Random Unsung WWII Heroes You May Not Know About (21 items)

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  (#1) Bruce Kingsbury

  • Dec. at 24 (1918-1942)

  Australian trooper Bruce Kingsbury was but a private and had been in combat for just a few weeks, on the brutally hot Kokoda Track on the strategically important island of Papua. Nonetheless, Kingsbury won the UK’s highest honor for his actions in August 1942, singlehandedly delaying a Japanese advance when he ran toward the Japanese line, screaming and firing a huge Bren gun from his hip.

  His comrades took up the charge and pushed the enemy back, dispatching at least 30 soldiers. Sadly, Kingsbury was shot by a sniper minutes later - but he’d almost certainly saved his entire battalion from being overrun.
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  (#2) Bhanbhagta Gurung

  • Dec. at 87 (1921-2008)

  A Nepalese Gurkha fighting for Britain, Gurung won the Victoria Cross in 1945 for his insanely courageous attack on five Japanese foxholes that were holding up a Gurkha advance.

  Running from position to position, Gurung cleared four with grenades and his bayonet, then he advanced on the final one, a machine gun nest. But he was out of grenades, so he threw a smoke bomb in, stabbed the Japanese troops who emerged with his personal knife, then broke into the machine gun nest and beat the last man with a rock. The position was held against Japanese counterattack thanks to Gurung’s guts and leadership. After WWII, he went back to Nepal to care for his mother, and perished in 2008.
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  (#3) Charles Joseph Coward

  Captured in France in 1940, British soldier Charles Coward would have been notable just for the nearly dozen attempts he made to escape German captivity. But he’s world famous as the guy who broke into and out of a Nazi death camp. In 1943, the Germans decided they were done fooling around with Coward and sent him to Auschwitz, specifically the Monowitz slave labor camp there.

  Coward led his fellow Brits in smuggling food to Jewish inmates and passing coded notes to the Red Cross, who sent them back to England. At one point, he actually smuggled himself into the Auschwitz death camp for a night, then smuggled himself out and reported back to the British about what he’d seen. He bribed SS guards, saved at least 400 Jewish laborers, and gave testimony at the Nuremberg Trials.
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  (#4) Ivan Pavlovich

  Not every soldier experiences the horror and glory of fighting on the front lines. Some guys have to be the cook. But Soviet soldier Ivan Pavlovich got to pull off both as a cook for the 91st Tank Regiment of the Red Army. Ivan was cooking dinner in August 1941 when he noticed a German tank within sight of his field kitchen. He was alone. Grabbing a rifle and an ax, Ivan waited for the crew to start to exit the tank, which had stalled.

  When they got out, Pavlovich charged, and the crew, seeing an ax-wielding Soviet running toward them, quickly got back into the tank and opened fire. Naturally, Pavlovich climbed onto the tank and chopped the machine gun barrel with his ax, then blinded the tank with a tarp and ordered his imaginary comrades to pass him an imaginary grenade. The tank’s crew surrendered, and one imagines Pavlovich got back to his cooking.
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  (#5) Eileen Nearne

  • Dec. at 89 (1921-2010)

  British citizen Eileen Nearne grew up in France but escaped to Britain during the German invasion in 1940. Joining the war effort, her French upbringing proved invaluable and she became a spy for the Special Operations Executive and parachuted into France to go deep undercover, assisting resistance activities and sabotage. In France, Nearne worked under the code name “Rose” and operated a secret radio line between London and Paris that arranged weapons drops to the French Resistance.

  Eventually captured by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp, Nearne was brutally tortured, but never revealed her true identity or affiliation with SOE. She was then shuttled from death camp to death camp, tortured again, and escaped multiple times until US troops found her. She didn’t speak about her time in the war until 1997, and she passed in 2010.
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  (#6) Lachhiman Gurung

  • Dec. at 93 (1917-2010)

  One of many examples of the courage and cunning of the Nepalese Gurkha soldiers of the British Empire, Lachhiman Garung won the Victoria Cross for his insanely heroic action in May 1945. Garung singlehandedly held off an advance of 200 Japanese soldiers after his frontline position was attacked and the men with him were wounded and evacuated.

  And “singlehandedly” is not a euphemism in this case, as Garung literally was working with one arm. As his VC citation reads, a Japanese grenade “exploded in his right hand, blowing off his fingers, shattering his arm and severely wounding him in the face, body and right leg.” Shrugging off wounds that would stop almost anyone, Garung jammed his knife into the ground, declared that nobody would pass him, and held the line himself for four hours.

  When the smoke cleared, the Japanese advance was beaten back, and 31 enemy soldiers were deceased. The action cost him his right eye and right hand, but Garung survived and lived a simple life until his passing in 2010.
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  (#7) Matt Urban

  • Dec. at 76 (1919-1995)

  Lt. Colonel Matt Urban was the most decorated American officer of WWII, and that’s saying something. He fought in seven campaigns and was wounded seven times. He seemingly came back to life so often that the Germans gave him the nickname “the Ghost.” When he was given the Medal of Honor, his citation referred to 10 separate acts of bravery during just the Normandy campaign.

  Just a sample of these includes taking on multiple enemy tanks with a bazooka (while walking on a cane because he’d broken his leg landing on Utah Beach), organizing multiple counterattacks after nearly having his leg blown off, then breaking himself out of the hospital, hitchhiking to the front, immediately throwing himself into battle, running into an abandoned tank, and driving it toward the enemy line with no crew. He was wounded again and again, but refused to be evacuated. Finally, a bullet in the throat took him out of combat for good - but Urban recovered, survived the war, and lived until 1995.
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  (#8) Llewellyn Chilson

  • Dec. at 61 (1920-1981)

  Known as the "One Man Army," Master Sergeant Llewellyn Chilson was so lauded for his bravery that President Truman personally pinned seven medals on him after the war. While fighting on the Rhine River in March 1945, Chilson took out six German guns and vehicles, crawling from position to position and blowing them up, using the light from an ammo wagon he’d set on fire.

  When it was over, Chilson’s unit killed, wounded, or captured over 200 German troops and liberated an entire small town. And just for good measure, two weeks later, he stood on a tank turret during a bloody fight and spotted for the tank’s cannon. He rang up another 40 prisoners thanks to that heroism. He literally just kept winning medals and taking German prisoners. Even with all that, he never got the Medal of Honor. But he did survive WWII, and passed in 1981.
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  (#9) Lewis Millett

  • Dec. at 89 (1920-2009)

  When young American officer Lewis Millett heard President Roosevelt declare that America wouldn’t go to battle in Europe, he deserted, hitchhiked to Canada, and joined the Canadian army. He served as an anti-aircraft gunner in London before transferring back to the US Army, which was now in the fight. It was in North Africa that Millett showed tremendous and probably insane bravery, at one point getting into a burning, ammunition-filled half-track and driving it away from his comrades, then jumping off of it just before it exploded.

  Just for good measure, he shot down a German fighter with a machine gun on a different, non-burning half-track. Finally, the Army figured out his desertion, court-martialed him, and promoted him anyway. Millett later fought in Korea, where he led the last bayonet charge in American military history, as well as Vietnam. He passed in 2009.
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  (#10) George Vujnovich

  American intelligence operative George Vujnovich organized and led an operation to smuggle over 500 downed Allied airmen out of Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. He first trained a three-man team to parachute into the area disguised as Serbian nationals, and had them work with locals and Allied fliers to set up an airstrip. He then organized the logistics of a series of flights to get the men out, smuggling 512 men from an incredibly dangerous region without ever losing a plane or being detected.

  Vujnovich’s cunning plan remained secret until 2007, when the unassuming owner of an airplane parts supply company was revealed to be a former secret agent who saved hundreds of lives. Vujnovich passed in 2012 at the age of 96.
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  (#11) Richard Bong

  • Dec. at 25 (1920-1945)

  “Ace of Aces.” He was the top-scoring fighter pilot of WWII for the US, shooting down at least 40 Japanese aircraft in less than three years of combat. By April 1944, Bong had taken out 27 enemy planes, and the Army Air Force wanted to recall him for duty as an instructor.

  Bong told them where they could stuff their desk job, and kept on flying fighter missions. He won the Medal of Honor in September, then was ordered to go home or face a court-martial. He spent the rest of WWII raising war bonds, then became a test pilot for the new F-80 jet fighter. He perished in a crash in August 1945 in Los Angeles, and his passing shared front-page space with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. He was just 25 years old.
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  (#12) Tommy Macpherson

  Scottish Commando Tommy Macpherson had such an outsized reputation for bravery and skill in combat that he was known to the Germans as the “Kilted Killer.” He led numerous Commando raids before being captured in an abortive attempt to scout for a raid on Erwin Rommel’s personal headquarters. He escaped and was recaptured several times, was nearly executed, then finally escaped again, traveling through much of Europe to get back to Scotland.

  He went right back behind enemy lines, assisting French Resistance fighters in blowing up bridges, ambushing convoys, and making life for the German occupiers as difficult as possible. At one point, the Germans put a massive bounty on him, which numerous Germans and French collaborators tried to cash in. Macpherson worked behind the lines right up until the end of WWII, and then became a successful businessman. He passed in 2014.
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  (#13) 'Mad Jack' Churchill

  Champion archer, male model, adventurer, and career soldier John Churchill was known as “Mad Jack” for a good reason: People thought he was nuts. He was renowned in the British Army for being the only soldier allowed to carry a longbow and basket-hilted Scottish broadsword (no officer was properly dressed without a blade, in his opinion). He’s thought to have achieved the only longbow kill of WWII, shooting down a German scout in France.

  He led Commando raids in Norway and Yugoslavia (while playing the bagpipes, of course), survived being shot in the neck, captured or killed dozens of enemy soldiers and wreaked havoc before being captured. Mad Jack escaped, was captured again, and then when the lights at his prison camp went out, he walked out of the camp (which was still being guarded) and walked 90 miles to find an American unit. After V-E Day, he fought in Burma, and when WWII ended, he became a surfer.
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  (#14) Jan Baalsrud

  • Dec. at 71 (1917-1988)

  Norwegian commando Jan Baalsrud and some comrades had to scuttle their ship due to a mixup with a contact on the ground. As they were getting away, their lifeboat was sunk by German gunfire, and Baalsrud swam to the shore in freezing water. He evaded capture (having only one shoe), shot a Gestapo officer, and then spent two months running from Germans hell-bent on capturing him, including nearly a month trapped behind an ice wall on a stretcher.

  The cold was punishing, and Baalsrud was blinded, suffered a major head injury, and had frostbite so severe that he had to amputate nine of his 10 toes. Himself. With no surgical equipment. After a harrowing escape, he sought refuge with friendly families and managed to get into Finland, where a reindeer-driven sled pulled him across the border to Sweden and safety. He passed in 1988.
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  (#15) Matvey Kuzmin

  • Dec. at 84 (1858-1942)

  Soviet peasant Matvey Kuzmin won the Hero of the Soviet Union medal for his actions against German troops while fighting as a partisan. That’s noteworthy, but not uncommon. What is uncommon is the fact that Kuzmin was 83 years old when he fell in battle, making him by far the oldest recipient of the award. Forced to house a German battalion after his village was taken, Kuzmin was bribed by the German commander to show him the safest way to breach the Soviet line. Kuzmin agreed, but sent his son to warn the Russian troops in the area.

  Kuzmin led the Germans through what they thought was a safe area. It wasn't. The Russians sprung an ambush for the Germans, killing or capturing about 70 soldiers. In the chaos, the German commander turned on Kuzmin and shot him three times, taking his life.
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  (#16) Alexey Maresyev

  • Dec. at 85 (1916-2001)

  Soviet fighter pilot Alexey Maresyev was shot down behind enemy lines on April 4, 1942. Badly wounded, he spent 18 days making his way back to Soviet territory. When he was finally recovered, his condition was so precarious that he had both legs amputated below the knee.

  Most men would take this as a sign that their role in the conflict was over, but Alexey Maresyev wasn’t most men. He spent the next year learning to master prosthetic devices that would allow him to not only return to active duty, but also to fly fighter missions again. In the summer of 1943, he did just that, returning to the air and smoking three German fighter planes. He had 11 kills total, and was awarded the highest honor in the Soviet Union, the status of Hero. After the war, famed composer Sergei Prokofiev composed an opera about Maresyev. Its title couldn’t have been more fitting: Story of a Real Man.
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  (#17) Georg Duckwitz

  Not all heroes of WWII wore uniforms into battle. And not all were on the right side. Georg Duckwitz was nominally a low-level flunky in the great Nazi administrative machine, working as a diplomat in the occupational government in Denmark. In 1943, when it became clear that Denmark’s Jews were on the verge of being rounded up, Duckwitz got word to the head of the Danish resistance, who worked with Copenhagen’s chief rabbi and sympathetic Danes to organize a rescue.

  Nearly 99% of Denmark’s 10,000 Jews survived WWII, with most being smuggled to Sweden. Duckwitz’s treason was never discovered, and he served out the war as an administrator.
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  (#18) Robert Cain

  Isle of Man native Major Robert Cain fought as a paratrooper in Sicily and Normandy, but the exploits that won him England’s highest honor took place during the abortive Operation Market Garden. Tasked with holding a vital bridge into the strategically important town of Arnhem, Cain held the line with a small group of lightly armed men against German tanks and assault guns. He knocked out one assault gun with a rocket launcher, but the launcher jammed and a round exploded in his face.

  Cain was temporarily blinded, but returned to the front line, where his eardrums were blown out by an explosion. He knocked out a feared Tiger tank with an artillery piece, then drove off three more tanks with a rocket launcher. The next day, Cain led the fight against another German counterattack by grabbing a mortar and firing it from his hip at the enemy. His unit was able to withdraw and Cain did what any good English officer does - he shaved.
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  (#19) Joan 'Garbo' Pujol Garcia

  Chicken farmer and rabid anti-fascist Joan Pujol wanted to do something for the good of humanity in the face of the danger presented by Nazi Germany. So naturally, he agreed to spy for them - but only so he could turn himself in to the British and become a double agent. Working under the code name “Garbo,” Pujol ran a network of close to 30 informants and spies paid by Germany, none of whom actually existed, passing critical messages to the German High Command, all of which were false.

  His network played a vital, even war-altering, role in Operation Fortitude, the deception plan to keep German forces away from where the D-Day landings were actually going to take place. For the reams of information he supplied Germany, Pujol won the Iron Cross. For the fact that it was all made up, he received the Order of the British Empire. It took 40 years before the public knew Pujol’s story.
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  (#20) Joseph Rochefort

  • Dec. at 76 (1900-1976)

  As an American codebreaker, Rochefort was instrumental in decoding Japanese communications that pointed to them attempting to invade the strategically critical island of Midway. Rochefort’s team developed a ruse to broadcast a message about a water condenser failing on the island, then waited to see if the Japanese would take the bait.

  They did, and Rochefort put together an intelligence profile that pointed to exactly when and where the attack would take place. The US Navy was able to blunt the assault on Midway, and in June 1942, they sank four Japanese aircraft carriers, which turned the tide of the Pacific War. Rochefort’s exploits were virtually unknown - he received no recognition at the time. He passed in 1976.
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  (#21) Desmond Doss

  • Dec. at 87 (1919-2006)

  Desmond Doss is most known for saving approximately 75 men during the Battle of Okinawa and for being the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. He was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal and was the subject of the film Hacksaw Ridge as well as the documentary The Conscientious Objector. As a Seventh-day Adventist, Doss refused to harm an enemy soldier and ended up becoming a medic.

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