An interesting read. Thanks for the link, Tango.
A bit odd to find it on a Medieval History blog site, though.
Indeed Brazil's participation in WW2 is little remembered. They also played a role in the air, with 3 squadrons participating in the Italian campaign (flying P-47s), as well as roles in the South Atlantic (iirc U-Boat attacks on Brazillian shipping were the official casus belli) and even deployed aerial forces to assist in defending the Panama Canal.
As to the reason for the "smoking cobras" name, I'm less confident that the author of the blog article got it right. My understanding is, first, that the term "cobra" as used in Brazilian usage the Portuguese is better translated into English as "snake" than "cobra".
Second, I believe "when a snake smokes a pipe" was a popular phrase in Brazil prior to WW2 -- a Brazilian equivalent of the US phrase "when pigs fly". In the post-war vernacular, though, I'm given to understand that the meaning became completely inverted, instead implying something that you deny only at your peril, something that is likely to come true with a vengeance.
My reference point was a good friend, a foreign student from Brazil, who muttered "when a snake smokes a pipe" under her breath (and through a cloud of her own cigarette smoke) when I suggested that I could convince our professor to give us an extension on our project. When I asked her what she meant, she explained the original meaning, and the then popular meaning, of that phrase. But with no reference to WW2, even though she was wearing an army jacket every time I ever saw her.
So I doubt seriously that it had anything to do with Hitler making any pronouncements. Not that I know he didn't say it -- I don't. Only that there seems to be a very credible path for that moniker that has nothing to do with Hitler.
Could be wrong on that bit, though. Don't claim to be any expert on Brazilian pop culture or slang. Haven't spent any meaningful time with any Brazilians for decades now.
-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)
