The official AHF WW2 Western Europe quiz thread

[Hauptmann Holston]

Sorry for the delay. What was the name of the operation, and the man, in which a drunken John Doe with top secret (mis)-information was dumped in the ocean off the coast of Spain to dupe the Germans about an upcoming invasion?

[Kingfish]

Operation Mincemeat and Major William Martin, Royal Marines.

[Hauptmann Holston]

Super Fast, very good. But do you know his real name?

[Kingfish]

Glyndwr Michael

[Hauptmann Holston]

Glyndwr! What a name, I love it. You're up!

[Rob Stuart]

... a drunken John Doe ...

He was not drunk. He was dead.

[Kingfish]

OK, lets see if we can make this harder...

On August 27th, 1944 a flight of allied fighter-bombers was supporting the US 8th infantry division during the siege of Brest. After striking their primary target they asked the ground controller if they were any targets of opportunities to expend their remaining ordnance on. At that moment a senior officer of the division happened to be present, and he ordered the flight to bomb a patch of woods just inside German lines. During this second attack one of the fighters was shot down, and the pilot killed.

Who was the senior officer and who was the pilot?

[Graham Clayton]

Hi Kingfish,

There have been no takers, so could you provide the answer and open the floor for a new question?

[Kingfish]

Sure thing

The senior officer was Major General Donald Stroh, and the pilot was Major Harry Stroh, his son. The general had no way of knowing at the time, and wouldn't find out until days later, but no doubt the news and his involvement must have been devastating. Later on during the Hurtgen Forest campaign the stress overcame him and he was relieved of his command, some say partly due to the loss of his son.

Anyway, I yield the floor...

[Rob Stuart]

Okay, since the floor is open, how about this easy one to get the ball rolling again: Name the first Canadian unit to land in France on 6 June 1944.

[Kingfish]

1st Canadian Para, part of Brit 6th Airborne

[Polar bear]

hi,

The airborne came first, indeed, but if "land" is understood as "from the sea": the Royal Winnipeg Rifles at 07:49 at Juno Beach.

greetings, the pb

[Rob Stuart]

In this case I used "land" to include parachutists safely reaching earth (I don't know what other verb to use), so Kingfish is correct. Over to you, Kingfish.

[Kingfish]

Here we go...

On April 12th, 1945 a small Polish detachment consisting of a single Sherman tank, scout car, jeep and motorcycle liberated a certain POW camp.

How many prisoners were liberated and what was special about them?

[Graham Clayton]

Kingfish,

There have been no replies for 3 months. Can you give the answer?

Someone else can then ask a question.