Wars you were unaware of

[big_johnson1]

No - this was during the Japanese invasion in June 1942 - a diversion to draw US forces away from Midway.   The Hellcat was not developed until well after Midway.   The main Japanese carrier force at Midway still had four first line carriers, I believe two smaller carriers were used in the invasion of June 1942.   It sounds like you're confusing the landing there by the Japanese with the counter landings in 1943 by the Allies?

It seems that last paragraph of mine wasn't clear. Yes, the Zero was captured early on in the war, and while the Hellcat wasn't entirely based on this plane, it did give US engineers something to work with to improve their own design. And I should have specified that it was the US Army's (not the Marines) first amphibious island assault, in May of 1943, when they invaded Attu.

And you are right, the carrier group that attacked the Aleutians did have two carriers, with two heavy cruisers and three destroyers. They were accompanied by another naval force of four cruisers, nine destroyers, and the troops that would invade the Aleutians. It's interesting to note that after the Japanese defeat at Midway, the Aleutians became a way for them to save face, even though it had only been invaded as a diversionary tactic as a part of the massive Midway battle.

Either way, it was a fascinating campaign that isn't really common knowledge.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Ah, good stuff, thanks for the clarifications. 

 

[Acorn]

Personal favorite "discovered" some time ago: The Pig War of 1859. The only casualty was the "British" pig, shot by an "American" farmer. The troops faced off, but never actually engaged.

Acorn

 

[medicineman]

Weird, I was just thinking of that one - the war that never got off.  Was in the San Juan Islands between Vancouver Island  and Washington state - the US and Canada (really the UK - they were the ones going to do the fighting on "our" behalf) to redraw the border there.  It resulted in the election slogan for the US presidential election of "54-40 or Fight" in reference to the latitude of the of where they wanted the border drawn through BC.  On another note, that's likely where the band 54-40 got their name from.

MM

 

[George Wallace]

I think the 54 40 or fight slogan was referring to land a "little" north of Vancouver island.  

http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa031600a.htm  

Looking at your enclosed link, I think you missed the point.   At that time, did not Alaska still belong to Russia?   So the US wanted to claim all the lands up to Alaska.   That may have resulted in a much larger USA than today, and an end to present day 'Western Canadian Separation Movements'.   

 

[medicineman]

The San Juan's were part of an excuse by expansionists in the US to not only try to put the border as the 49th without exceptions (you'll notice that a good chunk of the Island is below the 49th) but go further north.  The Americans didn't really believe that the UK would stand in the way, but they did (or at least did a good bluff at it). 

MM

 

[Monsoon]

Along the same vein as the Pig War was the Aroostock War - a boundary dispute between New Brunswick and Maine in 1838.  A few hundred soldiers on each side were send to the area and a settlement treaty was reached in 1842 - the Webster-Ashburton Treaty.  The British negotiator used a fake map that showed that the whole area belonged to New Brunswick to convince the Americans to agree on a compromise.  In the meantime, some locals declared "The Republic of Madawaska" centred on Edmundston, NB while the area was under dispute.

The Americans claim to have suffered one casualty, Pvt Hiram T. Smith, but it's not clear what killed him as he died many miles from the area.

 

[nowhere_man]

One that i didn't know about until recently was the Russo-Finnish war in the winter of 1939. The Russians Had tanks and overwhelming men and they still almost lost. there was one account i read about where a Finnish soldier skied into a Russian camp and actually got in line for the mess was served and then after he ate (in the mess) he was finally discovered.   

 

[Zartan]

On another note, that's likely where the band 54-40 got their name from.

MM

It was.

Also, in 1848, the United States annexed the southern half of Britain's Columbia Territory (the population was predominantly American anyways). Hence British Columbia. The new American land became Oregon Territory. When it came to the 49th parallel, the Kaiser of Germany had to moderate a solution to a problem - the San Juan Islands and Point Roberts. The latter is currently an American enclave situated on a peninsula jetting south of Vancouver, and is separated from the United States by Canada. My dad, who once lived near there, said it was great for drug smugglers, as the children had to be bused across the border to go to school, and some were used as drug mules.

On a different note, I can't remember what these were called, but I have heard of invasions of Caribbean and Latin American countries by American civilians. Anyone else?

 

[Cloud Cover]

On a different note, I can't remember what these were called, but I have heard of invasions of Caribbean and Latin American countries by American civilians. Anyone else?

Tourists, and Eco-Tourists. Hordes of them, worse than Vikings.

 

[Danjanou]

On a different note, I can't remember what these were called, but I have heard of invasions of Caribbean and Latin American countries by American civilians. Anyone else?

Well I can confirm the stories of hordes of eco tourists (always ahead of me in the line up at the swim up all inclusive bar :threat I think what you're looking for is info about William Walker:

http://www.calnative.com/stories/n_walk.htm

One thing about Walker, love him or hate him, the guy didn't thinmk small.

 

[Zartan]

That's the group! (the filibusters). Thank you. Very interesting fellow - he really did make history.