The official AHF Allies & Neutral States quiz thread

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Basajaun
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#91

Post by Basajaun » 06 Apr 2005, 19:28

Thank you, man!!!

Well, everybody will know that Mussolini was liberated from his captivity at the Gran Sasso the 12th of september of 1943.
And is generally assumed that Otto Skorzeny was the man who conceived and commanded the operation.... But that's not true.

So, who will explain here the real unit involved, it's commander, and the authentic role that Skorzeny played at the operation?

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Alp Guard
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#92

Post by Alp Guard » 06 Apr 2005, 19:44

Basajaun wrote:Thank you, man!!!

Well, everybody will know that Mussolini was liberated from his captivity at the Gran Sasso the 12th of september of 1943.
And is generally assumed that Otto Skorzeny was the man who conceived and commanded the operation.... But that's not true.

So, who will explain here the real unit involved, it's commander, and the authentic role that Skorzeny played at the operation?
Was it Captain Gerlach, 1. Kompanie? Otto Skorzeny even endangered the whole operation. Due to a technical failure his Fieseler could not start and so he climbed the plane with the Duce on board, despite the risk that it was overloaded then.


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Basajaun
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#93

Post by Basajaun » 06 Apr 2005, 19:57

And in quarter an hour!!!

Alp guard, you're a fast guy.

Well just get everything right. Captain Gerlach was the pilot of the Fieseler Storch that brought himself, Mussolini and Skorzeny out of the Gran Sasso (three men, and one of them (Scorzeny) Over the 1.90 of stature)!!! They almost were not able even to take off with all that weight.

The commander of the operation was major Mors, in charge of the 1st battalion, , 7th regiment, 2nd Falschirmjaeger Division.

Your turn again.

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Alp Guard
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#94

Post by Alp Guard » 06 Apr 2005, 20:54

Basajaun wrote:And in quarter an hour!!!

Alp guard, you're a fast guy.

Well just get everything right. Captain Gerlach was the pilot of the Fieseler Storch that brought himself, Mussolini and Skorzeny out of the Gran Sasso (three men, and one of them (Scorzeny) Over the 1.90 of stature)!!! They almost were not able even to take off with all that weight.

The commander of the operation was major Mors, in charge of the 1st battalion, , 7th regiment, 2nd Falschirmjaeger Division.

Your turn again.
Thank you!

I see that you like commandos and war planes. So my question is:

There have been quite heavy airbattles between the Luftwaffe and the Swiss air force.

1. When and where did they take place?
2. Which 3 types of warplanes were involved?
3. What was the result of these air strikes? (Military, Politics)

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Alp Guard
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#95

Post by Alp Guard » 08 Apr 2005, 08:29

Any ideas, anybody?

Solution will follow 15:00 today :wink:

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Aufklarung
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#96

Post by Aufklarung » 08 Apr 2005, 12:59

I wrote:...Goering went ballistic over 4 Swiss Bf 109C shooting down 2 He 111s 1 June 1940. On 4 June '40 he ordered a formation of 111s and 110s to deliberately overfly Swiss airspace and lost 3 more planes!! On 8 June he ordered a complete Zestorergruppe from Frieburg to overfly Switzerland and lost 3 more planes....
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=7066

So I guess the answers are:

Dates
-01, 04, and 08 June 1940

Types
-Bf109C(Swiss)
-Bf110 (German)
-He-111 (German)

Political results
I am unsure as I have no access to my sources right now!!

2 out of 3??

regards
A :)

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Alp Guard
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#97

Post by Alp Guard » 08 Apr 2005, 14:06

Splendid, dear Aufklärung!

Military consequence:

Ironically the Germans lost even 11 planes total vs. 3 Swiss, and that in the moment of the Führers greatest triumphs on the battlefields of western Europe. Obviously Hitler was cooking with anger and Göring ordered an infiltrating commando troop that would blow up some Me109 on the ground (as in the air it did not work). But all these men were captured and disarmed before they could do any harm.

Politically:

While these air incidents gave moral to the troops and the public, which loudly cheered them, the federal council was frightened, that these fights would provoke the mighty enemy to bomb the major cities. So without any reason the Swiss government apologized (for litterally nothing) and promised to pay the damages. From then swiss pilots were advised not to intervene directly over the borders, but only within an aerea much more in the inner part of the country. They bowed before the Nazis, a behaviour that made the army very angry.

Your turn

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Aufklarung
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#98

Post by Aufklarung » 08 Apr 2005, 14:42

Hello
Isn't it strange how some info is "recycled" in the Forum after certain periods of time!! :lol:

I have a "History of the Bf 109" book and they have a chapter on Swiss use. This is where the original info I posted in that linked thread came from.

My question:

During WW2 what was the worst Royal Navy warship sinking in British home waters. Aside from the "Royal Oak" that is.

regards
A :)

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Michael Emrys
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#99

Post by Michael Emrys » 09 Apr 2005, 06:20

Aufklarung wrote:During WW2 what was the worst Royal Navy warship sinking in British home waters. Aside from the "Royal Oak" that is.
HMS Glorious? Not sure if off the coast of Ireland counts as home waters though.

:?

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#100

Post by JonS » 09 Apr 2005, 10:28

'worst' = quickest, stupidest, largest, most loss of life, most expensive, ... ?

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Aufklarung
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#101

Post by Aufklarung » 09 Apr 2005, 14:45

Sorry but not HMS Glorious.

Worst= "Tragety", "Catastrophe", or the 3rd greatest loss of life. 358 Offrs and ratings dead, ship sank in less than 5 minutes after a violent explosion. This happened inside British home waters (say within 20 miles of the UK).

Not "Royal Oak" is a huge hint but I'll also say not HMS Hampshire either (cuz that was WW1).

regards
A :)

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Oracle
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Suggestion!

#102

Post by Oracle » 09 Apr 2005, 19:07

Not knowing anything about WW2 NAVAL history [generally speaking military automotive history being my forte: especially Canadian] I did some research and suggest HMS Dasher?
HMS DASHER (March 27, 1943)

US-built merchant ship, the Rio de Janeiro, was later converted to an escort aircraft carrier in 1941 and loaned to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease Agreement. Renamed HMS Dasher, she saw service in the Mediterranean and on convoy duties to Murmansk. In 1943 she was being used as a Fleet Air Arm Training ship. It was in this capacity that the ship blew up in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, between Ardrossan and the Isle of Arran, while heading for the port of Greenock. At about 4.45pm, on this hazy Saturday afternoon, while her Swordfish planes of No. 891 Squadron were practicing take offs and landings on her deck, one of her pilots misjudged a landing and crashed into a store of aviation fuel drums and explosives. The subsequent fire and violent explosion sent the Dasher to the bottom in less than five minutes, her bow rising almost vertical before plunging stern-first to the bottom. Oil from the sinking ship caught fire and spread over the water in which the survivors were swimming. A total of 358 officers and men drowned but 149 sailors survived and were picked up from the sea by dozens of small rescue vessels which sped out from Ardrossan to give what help they could. The Dasher lies upright in 170 metres (310 fathoms) of water, her flight deck some 30 metres above the seabed.

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Oracle
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Anyone know...?

#103

Post by Oracle » 09 Apr 2005, 19:44

Because of my research and writing on military and automotive history I have an especial interest in an amazing man with an amazing career. Does anyone know the full names of this General Motors Vice-president, 1923-41, who served in the US Naval Reserve from 1938 to 1945 [retiring at 65], rising during wartime to Captain? He met Hitler in 1935, and then again in 1940 as well as Goering and Ribbentrop on a peace mission with the authority of FDR. He had the distinction of being in charge from 1938-40 of Opel [German] and various British GM plants and then also from mid-1940 US plants, that were converted to war production!

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Aufklarung
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#104

Post by Aufklarung » 09 Apr 2005, 19:56

Hi Oracle.

CMP chappie are you? Been to MLU yet?

You are correct. Dasher is considered the third worst warship disaster in British home waters.
http://www.johnsteele.free-online.co.uk/dasher.htm

regards
A :)

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Oracle
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!

#105

Post by Oracle » 09 Apr 2005, 20:32

CMP chappie are you? Been to MLU yet?
Apparently over 1,270 posts on MLU!

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