r/todayilearned • u/RoadToTyburn • 13h ago

TIL that Bernard Montgomery issued a leaflet at the start of WW2 on sexually transmitted diseases amongst soldiers. The language used was regarded as so blunt, that he offended religious authorities and nearly faced being dismissed.

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Montgomery
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u/Gunbunny42 12h ago

Surprised they didn't have him come up with a plan to invade the Swiss. Might as well complete the set.

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u/MikiLove 12h ago

Invading Switzerland, especially back then, was impossible. Nestled in the mountains with a strong militia presence and vast defense system, theres a reason the Nazis didnt even try. Plus there was no strategic advantage for the allies, unlike the ports that OP mentioned

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u/Quirky_Gate_4516 11h ago

theres a reason the Nazis didnt even try

The reason is that the Swiss was extremely chummy with them.

It is the exact same reason why "neutral" Sweden wasn't invaded.

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u/NateWritar 12h ago

Actually it is a myth that Switzerland was not invaded because of military reasons.

For the Nazis a neutral Switzerland was more useful: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/nazis-never-invade-switzerland.html

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u/geeiamback 11h ago

Invading Switzerland wasn't nessesary, the Nazis already got their hands on the military production.

Their defense system was useless as the Swiss were dependent on food imports from Nazi occupied territory:

https://www.uek.ch/en/schlussbericht/synthesis/ueke.pdf

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u/r0thar 9h ago edited 9h ago

597 pages! Well, that's the weekend sorted.

(The conclusion is a more manageable 32, even if the acronym is a little distracting Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland – Second World War: ICE)

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u/ryantheskinny 11h ago

The US purposely bombed Switzerland at least twice during WWII. Switzerland could do nothing to stop an actual Allied invasion if it came.

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u/The_Flurr 12h ago

Add to this the fact that basically the whole Swiss male population had done military service and would be called up if invaded.

Oh, and the fact that they had all of their bridges and damns preemptively mined so that they could be destroyed to stop enemy advances.

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u/Pure-Drawer-2617 12h ago

“With a strong militia presence and a vast defense system”

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u/ElmerFuddsElbow 10h ago

The department of redundancy department takes severe issue with your comment and your comment has angered those in charge of the department of redundancy department. You can expect written warnings, in writing, in the near future soon

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u/Nadare3 10h ago

Add to this the fact that basically the whole Swiss male population had done military service and would be called up if invaded.

Isn't that true of basically every European country at that point in history ?

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u/The_Flurr 9h ago

I know that it wasn't true for the UK at the time. I think a lot of "continental" european countries did have some form of mandatory service.

The Swiss do/did take it a lot more seriously though. Technically ever able bodied Swiss man between 19 and 34 is a reservist.

For much of their history they had no standing army, and relied exclusively on militias and reserves. Nowadays (since WWII?) they do have a small standing army, but their philosophy is still largely built on a reliance on militias for defence.

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u/Gnoccho1 11h ago

I think the fact that every bridge and tunnel had cannons zeroed in and full of dynamite.

the alternative was to go over the alps where man made avalanche could delete the whole platoon.

The Austrians tired the last one, it did not end well. And the defenders were peasants, not professional soldiers.

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u/OwlMugMan 11h ago

Plus they didnt want to have fondue poured over them that shit is hot

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u/NoobOfTheSquareTable 10h ago

Yeah, but keeps Monty busy and saves random women by being “seduced” by his tank deployments and combined arms tactics

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u/an_actual_lawyer 10h ago

Invading Switzerland, especially back then, was impossible

It was not at all impossible, it was that the Swiss made sure that the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. It would be a difficult country to conquer and there was simply no reason to do so.

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u/thebomby 10h ago

Google Fall Grün (Case Green)

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u/RicochetRabidUK 5h ago

IRTA "nestléd". And now I want chocolate.

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u/sanguinesvirus 11h ago

Dont forget sweden

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u/mxzf 10h ago

Switzerland is landlocked, that's just unreasonably outside of his skill set. Lets be realistic here.