Auteur: pdbfoto

Lindberg is carrying an M2 flamethrower near the summit of Mount Suribachi. Flamethrower operators had one of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. military. Japanese defenders often fought from heavily fortified bunkers, tunnels, and caves that were difficult to destroy with conventional weapons. Flamethrowers could force defenders out of these positions or destroy them outright, making the weapon a critical tool in the island campaigns of the Pacific.

The Battle of Iwo Jima lasted from February 19 to March 26, 1945. Although Mount Suribachi was secured within the first week, the majority of the fighting occurred in the island’s northern sectors, where thousands of Japanese troops continued resisting from an elaborate underground defense network.

Flamethrower operators faced exceptionally high casualty rates. The fuel tanks they carried made them highly visible targets, and enemy soldiers often prioritized them for elimination. Despite the danger, Marines repeatedly credited flamethrower teams with helping reduce fortified positions that would otherwise have cost many more lives.

Added Fact: The U.S. military used approximately 6,500 flamethrowers in the Pacific Theater during World War II. On Iwo Jima alone, flamethrowers were so effective against cave defenses that some were mounted on specially modified Sherman tanks, known as “Zippo Tanks.” These armored flamethrowers could project burning fuel more than 100 yards and played a major role in overcoming Japan’s underground fortifications.

Hiroo Onoda became one of the most famous “holdouts” of World War II, and his story is even more remarkable than the caption suggests.

Onoda was a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army who was sent to Lubang Island in the Philippines in December 1944. Before leaving, he received orders not to surrender and not to take his own life. When Japan surrendered in August 1945, leaflets announcing the end of the war were dropped on the island, but Onoda and a handful of other soldiers believed they were Allied propaganda.

For years, the group survived by living in the jungle, stealing food, and occasionally exchanging fire with local authorities. One by one, the other holdouts died or surrendered, leaving Onoda alone by 1972.

In 1974, a Japanese adventurer named Norio Suzuki tracked him down and befriended him. However, Onoda insisted he would only surrender if ordered to do so by a superior officer. The Japanese government located his former commander, Yoshimi Taniguchi, who flew to Lubang and formally relieved him of duty on March 9, 1974.

Onoda emerged from the jungle still wearing much of his uniform and carrying his rifle, ammunition, sword, and other equipment. Remarkably, his Arisaka rifle was still operational after nearly three decades.

Added Fact: During his 29 years on Lubang, Onoda and his companions conducted guerrilla activities that resulted in the deaths of around 30 Filipino civilians and police officers and wounded many others. While many in Japan viewed him as a symbol of loyalty and perseverance, his legacy remains more complicated in the Philippines, where memories of those incidents endured long after his surrender.

This photograph became one of the most famous examples of a Chinese “nail house”, a term used for property owners who refuse to move despite pressure from developers. The image was taken in 2007 in the city of Chongqing, where homeowner Wu Ping and her husband became national figures after refusing compensation offers to vacate their property.

As excavation proceeded around the site, the house was left perched atop a mound of earth in the middle of a massive construction pit. Utilities were reportedly cut, and access became increasingly difficult, turning the home into a symbol of resistance against powerful development interests.

The dispute attracted enormous media attention throughout China. At the time, China’s rapid urbanization was transforming cities at an unprecedented pace, with millions of residents being relocated for highways, apartment towers, shopping centers, and infrastructure projects. Many citizens saw the case as a test of newly strengthened private property rights.

After weeks of negotiations and national publicity, Wu Ping and her husband eventually reached a settlement with developers and moved out. The house was demolished shortly afterward.

Added Fact: The term “nail house” comes from the idea of a stubborn nail that sticks up and cannot be hammered down. Similar cases have appeared throughout China, sometimes delaying multi-million-dollar construction projects. The Chongqing dispute became so famous that it was discussed internationally and is often cited as a landmark moment in China’s evolving debate over private property rights and urban redevelopment.

The Moses Bridge is one of the most innovative pieces of modern landscape architecture in the Netherlands. Completed in 2010 near the village of Halsteren, it was designed to provide access to Fort de Roovere, a 17th-century star fort that was part of the Dutch Water Line defense system.

Rather than building a traditional bridge over the moat, architects from the firm RO&AD Architecten chose to create a sunken walkway that cuts through the water. The design gives visitors the impression of walking through the moat itself, which inspired the nickname “Moses Bridge” after the biblical story of Moses parting the sea.

The bridge is constructed primarily from sustainably sourced wood treated to resist water damage. Hidden retaining walls hold back the water on both sides, allowing the path to remain dry while preserving the historic appearance of the fort. The project received international acclaim and won several architectural awards, including recognition from the Dutch Design Awards.

Fort de Roovere was originally built in the 1620s during the Dutch struggle against Spanish rule. It formed part of a defensive network that used controlled flooding to hinder invading armies, a strategy that protected the Netherlands for centuries.

Added Fact: The Dutch perfected “water as a weapon” through systems such as the Dutch Water Line. By flooding land to a depth of only about 12–18 inches (30–45 cm), too deep for soldiers to march through but too shallow for boats, they created vast defensive barriers that proved remarkably effective from the 17th through the 20th centuries.

This is the Reichstag on May 1, 1945, captured in a photo taken by a Pravda military correspondent from a Po-2 aircraft.

The lessons of World War II are sad, mournful and tragic. Let us not forget them, for the sake of the future generations, let us always remember the heroes from all allied countries, who gave their lives for our peaceful world and all human losses and let us do all in our power to prevent the devastating tragedies of such scale from happening in the future.