Scrapped Metal Trivia Quiz

Answer: Northern France

While there had been two earlier skirmishes involving tanks in 1917, the Battle of Cambrai, in November and December, marked the largest use of tanks as an offensive weapon. The British also had a chance to try new techniques involving not only tanks but artillery and aircraft.

While the British used 350 tanks to advantage in crossing trenches and barbed wire obstacles, the Mark IV tank had several weaknesses which showed during the battle. Though the British were the only army using tanks, the battle did not give either side a victory and casualties (dead and wounded) were 40,000 to 45,000 for each side; Britain lost 179 of its tanks.

Answer: Kursk

Kursk is the administrative center of the Kursk Oblast, near the Ukraine border. German and Soviet forces fought there in 1943, over a huge area: 15,000+ sq. mi. (38,850+ sq. km.). Estimates of how many tanks each side used vary widely, but there may have been as many as 2,700 German tanks and 3,600 Soviet armored vehicles.

As luck would have it, Russian defense was ferocious, and on July 10, Allied forces began the invasion of Italy. Hitler had to deploy some of the Eastern Front troops and tanks southward. The tank battle was inconclusive, as the Soviet Army held their ground, but at a high cost. The German retreat gave the Soviets the symbolic victory and signaled the loss of German momentum on the Eastern Front, which they never recovered.

Answer: The Yom Kippur War

The Yom Kippur War lasted for much of October, 1973 with Israel fighting Egypt and Syria. From October sixth to ninth, a tank battle was fought in the Golan Heights area; the fight became known as the Valley of Tears Battle. About 100 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles fought more than 500 Syrian vehicles.

By the fourth day Israeli tanks only numbered about 30 and the Israelis were almost at the point of collapse but the Syrians withdrew, their forces being reduced apparently to the same level as the Israelis.

Answer: France

Arracourt is in Lorraine, France. In September, 1944, the German 5th Panzer Army was sent to Arracourt to stop a U.S. advance by General George S. Patton. In what was the largest tank battle on the Western Front to that point the Germans had as many as 300 tanks and tank destroyers.

It's difficult to find out how many tanks the Americans had available but it may have been around 210. The U.S. made better use of intelligence and tactics and over eleven days of battle destroyed over 200 of the enemy vehicles while losing 32 themselves.

Answer: Mongolia

Khalkhin Gol is a river in eastern Mongolia. Soviet and Japanese armies battled each other from May to September, 1939. Japan had invaded Manchuria in 1931 and was setting its sights on Soviet territories. The two sides finally clashed in what was the biggest armored battle to that point in time; the Soviets had around 1,000 tanks and armored vehicles; the Japanese about 130.

The Soviet commander was Georgy Zhukov who led his armies to victory and would go on to great distinction in World War II.

The loss made the Japanese military decide to expend their resources in Southeast Asia instead of the northern reaches.

Answer: Germany and the Soviet Union

The battle was fought in June, 1941, an early part of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It took place in west-central Lithuania, involving 240 German tanks and 749 Soviet tanks. After a four-day battle the Soviets retreated giving the Germans control of two important river crossings as they moved toward Russia.

Answer: The Second Battle of El Alamein

Axis forces wanted to control North Africa for the Suez Canal and the Middle East oil fields. They battled with Allied forces (mostly British Commonwealth) throughout 1942. German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel made his nickname, "the Desert Fox", in those battles. The British, under Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck stalled the Axis forces, but Auchinleck ended up being dismissed, with General Bernard Montgomery finally taking his place.

The Second Battle saw 1,000 Allied tanks go up against 547 German and Italian tanks. Each side lost 500 tanks; the Allies stopped the Axis forces and spelled the end of Axis hopes to control Africa. Montgomery cemented his reputation because of his actions there.

Answer: Indo-Pakistani War

The Indians and Pakistanis had been fighting off and on since 1947. In September of 1965 the Indians moved to take control of a railway in northeast Pakistan to cut off a supply line. In what became one of the largest tank battles since Kursk, Russia, in World War II, about 225 Indian tanks battled 282 Pakistani armored vehicles.

The battle went on for five days until the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on September 22 for both sides to end their fighting, which they did. Pakistan claimed it lost 44 tanks.

India claimed the loss of 29 tanks; Pakistan said the Indians lost 120 tanks.

Answer: World War II

Operation Goodwood was part of the aftermath of the Normandy Invasion. It may have been the British army's largest tank battle. In July, 1944, British and Canadian armored forces were tasked with pushing the Germans out of Caen in northern France and keeping them occupied so they couldn't be redeployed to an American operation set to take place further south.

The British had as many as 1,300 tanks to about 375 for the Germans. The fighting raged from July 18th to the 20th. The British took Caen (although the city was destroyed) and secured a few miles of countryside.

The Germans lost around 100 tanks compared to 314 for the British. It was a British victory but not a decisive one.

Answer: Iraq

73 Easting was named after GPS coordinates for the battle which took place in desert wilderness in southeast Iraq on February 26 and 27, 1991, in the Persian Gulf War. American and British forces moved against units of the Tawakalna Republican Guard Division and other Iraqi units.

The Allied forces numbered about nine tanks and a dozen armored vehicles. Called by some the last great tank battle of the 20th Century, the Allied losses were minimal: one Bradley Fighting Vehicle; the Iraqis lost 160 tanks and 180 personnel carriers.

Other tank battles that took place in that time frame also had light Allied losses and heavy Iraqi losses. The Allies were then able to move farther into Iraq and on to Kuwait.