Sources

History.com | 'The Great Escape': The Audacious Real Story of the WWII Prison Break

The UK National Archives | The Great Escape: You've Seen the Film, Now Hear the Truth

The History Press | The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III

DDay.org | 70 Years Later: A Look Back at the Escape from Stalag Luft III

NOVA | Inside Tunnel "Harry"

NOVA | The Three That Got Away

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Photos of Robert Small and the C.S.S Planter (turned U.S.S. Planter) are on our social pages.

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Resources

PBS: From Escaped Slave to House of Representatives

History, Art, and Archives | US House of Representatives

American Battlefield Trust

http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/09950.htm

We start telling the story of Witold Pilecki around the 12 minute marker

Witold Pilecki - Wikipedia

The Washington Post : Witold Pilecki - The Polish Resistance Hero

NPR: Meet the Man who Sneaked Into Auschwitz

Resources

Five Years to Freedom by Nick Rowe

Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE)

http://www.psywarrior.com/rowe.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_N._Rowe

https://arsof-history.org/rowe/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/22/obituaries/col-james-rowe-51-war-hero-is-killed-in-an-ambush-in-manila.html

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John Malcom Thorpe Fleming Churchill, AKA "Mad Jack" Churchill, is rightfully a man of myth and legend. He was a bad ass that cared more about actually being a badass over telling stories of how much of a badass he was. Mad Jack was a motorcycle driving, self-taught archery champion, bagpipe playing guy who opted to carry a sword and longbow into battle in WWII for the British forces over a rifle.

This podcast episode is all about his story.

Sources

Historic UK - Fighting Jack Churchill

All That Is Interesting - WWII's Bagpipe Playing and Sword Wielding Badass

Badass Of The Week - Mad Jack Churchill

YouTube Videos

Biographics | Mad Jack Churchill - A Life Too Unbelievable for Fiction

The Infographics Show | Mad Jack - A Real Life World War 2 Mad Man

Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko, also known as "Lady Death", is the most deadly female sniper in history with 309 confirmed kills. She saw terror and destruction from the Nazis and became a full bore Nazi killing machine. Using her Mosin Nagant M91/30 she struck fear in the invading Nazi army who at first tried to recruit her. Over a megaphone they would project that they would give her an Officer rank and, get this, lots of chocolates. Lydmila opted for killing Nazis over their chocolates to the Nazis then started projecting over the megaphone that they would "tear her into 309 pieces" when they found her (one piece for each kill).

One thing that's super important to note is that out of Lyudmila's kills 36 of them were Nazi snipers! She bested all of them, but on one Nazi sniper proved to be most challenging. Lyudmila and the Nazi sniper had a 3 day stand off where she went without food and water, and it was imperative she remain absolutely still. Eventually the Nazi sniper "made too many moves" and Lyudmila plugged him.

Lyudmila was shot four times, and took on some serious shrapnel that eventually caused her to be honorably discharged. She was a national hero, and Stalin saw her propaganda potential. The US had not entered the European theater yet, and Lydmila was sent to the US to inspire and shame the US into joining the war effort. She went to 40+ states and was constantly berated by US reporters that focused more on her appearance rather than her lethality.

Lyudmila caught the eye of Elenore Roosevelt who's quite the badass herself. The two became fast and lifelong friends.

Lydmila is a full tilt badass that deserves her spot in history.

Sources

The National WWII Museum: “Lady Death” of the Red Army: Lyudmila Pavlichenko

Smithsonian Magazine: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Soviet Sniper

History: LYUDMILA PAVLICHENKO 'LADY DEATH': HISTORY'S DEADLIEST FEMALE SNIPER

Business Insider: Meet the world's deadliest female sniper who terrorized Hitler's Nazi army

Solid YouTube Videos

Biographics: CLICK HERE

The Infographics Show: CLICK HERE

Drunk History: CLICK HERE