The Edelweiss Pirates
The Edelweiss Pirates were a German youth organisation which resisted the Nazis and their ideology. Consisting mainly of fourteen to seventeen year olds, who had evaded the Hitler Youth by leaving school at fourteen and were not yet old enough for military conscription, the group emerge as the Hitler Youth were mobilised to serve the state, severely impacting the leisure time, and more importantly, the autonomy of young people in Germany.
They were distinguishable by their dress, which was a take on fashions associated with American Swing mingled with German folk dress, for example, ‘Dressing in lederhosen was a central part of their look as German heritage and resisting its malign was always at the forefront of their minds.’ [Source]
Although a lot of their activity involved petty provocations, they actively defied the restrictions imposed by the government, gathering on street corners in mixed-gender groups, taking camping and hiking trips, and were highly antagonistic towards the Hitler Youth, frequently starting fights with them. As one Nazi official put it in 1941: “Every child knows who the [Edelweiss] Pirates are. They are everywhere; there are more of them than there are Hitler Youth… They beat up the patrols… They never take no for an answer.” During WWII they supported the allies, helped deserters of the German army, distributed allied propaganda, and possibly carried out the assassinations of several Gestapo Officers.
The government responded characteristically, shaving the heads of those they identified as Pirates to shame them, and often sending them to concentration camps and prisons. Thirteen members of a group from Cologne were publicly hanged.
[Sources: Previous Blog | Edelweiss Pirates]
![Ghost Army
The Ghost Army was a United States Army tactical deception unit during World War II officially known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. The 1,100-man unit was given a unique mission within the Army to impersonate other U.S. Army units to deceive the enemy.
From a few weeks after D-Day, when they landed in France, until the end of the war, they put on a traveling road show, using inflatable tanks, sound trucks, phony radio transmissions and playacting. They staged more than 20 battlefield deceptions, often operating very close to the front lines. Their mission was kept secret until 1996, and elements of it remain classified.
[Image Source]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/c2f84b9cbe8d12797b3fa374b06d042a/tumblr_mh3fozGurk1rnseozo1_1280.jpg)
![Mary of Exeter
Mary of Exeter was a carrier pigeon who flew many military missions with the National Pigeon Service during World War II, carrying top secret messages across the English Channel back to her loft in Exeter, England. She was awarded the Dickin Medal in November 1945 for showing endurance on war service despite being repeatedly injured.
On one occasion she was attacked by German-kept hawks stationed in Pas-de-Calais returning home with wounds to her neck and right breast. She recovered sufficiently and was put back in service two months later.
On another occasion, Mary returned with the tip of one wing shot off and three pellets were removed from her body. She recovered, passed flight tests, was returned to service despite the shortened wing.
During her final trip her neck muscles were damaged by shrapnel. Her owner made her a leather collar to hold her head up, and took her out of service.
Mary’s loft, located at the Exeter home of a shoemaker named Charlie Brewer who had become a loft keeper and intelligence agent during the war, was damaged during the Luftwaffe’s 1942 raids on Exeter, killing many of the pigeons housed there. Mary, however, survived.
She died in 1950 and is buried in Ilford Animal Cemetery.
[The pigeon depicted in the image above is not Mary (she can be seen here, looking unremarkably pigeon-esque), however, GI Joe up there better demonstrates what a pigeon looks like wearing a Dickin Medal - marvellous!]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mczlwm7eL81rnseozo1_1280.jpg)
