weekly history question

Slamhammer · Post by **Slamhammer** » 23 Dec 2002, 08:40

Very well done Malin....great explanation...yes asked your three questions...

Malin · Post by **Malin** » 23 Dec 2002, 09:05

Goody, ok here goes:

1. What is unusual about Finalnds participation in the Second World War.

2. Which US Infantry Divisions insignia was the Swastika.

3. What are Reich Defense Markings and where would you find them.

Malin

Firemane · Post by **Firemane** » 23 Dec 2002, 09:43

Malin,

Nice research on the WWII victories. I wouldn't excatly agree on your statement that American pilots were withdrawn after 5 kills, as there were plenty of pilots with many more than 5 kills, some of which were shot down/captured with considerable tallies- Hub Zemke, Tommy McGuire, George Preddy, etc. They certainly got rotated out once they wer "heroes" but this is the first time I ever read mention of rotation after 5 kills.

Question 1- Finland fought in 2 wars during the approximate WW2 timeframe. The found the Winter War against the Russsions in 1939-40, then later joined with Germany to fight in the Continuation War of 1941-45. During the latter part of the seconsd war, some of the Finns were later "convinced" to join the Russion side in a co-belligerent force. The Finns got the most of the Brewster Buffalo than anyone ever did.

Question Three- weren't Reich Defense markings the white band(s) around the fuselage?

I get close on any?

Malin · Post by **Malin** » 23 Dec 2002, 09:57

Firemane,

Q1, almost right but theres a bit more to go.

Q.3, again almost right.

Malin

GlasgowCelts · Post by **GlasgowCelts** » 23 Dec 2002, 15:03

Thanks malin, Frantisek was the guy i was thinking of. I found his name last night but was too tired to post it. And your right, it was the significance of how quickly he racked up his kills that i think caught my eye about him. That and the fact he had a habit of doing what i always tend to do in Wb, desert my Squadron and chase the kill

Glas

Malin · Post by **Malin** » 24 Dec 2002, 01:26

BB, Rules are you have to answer the three previous questions correctly before being allowed to ask yourself.

No-one has even made a stab at my question 2 yet, or answered the other two completely or correctly.

Mal

ELH~Lancer · Post by **ELH~Lancer** » 24 Dec 2002, 06:24

Malin

Q:2, 45th Infantry Division
Q:3, Reich Defence marking was, I believe, the broad band on the fuselage just before it met the tail. The colour was dependent on the squadron.

Malin · Post by **Malin** » 24 Dec 2002, 09:16

Full marks to Lancer, although no-one has fully answered Q1 yet.

Malin

Hammer · Post by **Hammer** » 24 Dec 2002, 10:09

Fins fought on both sides (especially at the end of the war)?

Venom · Post by **Venom** » 24 Dec 2002, 11:31

A Stuka kicking a P-51's ass! I would love to see that. Damn, I read Hans Rudels autobiography a few years ago. Damn he was a good pilot or so it seemed.

Falker · Post by **Falker** » 24 Dec 2002, 12:44

I agree with Firemane. Finland was being played by both the Soviet Union and Germany , both countries wanting the Petsamo nickel mines in the north. And the land that came with it. Nickel was used to make alloys of steel (particularly stainless steel) which provide for improved corrosion resistance (shipbuilding) and outstanding high temperature performance (aircraft engines) The Countries had signed agreements with each other and Finland. Both the Russians and Germans thought they had Finland as an alliance.

Finland’s country's participated in three totally different wars during the period 1939-1945. They are generally referred to as the Winter War, November 1939-March 1940; the Continuation War, June 1941-September 1944; the Lapland War, September 1944-April 1945. Also the Finns were placed in a situation not substantially different from the Italians and Romanians where, after surrendering to the Allies, they were required to fight to drive the Germans out of their country.

I’m reaching here , but I’d say the unusual thing about Finland’s role in all this is that they kept the Russians and Germans occupied with each other while trying to remain neutral. They also bought a lots of equipment and planes from other countries.

FAF AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE IN THE CONTINUATION WAR 1941-44

SOURCE NUMBER IN SERVICE FIGHTER PLANE # OF KILLS
Holland 97 Fokker D-XXI 61
Italy 35 Fiat G-50 Arrow 88
France 87 Morane-Saulnier MS-406 121
USA 44 Brewster B-239 Buffalo 478
USA 44 Curtiss Hawk-75A 190
Germany 162 Messerschmitt Bf-109 663

Falker

GlasgowCelts · Post by **GlasgowCelts** » 24 Dec 2002, 13:16

No worries Sundance, sometimes the heat of the moment just kinda draws you in. Been there, done that lol!

Maybe it was my accent that was the problem. We'll just lay the blame on that anyway ;)

Glas

Malin · Post by **Malin** » 25 Dec 2002, 00:36

<S> to Falker,

The answer I was looking for is that Finland was the only country in WWII not to be occupied even thought it was on the "losing" side. (It was the only Axis country in the war that didn't get occupied by foreign troops during or after)

Note about the Buffalo's, they purchased them from the States for 4 million dollars only to discover on delivery the US had removed the guns, sights and instruments. Another interesting fact was that Finland's airforce had the highest kill/death ratio during the war 26/1 loss.Which when you think at all times they were flying older obsolete equipment is pretty amazing. (They purchased 109 Bf109's from Germany and shot down 663 planes with them only losing 32, with the 44 buffalo's they shot down 496 enemy aircraft for the loss of 19 planes).

Another interesting note is the Finnish emblem at the time was a white Swastika on a blue background (I can give the history of this if interested) and Finland is one of the only Countries today where you can walk into a WWII mueseum and see Swastika's on the WWII planes.

Malin

Falker · Post by **Falker** » 25 Dec 2002, 15:53

Cool. I believe these questions are getting a bit harder.

I wonder what Slam has in store for the next weekly history question. ELH , It’s not just great team work,.. It’s an education.

<S> Falker............

Slamhammer · Post by **Slamhammer** » 03 Jan 2003, 01:50

Test round two

1. Name the First light infantry regiment in the British army

2. The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire rifles
The Kings Royal Rifle Corp and The Rifle Bde make up what modern Bristish Army unit.

3. Name the current senior Cavarly regiment of the line in the British Army

Malin · Post by **Malin** » 03 Jan 2003, 08:17

Errrrr.

1. Lots of answers:

Moncks Regiment of Foot (Now called the Coldstream Guards) Formed in 1645.

But you could argue because the present 1st Battalion of the Light Infantry was formed in 1968 from:

The Durham Light Infantry

The Somerset & Cornwall Light Infantry

The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

The King's Shropshire Light Infantry

This is in part because up until the 1st World War there wasn't a British Army as we see it today, Counties and Towns were expected to create military units in time of conflict which would serve as part of the British Expeditionary Force (footnote, each county or region was expected to form at least two battalions, one to remain in the UK and the other to go overseas as part of the BEF, they were also expected to form a further two battalions of TA (Reservists in US terms)

Another possible answer is 1808 when the 68th Foot were awarded the title of the Durham Light Infantry (In the 19th Century the Title Light infantry was awarded to a unit that had distinguished themselves in combat)
Yet another Answer is: the Highlanders formed in 1745 or the units formed by General James Wolfe and Lord Amherst in 1755 from groups of locals in North America to fight the French colonists.

2. The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiment, (43rd and 52nd) became in 1958 The 1st Green Jackets

The King's Royal Rifle Corps became the 2nd Green Jackets, and The Rifle Brigade became the 3rd Green jackets.

The unit is now known as the Royal Green Jackets

3. Is that a Trick Question? Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR)

Q1 is hard because until after the 2nd World War It wasn't the Britsh Army as such but the Kings (or Queens) army or the British Expeditionary Forces.

Malin

Slamhammer · Post by **Slamhammer** » 03 Jan 2003, 10:47

Good Mal.

1 was a bit tricky remember with the designation of light infantry, even though The Coldstram Guards formed in 1650 is one of the oldest but the oldest unit in the bristish army is the Royal Scots formed in 1633 .it is not or ever has been designated Light Infrantry. Either way you had the right answers with the list of that others you gave.The first light infrantry regiment with the offical designation of light infrantry was the (68th foot) The Durham Light Infantry..Formed in 1808 , in 1809 two others where given that destiction the (51st foot) Kings Own Yorkshire Light Inf and the (53rd foot) Kings Shropshire Light inf. (The 13th Foot ) The Somerset Light inf Prince Alberts own was given the honor in 1822. The (32nd foot ) Duke of Cornwalls light inf was given the status in 1858. The Somerset and Cornwall regiments were amalgamated on Oct 1958 to form the Somerset and Cornwall Light Inf (SCLI) and on July 10th 1968 (Vesting Day) TheLight Infantry (LI) was formed.
all of them ewere roled up to form The Light Infrantry.

2. was right on the money Mal correct...

3. read question 3 again...it states senior Cavarly Regiment of the Line. Th mordern unit was formed from two units Please give the Current name and the names of the two base units.

Malin · Post by **Malin** » 03 Jan 2003, 12:23

Easy then: The HCMR was formed from two Regiments:

1. The Life Guards Formed in 1922 from the 1st Regiment of Life Guards and the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards (I won't go any further back than this)
(The history of this unit dates back to 1661)

2. The Blues and Royals formed in 1969 from the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) and the 1st Royal Dragoons. (Again I won't go back further than this other than to say they date back to 1658)

The Life Guards are the senior Regiment in the British Army.

Malin

ELH~Lancer · Post by **ELH~Lancer** » 03 Jan 2003, 13:54

The senior line cavalry regt of the British Army is the Queens Dragoon Guards. They go back to 1685 when The 1st (King's) Dragoon Guards and The Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards) were both formed by James II. These two regiments amalgamated in 1959 to form 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards.

ELH~Lancer · Post by **ELH~Lancer** » 03 Jan 2003, 13:55

Answer came out twice

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