Australian and New Zealand warships clearing World War II era munitions from the harbor at Rabaul have found what is believed to be a Japanese midget submarine. The wreck was found sitting upright on the sandy bottom at 180 feet underwater. Rabaul was one of the most important Japanese Naval bases during the War, and the site of sharp combat in January 1942 - when Japanese forces seized the harbor and associated military installations from Australian forces.
Brigadier General Tadeusz Sawicz died on 19 October at a nursing home in Toronto, Canada - he was 97 years old and was the last surviving Polish pilot to have fought with the RAF during the 1940 Battle of Britain. Sawicz was one of 145 Polish pilots who fought with the RAF during the Battle of Britain and was credited with three kills during his service with the RAF.
Overall, The Battle of Britain represented a disaster for the Luftwaffe and a blow to the prestige of the Wehrmacht as a whole.
Well over 6,000 ships sunk during the Second World War sit on the bottom of oceans and seas worldwide. After roughly 70 years of exposure to the elements many are raising concerns that these distingrating wrecks could release the oil mostly still contained in their hulls. Though few of these ships contain anywhere near the oil released by the oil tanker seen sinking in this picture following a U-boat attack, when the oil from these thousands of ships is aggregated together it is estimated by some to total well in excess of the oil released by 2010's Deepwater Horizon spill.
