Second World War [B] Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rioting in Los Angeles

During the summer of 1943 in Los Angeles rioting between young Latinos and servicemen occurred. The press had dubbed these young Latino men 'zoot suiters' in reference to their style of dress. At that time there were many servicemen in the LA area and tension developed between some of the servicemen and some of the Latinos.

Then on June 3 several hundred servicemen went looking for young Latino males and many Latinos were beaten. LA police basically said that this was a military problem and did not intervene. Over 150 people were injured and police arrested over 500 Latinos many of them were victims themselves.

It was not until June 7 before the military intervened and put a stop to this madness.

Answer: Otto Kretschmer

He sank 44 ships totalling over 259,000 tons. Kretschmer survived the war and joined the West German Navy retiring as a Rear Admiral. Luth sank more ships with 46 but the tonnage was just over 225,000. Topp sank 35 ships totaling 197,000 tons. Gunther Prien sank 30 ships at 162,000 tons.

Answer: P-47

Along with the P-47, the British Typhoon, among others were very much feared by German ground troops when these planes were used in the ground attack role. Especially the P-47 with its eight .50 caliber machine guns and 2000lbs of bombs it was very devastating against troops, vehicles and armor.

Answer: Cromwell

Cromwell had a top speed of 38 mph, the T-34 32mph, Sherman 30mph and the Panzer MkIV 26mph.

Answer: J. Robert Oppenheimer

He was appointed by General Groves who overrode objections from scientists and Army counter-intelligence. They opposed naming someone whose fiancee, wife, brother and sister-in-law were or had previously been members of the Communist Party.

Answer: Admiral Raymond A. Spruance

With all due respect to Admirals Halsey, Nimitz, and Fletcher, many historians considered Admiral Spruance to be the best US Admiral in WWII. Some even say the best in the history of the US Navy.

Answer: Female Russian combat pilots

These women who were a part of the regular Soviet Army flew at night using old Russian bi-planes that were bombers. Even their fighter escorts were women from their own squadrons. There were even two fighter 'aces'. Lily Litvak with 12 kills and Katya Budanova with 11. Though they were called the "night witches" not all their missions were flown at night.

Answer: Michael Wittman

The farm boy turned tank commander destroyed 138 tanks and 132 artillery pieces by himself (with his tank crew). Fought in the Eastern Front as well as the Western Front. He disappeared in the Normandy hedgerow area in 1944. His body was found in 1987 by a French road crew and buried at a military cemetery.

Answer: Finland

Vichy France also contributed to the German war effort but it was not a democracy. Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939, fought bravely but had to sign a peace treaty with the Soviet Union in 1940. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, Finland tried to regain the territory it had lost in 1940.

Answer: Erich Hartmann

Hartmann shot down 352 planes and flew 1425 sorties. Rall shot down 275, Nishizawa of Japan shot down 113. Kozuhedub of the Soviet Union shot down 62. Erich Hartmann survived the war and was captured by Americans in 1945. They promptly turned him over to the Russians. Once the Soviets found out who he was they brutally tortured him and tried to get him to endorse Communism although he never did. Most surviving German POW's held in Russia were released by 1951, however Hartmann was not released until 1955, spending almost ten and a half years as a prisoner. Once recovering from this physical and psychological trauma he rejoined the West German Air Force in 1959 and led a productive career.

Answer: General Zhukov

Ruthless, hard-driving, he abused his subordinates and was widely disliked. He nonetheless got results and rose rapidly in the Red Army. He organized the successful defense of Leningrad and then did the same at Moscow. He was commander of the Russian forces that captured Berlin.

Answer: Kate

Zeke was the Zero fighter and Val was a dive bomber.

Answer: General Bradley

Could you even imagine if Montgomery was Patton's commander! I don't think it would have been a pretty sight.

Answer: Canada

By 1945 the Royal Canadian Navy had become a formidable force with 345 ships including 2 heavy cruisers and 2 aircraft carriers.

Answer: Nagasaki

The bomb used on Nagasaki was a plutonium based atomic bomb which is what the Trinity test bomb was. When the Manhattan Project started its goal was to produce TWO radically different types of atomic bombs. The plutonium bomb used at Nagasaki employed pure plutonium surrounded by explosives which imploded the plutonium to cause a gigantic eruption.

The other type that was used at Hiroshima was a uranium based bomb that worked by colliding two pieces of uranium to cause an explosion. The scientists who devised the uranium based bomb were so convinced that their theory was a sound theory, that they did not field test this device. Thus the first atomic bomb used against Japan had never been tested prior to being dropped on Hiroshima.