(no subject)
Jan. 31st, 2003 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petermarcusI'm in the middle of another WWII history book (Citizen Soldiers, by Stephen Ambrose). I'm soaking it up, it's really an interesting book.
Here's some WWII facts, if you want to play along at home. I probably wouldn't have been in the ballpark of any of these after college, it's only after reading similar books in the last 5 or 10 years that I think I'm really starting to understand this war, how it was really fought.
WWII Quiz (European Theater):
1) The invasion of Normandy on D-Day actually took place simultaneously on five separate beaches: The US at Utah and Omaha beaches, the British at Gold and Sword beaches, and the Canadians at Juno beach. Omaha beach had the highest Allied casualties at 2000. The second highest Allied casualties, 1200, were at which beach?
a) US - Utah
b) UK - Gold
c) UK - Sword
d) Canada - Juno
2) The armies of most nations in WWII had the equivalent of the American 4-star general. For other countries, the next highest rank was a marshal, such as a field marshal or reichsmarschall. Why did the US use 5-star generals instead of marshals?
a) The Army Chief of Staff thought the name "marshal" would be silly
b) 5-stars were seen as more democratic, as opposed to the aristocratic-sounding "marshal"
c) The rank of "marshal" was constitutionally prohibited due to an incident during the Revolutionary War
d) 5-stars would seem to elevate American military leaders above the ranks of their European counterparts
3) In 1944, the US had around 8 million active men in the armed forces. How many military casualties did Russia suffer throughout WWII?
a) 1 million
b) 5 million
c) 10 million
d) 20 million
4) The B-24 Liberator was a US plane with a long range, ten guns, and could carry more than four tons of bombs, yet was universally considered the hardest plane to fly in the entire war. The plane flew ten men and needed a ground crew of seven. The pilot of the plane commanded and was often 21 years old. After a tour of duty of 25 missions (later extended to 35 missions) a crew could be discharged and go home. How many missions did the average B-24 crew survive?
a) 7.5 missions
b) 14.5 missions
c) 20.5 missions
d) 25 missions
1) D -- The Canadians lost 1200 at Juno beach, yet overcame this to penetrate the deepest. By nightfall, the Canadians held territory 11 km into France. Utah had 200 casualties, Gold had 400, Sword had 650.
2) A -- The Army Chief of Staff at the time was George C. Marshall. When the rank was proposed, during the international cooperation for planning D-Day, Marshall exclaimed, "I'll be damned if I'll be called Marshal Marshall!"
3) C -- Exact records are sketchy due to the Iron Curtain falling during and after the war, but the best estimates are that the Russians lost around 10 million men. Much of this was due to incompetent leadership. Stalin had killed most of the upper officers in the military when he came to power before WWII, because he feared a coup, thus the entire army was amateur-led and untrained against highly trained Germans. Other military casualties: US 295,000; UK 326,000; Canada 39,000; Germany 3,000,000; France 340,000; Italy 330,000; Japan 1,500,000; Civilians of all nations...more than 20,000,000. Many European figures, military and civilian, are also tough to reconcile due to conscription and desertion.
4) B -- The average B-24 crew survived 14.5 missions, which means not many crews made it to their 25 (or 35). Statistically, a crew had a 97% survival rate per mission, which sounds good, but mission after mission after mission...the dice eventually roll the wrong way. These are broad statistics and some missions were much more dangerous than other missions; during the initial runs against German industrial factories, 25% of B-24 crews were lost. Also, individual crew members were often shot through the walls of the plane while the rest of the crew were unharmed.
Here's some WWII facts, if you want to play along at home. I probably wouldn't have been in the ballpark of any of these after college, it's only after reading similar books in the last 5 or 10 years that I think I'm really starting to understand this war, how it was really fought.
WWII Quiz (European Theater):
1) The invasion of Normandy on D-Day actually took place simultaneously on five separate beaches: The US at Utah and Omaha beaches, the British at Gold and Sword beaches, and the Canadians at Juno beach. Omaha beach had the highest Allied casualties at 2000. The second highest Allied casualties, 1200, were at which beach?
a) US - Utah
b) UK - Gold
c) UK - Sword
d) Canada - Juno
2) The armies of most nations in WWII had the equivalent of the American 4-star general. For other countries, the next highest rank was a marshal, such as a field marshal or reichsmarschall. Why did the US use 5-star generals instead of marshals?
a) The Army Chief of Staff thought the name "marshal" would be silly
b) 5-stars were seen as more democratic, as opposed to the aristocratic-sounding "marshal"
c) The rank of "marshal" was constitutionally prohibited due to an incident during the Revolutionary War
d) 5-stars would seem to elevate American military leaders above the ranks of their European counterparts
3) In 1944, the US had around 8 million active men in the armed forces. How many military casualties did Russia suffer throughout WWII?
a) 1 million
b) 5 million
c) 10 million
d) 20 million
4) The B-24 Liberator was a US plane with a long range, ten guns, and could carry more than four tons of bombs, yet was universally considered the hardest plane to fly in the entire war. The plane flew ten men and needed a ground crew of seven. The pilot of the plane commanded and was often 21 years old. After a tour of duty of 25 missions (later extended to 35 missions) a crew could be discharged and go home. How many missions did the average B-24 crew survive?
a) 7.5 missions
b) 14.5 missions
c) 20.5 missions
d) 25 missions
1) D -- The Canadians lost 1200 at Juno beach, yet overcame this to penetrate the deepest. By nightfall, the Canadians held territory 11 km into France. Utah had 200 casualties, Gold had 400, Sword had 650.
2) A -- The Army Chief of Staff at the time was George C. Marshall. When the rank was proposed, during the international cooperation for planning D-Day, Marshall exclaimed, "I'll be damned if I'll be called Marshal Marshall!"
3) C -- Exact records are sketchy due to the Iron Curtain falling during and after the war, but the best estimates are that the Russians lost around 10 million men. Much of this was due to incompetent leadership. Stalin had killed most of the upper officers in the military when he came to power before WWII, because he feared a coup, thus the entire army was amateur-led and untrained against highly trained Germans. Other military casualties: US 295,000; UK 326,000; Canada 39,000; Germany 3,000,000; France 340,000; Italy 330,000; Japan 1,500,000; Civilians of all nations...more than 20,000,000. Many European figures, military and civilian, are also tough to reconcile due to conscription and desertion.
4) B -- The average B-24 crew survived 14.5 missions, which means not many crews made it to their 25 (or 35). Statistically, a crew had a 97% survival rate per mission, which sounds good, but mission after mission after mission...the dice eventually roll the wrong way. These are broad statistics and some missions were much more dangerous than other missions; during the initial runs against German industrial factories, 25% of B-24 crews were lost. Also, individual crew members were often shot through the walls of the plane while the rest of the crew were unharmed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 07:15 pm (UTC)Just wondering. A couple of LJ friends discussed Holland's invasion, and an American authored book cited a totally different perspective/view, than the book authored by the Holland author.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 07:23 pm (UTC)I like Ambrose's WWII histories a lot because these focus on the Sgts, Lts, and Captains. A lot of other histories focus on Eisenhower and Churchill and Hitler and Goering -- very interesting, but very high level. Ambrose's are compiled from the letters and verbal histories of the lower-ranked commanders, reconciled with historical campaigns. I think they're just fascinating, learning history from the point of view of the people who were fighting, not directing.