War is a theater of the absurd, and the strangest moments in its history prove that truth can be stranger than fiction. From cavalry charging onto ice to a blind king charging into battle, these tales showcase the bizarre side of conflict.
Strangest Moments in War That Changed History
10 French Cavalry Capture A Dutch Fleet
In January 1795, the French Revolutionary Army was pushing into the United Provinces (today’s Netherlands) when a bitterly cold snap turned the sea into a frozen battlefield. General Johan Willem de Winter dispatched a squad of French hussars to seize the strongpoint of Den Helder and prevent any Dutch ships from fleeing to Britain.
When the cavalry arrived, they discovered that the Dutch fleet anchored at Den Helder was immobilised in thick ice. The French horsemen marched onto the frozen surface, surrounded the ships, and forced the Dutch sailors to surrender. This daring maneuver remains the only recorded instance of a fleet being captured by a cavalry charge.
9 Founder Of Scientology Fights Naval Battle With Imaginary Enemy
In May 1943, L. Ron Hubbard – later famous as the founder of Scientology – commanded the PC‑815 submarine chaser on a routine run from Portland to San Diego. At 3:40 a.m. on May 19, his sonar picked up what he believed was a Japanese submarine. By 9:06 a.m., two American blimps were summoned to aid the hunt.
By midnight on May 21, a small fleet – two cruisers and two Coast Guard cutters – had been called in, dropping more than 100 depth charges. After a grueling 68‑hour engagement with no sign of an enemy, Hubbard was recalled. Subsequent reports, backed by testimonies from other ship commanders, revealed that Hubbard had been chasing a well‑charted magnetic deposit on the sea floor, not a submarine. The episode even nearly sparked a diplomatic incident when he bombarded Mexican territory.
8 Two Drunk Soldiers Start A Battle To See Who’s Tougher
During the autumn of 334 B.C., Alexander the Great’s siege of Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum) dragged on, leaving many of his men restless. Two hoplites from the Perdiccas brigade – bunkmates who often swapped stories – got heavily intoxicated and began arguing over who was braver.
To settle the dispute, they resolved to storm the city walls single‑handedly. Their bold approach caused the defenders to abandon the ramparts and rush the two men. Though the duo cut down a number of attackers, they were eventually overwhelmed and killed. Their isolated clash, however, sparked a full‑scale battle as troops from both sides rushed to assist, nearly breaching the lightly guarded walls several times.
7 The British Get The Ottomans High
On 5 November 1917, British forces were pushing the Ottoman Empire back toward Sheria, just south of Gaza. British intelligence officer Richard Meinertzhagen decided to drop cigarettes and propaganda leaflets from a plane onto the besieged Ottoman troops.
Unbeknownst to the defenders, the cigarettes were laced with opium. The Ottoman soldiers happily lit them, became heavily drugged, and were left so high that they could barely stand, let alone raise their rifles. The next day, when the British attacked, they encountered virtually no resistance – the Ottoman troops were literally too high to fight.
6 Meteorite Wins Battle
Lucullus, a Roman politician and commander during the Third Mithridatic War (76–63 B.C.), marched his army to attack the Kingdom of Pontus. Just as the two forces prepared to clash, a fireball meteorite streaked across the sky and slammed into the ground between them.
Both sides, terrified that the celestial object signalled the wrath of the gods, fled the battlefield in panic. The meteorite thus became the first extraterrestrial “victor” of a human battle. Lucullus eventually succeeded in conquering Pontus, though later setbacks led to his removal from command.
5 A Bathroom Break Causes A War
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident erupted on 7–9 July 1937. The bridge, straddling the border between Imperial Japan and China near Beijing, was a tense flashpoint occupied by troops from both sides. After a night‑time maneuver by the Japanese, a brief gunfire exchange occurred.
When the fighting stopped, Private Shimura Kikujiro of the Japanese army failed to return to his post. The Chinese, assuming he had been captured, allowed a search. The Japanese, convinced he was a prisoner, used the incident as a pretext to attack Chinese positions on the morning of 8 July. The ensuing clash caused numerous casualties and ultimately ignited the full‑blown Second Sino‑Japanese War, which later merged into World War II. Shimura eventually returned to his post, bewildered by the claim that he had been captured after a simple bathroom break.
4 Tootsie Rolls Delivered As Ammunition
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir (27 Nov – 13 Dec 1950) saw United Nations forces encircled by massive Chinese troops in North Korea. As ammunition ran perilously low, a US Marine mortar division requested a resupply drop.
Unfortunately, a clerk at the supply depot, unaware that mortar shells were nicknamed “Tootsie Rolls,” arranged for a plane loaded with actual candy to be parachuted into the combat zone. The sweet treats were devoured rather than used as projectiles, boosting morale but doing nothing for firepower. Ultimately, the UN forces were forced to break out of the encirclement and retreat south.
3 A Blind King Charges Into Battle
On 26 August 1346, the English and Welsh armies faced the French at the Battle of Crécy. Bohemian King John, fighting on the French side, had lost his sight completely during a crusade in 1340.
Despite his blindness, John insisted on leading his knights into the melee. Flanked by mounted knights who tethered him to their saddles, he charged straight into the English ranks. The English longbows decimated the French, and John’s blind swings proved futile. He and his escorts were cut down, illustrating the tragic folly of a monarch who refused to accept his disability.
2 A Soldier Becomes Veteran Of Three Armies
In 1938, 18‑year‑old Korean Yang Kyoungjong was conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army to fight the Soviets. After being captured by the Red Army during the Battle of Khalkhin‑Gol, he was sent to a labor camp.
When the USSR entered World War II against Germany, Yang was “convinced” (under threat of death) to join the Soviet ranks. In 1943, he was captured again—this time by German forces at the Battle of Kharkov—and persuaded to serve in the German army. He fought for the Nazis until June 1944, when American forces captured him. Having served in three different armies, Yang decided not to enlist again.
1 The British Sink Their Own Flagship
The HMS Victoria, a Royal Navy battleship launched in 1888, was slated to become the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet. On 22 June 1893, Vice Admiral Sir George Tryon led ten battleships out to sea in two columns spaced merely 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) apart.
Seeking to impress, Tryon ordered the lead ships of each column to turn 180 degrees toward each other and then continue forward, a maneuver that required a turning circle far larger than the gap between the vessels. The miscalculation caused the two massive ships to collide, sinking the Victoria after only five years of service and badly damaging HMS Camperdown. Over half of Victoria’s crew perished, and to avoid embarrassment, Tryon went down with his ship.