OT - WWII quiz

[Neilster]

ORIGINAL: mlees

My Apologies. I did not know there was an agreement not to look stuff up on the net. (I didn't start reading the thread until about a page ago.)

There is another web forum that I participate in that expects "cites" to back up assurtions, so now I link to reference sources out of habit.

It's all cool man. It was just a set-up for my "total war" joke, it being a quiz about WW2 and all.

Cheers, Neilster

[paulderynck]

Question: What was the name of the city named Stalingrad in WWII, before it was named Stalingrad?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

Question: What was the name of the city named Stalingrad in WWII, before it was named Stalingrad?

Warspite1

Tsaritsyn - why did Stalin change that name I wonder?

[Norman42]

Because Tsaritsyn was a Czarist name from the previous regime...and Stalin like to name cities after himself; I think there were no less then 300 cities/towns with Stalin in the name.

[IrishGuards]

Volgagrad ..??
IG

[brian brian]

'Volgagrad' came along in the 50s after Stalin was discredited, I believe.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Norman42

Because Tsaritsyn was a Czarist name from the previous regime...and Stalin like to name cities after himself; I think there were no less then 300 cities/towns with Stalin in the name.

Warspite1

Sorry Norman - that was a rhetorical question...

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: IrishGuards

Volgagrad ..??
IG

Warspite1

No Tsaritsyn

[paulderynck]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: IrishGuards

Volgagrad ..??
IG

Warspite1

No Tsaritsyn

Yup.

[morgil]

Ill throw in a few quick Q's of me own..these might be a bit harder for you guys [:)]

1. Where did Bush Sr. serve during WWII ? And as what ?
2. Who were the Nightwitches ?
3. Who sank the Bismarck ?
4. Whats the real name of Tankograd ?
5. Laconia Order. Who, why and what ?
6. Swastikas. First two countries involved in WWII to use them as unit markers ?
7. First major German loss ?
8. Where did Sven Hassel serve ? Who else did, according to him, survive from that unit ? Whats funny about it ?
9. What was the last country to join the Axis ?
10. Who did former SS Wiking members try to get removed from theire roll of veterans ? Why ?
11. What was the biggest difference between 11th and 3rd SS Divisions ?

Enjoy [8D]
And remember no looking it up [:-]

[paulderynck]

1. He was a carrier pilot in the Pacific. He was shot down near one of the islands close to Iwo Jima and was the only one of the crew of three to survive.
3. My first guess on the Brit ships was wrong, although it is claimed by some that the Germans finally scuttled it themselves.
6. The Germans and the U.S. (U.S. 45th Inf Div - I think this one is already referred to above somewhere.)
9. Siam ?

[Frederyck]

ORIGINAL: morgil
6. Swastikas. First two countries involved in WWII to use them as unit markers ?

I'd wager it was Finland and Germany. The Finnish airforce was founded in 1919-something via an aircraft donation from the Swedish count Eric von Rosen, (friend of and semi-related to Göring btw). The aircraft was adorned with a blue on white swastika, a symbol which subsequently was used until 1944-something by the Finns on all (most?) their planes. You can even see those blue swastikas on some of the Finnish MWiF aircraft counters if you look close enough! [:)]

I seem to remember Lithuania using a swastika independently of Germany as well, but I don't know the details or if it was used on any units.

Edited for grammatical errors.

[Neilster]

ORIGINAL: morgil

Ill throw in a few quick Q's of me own..these might be a bit harder for you guys [:)]

1. Where did Bush Sr. serve during WWII ? And as what ?
2. Who were the Nightwitches ?
3. Who sank the Bismarck ?
4. Whats the real name of Tankograd ?
5. Laconia Order. Who, why and what ?
6. Swastikas. First two countries involved in WWII to use them as unit markers ?
7. First major German loss ?
8. Where did Sven Hassel serve ? Who else did, according to him, survive from that unit ? Whats funny about it ?
9. What was the last country to join the Axis ?
10. Who did former SS Wiking members try to get removed from theire roll of veterans ? Why ?
11. What was the biggest difference between 11th and 3rd SS Divisions ?

Enjoy [8D]
And remember no looking it up [:-]

2. Russian female pilots who bombed German positions at night, usually from slow flying aircraft and often with fragmentation bombs.
4. Chelabyansk (sorry about the spelling)
7. Graf Spee maybe.
8. I was under the impression that he only served with a Danish SS unit very close to the end of the war and that he picked up his "war experience" from other prisoners during a period of captivity.
9. Depending on how you define "join the Axis", I'd say either Finland or Japan.

Cheers, Neilster

Edit because I forgot to answer a couple.

[micheljq]

7. First major German loss ?

I try Crete. The germans did a major airborne operation to take the island in 1941 I think. They took it but with heavy losses. After Crete, they never attempted another major airborne assault again.

[8|]

[brian brian]

I wouldn't be surprised if China used some swastikas as unit icons, since it was an ancient symbol in India, among other places. But I don't know if they ever did.

I thought it was torpedoes from the CA Dorsetshire that finally sank the Bismarck, or maybe from some destroyers, but that is a bit of an open question that I'm not sure even the Ballard expedition didn't answer definitively. I was intrigued by a story in a Len Deighton book I read recently ... during the shelling of the Bismarck by several BBs, the British decided to launch a further airstrike; when the Swordfish approached they were unable to get the Royal Navy surface units to cease firing long enough for a run in with torpedoes, and the King George V even threw a few AA shells their way to get them to back off. The surface commanders were determined to not be upstaged by mere airplanes.

The Battle of Britain was a pretty major German loss in some senses, Crete was more of a pyrhhic victory. Hitler thought losing Rostov was enough of a loss to fire von Rundstedt; that was roughly concurrent with Operation Crusader chasing Rommel back to his original start line in the desert, with the failure of Typhoon in front of Moscow also at that time.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: morgil

Ill throw in a few quick Q's of me own..these might be a bit harder for you guys [:)]

1. Where did Bush Sr. serve during WWII ? And as what ?
2. Who were the Nightwitches ?
3. Who sank the Bismarck ?
4. Whats the real name of Tankograd ?
5. Laconia Order. Who, why and what ?
6. Swastikas. First two countries involved in WWII to use them as unit markers ?
7. First major German loss ?
8. Where did Sven Hassel serve ? Who else did, according to him, survive from that unit ? Whats funny about it ?
9. What was the last country to join the Axis ?
10. Who did former SS Wiking members try to get removed from theire roll of veterans ? Why ?
11. What was the biggest difference between 11th and 3rd SS Divisions ?

Enjoy [8D]
And remember no looking it up [:-]

Warspite1

3. I don`t think anyone will ever know for certain. After the Rodney and KGV battered her effectively from point blank range and left her a burning hulk it was thought that it was the cruiser Dorsetshire that delivered the coup de grace with torpedoes. Another theory is that Bismarck was scuttled by her own crew.

[warspite1]

7. First major German loss ?

[/quote] Warspite1

I think that question may be a tad vague? Warship? Graf Spee - Battle? Narvik - what? [&:]

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: morgil
6. Swastikas. First two countries involved in WWII to use them as unit markers ?

Germany & Latvia, red one.
Finland too, blue one.
I believe that Latvia was involved in WWII before Finland, by the USSR take over. Unless the december 39 war between Finland & USSR counts as WWII.

[Froonp]

A Finnish Bulldog IIA

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: morgil
7. First major German loss ?

Barbarossa.
Going east made them loose the war.