More World War II Equipment - What am I? Quiz

Answer: Messerschmitt Me 110

Originally classified as a twin-engined 'heavy fighter'. The Me 110 was fast for it's time with a straight line speed of 350 mph and well armed with with two MG FF 20 mm cannon, four 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns situated in the nose and a single 7.92 mm MG 15 machine gun for rearward defence.

The Battle of Britain highlighted my lack of genuine maneuverability as a fighter and suffered heavily. The Me 110 was withdrawn from front line service and redeployed to become a night-fighter - a role to which my variant aircraft became very well suited.

All of the other aircraft are twin engine German bombers all of which were operational in 1940.

Answer: PzKpfw IV

I can only really be the Panzerkampfwagen IV (Panzer IV) - a medium tank weighing initially weighing in at 28 tons.

The Panzer IV saw action in both Western and Eastern Europe and was the only German Tank to stay in production throughout the war. With just over 8,500 built there were multiple modifications throughout its lifetime all of which were intended to counter new advances and extend its operational service life. These enhancements included increasing the the armour protection and upgrading its main gun.

Early models at the beginning of the war had a 37 mm gun but this was upgraded to a long 75 mm/48 gun. The addition of armour skirts also increased the tanks combat effectiveness and its ability to survive against infantry antitank weapons.

The Panzer II was an early German tank that was reduced to a training role and armoured support vehicles such as the Self Propelled Artillery - Wespe which housed a 105mm gun. The Panzer III chassis did continue to be used for tank production until 1943 when it was switched to the focus on the manufacture of the self-propelled artillery (Sturmgeschütz III). The Panzer V (Panther) didn't appear until early 1943 and was initially deployed at the Battle of Kursk in mid-1943.

Answer: Bren light machine gun

The Bren entered service in the 1930s and was the standard British light machine guns (LMG) at the time of the second world war. It used a gas-operated mechanism which enabled it to enjoy a modest rate of fire of 480-540 rounds per minute (rpm) depending on the variant.

It used the .303 ammunition as the standard issue Lee-Enfield rifle allowing for easier logistics and used a curved magazine holding 32 rounds of ammunition. In the right hands, the Bren was highly accurate and could lay down fire to an effective range of 800+ metres.

Answer: 88mm

I became known as the 'dreaded 88'. The 88mm Flak gun was originally designed as an anti-aircraft gun but became a very effective weapon used in the anti-tank gun role.

It was widely used by German forces and was one of the most recognised and feared anti-tank weapon of the war, due in main to the power of the gun and the shell's flat trajectory which gave no warning of an incoming round.

Development of the original model (8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41) led to a wide variety of guns but over 21,000 were produced throughout the war. It was also the primary weapon used in the Heavy Tanks such as the Tiger and Tiger II.

Answer: North American P51 Mustang

The Mustang design originally used an American built Allison engine which severely limited the high-altitude performance of the aircraft. The Mk I was flown by the RAF in a tactical-reconnaissance and fighter-bomber role. The replacement of the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine proved to be a key turning point and resulted in the Mk III model (P-51C) and dramatically improved the performance of the aircraft, especially at higher altitudes without impacting the aircraft's excellent range. This enabled the Mustang to compete with the Luftwaffe's FW-190 and later variant Me-109 fighters on a level playing field as it was fast (440 mph), highly manoeuvrable and enjoyed a truly impressive operational range of between 750 - 1,400 miles depending on whether drop tanks were used.

The best known version of the Mustang was the P-51D. Again powered by a Merlin Engine built under licence from Packard, it was armed with six .50 Browning machine guns.

Mustang pilots of both the USAAF and RAF claimed nearly 5,000 enemy aircraft shot down and its range enabled it to be used as a genuine bomber escort fighter which could protect the Bombers on raids deep into German occupied Europe.

It grew to become one of the best fighters of the war much loved by all who flew them.

Answer: V2 Rocket

The V2 or Aggregat 4 (A4) to give the weapon its full technical name can be classified as the first ballistic missile to be used operationally. The first V2 was launched at London in early September 1944. Developed at the secret Nazi research establishment in Peenemünde situated on the Baltic coast. It was responsible for 2,754 civilians deaths in London with another 6,523 injured.

The V1 was the infamous flying bomb (and could be claimed as the first long range cruise missile used operationally) and the V3 was a long distance cannon developed by the Germans to shell London, but the Allies overran the launch facilities in 1944 before it could be used. The V4 Renegade is a figment of my own imagination.

Answer: M4 Sherman

The M4 Sherman, officially classified as a Medium Tank with a weight of c33 tons, it became the mainstay tank in use by the Allied forces from 1942 onwards. The M4 Sherman was straightforward to manufacture and was exceptionally reliable and easy to maintain.

It also was very popular with the crews and was made in very large numbers. It equipped the US and Western Allies and delivered sterling service. The M4A3E8, Nicknamed as the "Easy-Eight" or "E8", was the one of the later variants used in late 1944-45 and provided a better armour and an improved 76mm main tank gun which delivered better accuracy and rate of fire.

Answer: Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor

The 'Condor' was best known for its long range maritime reconnaissance role during the Battle of the Atlantic. With the fall of France in 1940, it was flown from airfields near Bordeaux where its 2,200 mile (3,560 Km) range allowed it to locate, shadow and report Allied Convoys activity which enabled the coordination of U-Boat Wolf Pack attacks. The eventual use of escort carriers to accompany the convoys proved the perfect counter measure against the Condor threat.

The Me323 was a gigantic but very vulnerable transport aircraft designed and built for the Luftwaffe. The BV 222 Wiking was a massive multi-engined flying boat and was the largest aircraft in use throughout the whole war. The Fokker FVIII was the German tri-engined transport aircraft operated throughout the war by the Luftwaffe.

Answer: Airspeed AS.51 Horsa

With over 3,600 built, the Horsa became the mainstay troop-carrying glider in use with British and Commonwealth Forces during World War II. The Glider Pilot Regiment was a highly trained army unit responsible for flying the British Army's gliders into action.

The Horsa was the glider used to such great effect in the capture of Pegasus Bridge with such accuracy in the early morning of 6th June 1944 where six gliders carried the troops that took the two vitally important bridges over the Orne.

The Waco and Hamilcar are much larger heavy gliders also used by the British and American Airborne forces. The Gotha Go 242 was a German designed glider that saw limited action during the War.

Answer: 'Stringbag'

The Swordfish, known affectionately as the 'Stringbag', was an open cockpit biplane design as a torpedo bomber for the British Fleet Air Arm. It was slow with a top speed of only 140 mph (92 mph with a torpedo loaded) but had a useful range of 522 miles. A fully enclosed cockpit was introduced on later versions of the aircraft.

Despite its poor performance, the 'Stringbag' achieved some truly spectacular successes during the war. Notable highlights included sinking one battleship and damaging two others during the night attack against the Italian Fleet laying at anchor at Taranto, as well as its critical role in the eventual destruction of the German Battleship - the Bismarck. The attack at Taranto was watched with great interest by the Imperial Japanese Navy who just over a year later, performed a similar surprise attack against the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour.

By the end of the war, the Swordfish was responsible for causing the destruction of the largest overall tonnage of Axis shipping than any other aircraft. A truly remarkable record for any aircraft - The 'Stringbag' remained in service until the end of the war and was even armed with high velocity 5" rockets as part of its armoury.