As simple as it sounds today, the Jerrycans were essential to many German battles and invasions, since one of the main advantages the Nazi military possessed was their vehicles and battle tanks being used in their famous military tactics Blitzkrieg (war-strike), which consumed too much fuel to occur. When Hitler decided to invade Poland, he ordered the companies to manufacture tens of thousands of jerrycans months earlier, because he knew he would need a large amount of fuel to be able to take over Polish territory in a short time.
The Allies realized the importance of the Jerrycans in Hitler’s strategy and created a project specifically to copy the German invention. After the war, the model was already widespread in several countries, which used jerrycans for military and civilian use. It is still a very popular model of gallon today and is used worldwide for storing water, fuel and other hazardous substances.
8. Meillerwagen
The Meillerwagen was a trailer used by Germany to transport V-2 rocket, to lift Brennstand missile, and to be a support for supply and preparations service of weapons launching, during World War II. The Peenemünde Army Research Center designed the Meillerwagen and a Gollnow&Son company built it, using the supplied components. The Meillerwagen was assembled by Italian and Russian workers which were prisoners and had vehicle code number 102 among Nazi officers.
With just this vehicle, it was possible to move powerful missiles to strategic places near the target. After reaching the launching site, Meillerwagen transformed itself on the launching base, placing the weapon in the launching position with the aid of an ingenious and powerful hydraulic motor that it possessed. When the missile was at the launch position, the Meillerwagen also turned into a supply platform, since it was equipped with piping to supply liquid oxygen, ethyl alcohol, compressed nitrogen, compressed air or hydrogen peroxide.
With all the versatility it had, the Meillerwagen was considered a sophisticated equipment, which served as the basis for various military vehicle designs. Only 3 copies survive the war period and are located at museums in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
9. Messerschmitt Me 262
The Messerschmitt Me 262, known as Schwalbe (swallow) in the fighter version, or Sturmvogel (storm bird) in the fighter-bomber version, was the first jet fighter to come into operational use in the world. It showed several advances in design and technology, being considered a formidable weapon of war by Axis members and the Allies.
The Messerschmitt Me 262 project started before the outbreak of World War II, in 1938, and was designed to create a plane that could fly with new turbine models that were being developed by BMW and Junkers, two German companies.
The model was a direct request from Hitler, who repeatedly visited the development sheds, placing orders and explaining his strategic vision. Hitler wanted a plane that was fast enough to escape enemy artillery and that could be equipped with bombs for defense missions, since he already foresaw a possible invasion of his territory.
Although it was a priority, the project suffered from many development issues, technical issues, and modifications, some made by direct requests from Hitler himself. Due to the complex system of assembly and setbacks, the first Messerschmitt Me 262 were officially delivered only in 1944, when Germany’s situation was already worsened, and its defeat was approaching.
The Me 262 fighter first appeared in combat was in October 1944, at the Kommando Nowotny, when the aircraft began attacking Allied bomber formations, making it the first jet fighter in history to go into operation. Even with all the manufacturing problems, the Messerschmitt Me 262 was far superior to anything that had ever been designed, reaching an incredible 900 km/h and being able to carry two large bombs of 500 kg and 250 kg each. Its lighter version, with only light weapons was used in various slaughter and recognition missions.
It was produced 1433 units of the Messerschmitt Me 262, but the Germans were only able to put into operation a little over 100 units due to operational problems, lack of fuel and properly trained pilots. Even so, the Messerschmitt Me 262 airplanes used shot down more than 700 Allied airplanes during the war and could have changed the history of the war if they were delivered a few years earlier. After the end of the war, the Messerschmitt Me 262 was widely studied and used for Allied countries to create new fighter jets.
10. G-series
G-series are a group of nervous agents created during the period of the German Nazi government. The G-series is so named because German scientists synthesized them for the first time. G-series agents are known as nonpersistent. All compounds in this class were discovered and synthesized during or before World War II, led by Gerhard Schrader, when he worked at the labs of IG Farben, while working on the creation of a more efficient pesticide then the existed ones.
Nerve agents are a class of organic chemicals that affect the mechanisms by which nerves transfer messages to organs and muscles. Poisoning by a nervous agent leads to death by asphyxiation or cardiac arrest within minutes, mainly due to loss of body control over the respiratory muscles. Some nerve agents are easily vaporized and the main way into the body is the respiratory system and can also be absorbed through the skin.
The G-series is the first and oldest family of nervous agents. The first nervous agent ever synthesized was GA (Tabun) in 1936. GB (Sarin) was discovered in 1939, followed by GD (Soman) in 1944 and, finally, the most lethal, GF (Cyclosarin) in 1949. During the period that Nazi government ruled Germany, hundreds of tons of G-Series agents were produced and stocked for use as chemical weapons. The production and storage of G-series nerve agents was prohibited by the UN Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Storage and Use of Chemical Weapons and its Destruction in 1993.
11. GA — Tabun
GA or Tabun (C5H11N2O2P), is an extremely toxic synthetic chemical compound. It is a liquid form and a slightly fruity smell. It is classified as a nervous agent because it interferes in a fatal way on the functioning of the nervous system. Tabun became the first known nervous agent after it was discovered by pure accident in January 1936 by German researcher Gerhard Schrader. Schrader was experimenting with a class of compounds called organophosphates that kill insects by disrupting their nervous systems to create a more effective insecticide for IG Farben, a conglomerate of the German chemical and pharmaceutical industry. After testing the new chemical, he had synthesized, Schrader discovered that Tabun, besides being a potent insecticide, was extremely toxic to humans.