Military anecdote ｜ Bruce Lee almost became an American soldier that year

Hello everyone! The "Believe it or not" column is coming again ~ Come and see what anecdotes will attract your attention this time.

Enemies and friends are inseparable.

Britain and the United States are allies, and both speak English, but there are many misunderstandings.

David Niven was a famous actor in Hollywood before the war. During World War II, he returned to China to join the army and became a British intelligence officer. Niven once passed through the 9 th U.S. military defense zone and was questioned by a sentry: "Who won the 1940 World Cup?" "I was confused at that time," Niven said later, "but I knew Ginger Rogister well." Niven and this beautiful woman filmed opposite each other, which made him pass the customs.

Major-General Ajder, commander of the British Guard Armored Division, was not so lucky. He and his adjutant were stopped by a group of American black sentries, and they quickly searched around for their papers. The leading black sergeant spoke in a strange voice: "General, if I were you, I would change my adjutant." It has made Britain popular enough.

The worst part is that some Jews in the British army escaped from Germany and spoke with a German accent. On December 17, 1944, British Lieutenant Owen had a drink with several American soldiers, who said that there was also a man named Owen in their team, and his speech was also German. A group of people got drunk and went to find someone, so they were all detained. Owen doesn’t have a pass, and he’s the most suspect. In desperation, he had to take off his pants. These military underwear are American. Americans will be skeptical and decide to scrutinize the next day. If you don’t pass the trial, you have to be shot. God knows if the Germans also made fake underwear. The next day, the US military interrogators were happy when they met. They looked alike, and both were called Owen. They were Jews, and they were cousins when asked carefully.

The suckers of the Battle of the Somme.

Generally speaking, major battles are centered around strategic points. The somme river battle, the largest in world war I, is an exception. In 1916, the western front battlefield had reached a deadlock, and it was not easy to break through from anywhere. But the French are eager to drive the Germans out of their own land and take the initiative to fight; The British who went on an expedition were not very enthusiastic, but they also needed a victory. In this case, the allied generals decided to launch an offensive from the joint of British and French armies so that the two armies could participate together. Unexpectedly, during the planning of the Battle of the Somme, the battle of Verdun started, and the main force of the French army shifted. Instead, the British became the biggest wrongdoer, losing 400,000 people in one battle, and they were weakened from then on.

Operation Vampire

In 1950, when the US military suppressed the anti-American guerrillas in the Philippines, it used a damaging trick. The local people are superstitious and believe that there is a kind of vampire who can change shape in the jungle. So, the Americans spread the news in the guerrilla activity area, saying that vampires came in the mountains, and then sent people to set an ambush to wait for the guerrillas to come. The ambush only attacked the unfortunate man who landed last, then pierced two holes in his neck and put the body back for the guerrillas to find. It really worked, and the guerrillas fled the jungle and surrendered.

Celebrities who failed to serve as soldiers

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 ~ 1980), the director of spy thriller, wanted to work for the British Empire during World War I, but he was too light to do so. When World War II broke out, he signed up for the war again, and his age was over. In the later period of the war, he produced a documentary reflecting the concentration camp, which was not completed in the end. In 2015, there was a 12-minute segment in the British documentary "Nightfall", which was Hitchcock’s original work.

Julia julia child is a well-known food writer in the United States. Aunt Cai is 6 feet 2 inches tall and stands in front of the TV, holding a knife in one hand and a turkey in the other. Who would have thought that this housewife wanted to join the army in her early years, but both the army women’s army and the women’s volunteer special service team rejected her on the grounds that she was too tall. In a fit of pique, Miss Cai joined office of strategic services at that time and unexpectedly became a veteran of the CIA. Cooking was a hobby she learned when she was stationed in France later.

The above two may sound a little reluctant, but the following one is even more incredible when he is not a soldier. In 1959, Bruce Lee went to the United States to go to school, but he was born in the United States, so in 1963, the United States Army Recruitment Bureau informed him to have a medical examination. Who would have thought that Bruce Lee failed the physical examination? It is said that there is more than one problem. Fortunately, it didn’t pass. If it passed the physical examination, the life of the kung fu superstar might be lost in Vietnam.

This article was published in the first half of April 2017 edition of Global Military, with the original title "Believe it or not".