- "There was no Battle of Finow."
"Because you Nazis ambushed the Russians at night."
"No German fought any Russian at Finow. What we found can only be described as a massacre. Bodies piled high and ripped apart. Whoever attacked them was long gone." - ―Ernst Mueller and Roger Dooley[src]
The Battle of Finow was the name given to an incident that occurred near Finow, Germany in 1944.
Officially, 247 soldiers of the Soviet Armed Forces were massacred in a Wehrmacht ambush. In reality, these soldiers massacred each other under the influence of Midnight Oil, a failed stimulant created by Stark Industries which Howard Stark himself had decided against distributing due to the catastrophic side-effects.
Background[]
- "You designed a poison gas, Howard?"
"No! Well, not intentionally. The army wanted something that would keep soldiers awake for days at a time, but it failed. Caused symptoms similar to sleep deprivation, anger, hallucinations, psychosis." - ―Peggy Carter and Howard Stark[src]
During World War II, Howard Stark was ordered by the United States Army to design a gas that would keep soldiers awake for days, however, his experiments failed. The final product, which he named the Midnight Oil, caused symptoms similar to sleep deprivation, anger, hallucinations, and psychosis. Stark decided to not hand it over to the military, but the man who ordered the making of the Midnight Oil, General John McGinnis, had other plans.[2]
Massacre[]
- "Do you know what your creation does?"
"I saw it afterwards."
"And I saw it while it happened. I was only spared because I had a gas mask to protect myself. My comrades were not so lucky, my brother wasn't so lucky. When I found him he had no eyes; pieces of his flesh had been bitten off. Can you imagine this?"" - ―Johann Fennhoff and Howard Stark[src]
In 1944, John McGinnis' soldiers raided Howard Stark's laboratories, stealing the Midnight Oil and all documents about Stark's research. Using United States Air Force planes, they flew over the battlefield on the Eastern Front, near the city of Finow in Germany and released the gas. They wanted to help the Soviet Armed Forces in crushing the German defenses in the area. However, the released gas had a different effect on the Soviets than they expected. Hundreds of soldiers went mad, with a sole thought on their minds - to kill everyone around them.
The Soviets started behaving like animals, biting each other, slitting each other's throats, gouging their eyes out, and cutting their skin. In the end, the field was filled with dozens of bloody corpses. Only a few soldiers managed to survive, but at the cost of their voices, not being able to speak anymore. A medical officer, Johann Fennhoff, survived by putting a gas mask on his face. His brother, however, was not as lucky, having been killed like the rest of his comrades.[2]
Aftermath[]
Johann Fennhoff explaining the true carnage
- "I've got a new wrinkle for your forehead. Log at the Finow airfield. One day after our supposed battle, a plane lands. Guess who's on it?"
"I don't know. Bob Hope?"
"Howard Stark." - ―Jack Thompson and Roger Dooley[src]
A group of Wehrmacht soldiers led by Ernst Mueller investigated the area, discovering the corpses.[1] A day later, Howard Stark arrived and saw the horrific sight, while John McGinnis did everything in his power to cover-up the incident.[3] The few survivors of the massacre, including Leet Brannis, Sasha Demidov and Johann Fennhoff, were later recruited by the Leviathan. The massacre and the death of his brother was a driving point behind Johann Fennhoff's revenge plot on Stark.[2]