WWII True/False Quiz

[H]

OK. Now I've read the rest of the post. Some of my 'facts' are a bit off and I still question a couple things. There's a question as to whether it was the P51 that actually was 1st to shoot down a 262 (even if the 1st fighter to do so). Papa9571 corrects my "Apache" naming; I think he's older than I and was probably there .
Oh, well, never said I knew everything, if much of anything.

[Hagar]

Actually Hagar you got it partially right.

The P-51 came into being when the British went to the US looking to buy P-40's in January 1940. The production lines were running full bore so the British couldn't get any. Instead they wer treated to a discussion fron North American who told them they could have a prototype ready in 120 days.

Two Mustang I aircraft were delivered with the Merlin engine. The british at the time however kept the Merlin for the Spit and others. It wasn't until they licensed the Merlin to the US, and Packard began building them, that the aircrafts true potential as a high altitude fighter became known.

I'm pretty sure of my facts on the history of the P-51. I have an issue of Aeroplane Monthly dedicated to it including articles by Lee Atwood who was the vice-president of North American Aviation at the time. No Mustang Is were delivered to the RAF with Merlin engines but two of the original Allison powered examples were delivered to the US Army for evaluation under the designation XP-51. This later became the A-36 Apache. It was Rolls-Royce chief test pilot Ronald Harker who suggested fitting a Merlin & the initial conversion & testing of five Mustang 1s was done in Britain. The first Merlin powered Mustang X (AL975) took to the air on October 12, 1942, piloted by Captain R. T. Shepherd & fitted with a Spitfire IX propeller. Meanwhile, North American had been informed of what was going on & started their own conversion programme with two repossesed Mustang 1As from the RAF contract & using imported Merlins. These were designated XP-51B & as manufacturers NA were responsible for the rest of the conversion work. At about the same time it was being arranged for Packard to build the Merlin under licence in the US. The rest, as they say, is history.

I think you will find most sources agree on this. I found this article that gives full details of the Merlin conversion, including the serial numbers of the converted aircraft. http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/p51_8.html

[Papa9571]

H..

I am not that old..I just read a lot

And Hagar.. This is what was sent to the RAF as Mustang I

NA-83 Mustang Mk I: second run (300) for RAF with minor changes
One aircraft later fitted with twelve-cylinder Vee liquid-cooled Merlin 61,
Two fitted with twelve-cylinder Vee liquid-cooled Merlin 65 as

[Hagar]

[quote]And Hagar.. This is what was sent to the RAF as Mustang I

NA-83 Mustang Mk I: second run (300) for RAF with minor changes
One aircraft later fitted with twelve-cylinder Vee liquid-cooled Merlin 61,
Two fitted with twelve-cylinder Vee liquid-cooled Merlin 65 as

[Papa9571]

On 9 December 1940 the British Purchasing Comission sent a letter to North American Aviation stating that the NA-73 airplanes have been given the official designation of "Mustang".


The US Army insisted on the name Apache for the A-36 version but it never stuck.

One other side note.

The P-51 first entered service in 1941 and the last were "retired" in 1984.

And we owe the British a big thank you for bringing the P-51 in being.

[dcunning30]

Actually that was the Balkans that Hitler had to get Musilini out of trouble. The same could be said for the early north African campaigns. The invasion of Crete was an entirely German affair.

LOL!!!  Looks like I got that wrong.

You forget that in the closing months of the war the Russians did attack.

I didn't forget that.  I just considered that as the Japanese phrase: The Russians were "the thief at the fire".  In Japan, most houses were made of wood and paper, so they were highly combustable.  So when a house catches fire, everyone appreciates the tragedy such an event is, and when someone come in and starts stealing things from the house when everyone else is trying to put the fire out, that thief is considered to be the lowest of the lows, and that's how the Japanese considered the Russians.  They were attepting to enlist the Russians to mediate for a peace at the end of the war, and the Russians were fully involved in the doublecross, therefore "the thief at the fire".

[WebbPA]

12) German Army Group A drove to seize Russian oil fields in the Crimea.

May I assume that this is the Army that was stopped at Stalingrad?

[Woodlouse2002]

May I assume that this is the Army that was stopped at Stalingrad?

That was the Sixth Army. Whether they were one and the same I cannot tell you.

[dcunning30]

May I assume that this is the Army that was stopped at Stalingrad?

I can't add much detail.  Out of disclosure, I just started a book on the battle of Kursk.  I'm sure I'll learn much more about Army Group A by the time I'm done.


http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jse ... 0Group%20A

[Woodlouse2002]

If the army group A you're referring to was involved in the battle of Kursk then it would not have consisted of the Sixth Army that had by that time already been defeated at Stalingrad.

That link you've provided has also confirmed my belief that calling an army group A/B etc was simpy a way of dividing your forces in a pincer movement such as the Blitzkrieg attacks on the low countries and Russia. Which means that the question referring to Army Group A could have been answered correctly in many very different ways.

[WebbPA]

I mistakenly thought that German eastern advances were concluded after Stalingrad.

Here is a great article on The Battle of Kursk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kursk

It is difficult to determine where the German advances took place without a map but I thought that the oil regions of the Cacausus were cut off after the defeat at Stalingrad.

[4_Series_Scania]

The Beaufighter was a long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design. Unlike the Beaufort, the Beaufighter had a long career and served in almost all theatres of war, first as a night fighter, then as a strike fighter, and eventually replaced the Beaufort as a torpedo bomber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Beaufighter

Most famous, imo, for its role as a night fighter, using very early radar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cunni ... _Air_Force)

Group Captain John "Cat's Eyes" Cunningham CBE, DSO and two Bars, DFC and Bar, (1917-July 2002), was an Officer in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Flying first Blenheims and then the powerful Bristol Beaufighter, by the end of the Blitz in May 1941 he had become the most famous night fighter pilot, successfully claiming 14 night raiders using AI (Airborne Interception - the aircraft version of what became later know as radar.)

No! I did'nt Google that!