WWII Forums Quiz Part V

I think it was 'Bock's Car' and the original target ( obscured by cloud on the day ) was Kokura.

 

Right on target. Over to you.

 

Thanks, Hamburg !

Here's a nice easy one : in November 1940 during combat over the English Channel a very famous German ace was shot down and killed by an RAF ace who was heard to shout over his radio : 'Whoopee - I've got one !' moments before he, too, was shot down and killed by the German aces wingman ( himself an ace ! ). The RAF ace in question was closely related to another RAF ace.

Name all four 'aces' mentioned in this posting !

 

A little research on the internet gave me this names:
Major Helmuth Wick was shot down by
Flight Lieutenant John Dundas, who was shot down by Wick's wingman Hauptmann “Rudi” Pflanz.
Group Captain Hugh Dundas, who flew with Bader, was his brother.

 

Well done, hamburg - you got all four !

Back to you.....

 

Ok, an easy one. Churchill IV NA75 - who was the main man behind this conversion, what was the main change and what designation NA stands for?

 

Good question ! The man involved was Captain P H Morrell who was responsible for scrapping large numbers of Allied tanks at the end of the North African campaign.

It had been realised that the 6pr gun mounted in the Churchill was fairly feeble - Morrell came up with the idea of up-gunning the Churchill by using the M3 75mm gun from wrecked Shermans.

He replaced a Churchill's 6pr with a Sherman mantlet/gun assembly ; turning the mounting through 180 degrees and placing the breach the opposite way to the Sherman fitting. An additional enhancement was the elimination of a notorious Churchill 'shell-trap' by using the Sherman mantlet.

The experiment was so successful that Morrell's sceptical superiors were convinced : some 200 tanks were modified, mainly being used in the Italian theatre.

Now, as to the 'NA' prefix - I can't find the explanation in any of my books. I'll guess at 'North American'....?

 

I think the NA stands for 'North Africa' Martin.

 

Ahh - well, if hamburg agrees, then yours is the next question, RB !

 

Fire away, RB.

 

Which German unit was selected to carry out the the first full combat trials of the MP43, the results of which lead Hitler to revisie his opinion of the weapon?

 

Was it the 93rd Infantry Division on the eastern front?

 

Nope.

 

SS-Division 'Wiking' ?

 

Correct Martin!

Over to you.

 

This is perhaps not an easy one.

Everyone knows the Dam Busters. When originally planned, the Air Staff intended that two other targets would be bombed simultaneously with the Ruhr Dams, using weapons designed by Barnes Wallis.

What were the two other targets, which in the event, these particular weapons of Wallis never were used against ?

 

Interesting...

Im gonna go with a complete stab in the dark with something lurking in the back of my head...

I think they suggested using the bombs against U-Boat pens, locks and various other powerstations and infrastructure and even the Japanese navy but...

For some reason I think the other two proposed targets were the Graf Zeppelin and the Tirpitz?

Although it may have also been the Italian capital ships...

 

HeHeHe - that's such a good try, RB, that I'll give it to you !

The three initial targets - all to be attacked at the same time - were the Dams, Tirpitz and the Italian Fleet at Taranto, the last two to be hit with Highball-carrying Mosquitoes.

( Sigh ) - never worked out......

 

Right...

What vehicle was often referred to as 'The Bitch' by its crews?

 

So how about a hint or something.