World War II Trivia

1. A P-38 is fairly well known as a US fighter manufactured by Lockheed. But to a hungry GI what else might a P-38 be?

From Quiz Say What?!?

Answer: Can opener

The official name was "opener, can, hand, folding, Type I", this particular P-38 was a folding can opener issued with C and K rations. How soldiers came to call it a P-38 seems to be anyone's guess. Some say it operated as fast as the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, others that it took thirty-eight punctures to open a can with.

From Quiz World War 2

Answer: September 1st 1939

World War 2 began on September 1st 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The invasion of China by Japan is considered by some historians to be a WW2 battle.

From Quiz WW2: Important Dates

Answer: April 20, 1889

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889. He died on April 30, 1945, ten days after his 56th birthday from a self inflicted gunshot wound. At least that's what the history books say, and his body was never found.

From Quiz World War II

Answer: Hirohito

Hirohito was disgraced by being forced to announce the unconditional surrender of the Japanese people to the Allies on August 15, 1945. After this, he kept a very low profile until his death in 1989 at the age of 87 years old.

From Quiz Interesting Facts from WWII: Part II

Answer: Their Gestapo names began with "White"

Nancy Wake and Edward Yeo Thomas were both flown into occupied France during WWII and although they operated separately were known by the Gestapo as the "White Mouse" and the "White Rabbit" respectively. Nancy Wake (1912-2011) was born in New Zealand but moved to Sydney, Australia as a very young child. She became an Australian citizen. She was married to a French industrialist and living in France when the country was invaded by Germany. She worked as a French resistance courier and after being betrayed she made her way to Britain were she joined SOE (Special Operations Executive) and was parachuted back into France and remained in France working with the resistance until the end of the war. She is reputed to have killed a SS sentry with her bare hands and was a very accurate shot with a rifle. Wing Commander Edward Yeo Thomas (1902-1964) born in London, also joined SOE and was parachuted into France to work with the resistance. He was eventually betrayed and after torture was sent to Buchenwald Concentration camp. From there he escaped, but was recaptured and passed himself off as a French national and was sent to Stalag-XXB. He was an important witness at the Nuremburg Trials. The books "The White Rabbit" (1952) and "The White Mouse" (1985) tell the stories of these two heroes.

From Quiz Interesting Facts from WWII - Part I

Answer: Ilmari Juutilainen (Finland)

Ilmari Juutilainen (1914-1999) was a fighter pilot in the Finnish Air Force. He had 94 confirmed aerial combat victories during 437 sorties. However, he himself claimed 126 victories. Tetsuzo Iwamoto (1916-1955) was the top scoring fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII with 80 confirmed aerial combat victories. He did however, have another 14 victories confirmed but they were in the war against China in 1938. Ivan Kozhedub (1920-1991) had 66 confirmed victories with Soviet Air Force. He also took part in the Korean War. Constantin Cantacuzino (1905-1958) was with the Royal Romanian Air Force and had 56 confirmed victories. Constantin was also the captain of the Romanian Ice Hockey Team in 1931 and 1933 at the World Championships. The top ace in the US Army Air Force was Richard Bong with 40 confirmed victories. However, the Ace of Aces was Erich "Bubi" Hartmann (1922-1993) of the Luftwaffe with 352 confirmed victories.

From Quiz We'll Eat Again: Food in Wartime Britain

Answer: 1940

Although people had registered for ration books in September 1939, it wasn't until January 1940 that the first foods went on the ration.

From Quiz World War 2 Review

Answer: Stalingrad and Kursk

In 1942-43, the Battle of Stalingrad marked a turning point in the war. Germany's momentum had been unstoppable before they'd been halted at Stalingrad. The battle lasted for six months and ended with a Soviet victory after the Axis powers ran out of ammunition and fuel. Over the six month period, the Axis suffered about 850,000 casualties and the Soviets had over 1,100,000. In 1943, the Battle of Kursk was the final offensive that the Axis powers made against the USSR. They were defeated again, which allowed the Soviets to force them into retreating westward. At Kursk there were far fewer casualties than at Stalingrad, but the manpower involved was even greater. The Axis had about 912,000 men and the Soviets had a staggering 1,910,000 (about 800,000 more than in the counter-offensive at Stalingrad).

From Quiz Quotes from World War ll Notables

Answer: Josef Stalin

In November 1941 the United States was still technically neutral. Stalin later told Churchill that Lend Lease was "a remarkable invention without which victory would have been delayed."

From Quiz Guns of WWII

Answer: MP40

The MP40 was the German sub-machine gun of choice. It fired a 9mm bullet and had a clip capacity of 32. The weapon was first made in 1940. It was used by infantrymen on the Eastern and Western Front. Its advanced and modern features made it a favorite among soldiers and popular in countries from various parts of the world after the war. It was often erroneously called "Schmeisser" by the Allies, despite Hugo Schmeisser's non-involvement in the weapon's design and production. From 1940 to 1945, an estimated 1.1 million were produced by ERMA Werke.

From Quiz World War II

Answer: Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler invaded Poland but Britain had an alliance with Poland, and France sided with Britain. So started the bloodiest war ever.

From Quiz World War II: Locations

Answer: Dunkirk

French soldiers and troops from the British Expeditionary Force were evacuated from Dunkirk shortly before Germany won the Battle of France in 1940. Narvik was taken by Germany during the Norway Campaign. Copenhagen was also occupied by the Germans when they invaded Denmark.

From Quiz The Second World War

Answer: February 1933

A mere two weeks after being appointed Chancellor of Germany Hitler ordered his cabinet to make rearmament the top priority of German policy. At the time Germany was participating in a League of Nations conference on multilateral disarmament! On Hitler's orders the German delegation stalled, and in October 1933 he withdrew Germany from the League of Nations.

From Quiz WWII General Trivia

Answer: George Patton

Patton was reprimanded by Eisenhower for this act but wasn't disciplined beyond being told to apologize to the soldier.

From Quiz World War II

Answer: Poland

Czechoslovakia had been dismembered by Germany in 1938-39. Following the German invasion of the 'rump' of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Britain promised to support Poland if its independence was threatened by force. This promise - initially verbal - was formalized later in 1939 but was fully in force at the time of the German invasion. Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, two days after the start of the German invasion.

From Quiz What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? #2

Answer: Rod Steiger

He said many years later that he regretted having to kill the people in the fishing boats that discovered the fleet so they could not radio their position. The raid was launched early because they couldn't be sure if they had been reported.

From Quiz World War II

Answer: September 1, 1939

World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany attacked Poland following a faked incident at Gleiwitz in Silesia.

From Quiz WWII Trivia

Answer: T-34

The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank. Production started in 1940 and went on till 1958. It has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II, mostly because it was the first tank with sloped armor. The T-26 was also replaced by the T-34. The T-54 is the successor to the T-34 and was built in the final year of the war. The BT-10 never existed.

From Quiz US World War II Rationing

Answer: Office of Price Administration

The OPA was originally set up to control prices in August 1941 by Presidential Executive Order with the intent to control inflation. After the war stated in December 1941, its powers were extended to include the rationing of key items, such as tires, automobiles, shoes, nylon, sugar, gasoline, fuel oil, coffee, meats and processed foods. 90% of retail food prices were frozen.

From Quiz Allied Powers of World War II

Answer: China

The UK, US, and Soviet Union were considered "The Big Three", but China was also a key founder member of the United Nations. President Roosevelt coined the term "Four Policemen" to refer to these four allies.

From Quiz World War Two Dates

Answer: Neville Chamberlain

Neville Chamberlain was born in 1869. He became Lord Mayor of Birmingham in 1915 and in 1918 he was elected Conservative M.P. for Ladywood. He held several government posts before becoming Prime Minister in 1937. Despite his close association with appeasement he declared war on Germany after it invaded Poland.

From Quiz More GI Jargon (US Army)

Answer: a grenade

A pineapple was the Mark II fragmentation grenade. It gained this nickname because of its shape.

From Quiz US Army Jargon (WWII)

Answer: a goldbrick

During WWII anyone who was a shirker or a malingerer was called a goldbrick. There was always at least one in every platoon.

From Quiz Semper Fi, Mac - Finale

Answer: a bunk

During WWII a fart sack was a bunk, which is now more commonly known as a rack. I shall leave it to the imagination why it was called that.

From Quiz World at War: Part III

Answer: Poland

In August 1939 Hitler had negotiated the Soviet-German non-aggression pact (which he later broke) in order to avoid unforeseen Soviet intervention. The German army sped through Poland, in a "blitzkrieg". (Blitzkrieg means lightning war in German.)

From Quiz World War II Trivia (Mainly U.S.)

Answer: The Battle of Stalingrad

The invasion of the Soviet Union was Hitler's greatest blunder. The Battle of Stalingrad lasted from 17 July 1942 till 2 February 1943. This was one of the biggest battles ever. There were about 850,000 Axis casualties and nearly 1.3 million Soviet casualties (including civilians).

From Quiz Semper Fi, Mac: Part 3

Answer: a Corpsman

A chancre mechanic was a derogatory term for a Corpsman. It was never used for a Corpsman who served along with the Marines in the field but was reserved for base hospital personel.

From Quiz World War 2 from K-O

Answer: Krummlauf

The Krummlauf was designed to be fit on the barrel of an MP44 automatic rifle. The weapon could shoot at an imperfect angle around a corner, thus solving the age-old problem of rounding corners. However, some unreliability and the priority of producing other things caused it to be produced in only very small numbers. The Americans did capture a few of these devices, and did produce one that could fire at 90 degrees. However, it suffered from similar mechanical issues as the original and was never produced.

From Quiz World War 2 from F-J

Answer: Fairey

The Fairey Swordfish biplane, developed during the 1930s, was already outdated as a naval bomber by 1939. However, the torpedo bomber, for lack of a better choice, still served throughout the role in many naval roles. It was the plane of the famous attack on the Italian Navy in the Battle of Taranto, as well as participating in the Bismark's final voyage.

From Quiz World War II Miscellany

Answer: Andrew and Alan

Andrew Cunningham was an established admiral who drew comparison with the famous Horatio Nelson or Trafalgar. He was instrumental in winning the Battle of the Mediterranean, using his limited resources to cripple the sizable Italian fleets. Alan Cunningham commanded troops in North Africa, where an unspectacular performance did not give him much recognition.

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