WWII Trivia Challenge

May 19, 2005 -- Not a day passes without a reminder that our country is at war. It is so much a part of our lives that we sometimes forget to recognize the bravery of our unforgettable veterans of all wars. Tom Fulks, WWII scholar and author says, "War is always with us, whether we are fighting among ourselves or waging a war across the sea. History is a key to learning from the past and applying it to the future." So to that end Tom has created a trivia quiz for the historically challenged. The intriguing answers appear below.

1. What country did Germany invade on September 1, 1939, with rapid Blitzkrieg onslaught, drawing the Britain and France Allied forces into the start of World War II

2. Japan attacked the US base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, "a day that will live in infamy" according to President Roosevelt, in what year

3. By May 26, 1940, the advancing Germans had cornered British and French forces in a narrow beachhead in northern France. What was the name of this memorable beachhead from which the allied soldiers were miraculously evacuated in only a few days

4. Prime Minister Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill supervised every aspect of the British war effort while providing inspirational leadership to his people. What nationality was Churchill's mother

5. What were the names of the women's corps for each branch of the service in World War II

6. Who was Japan's chief warlord whose name was as infamous to Americans as Hitler

7. What eminent scientist wrote the letter that informed President Roosevelt of the possibilities of atomic power and persuaded him to initiate the secret development of the Atomic Bomb

8. In which German city were the top Nazi war criminals tried for crimes against humanity following the war in Europe

9. Which nation developed and deployed the V-1 and V-2 rocket weapons

10. Why was NATO formed

These questions and answers are taken from the compelling new book Under Wraps: one soldier's hidden diary of WWII by Jay Coffman with Tom Fulks. The book features the wartime diary of the late Jay Coffman in which he recorded his fascinating experiences and thoughts about war and combat, family and home, serving with his hometown buddies, tropical island cultures, and his long-distance romance with the "girl back home." Tom Fulks wrote the Introduction, Epilog, and history notes to provide clarity and perspective to the diary. Coffman's diary is as touching as Fulks's notes are informative. Answers to the above questions are as follow:

Answers to the above questions are as follow:

1. Poland. Soviet Russia, during a brief alliance with Hitler, also attacked Poland and divided it with Germany.

2. 1941. The attack crippled America's Pacific Fleet. Some 2,400 Americans were killed and another 1,180 wounded in the attack, while 18 ships were disabled and 188 aircraft were destroyed. The United States declared war on Japan the next day, and then Hitler declared war on the United States three days later.

3. Dunkirk (Dunkerque). Naval vessels and small civilian watercraft of all kinds evacuated more than 330,000 Allied soldiers under constant German attack, crossing the Strait of Dover to safety in England.

4. Churchill's mother had been born to privilege as an American citizen. Churchill himself was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in the same year. In 1963 the U.S. Congress made him an honorary citizen of the United States.

5. WAAC: Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (Army including the Air Force), in 1943 changed to the WAC when it was accepted as part of the Army and not just an auxiliary; WAVES: Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (Navy and Marines); and SPARS: Semper Paratus-always ready, the Coast Guard motto. Some 350,000 women served in these armed forces during WWII. In the homeland, millions of civilian women took jobs traditionally held by men, each of whom "freed up a man to serve in the military."

6. "Tojo" was General Hideki Tojo, Japan's Prime Minister and Minister of War. Like Admiral Yamamoto, Tojo was reluctant to start a war with America and her Allies, but succumbed to the will of the majority of Japanese warlords to attack Pearl Harbor. Tojo was a fierce leader who, in the six months following Pearl Harbor, overran more territory than any conqueror since Napoleon.

7. Albert Einstein, at the urging of fellow scientists. The bomb was successfully tested in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, just as the Allies were preparing to end the war with a massive invasion of Japan. The Japanese people were getting prepared to defend their homeland to the death, and the invasion of Japan would have resulted in extremely heavy losses on both sides. President Truman's bold decision to use the atomic bomb made the invasion of Japan unnecessary.

8. Nuremberg, starting on November 20, 1945, and culminating on September 30, 1946, when twelve Nazis were sentenced to death, six were sentenced to life imprisonment, and three were acquitted. Other war crimes trials of lesser Nazis and their supporters resulted in the conviction of some 20,000, while another 20,000 Nazi party members escaped prosecution by fleeing Germany, although some of them were eventually discovered, exposed, and tried.

9. In Germany, scientists developed Vergeltungswaffe vengeance weapons. Some 10,000 V-1s and nearly 1,000 of the more accurate V-2s landed in England, killing some 8,500 people and injuring nearly 50,000 more and destroying many buildings and properties. It is ironic that these scientists learned about rocket design from American Robert Goddard's patents readily available from the US Patent Office.

10. With the start of the "Cold War", in April 1949, Canada, the United States, and the free nations of Western Europe signed the North Atlantic Treaty, establishing NATO as the free world's combined military forces to defend against the Soviet Communists.

How many did you answer correctly If you answered all 10 correctly, you are a true historian. If you got 8 or 9 right, you are a WWII expert. If you answered 5 to 7 correctly, then you have better than average knowledge of WWII. If you got more than 5 wrong, then you need to read Under Wraps and learn about that awesome era in American and world history.

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