D-Day Quiz

[andrewalston]

It's the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings this week, so here are a few questions on the theme. Most of the answers can be discovered with a search engine, but they are probably worth a bit of a read in any case.

• Which General was in overall charge of the D-Day landings in June 1944?
• What was unusual about the First U.S. Army Group (FUSAG), commanded by General George S. Patton?
• Why were MI5 very interested in schoolmaster Leonard Dawe?
• Which bridge was the first Allied target on D-Day?
• What was the main material used in the construction of Mulberries?
• Major General Percy Hobart designed what became known as "Hobart's Funnies". What were they?
• Cricket was a sound important to U.S. paratroops. Why ?
• What was a Rupert?
• What proportion of troops landed by sea on D-Day were American?
• A Spaniard called Garbo was awarded two medals for his work on Operation Overlord. One was the MBE. What was the other?
• For what was "Gooseberry" the code name?
• Why did most of the invading troops visit Piccadilly Circus?

Answers on Thursday!

[Nanna52]

Leonard Dawe is interesting Andrew.  Just found and read about him.

[Gadget]

I gather that i was conceived around this time. 

[Nanna52]

OK.  I’ve got 1, 2 and three.  I also believe I know 6 and 12.  Some very interesting reading ahead I see, when I have some spare time.

Gadget I don’t think that will be on google 

[philipsearching]

Gadget I don’t think that will be on google 

Only when I get round to publishing "A Rootschat Who's Who" 

As far as the questions go: 3, 11 and 12 I didn't know; 4, 5 and 9 I probably knew once; the rest I am fairly confident about.

Philip

[a chesters]

I have not yet had a good look at the whole of the quiz, but about Hobart's funnies, I caught the tail end of an item about them on the SBS news last night. Most interesting.

[Nanna52]

I have not yet had a good look at the whole of the quiz, but about Hobart's funnies, I caught the tail end of an item about them on the SBS news last night. Most interesting.

I googled them AC, I agree it was most interesting.  They obviously put a lot of thought and effort into making it a success.

[Wiggy]

Well I found all the answers, but had to google them all apart from # 1 5 and 12.   

[andrewalston]

I hope you enjoyed reading a little about mid-20th century history.

For those who didn't have the time, here are summary answers.

• Dwight D. Eisenhower. He became U.S. President in 1953.
• It was all fake. It was part of the plan to convince the Germans that the invasion was to be in the Calais area - Operation Fortitude South. Placing a real, highly regarded officer in charge was intended to convince the Germans that the force was real.
• He set the Daily Telegraph Crossword, and codewords associated with D-Day had appeared as answers.
• Bénouville Bridge, later renamed "Pegasus" bridge, over the Caen canal. It was captured by a force landed in 5 Horsa gliders within ten minutes of their landing at 00:16. One of the gliders stopped within 47 yards of the bridge. A nearby cafe claims to be the first house in France to be liberated by the Allies.
• Concrete. A series of reinforced concrete pontoons were towed across the Channel and fastened together to make artificial harbours.
• Tanks with attachments to overcome obstacles. The swimming tank was first to be used. Others included a flail for mine clearing, various designs for crossing ditches and ravines, and a flamethrower.
• A cricket was a toy clicker used by U.S. paratroops who landed on D-Day to identify each other in the dark.
• A dummy paratroop used to confuse the enemy.
• 43%. 46% when airborne troops are included. On D-Day, the Allies landed around 156,000 troops in Normandy. The American forces landed numbered 73,000: 23,250 on Utah Beach, 34,250 on Omaha Beach, and 15,500 airborne troops. In the British and Canadian sector, 83,115 troops were landed (61,715 of them British): 24,970 on Gold Beach, 21,400 on Juno Beach, 28,845 on Sword Beach, and 7900 airborne troops.
• The Iron Cross (Second Class) on 29 July 1944. The MBE followed on 25 November. "Garbo" (Juan Pujol García) was a Spaniard who became disenchanted with both left-wing and right-wing factions in his homeland, and became a freelance spy. He later became a double-agent for the British, feeding information to the Germans. The information was often accurate, but arrived just too late to be of actual use. His reports were used to strengthen the evidence in Operation Fortitude.
• Ships referred to as "corncobs" were scuttled to provide a breakwater at the landing beaches. The area of calm water thus created was the "gooseberry". Some of the corncobs then became anti-aircraft gun platforms.
• "Piccadilly Circus" was the name given to an area south of the Isle of Wight used as a rendezvous point for the ships.