WWII quiz thread

[Lancer44]

Originally Posted by gao_yixing

Ah....It's not necessary to wait so much time.
So no matter whether your answer is right or not, it's your turn, Lancer.

Please tell me if my answer was right or not, let's stick to the rules.

Cheers,

Lancer44

[gao_yixing]

Originally Posted by Lancer44

Please tell me if my answer was right or not, let's stick to the rules.

Cheers,

Lancer44

I hope so, but it seems that the one who asked the answer hasn't visited here for a long time.

[Lancer44]

Originally Posted by gao_yixing

I hope so, but it seems that the one who asked the answer hasn't visited here for a long time.

OK. I will ask next question.

In Warsaw Uprising which started 1-st of August 1944, beside Poles, were also fighters from many more nationalities.
How many?
Please describe them.
(I mean only freedom fighters not German auxilliary forces.)

Lancer44

P.S.

And you're right let's make this quiz quicker - Rule No2 - two days for answer.

[gao_yixing]

Hungarian, Italian, British, Slovakian and some Caucasian Soviet from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan
So it could be 5 or 7.

[Lancer44]

Hi, you underestimated a bit.

In 535 platoon of Slovaks commanded by Miroslav Iring "Stanko", were also Georgians, Armenians, Azeris, Czechs and Ukrainians.
535 platoon fought with Slovakian armbands.

Beside them in Warsaw fought several French, Hungarian, Belgian, Dutch and Greek fighters.
In each case from about twenty to only a few persons.
Well known is story of Alasatian Frenchmen, Roger Barlet, nickname "Rozek" which was KIA when fighting in "Zoska" Battalion.
Turkish doctor Soltan Safijew "Dr Turek", was very well known and respected in other famous unit - "Parasol" Battalion.
There were one Romanian and one Australian.
Few Russian members of German auxilliary units deserted and fought on Polish side.
The most famous of all foreigners in Warsaw, become Englishman John Ward, RAF lieutenant. He was member of the Home Army for two years before Rising started. His reports to London you can read there: http://www.warsawuprising.com/

It would be not fair not to mention pilots which fought and died above Warsaw participating in "Warsaw Bridge" from Brindisi:
Americans and South Africans. Americans rest in Warsaw Powazki cemetery and South Africans in Cracow - there is 152 of their graves.
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1154015/posts about South Africans involvement.

I cannot find confirmation of Italians.

So, I counted 15 nationalities beside Poles. I did not included many Jews because they were citizens of their respective countries, for example many Jews released from Goose Farm were from Greece.

Anyway, two days passed and you are entitled to ask next question

Cheers,

Lancer44

[gao_yixing]

List of military units in the Warsaw Uprising - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And Wiki said there were some Italians, but maybe Wiki made some mistakes.

My question is really an easy one.

There are some neutral countries during World War II.
One of them lost some territories of it during the war. It was occupied by a pariticipant of the war.
Do you know who she is?

[temujin77]

Originally Posted by gao_yixing

Technically, conquest of Albania is before the breakout of World War II...

That's matter of a religious debate, no?

The start date of WW2 depends on how you define the term "WW2". In my opinion, WW2 is a collection of various wars that all affected each other due to global alliances; the wars that are under the spotlight more being the European War, the Atlantic War, and the Pacific War. There are also minor wars ("minor" is a rather subjective term, I know) such as the Winter War, the Continuation War, the Second Sino-Japanese War (which later expanded into the CBI Theater), the Desert War, etc. So in that sense, why isn't the invasion of Albania a part of WW2? Isn't the war in Albania a part of the grand scheme we call "WW2"?

There is no one right answer to "when did WW2 start". If you ask a stereotypical westerner that question, you'll most likely get 1 Sep 1939 when Poland was invaded -- but is that unfair to those who died during the annexations of Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Memelland? And does it justify those who died in Albania? So then if we try to push the date earlier to Jul 1937 as a Chinese person may tell you, that seems to make sense as well, because that was the date Japanese Army violated Chinese sovereignty and started the Second Sino-Japanese War, which eventually grew into the CBI Theater of WW2 with such undoubtedly WW2-related anecdotes involving Frank Merrill, Claire Chenault, William Slim, and Chiang Kaishek. So is 1937 the proper start-of-WW2 date, then? Well, then we have to speak to a minority of scholars who believe that, if aggression on China was to be named as the start of the WW2, then why not 1932, when Japan forced China to cede Manchuria to form a Japanese-backed puppet state?

So, back on topic, I for one think that it's unfair to say the war in Albania isn't a part of WW2. Personally I think it should be considered as so, but again I do understand that there is no one single right answer to that question.

[temujin77]

Originally Posted by gao_yixing

There are some neutral countries during World War II.
One of them lost some territories of it during the war. It was occupied by a pariticipant of the war.
Do you know who she is?

Hmm, I almost want to say there are several neutral nations that weren't exactly neutral, though most probably do not have presence of troops of another nation.... I'm going to venture a guess and say Sweden? Sweden, though officially neutral, continued to supply Germany with vital iron ore, and they also allowed German troops to transport across their country for Norway or Finland.

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by temujin77

That's matter of a religious debate, no?

The start date of WW2 depends on how you define the term "WW2". In my opinion, WW2 is a collection of various wars that all affected each other due to global alliances; the wars that are under the spotlight more being the European War, the Atlantic War, and the Pacific War. There are also minor wars ("minor" is a rather subjective term, I know) such as the Winter War, the Continuation War, the Second Sino-Japanese War (which later expanded into the CBI Theater), the Desert War, etc. So in that sense, why isn't the invasion of Albania a part of WW2? Isn't the war in Albania a part of the grand scheme we call "WW2"?

There is no one right answer to "when did WW2 start". If you ask a stereotypical westerner that question, you'll most likely get 1 Sep 1939 when Poland was invaded -- but is that unfair to those who died during the annexations of Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Memelland? And does it justify those who died in Albania? So then if we try to push the date earlier to Jul 1937 as a Chinese person may tell you, that seems to make sense as well, because that was the date Japanese Army violated Chinese sovereignty and started the Second Sino-Japanese War, which eventually grew into the CBI Theater of WW2 with such undoubtedly WW2-related anecdotes involving Frank Merrill, Claire Chenault, William Slim, and Chiang Kaishek. So is 1937 the proper start-of-WW2 date, then? Well, then we have to speak to a minority of scholars who believe that, if aggression on China was to be named as the start of the WW2, then why not 1932, when Japan forced China to cede Manchuria to form a Japanese-backed puppet state?

If you want to really go down this road, was not the Spanish Civil War also part of the conflict, a "warm up" if you will? Or how about the date of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919? Or maybe you can consider the two wars one event, in which case it all started in Sarajevo in 1914. Or did it?

The events that you mention, while real, did not plunge the world into war. They were preludes. I believe that the reason that most Western historians cite the invasion of Poland as the "official" start of World War II is simply that it was the event that caused the first official "declaration of war" by one of the European Allies against Nazi Germany. A Euro-centric defintion no doubt, but that is really when "war" began on the continent as Hitler's desire for expansion was no longer to be appeased or legitimized by the "western democracies" of Britain and France. Ask most people when the American War of Independence began and they will answer "July 4, 1776" because that's when we declared independence. We had already been fighting for our "rights as Englishmen" for well over a year (Battles of Lexington and Concord happened in April 1775 I believe). Which is right?

Because that is the common view of Western historians, I have set this forum up that way, though clearly the events that you speak of were part of the overall picture. There is no "right" and no "wrong" on this issue. Of course that's my opinion, and we all know about opinions.

Everyone is free to make their own determination. Paradoxically, I would also see the occupation of Albania and the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia as part and parcel of the greater conflict, but only viewed through my favorite instrument, the retrospectoscope. How's that for ambiguous?

Back to the topic: neutral countries occupied during the war included Iceland and Iran. Of those two I would guess Iran, to the Soviets.

[temujin77]

Originally Posted by Jim O

I believe that the reason that most Western historians cite the invasion of Poland as the "official" start of World War II is simply that it was the event that caused the first official "declaration of war" by one of the European Allies against Nazi Germany. A Euro-centric defintion no doubt, but that is really when "war" began on the continent as Hitler's desire for expansion was no longer to be appeased or legitimized by the "western democracies" of Britain and France.... There is no "right" and no "wrong" on this issue. Of course that's my opinion, and we all know about opinions.

Well said Jim, but we both mentioned that there is no one right answer on this issue Again, it really depends on your definition of "WW2", or even the word "war" in general. By the way, I grew up in Taiwan, and the Taiwanese students are taught that WW2 started in 1937; Sino-centric definition, if you will.

By the way you may have noticed that to cover all bases, WW2DB's events start with the Versailles Treaty. It might be a bit of overkill, but hey, I want to make sure WW2DB eventually becomes a complete reference no matter what your definition of WW2 is

Originally Posted by Jim O

Back to the topic: neutral countries occupied during the war included Iceland and Iran. Of those two I would guess Iran, to the Soviets.

Iceland was also "occupied". I recall stories of British and American aircraft based there. I guess this latest trivia question really has a multitude of answers?