The World War 2 Obscure Trivia Thread

And on which island was the U.S. air base?

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You sneaky so and so! My next guess was going to be a picture of a modern kit plane with an Instagram filter.

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LOL. I was adamant it was a floatplane. I went through every Schneider Cup entry, and prototype aircraft made in Germany 1925-1938.

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As opposed to posting another attempt at a question (you all dodged one regarding the Battle of Brisbane), it occurred to me, that those of you that are not aware of Listy, aka Dave Lister (no, not that one), should check him out; he has a blog which is updated weekly, where he has articles on the most curious and obscure moments in military history, strange vehicles, and gobsmacking incidents of military ineptitude. Recommended.

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I actually posted the same riddle on a different forum (polish) and they actually managed to crack it. Although to be fair, it took them 3 months.

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I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that film at some point. I guess that’s why something was stirring in the murky recesses of my brain.

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Who was William Martin, and what part did he play in WW2?

I just watched this, so… snap?

Apparently, the idea for Operation Mincemeat was thought up by Ian Fleming. I just love that the idea of was just one of fifty one, that he jotted down on a list of potential operations for the nascent SOE. What were the other fifty? (I’ve no idea)

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Well that was clearly far too easy.

So what’s going on here then?

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It looks like Hurricane FH. 40

I remember reading about the slip-wing Hurricane/FH.40 in my dad’s old Battler Britain comic book.

A couple of comments on the above.

Clarification, in case people get confused. The quote is commonly attributed to him, but there is no evidence he ever said it. (Even if it did reflect his opinion)

I have been looking long and hard, and have enlisted the help of a number of fairly unimpeachable sources. Nobody has as yet been able to provide a primary source for “Wolverine” as a name for the vehicle. It fits with no naming convention except the Canadian, and the Canadians are telling me that they didn’t name it that; they called it the same thing the British did, mainly “M10”

To be clear, the figure is “Armored Force Personnel”. They may or may not have been in Shermans, and Sherman crewmen who were not Armored Force (Notably officers), are not in the figure either.
Bottom line, though, the figure is very, very small.

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Wow, I see the Chieftain himself graced us with his presence. Are you getting involved in creating the TimeGhost series about world war 2?

Ok, guys this time a have an easy question for you. Originally I wanted to ask you how Nicolaus Copernicus contributed to defeating Germans on the Eastern front but I decided it would be too hard.

So, now the question is: What’s the first tank in the world that was equipped with periscope allowing 360-degree view for the commander?

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I’ll admit, I don’t remember which tank, but I know the inventor was Polish.

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Yep, that is correct.

@Veles are you going to tell us what Copernicus did that helped the Germans lose four hundred years later?

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Right away, I have to warn you however that just like with my previous question involving a plane it’s in some way a joke on my part, so don’t be disappointed if it will turn out to be less interesting than you expected.

The whole story starts in February 1942 with an action of so-called “minor sabotage” carried out by Maciej Aleksy Dawidowski, a member of the Polish resistance, at the monument of Copernicus in Warsaw. You see, when Germans took the city they changed the original Polish inscription to the German one. The inscription on the new plate was “Dem grossen Astronomen”. It was meant to suggest “German-only” ancestry of Nikolaus.

Originally, when approaching the statue, Maciej Dawidowski wanted only to check if the screws holding a new plate are easy to remove. When it turned out that indeed they are easy to remove, he spontaneously decided to carry out the sabotage right away and removed the plate with German inscription.

This completely outraged the governor of Warsaw district Ludwig Fisher. He ordered the distribution of posters around entire city. The posters were saying:
Recently, some criminals removed the plate from the monument of Nikolaus Copernicus. In retaliation, I administer removing the monument of Jan Kiliński. Signed, Dr. Fisher

The order was fulfilled and monument of Jan Kiliński was removed from the city. Yet Maciej Dawidowski managed to locate it in cellars of National Museum. In order to bust the morale of citizens of Warsaw, Maciej wrote on the museum’s walls: “People of Warsaw, I am here, Jan Kiliński”.

Soon after, a number of posters appeared on the walls of Warsaw’s buildings, posters very similar to Fisher’s with a changed text:

Recently, some criminals removed the monument of Jan Kiliński. In retaliation, I administer a six-week prolongation of the winter on the Eastern Front. Signed, Nicolaus Copernicus.

The funniest part is that winter of 1942-43 was indeed longer than usual. :rofl:

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That is incredible! Can this be mentioned in a regular episode when the show finally gets to something relating to this?

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I’m really glad you liked it!

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Not the least boring! Loved the story, didn’t know any of it before. WW2 trivia at its best.

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