The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

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Dreeze
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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3286

Post by Dreeze » 18 Aug 2013, 12:33

You're right, pb. It was Prince Bernhard. He was "the only person who enjoyed World War 2" according to British King George VI.

A truly remarkable story. He was an officer in the Reiter SS and eventually became the commander of armed forces of an Allied nation, small as they may have been.

Not much is known about his wartime activities, except that what he told about it himself in interviews. Without any sources to back him up and considering the fact that he lied about his pre-war SS membership as well as his pre-marital letter of allegiance to Hitler and the many inconsistencies in his testimonies over the years, it is hard to tell truth from fiction.

For instance he claimed to be responsible for the organisation of resistance activities in the occupied Netherlands, but also said to have flown combat missions over continental Europe. That's odd, isn't it? He would have been far to valuable to risk being downed over enemy territory. Such an occasion would compromise the entire resistance network. Besides that, he would've been a valuable tool, both for propaganda as for putting pressure on the Dutch government in exile and the royal family.

Ian Flemming was the British counterintelligence officer responsible for screening Bernhard's activities and background while in Britain, as a result of this he and the prince got to know each other pretty well and Fleming later conceded that his James Bond character was partly based on Prince Bernhard. Among other things, the wodka-martini concoction that was made famous by Bond was one of the princes favorites.

In regard to the photograph I posted: The Dutch royal family has gone to great lengths after the war to find and destroy any compromising pictures of the wedding. Pictures of the wedding being essentially a party with a great number of nazi's present and nazi songs being sung as well as the guests bringing the Hitler salute did not fit with the carefully groomed image of the prince as a Dutch war hero. For a long time it seemed no photo's had survived until the picture I posted showed up in the early nineties.

Greetz,
Dreeze

Your turn, ofcourse..

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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3287

Post by Polar bear » 20 Aug 2013, 09:23

hi,

another picture ... a man with a very special relationship to WW I ...

greetings, the pb
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Peace hath her victories no less renowned than War
(John Milton, the poet, in a letter to the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652)


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Dreeze
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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3288

Post by Dreeze » 20 Aug 2013, 09:34

That's Erich Maria Remarque. The same photograph is on the back slip cover of my copy of 'all quiet on the western front'.

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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3289

Post by Polar bear » 20 Aug 2013, 09:38

hi, Dreeze,

correct, of course, and supremely fast !

back to you ..

greetings, the pb
Peace hath her victories no less renowned than War
(John Milton, the poet, in a letter to the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652)

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Dreeze
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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3290

Post by Dreeze » 21 Aug 2013, 09:00

Just luck, pb. I just happened to have the same picture..

A bit busy this week, therefore a simple question:

In 1933, which warship was the victim of aerial bombardment?

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Ironmachine
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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3291

Post by Ironmachine » 21 Aug 2013, 13:28

De Zeven Provinciën.

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Dreeze
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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3292

Post by Dreeze » 21 Aug 2013, 14:17

Yep, to stop the mutiny onboard a taskforce led by light cruiser HNLMS Java was sent, as well as a couple of flying boats. One of the flying boats dropped a 500 kg bomb on the foredeck which caused considerable damage as well as the death of 23 sailors. The supposed ring-leader of the mutiny was amongst the dead.

The Dutch war ministry claimed it had authorised one of the flying boats to drop a bomb just before the bow as a warning. But this has always remained controversial. Why drop it just in front with risk of damaging the ship when dropping one 150 meters ahead would've made the point just as clearly? And why use a 500 kg. bomb when the aircraft could also carry 250kg.? The fact that the aircraft carried only 500kg's indicates at least that the war ministry was fully prepared to bomb the ship if the warning wasn't heeded.

Even though Java was sent to intercept, it is unlikely that she would've been actively involved in any action to stop ''de Zeven Provinciën", as the latter outgunned her and was sufficiently armoured to resist Java's 6 inch guns. But she was large enough to keep the mutineers, once they surrendered, prisoner and also spare a replacement crew for ''de Zeven Provinciën" if caught intact.

If the aircraft couldn't stop the mutineers then it would probably have been the job of one of the destroyers to use a torpedo. Since ''de Zeven Provinciën" had no significant protection against torpedo's and was to slow to outmanouver them, a torpedo hit would surely have sunk the entire ship which was a risk the Dutch prime minister claimed he was willing to take. At least he said so afterwards in the Dutch parliament when it was clear the drastic ending of the mutiny sat well with most Dutch politicians.

It is however unclear if the crew of any of the other warship's, who also consisted mainly of Indonesians, would've been prepared to actually fire in anger at the mutineers as the grievances that led to the mutiny where widespread in the Dutch navy and the morale of the crews was very low. The crews of the flying boats, which were almost entirely manned by Dutchmen, had no such inhibitions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNLMS_De_Z ... the_Indies

Back to Spain,

Greetz,
Dreeze

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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3293

Post by Ironmachine » 21 Aug 2013, 19:28

Thanks.
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What is happening here and which ships are involved?

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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3294

Post by Polar bear » 21 Aug 2013, 21:52

hi,

This is the Spanish battleship ESPANA run aground off Morocco, the submarine rescue ship KANGURO assisting in the removal of the heavy guns.

greetings, the pb
Peace hath her victories no less renowned than War
(John Milton, the poet, in a letter to the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652)

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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3295

Post by Ironmachine » 22 Aug 2013, 07:45

Correct.
Over to you.
Regards.

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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3296

Post by Polar bear » 23 Aug 2013, 14:14

hi,

another ship (only one, and not quite complete), another year ...

greetings, the pb
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Peace hath her victories no less renowned than War
(John Milton, the poet, in a letter to the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652)

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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3297

Post by Rob Stuart » 23 Aug 2013, 16:07

Aircraft carrier Akagi in Kure naval shipyard on April 6, 1925.

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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3298

Post by Polar bear » 23 Aug 2013, 19:11

hi, Rob,

quite right !

over to Canada!

greetings, the pb
Peace hath her victories no less renowned than War
(John Milton, the poet, in a letter to the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652)

Rob Stuart
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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3299

Post by Rob Stuart » 23 Aug 2013, 19:45

Thanks pb.

This may be easy: What is happening in this 1936 photo?
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Dreeze
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Re: The official AHF Inter-War quiz thread

#3300

Post by Dreeze » 23 Aug 2013, 21:45

Well, it is the Canadian first world war memorial near Vimy ridge, France. But I don't know on which occassion..

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