Allied Amphibious Operations 1939-1945 Online Trivia | History

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Operation Jubilee was the code name for the raid on or invasion of Dieppe. For many it is still an action that leaves many bitter recriminations, especially for the Canadian forces that suffered the most, but can you tell me when this took place?

Answer: 18th August 1942

Primarily an operation pushed for political reasons rather than military necessity, the predominantly Canadian Force suffered cruelly in this rather one sided assault. Casualties were high with 907 killed, 586 wounded and
1,946 captured.

2. The St Nazaire Raid (Operation Chariot) was a successful amphibious attack on the Normandie Dry Dock undertaken by the Royal Navy and British Commandos. The attack used an ageing RN destroyer packed with explosives to ram the dock entrance, where it was exploded with a timed charge. Can you name the ship?

Answer: HMS Campbeltown

The raid was ultimately successful in that it prevented the German Navy from using the facility to repair their larger warships such as Bismarck and Tirpitz which had to return to home waters for repairs.

3. The joint US/British landings in French North Africa on 8th November 1942 achieved their military and political objectives and relieved the pressure on the hard pressed Soviets who were desperately struggling at the Battle of Stalingrad at the time. Can you give the Operation Code Name for these landings?

Answer: Torch

Operation Torch was actually three separate landings all coordinated to occur at the same time at Casablanca (Western Task force), Oran (Central Taskforce) and in Algiers (Western Task Force).

A little known fact is that the order for this operation was one of only two occasions when the President Roosevelt gave a direct order to take precedence over any other operations. The only other direct order was to transfer 60 B-24 Liberators from the Pacific to the Atlantic to help combat operations against the U-Boats menace in March 1943.

4. After the fall of Tunisia in May 1943, the Allies undertook an invasion of Sicily on the 9th July 1943. What was the code name for this operation?

Answer: Husky

Ultimately a great success, the Allied forces included the use of both the US 82nd Airborne and British 1st Airborne Divisions as well as US 7th Army and British 8th Army. The Allies eventually overcame the Italian and German forces and captured Sicily on the 17th August. Casualties were a combined total of 5,532 killed, 14,410 wounded and 2,869 missing in action.

5. The invasion the Italian mainland was actually a series of separate Allied landings. The first of which took place on 3rd September 1943 and was a simple hop across the Straights of Messina from Sicily to Reggio di Calabria. What was the name of this operation?

Answer: Baytown

The operation was ineffective as the German and Italian forces retreated north and didn't engage the British and Canadian forces.

It could be argued that Operation Baytown forced Italy to surrender, but this was not official until the 8th September.

6. On the 9th September 1943, Operation Avalanche took place where the Allies landed on the beaches at Salerno near Naples. A secondary diversion attack took place under Operation Slapstick but where did these landings take place?

Answer: Taranto

The Salerno landings were carried out with any prior naval or aerial bombardment in order to achieve surprise - it didn't work and the US 5th Army had to fight hard to achieve a foothold on the beaches with assistance from US 82nd Airborne. Despite multiple vicious counter attacks by German Panzer and Panzergrenadier divisions, the beaches were held and the British 8th Army eventually linked up with the troops in the Salerno Bridgehead.

7. The German Forces in Italy proved very effective in defense and early 1944, they were holding a fortified position known as the Gustav Line. The Allies looked to land forces at Anzio to outflank the German lines. What was the name of this operation?

Answer: Shingle

The attack at Anzio was supposed to outflank the German defensive line and force them in to retreat allowing the Allies to take Rome and continue their move northwards.

The reality was very different. It would be 5 months of heavy fighting with 43,000 casualties (7,000 killed, 36,000 wounded or missing) before Allied troops entered Rome.

The Germans retreated into their next defensive position known as the Gothic Line.

8. Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy. The actual landings on D-Day had another codename. Do you know what it was?

Answer: Neptune

D-Day involved the highest concentration of shipping ever seen up to that point during the war. The invasion fleet was drawn from eight different navies, comprising 6,939 vessels, 1,213 warships, 4,126 landing craft of various types, 736 ancillary craft, and 864 merchant vessels.

The majority of the fleet was supplied by the Royal Navy, which provided 892 warships and 3,261 landing craft.

9. Operation Vitality was the assault across the Scheldt Estuary to clear the South and North Beveland Islands of German Troops. Which division led the assault on 24th October 1944?

Answer: Canadian 2nd Infantry Division

At the end of the five-week offensive, the Canadian First Army had taken 41,043 German prisoners. Complicated by the flooded terrain, the Battle of the Scheldt proved to be a challenging campaign in which the losses suffered by the Canadians caused another conscription crisis.

After the first ship arrived on November 28, convoys started bringing a steady stream of supplies to the continent, which began to energise the stalled Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine.

The port of Antwerp was strategically so vital that, during the Battle of the Bulge, one of the primary German objectives was to retake the city and its port.

10. The crossing of the Rhine on 23rd March 1945 was the last allied amphibious operation of the war. What was the operational code name for this assault?

Answer: Plunder

21st Army Group crossed the River Rhine at Wesel on the evening of the 23rd March 1945. It was supported by the First Allied Airborne Army with Operation Varsity which involved the landing of US 17th Airborne Division and British 6th Airborne Division on the eastern banks of the Rhine on the 24th March 1945.

Source: Author JJMcGiver

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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Allied Amphibious Operations 1939-1945 Quiz

This quiz is about the Allied Amphibious Landings, raids and assaults that took place in the European Theatre during World War 2. There are more than you think and I really hope to push your knowledge to the limit. Enjoy. Feedback is always welcomed!

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