests that more credit is due to the British airman who grazed his skull in 1917 than to the Australian gunner who eventually brought him down in 1918. The killing machine feared by the Allies and revered by his countrymen suffered significant brain damage to his frontal lobes when a machinegun round fired by Second Lieutenant A E Woodbridge of the Royal Flying Corps splintered his skull. [ telegraph :: 2004-09-23 :: Airforces & Aviation ]

Adolf Hitler's life was once spared by a British soldier
Private Tandey successfully led a bayonet charge against outnumbering enemy troops which helped bring hostilities to an end. As the ferocious battle wound down and enemy troops surrendered or retreated a wounded German soldier limped out of the maelstrom and into Private Tandey's line of fire, the battle weary man never raised his rifle and just stared at Tandey resigned to the inevitable. "I took aim but couldn't shoot a wounded man," said Tandey, "so I let him go." The young German soldier nodded in thanks and the two men took diverging paths, that day and in history. Hitler retreated with the remnants of German troops. Tandey put that encounter out of his mind and rejoined his regiment, discovering soon after he had won the Victoria Cross. [ worldwar1.com :: 2004-01-18 :: Strange ]

Pigeons During the Two World Wars
During World War I some actions were undertaken after forces were informed by photos taken by military pigeons. German forces took possession of more than one million Belgian race pigeons. Airplanes and war-ships were always accompanied by racing pigeons. Military pigeons brought 717 tidings of crashed airplanes at sea. 95% of the military pigeons returned from their mission. Many birds were badly injured. Cher Ami reached his loft although he was wounded very badly. He saved 194 lives of the "Lost Battalion". [ pigeonclubsusa :: 2001-04-14 :: Animals during Wartime ]

Historians dispute legend that soldier spared Hitler's life
A WW1 legend that Adolf Hitler's life was spared by a soldier who had him in his sights has been questioned by new research. Pte Henry Tandey, who was serving with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, reputedly had a chance to kill the future Führer during fighting at Marcoing, near Cambrai, France, on the day he won a Victoria Cross, Sept 28, 1918. But he could not bring himself to kill a wounded man and instead let Hitler go. Hitler was indeed wounded in northern France, but work by historians has cast new doubt on the story. Documents in the Bavarian State Archive show that Corporal Hitler was on leave on the day in question and nowhere near the battle. [ telegraph :: 2000-01-01 :: Strange ]

First World War in the News is an edited review of hand-picked World War I 1914-1918 articles.