Article for Armed Forces Day, May 21, edition
Tom Fulks, author

World War II Trivia Challenge

(Oviedo, FL- May 2005)To commemorate Armed Forces Day this May 21, try to answer the following questions about WWII. These questions and answers are taken from new book: Under Wraps by Jay Coffman with Tom Fulks. 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 and many more are in the History Notes of the compelling new book Under Wraps: one soldier’s hidden diary of WWII by Jay Coffman with Tom Fulks. The History Notes section was written by the modern history scholar Tom Fulks to provide clarity and perspective to the diary.

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, suffering from a debilitating tropical disease, and his long-distance romance with "the girl back home." Coffman’s diary is as touching as Fulks’s notes are informative.

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.

See more about the book at www.UnderWrapsDiary.com. To obtain the book, ask for Under Wraps by Jay Coffman ISBN 890905-52-6 at 1-800-431-1579 (Book Clearing House) for credit card purchases, or email TCFulks@aol.com to obtain a book personally signed by Fulks, or order it at most bookstores and book websites. Under Wraps is published by Day to Day Enterprises of Oviedo, Florida.

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Q. Claiming Anschluss, unity of German people, Hitler’s Germany seized control of Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938. In what nation was Sudetenland located?

A. Czechoslovakia. In March 1939, pursuing a policy of Lebensraum, expansion of German territory, Hitler took the remainder of Czechoslovakia. 242 M

Q. 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?

A. Poland. Soviet Russia, during a brief alliance with Hitler, also attacked Poland and divided it with Germany. 242 E

Q. In 1940 the Tripartite Pact was signed by which three countries forming the Axis powers?

A. Germany, Italy, and Japan. Later, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria joined them. 243 E

Q. In September 1940, Hitler launched the Battle of Britain by heavy bombing of England as a prelude to Operation Sea Lion, the planned German invasion of Britain by crossing the English Channel. During what year did Germany finally invade Britain?

A. Britain retaliated against the bombing of England by bombing Germany, and on September 17, 1941, Hitler postponed the invasion of Britain indefinitely. Germany never invaded Britain. 243 M+

Q. 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?

A. 1941. The attack crippled America’s Pacific Fleet. Some 2,403 Americans were killed and another 1,178 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 Hitler declared war on the United States on December 11. 244 E

Q. What was the formal name for the coalition of nations that became commonly known as the Allies?

A. On January 1, 1942, the United States, Britain, Soviet Russia, and 23 other countries signed the Declaration of the United Nations pledging not to make a separate peace with the Axis powers. The United Nations became the name for the organization that was later formed to keep the peace following the war. 245-

Q. In what year did the government of Italy surrender to the Allies?

A. In 1943 King Victor Emmanuel III dismissed Mussolini and surrendered; however, the Nazis rescued Mussolini and had him organize a brutal puppet republic while the German forces occupied and defended much of Italy nearly until the end of the war in Europe. 246 H-

Q. What was the nationality of the man whose name became the present day word quisling, meaning traitor?

A. Vidkun Quisling of Norway. German forces invaded Norway on April 9, 1940, and occupied it with little resistance. The Nazis installed the fascist National Union party head, Quisling, as Prime Minister of Norway’s puppet government. Quisling and the Nazis ruled the Norwegian people ruthlessly until the allies retook Norway in 1945 and the restored government tried and executed Quisling for high treason. 247 M

Q. 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?

A. 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. 247 M

Q. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, less than one month before the end of the war in Europe. Who succeeded him a President to govern the rest of the war?

A. Harry S. Truman, who saw to the conclusion of the war in Europe, who made the monumental decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan, and who worked with Prime Minister Churchill in establishing the peace. 248 E

Q. Who was the famous Japanese Admiral who planned and directed the eminently successful attack on Pearl Harbor?

A. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who had studied English at Harvard where he mastered bridge and poker, and who had argued to maintain peace with the United States before being assigned to attack and disable American forces. In 1943, U.S. Intelligence intercepted and decoded Japanese messages about an inspection trip by Yamamoto that allowed the Allies to ambush and kill him. 249 H

Q. What did outspoken Brigadier General Billy Mitchell receive for his passionate warnings of the Japanese threat and pleadings to increase American air power?

A. Billy Mitchell was court marshaled in 1925 for his overzealousness, convicted and discharged from the military. As a civilian, he continued to promote increased air power and to warn America of the Japanese threat until the end of his life in 1936. 249 M

Q. 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?

A. 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. 250 H+

Q. Following the war, with the cooperation of Roosevelt and Churchill, Soviet Russia was given control over part of Germany and all central and eastern European nations behind the Iron Curtain. What was the name of this bloc of nations?

A. The USSR—Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Josef Stalin ruled over these puppet governments, introduced repressive Soviet Communism, and pursued development of atomic warfare while threatening to expand the Soviet sphere, thus beginning the "Cold War" that was to last more than 40 years? Stalin ruled the USSR ruthlessly until he died in 1953 when Nikita Khrushchev replaced Stalin and denounced his methods, thereafter known as Stalinism. 250 M

Q. On which island nation did the "Bataan Death March" occur?

A. The Philippines, which was attacked by Japan on the day after Pearl Harbor and fully occupied on May 6, 1942, following a decisive defeat at Corregidor. On April 9, 1942, 76,000 Philippine and American troops on the Bataan peninsula surrendered, and had to walk 70 miles to prison camp during which more than 7,000 died under the extremely harsh treatment and conditions. 254 M

Q. Who commanded the first air raid on the Japanese homeland in World War II?

A. General Jimmy Doolittle conducted the celebrated raid on Tokyo and other Japanese targets on April 18, 1942, with B-25 medium bombers from an aircraft carrier just out of range of Tokyo. While all 16 bombers ran out of fuel before reaching safety in China, of the total 80 pilots and crewmen who parachuted or crash-landed at least 71 somehow survived, including Doolittle. 255 E+

Q. Which German city was bombed in one night by more than 1,000 airplanes during Operation Millennium on May 30, 1942?

A. Cologne. 1,042 aircraft of all sorts were assembled for this one raid. It was not possible to gather that many airplanes again, and Cologne soon recovered. Britain realized that it couldn’t bomb Germany out of the war, at least until America joined in. 256 H

Q. What were the names of the women’s corps for each branch of the service in World War II?

A. 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." 257 E

Q. In addition to America’s Western Pacific possessions such as The Philippines, where was the only American soil occupied by the Japanese during World War II?

A. The remote Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska were seized unopposed on June 6, 1942, and occupied until May 1943. The few inhabitants of Attu were interned in Japan until the end of the war, but the Aleuts of Kiska had been taken to internment camps in Alaska only a few days before the attack. (During WWII, Hawaii and Alaska were territories of the United States, and did not become states until 1958.) 259 H-

Q. What did General Douglas MacArthur, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and President Franklin Roosevelt have in common with a long-deceased American: Sarah Barney Belcher?

A. She was their common ancestor, making it a little known fact that MacArthur, Churchill, and Roosevelt were all related to each other. Sarah Barney Belcher of Taunton, Massachusetts was MacArthur’s great-great grandmother, and also became a (multiple) great aunt of Churchill and Roosevelt. Consequently, Douglas MacArthur was an eighth cousin of Winston Churchill, and a sixth cousin, once removed of Franklin Roosevelt. 260 H

Q. When did the Air Force become a full and separate branch of the military on an equal level with the Army and Navy?

A. On July 26, 1947, after WWII, the United States Air Force was established—it had been part of the US Army before and throughout WWII. 262 E

Q. Where was the first American offensive in the Pacific Theater of World War II?

A. Guadalcanal was attacked by the American Marines on August 7, 1942. Guadalcanal was an island in the Solomon chain, and the easternmost point that Japan ever occupied. It was the first battle involving coordinated ground, sea, and air warfare as the Marines were heavily supported by US Navy shelling and carrier-based aircraft. The surprised, but defiant Japanese forces were finally eliminated from Guadalcanal in February 1943. 262 H

Q. Which branch of the military was responsible for the protection of the United States homeland?

A. The US Coast Guard. Military forces were, at first, deployed to protect the American mainland. Japan and Germany made only a few ineffective attempts on the American homeland, so it soon became evident that domestic law enforcement agencies and the Coast Guard were sufficient to protect American soil. 265 M

Q. Where was the celebrated "Flying Tigers" aviation corps deployed during World War II?

A. Before America’s entry into WWII, the Flying Tigers under General Claire Chennault, as volunteers for the Chinese air force, became famous while defending the Burma Road. They were reminiscent of the Lafayette Escadrille of World War I. When America entered the war, Chennault was given command of the China Air Task Force, part of the regular US Army Air Force, that included the former Flying Tigers. Following WWII, Britain established Burma as a sovereign nation, and then Burma changed its name to Myanmar. 265 E

Q. Who was Japan’s chief warlord whose name was as infamous to Americans as Hitler?

A. "Tojo" was General Hideki Tojo who was 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. 269 M

Q. Who was "Tokyo Rose"?

A. The notorious Tokyo Rose was an American citizen who aired demoralizing messages to Allied troops broadcast out of Japan. Several different English-speaking women, under the name "Orphan Ann", were disk jockeys on the Zero Hour radio program. Americans called her Tokyo Rose. Among the women who served as Orphan Ann, the most well known was Iva Ikuko Toguri, a Japanese-American who was trapped in Japan while visiting there when the war began. By threats on her family and herself, Toguri was forced to stay in Japan and play the part of Orphan Ann. Following the war she was convicted of treason and served a long prison term, but was eventually pardoned by President Ford. Mildred Elizabeth Gillars of Portland, Maine was known as Axis Sally and served a sentence for broadcasting for the Germans. The British traitor William Joyce broadcast from Germany as Lord Haw Haw, and the renowned American poet Ezra Pound broadcast for the fascist cause from Italy. 273 H

Q. What was the significance of the simple message: "The mission of this Allied force was fulfilled at 0241, local time, May 7, 1945," which was sent form General Eisenhower to the Combined Chiefs of Staff?

A. It marked V-E, victory in Europe, which was announced publicly and wildly celebrated on May 8. Fighting actually ended on May 10 when the Russians finally occupied the small Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. However, war in the Pacific still raged. 277 M

Q. Who were the "big three" Allied leaders who met in Yalta on February 4, 1945 to plan the fate of postwar Europe?

A. Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin, heads of state of America, Britain, and Soviet Russia, respectively, approved the EAC, European Advisory Commission, plan. However, Roosevelt died and Churchill was replaced before the EAC plan could be deployed, which was ultimately launched at the Potsdam conference on July 17, 1945 by President Truman, Prime Minister Clement Attlee, and Josef Stalin. They implemented a relatively compassionate plan for peace in Europe. 278, 284 E

Q. Where was the final major battle of World War II?

A. Okinawa, an island immediately south of Japan was besieged by a horrific, amphibious invasion on April 1, 1945. It was captured by July, but with the greatest American personnel losses in any battle of the war—72,000 casualties including 6,139 dead. Japanese military losses were more than 90,000, and another 150,000 Okinawans were killed or committed suicide. Some 14,000 Americans cracked under the strain of the long war and terrible combat. They were classified as "neuro-psychiatric", removed from combat, and given mental care. 279 H

Q. 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?

A. 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. 279 H

Q. Immediately following the atomic bomb destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who addressed the people of Japan on radio with these words: "The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization."?

A. Emperor Hirohito, the first time in history that an Emperor of Japan had ever addressed his people. With these profound words, the Japanese people compelled their government to surrender. Japan quickly surrendered to the Allies before more atomic bombs would be deployed, not knowing that no more atomic bombs had been made. 280 H

Q. Where was the "second front" invasion on German occupied eastern European territories launched?

A. The D-Day landings in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944. Nearly two years earlier, on August 19, 1942, the Allies attempted to establish a beachhead at Dieppe, France, but failed badly. The "second front" was needed to liberate Western Europe and to advance on Germany from the west while Soviet Russia squeezed on Germany from the east. After the Dieppe disaster, the second front strategy was completely replanned and reorganized, but was finally and successfully executed more than a year later on D-Day. 82, 261 M

Q. What was the name of the plan implemented by the United States to help restore Europe’s peacetime economy?

A. The Marshall Plan (officially the ERP: European Recovery Program) provided some $14 billion to restore the economic health of liberated western European nations. General George C. Marshall was US Army Chief of Staff, over Eisenhower and MacArthur, throughout WWII, and became Secretary of State under President Truman in 1947 where he initiated the ERP. Marshall said: "Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos." Marshall won the Nobel Peace Prize for this effort in 1953. 283, 294

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

A. Nuremberg, starting on November 20, 1945, 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. 284 E

Q. Why was NATO formed?

A. 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? 285

Q. How did the United States reward The Philippines immediately following World War II?

A. The United States established the independent and autonomous Republic of the Philippines on July 4, 1946—170 years to the day from the declaration of independence of the United States of America from British colonialism. The United States, under President Truman’s leadership, lead the world to end colonialism and promoting self-government and democracy with his so-called Point Four program, starting with The Philippines. 287 M

Q. What man spearheaded the recovery of Japan following the end of World War II?

A. General Douglas MacArthur, as Supreme Commander of Allied Powers (SCAP) with his staff orchestrated an orderly return to peace in Japan. War crimes trials were conducted in Japan similarly to those in Germany. Hirohito was persuaded to renounce his "divine" status and to humanize the role of emperor. MacArthur helped form a new constitution establishing Japan as a democracy and a republic. Japan finally attained autonomy on May 3, 1951—Constitution Day. 288 M

Q. How was the conflict between the Communist and Nationalist factions that had been warring in China before the war resolved following the war?

A. Civil war resumed following the war until, in 1949, the Communists drove the Nationalists off the mainland onto the island of Formosa, renamed Taiwan, home to Nationalist China. On October 1, 1949, Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong), chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, established the People’s Republic of China covering the entire mainland of China, including Manchuria, with its capital in Beijing (formerly Peking). 290 H

Q. Which side, Axis or Allies, did Thailand (formerly Siam) take when World War II broke out?

A. As Japan had helped Thailand regain from France its former territories of Cambodia and Laos, immediately after Pearl Harbor Thailand declared war on the United States and Britain. However, in 1944 the pro-Japanese government was overthrown and the new leadership favored the Allied cause. In 1946, Thailand returned Cambodia and Laos to France and was admitted to the United Nations. 292 H

Q. What was "Kamikaze"?

A. Meaning "Diving Wind", Kamikaze was introduced in 1944 by the Japanese as a suicide weapon. It was first used in 1215 against the Mongols. In all, 7,830 sacrificed Kamikaze pilots and their aircraft damaged some 250 American ships, sinking 34, destroying some 763 aircraft, and wounding some 5,000 sailors and 5,000 more men were killed or missing. 299 E

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

A. 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. 300 E

Q. How did the United States protect its citizenry from possible sympathy for, or cooperation with the enemy by people of Japanese origin living in the United States?

A. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed the infamous Executive Order 9066 with sweeping provisions to prevent espionage and sabotage. All persons of Japanese ancestry were rounded up and detained in internment camps. Ultimately, on December 17, 1944, US Congress lifted the order and began evacuating the camps. Each evacuee was given $25 and a train ticket. Much later, on February 19, 1976, President Ford signed Proclamation 4417, which finally admitted that Executive Order 9066 was a "national mistake", and on August 10, 1988, President Reagan signed the restitution bill that resulted in sending $20,000 to each of the 70,000 still-living internees along with a letter for the first time "offering a sincere apology."