World War II Miscellany Trivia Quiz

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.

Answer: Attu

The Japanese captured Attu and Kiska in a diversionary attack, but the USN had broken Japanese codes and did not fall for the diversion. Instead, they defeated the Japanese at Midway, then returned to take the islands. Attu was recaptured in a bloody battle, but Kiska was vacated by the Japanese.

Answer: Anvil

Operation Anvil-Dragoon was the follow-up operation after Overlord, landing a sizable force in southern France that linked up with the troops from Normandy. Not much progress was made afterward, with most of the supplies and troops going to the battles in the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France and Germany. Dragoon did not even dislodge the German troops from northern Italy.

Answer: Argentan

Argentan was the responsibility of British and Polish troops in the joint campaign to close the Falaise Gap. The Gap was closed around the Germans, but losses were much higher than expected, especially after numerous German breakout attempts.

Answer: Basil

Barbarossa was the operation that began the war with the Soviet Union. Blue was the second major German operation, resulting in the Battle of Kursk. Bagration was a Soviet offensive, which regained almost all of its lost ground.

Answer: Bomber Harris

Arthur Harris, the supremo of Britain's Bomber Command (from 27 February 1942), believed that Germany could be bombed into submission. His numerous operations culminated in the horrific massacre at Dresden, leaving him quite unpopular with other British leaders.

Answer: Bretagne

The Bretagne was a French battleship. After the fall of France, the British were afraid that the French fleet would fall into German hands. After an ultimatum expired, the combined guns of three British capital ships caused the Bretagne to explode and sink with massive loss of life.

Answer: Brazil

Although some naval battles took place in South American waters, there was no land fighting in Brazil. Burma was the site of an embarrassing British defeat, while Belgium was the site of the invasion of France as well as the Ardennes counterattack. Bataan was the famous last stand of the American-Filipino forces in World War 2.

Answer: Chambois

Chambois was the town that closed the encirclement of the German troops trapped in the Falaise Gap. Successful Allied operations there and in the rest of the Falaise area caused the surrender of a large portion of German troops.

Answer: Curtis

Curtis LeMay was one of the leaders of the American Aviation programs, and he was responsible for the successes of the day-bombing strategy in Europe and the extensive bombing campaign in Japan.

Answer: Barton, Raymond O. & Theodore Roosevelt , Jr.

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was the eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt and was aged 57 at the time.

Answer: Curtiss

Curtiss-Wright is possibly the oldest aircraft company in the world, as it dates back the the Wright brother's first flight. They manufactured the C-46 Commando, which was used in the early American war. The P-40 fighters were successfully and widely used, most notably by the Flying Tiger unit, until it was outdated by more advanced fighters. The Helldiver was a successful dive bomber.

Answer: Dieppe

At Dieppe, a medium-sized commando and experienced force landed in a raid, with its purpose not fully clear. The German defensive force annihilated and pinned down most of the force, and took the rest prisoner. Although it was a disaster, it gave valuable insight to amphibious landings which were later used in D-day.

Answer: Defiant

The unusual design of the Defiant caused a lot of unforeseen bugs and problems, and it never achieved much success, although it was of limited use as a night fighter and night escort.

Answer: DD

Destroyer were medium-sized ships built in large numbers for screening and escort purposes. Fast and agile compared to their capital ship cousins, these ships did not pack much of a punch. With the advent of more powerful rockets, missiles, and shells, these ships now are the backbone of most navies.

Answer: Daladier

Edouard Daladier was French prime minister in 1933 and 1934, and again in 1938. He foresaw Hitler's empire, and was one of the few who saw through Hitler and acknowledged his insatiable ambitions. Even so, Daladier failed to prevent the Munich Agreement. Reluctantly going to war on September 4, 1939, he - like all of the French government - underestimated the German war machine.

He steadfastly refused to explore peace terms during the Phony War. He resigned after failing to help Finland in the Winter War.

At the time of the fall of France, he attempted to reach North Africa to continue the government. Instead, the Vichy regime arrested him and imprisoned him until after the war, where he lost to Charles de Gaulle.

Answer: Essex

First ordered in 1938, eventually 26 Essex class carriers found a place in World War 2. They formed the backbone of the U.S. carrier fleet, and had the distinction of never having had a ship of its class sunk in battle. Two Essex class carriers sustained substantial damage, yet still made it home of their own accord.

They were phased out when the much more advanced supercarriers entered service after the war.

Answer: Elefant

The Elefant, initially dubbed the Ferdinand, was another of Porsche's designs. It first saw action at the Battle of Kursk, where it was virtually destroyed by Soviet tank killers. The lack of a machine gun made it extremely vulnerable to anti-tank personnel, and the anti-armor performance caused only mediocre damage to the Soviet columns. Sad thing is that Hitler had delayed the entire operation to wait for the 90 Elefants to arrive.

The Elefants were fitted with machine-guns and used as stop-gaps for the rest of the war.

Answer: Eben Emael

The Belgian fort of Eben Emael controlled four important bridges. An assault by 500 paratrooper-engineers took the fort successfully. A glider landing on the fort roof secured the fort itself, and only one bridge was successfully blown up by the defenders. Ironically, the bridge severed the fort's only lifeline to reinforcements.

Answer: Egypt

El Alamein was hemmed by the Mediterranean to the north, and the Qattara Depression to the south. The natural chokepoint served Wavell as the ideal location to mount a defense, then, his replacement Montgomery to force a counterattack. At the resulting battle, Afrika-Korps' momentum was shattered and they never reversed the advance.