WW2 Quiz

This thread was inspired by this:

GrandEmpire wrote:

Yeah i know that, but it was A bombing. Also do you reckon you know more than me about WWII K.Rokovvski? My nickname is WWII Expert no joke

The rules:

1) NO GOOGLING or other internet use (or even old-fashioned paper books, for that matter), the answers must come from the top of your head!! Of course this cannot be enforced, so I'll have to rely on y'all's warrior's honor. Don't let me down guys, play fair! There's no prizes or anything, so why cheat?

2) If you want to participate, send me a private message with your answers. Do NOT post them in this thread, as it might ruin the fun for anyone else! A bit of light banter in the thread is fine of course, just don't give answers or clues to answers.

3) After a week or so I will publish the correct answers, and the scores of the participants... and we'll see if @'GrandEmpire is REALLY the expert among us!

4) Have fun, this is nothing serious, just a nice sideline!

The questions:

1) Apart from the 6th Army, a big chunk of another German army was encircled at Stalingrad in the winter of 1942-1943. Which one was it, and who was the commander?

2) When the city of Tobruk in Lybia was sieged in 1941, what was the predominant nationality of the defenders of the city?

3) During the chase of the German battleship "Bismarck" across the Atlantic, a relatively small air strike caused damage to the Bismarck that would leave her with no chance to evade the British pursuers. What was damaged, and how did it affect her?

4) What was the calibre of the main gun of the following tanks:

Germany: PzKfw V "Panther"

Germany: PzKfw VI "Tiger"

US: M4 Sherman (two correct answers)

USSR: T-34 (two correct answers)

GB: Matilda II (since this gun is British, it is usually published by shell weight, i.e. "99 pounder", I'll consider that answer correct as well)

bonus points for the next two, I had to look these up myself:

Italy: M13/40

Japan: Type 97 "Chi-Ha"

5) Prior to the gas chambers in the concentration camps, the Nazi's used a different way of killing jews with poisonous gas. Which was it?

6) During most of the war, the allies had a method of decrypting the German "Enigma" encoding machine, which allowed them to read many important German messages. What was the name of the lead scientist of the decryption project, and what was the name of the location where the decryption team was housed?

7) In december 1941, two British capital ships were sunk by Japanese aeroplanes off the coast of Malaya. What were the names of these ships?

In 1942, a high-ranking SS-member, by many considered to be the second SS'er after Himmler, was assasinated by Czech resistance fighters in Prague. What was his name? And what was the name of the town that was razed by the Germans as a revenge?

9) The Junkers Ju-52 was the main transport aircraft of the Luftwaffe throughout the war. What was her nickname in the German army?

10) What was the crew size of a US B-17 "Flying Fortress" heavy bomber?

11) The Soviet air force built over 36,000 units of an effective tactical ground attack plane. What was its name?

12) In the summer of 1944, the Soviet army launched a major offensive, leading to the (re-)conquest of large areas in Belorus, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland, bringing them to the gates of Warsaw. What was the code name of the operation?

13) In the final stage of the war in 1945, the below allied armies were active on the Western front:

Canadian 1st

British 2nd

US 1st

US 9th

US 3rd

US 7th

French 1st

Name their commanders.

14) In which war year did the the German submarines sink the largest tonnage of Allied shipping?

15) In 1942, the British RAF managed to get a concentrated force of over 1,000 bombers together for an attack on Germany for the first time. Which city was the target?

16) After conquering half of Poland in 1939, the Soviet NKVD (secret police) executed over 20,000 Polish officers and civil leaders who they had captured. What was the name of the nearby village where the executions took place?

17) What was the name of the B-29 bomber that dropped the first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima?

1 In 1938, a conference was held in Munich between French, British, and German leaders to attempt to maintain peace. What was the main subject of the conference, and what were the names of the main participants on the three sides?

19) In June 1942, a major naval battle took place near a small island in the Pacific. It was a major American victory, as four of the crucial Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk, and is generally considered to be the turning point in the Pacific war. What was the name of the island?

20) The D-day landings of June 6th 1944 were conducted on five separate beaches. What were the code names of these beaches?