Who, What, When, and Where in WWII Quiz

Answer: Admiral Robert L. Ghormley

The cautious, and somewhat detached, Robert L. Ghormley was relieved of command by Admiral Nimitz on 18 October, 1942. He was replaced by the energetic and aggressive William F. Halsey, Jr., who was on his way to the SPA anyway to command a new naval task force.

As commander of the SPA he worked closely with South West Pacific Area commander Gen. Douglas MacArthur to effectively neutralize the Japanese on the Solomon Islands. In what has surprised many historians and critics of MacArthur, both headstrong leaders worked well together.

(Incidentally, the spelling of Ghormley with Gh- is correct).

Answer: Capture the port of Antwerp.

Sepp Dietrich was really given an almost impossible task. His 6th Panzer Army had to rely on captured Allied gas to fuel its advance as part of the plan. Besides that by no means small feat, the advance also had to count on bad weather grounding the overwhelming superiority in Allied air power. They did achieve surprise, though, as planned.

Answer: Rabaul

The original aim of Operation Cartwheel was the capture of fortress Rabaul. The decision to bypass Rabaul was made at the Quebec Conference by the Combined Chiefs of Staff and FDR, and Churchill. With the capture of enough ground in Bougainville to build airfields, the Allies could base fighters to escort bombing missions that covered Rabaul and it's surrounding areas. With this accomplished Rabaul was effectively neutralized and no longer a threat to the SW Pacific drive eastward, up the New Guinea coast.

There was also a well supplied 100,000 man garrison in Rabaul. That was reason enough not to invade that hornet's nest!

Answer: Guards

The Guards designation was first given out to infantry divisions which distinguished themselves against the Nazi onslaught. The honor was later extended to include "units up to field army ... [E]ventually there were 11 guards armies and 6 guards tank armies, all numbered in sequence" (Boatner, Biographical Dictionary of WWII; p. 670).

Shock armies were rifle armies with more artillery. It was a permanent redesignation and were numbered sequentially. (ibid, p. 699).

Assault armies were not permanent formations and only formed for specific campaigns. (ibid, p. 647).

Answer: They were sister ships

HMS Courageous also had the misfortune to be the first British warship to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. She was sunk by U-29 on September 17, 1939 while launching aircraft. In other words, she was a sitting duck!

HMS Glorious was sunk on June 8th, 1940 by shell fire from rival sisters, the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

During WWI both ships were designed as shallow draft, lightly armed, fast cruisers for operations in the Baltic Sea, with Courageous as the model.

In the late 1920s both ships were converted to aircraft carriers.

Answer: HMS Hermes

The HMS Hermes was the first warship designed from the keel up to be an aircraft carrier but was the second to be commissioned. Japan's Hosho was the first commissioned purpose built aircraft carrier by 6 months.

Commissioned in 1923, Hermes joined the fleet in early 1924. She was placed on the reserve fleet in 1937. Basically obsolete by WWII standards (with a complement of only 12 aircraft) she was brought back to active service in September 1939 and served against Axis forces in East Africa, the Mediterranean, and Vichy French at Dakar.

Sent to support the British Far Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean following Japan's entry she was sunk off Ceylon by IJN dive bombers on 9 April 1942.

USS Langley was the US first aircraft carrier but in 1937 was converted to a seaplane tender. After suffering crippling damage by IJN dive bombers off Java on 27 February 1942 she was sunk by her escort to prevent her capture.

Answer: Franco Lucchini (Italy)

Lucchini was a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, in which he is credited with flying around 122 missions, scored four/five kills, was promoted and awarded a fancy medal for valor, all while flying the CR. 32 biplane.

When Italy joined the war on 10 June 1940 Lucchini was sent to Tobruk with his squadron flying the upgraded version of the CR.32 biplane, the CR.42 biplane. There he met in action the feared Gloster Gladiator biplane in British service.

Later in the war Lucchini flew the MC.200 and MC. 202 monoplane from bases in Sicily and North Africa while being promoted and receiving further fancy medals for valore.

After suffering wounds requiring several months of convalescing he returned to his unit based in Sicily for the defense of the homeland. While on an intercept mission Lucchini was killed in action on 5 July 1943. He is credited with 22 victories and several shared kills.

Answer: The British Staff at Casablanca

The US delegation was inadequately prepared at Casablanca (SYMBOL) when it came to present their case for a cross channel invasion in 1943 vs the Mediterranean strategy advocated by the British Staff.

General Wedemeyer saw this and made the play on Julius Caesars' famous comment when his Roman legions defeated Pharnaces II "Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered).

After US planners "lost their shirt" at the Casablanca Conference (14-24 January 1943) the US staff adopted the British model for preparedness and more diplomatic approach and only lost a button or two in the following conferences.

Answer: Operation Zitadelle

The Ferdinand was named after its designer, Ferdinand Porsche. Originally intended to be a heavy tank, the design was rejected and the hull converted to that of a fixed turreted tank destroyer. With the new Krupp designed 88mm Pak 43/2 L71 and an additional 100mm of armor plate the TD could knock out any opponents tank well out of range the enemy gun. Its armor protection made it almost impregnable to direct AP fire even at close range. Among the vehicles drawbacks was the lack of a machine gun for protection against close infantry attacks.

During Zitadelle all of the 90 or so Ferdinands were used by 9th Army in the northern half of the pincer attack. Many of the Ferdinands were damaged in the first few days of the offensive due to mechanical breakdowns or anti-tank mines. The majority of the losses came during the Soviet counter offensive when Ferdinands became unrecoverable due to it's heavy weight.

After Zitadelle surviving Ferdinands were fitted with a hull mounted MG. Further modifications were made and the official name was changed to Elephant.

Answer: Clarence R. Huebner

While "The Big Red One" is usually associated with the colorful "Terrible Terry" de la Mesa it was Clarence R. Huebner who commanded the division on D-Day, 6 June 1944. After the Sicilian campaign both division commander Allen and assistant div. commander Teddy Roosevelt, Jr. were relieved of command by Eisenhower at the insistence of Omar Bradley. The division was seen as uncontrollable and undisciplined by Bradley. Huebner was chosen to instill some tough love.

As commander of the 1st Huebner led them from the invasion of Omaha Beach to the Huertgen Forest. In January, 1945 Huebner got an increase in pay and responsibility with a promotion to lead V Corps, where he ended up shaking hands with the Ruskies at the Elbe River.