The official AHF Poland quiz thread

[gebhk]

Foker F VII trimotors of 211 bomber squadron. Interestingly this type of aircraft (even possibly the very same ones on the pic) were to carry the first operational parachute drop intro East Prussia. Unfortunately the train carrying the paratroops was delayed by bombing on the way to the air base asnd the polanes were damaged on the ground, so that was that and the Germans beat the Poles to that record..... unless the Japanese had already done so - we Europeans tend to forget about them!

[durb]

Fokker F VII m3 they indeed were - according to my sources only one of these planes was shot down by Germans, some others being destroyed on ground and quite many made it to Romania in Sept. 1939. When it comes to paratroop operations - AFAIK, first known Japanese soldiers to parachute into combat were marine paratroops in January 1942 over Sulawesi (Celebes) island of nowadays Indonesia. The first known paratroop operation outside of Europe is probably this: during the Peruvian-Ecuadorian war of 1941 Peruvian paratrooper company was dropped into combat and on 27.7.1941 it seized the town of Puerto Bolivar in Ecuador.

But that dealt I pass the torch forward...

[crolick]

So, no answers.
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/ships/usn/ ... [quote]USS Gambier Bay CVE-73
USN Casablanca Class Escort Carrier

Polish Navy Sailors Aboard
In early 1944, after a successful agreement between the US Navy and the Polish Navy, USS Gambier Bay accepted a number of Polish sailors who were to train themselves in modern naval warfare. When lost, 35 Polish officers were killed on the ship.

Who wants to ask another question?[/quote]
Hello Henryk - not sure what is the source of this information but it is simply not true.

There was no agreement between PN and USN and no Polish personnel (enlisted into PN) was killed on that date.

[henryk]

crolick, you may be right. The moderator of the Polish History Forum, Historycy.org, has requested source of the item from the Pacific Wrecks site:
http://www.historycy.org/index.php?show ... 15/04/2014, 22:18 Quote Post

A wiec mamy zagadke. Czy strona Pacific Wrecks napisala cos niezgodnego z prawda - czy tez bedzie to zaskakujace odkrycie ?
Pacific Wrecks ma adres internetowy wiec pozwolilem sobie napisac do nich nastepujacy email:

To whom it may concern:
Let me introduce myself:
I am a Moderator in charge of Second World War section on the biggest Polish history Forum named Historycy.org. We have over 90 thousand registred users. One of the users founded your Web page and on the page concerning history of US escort carrier Gambier Bay encountered interesting information.
I quote:

Polish Navy Sailors Aboard
In early 1944, after a successful agreement between the US Navy and the Polish Navy, USS Gambier Bay accepted a number of Polish sailors who were to train themselves in modern naval warfare. When lost, 35 Polish officers were killed on the ship.

To the best of our knowledge, no such an information exists in any of the publication concerning activities of ships and seamen of Polish Navy during WW II. I am sure you understand that information located on your Web page created quite a excitement among users. We will appreciate very much if you can provide us with additional information about those Polish sailors who died during the bbattle on the board of Gambier Bay.
Can you also provide us with any kind of documentation or book references about those sailors.
Anticipating your answer
Very Truly Yours

Zobaczymy czy odpowiedza a jesli odpowiedza to co takiego napisza[/quote]

[gebhk]

Thanks Durb

I guess Denmark remains as the first operational use of paratroopers then.

Another easy one: what was the most significant Polish contribution to the Allied victory at El Alamein?

[durb]

Just browsing web and this came up:

"Polish engineer and signals officer, Lt. Jozef Kosacki, stationed in Scotland, had designed a Mine Detector that was to be used for the first time in action. His design was accepted by British Command and five hundred of these were immediately sent to the British Eighth Army at El Alamein. Kosacki´s Metal Detectors doubled the speed at which heavily mined sands could be cleared, from around 100 to about 200 meters an hour. "

I´m not 100 % sure if Kosacki´s innovation is the right answer. I put it just as a guess and hope to have good luck with it.

IIRC, there was a Polish brigade in North Africa.

[gebhk]

You are quite right - the Mine Detector Polish Mk 1 was first used in combat in the battle of El Alamein. About 500 units helped speed up advances through mined areas up to twice over and created opportunities to outflank the Axis from unexpected quarters. Urban legend has it that Kosacki was stimulated to resurrect the prewar design to allow quicker access to local girls for his mates via mined beaches. In reality it was a response to a WO specification for a mine detector to help reposition minefields in Scotland. The basic concept was developed before the war in Poland by the AVA radio company's special projects section, oddly not as a mine detector but a device for the artillery for the detection of buried duds on training grounds. The Mk1s last descendant, the Mk 4c, served in the First Gulf War in 1991 and remained in service till 1995.

Over to you, sir.

[durb]

Thanks.

Who?

[durb]

It seems to nobody comes with an suggestion and answer. The pilot above (previous post) is Stanislaw Skalski. The floor is now open for anyone who wants to post next question.

[4thskorpion]

Q: Since this year is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of KL Auschwitz, what was the Auschwitz "submarine"?

[4thskorpion]

Q: Since this year is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of KL Auschwitz, what was the Auschwitz "submarine"?

...no takers!

The answer

In his later 1945 report about Auschwitz, Witold Pilecki mentions a “submarine” in regard to his plans for escape from the camp; “….There was also the so-called underground “submarine” with a permanent crew, but I could not include it in my plans.”

It has been claimed that a few inmates had discovered a disused underground fuel tank, which they equipped with an electricity supply and a well-concealed periscope! Nicknamed the "submarine" in Pilecki's report it is unclear what use Pilecki's camp resistance could have had for the "submarine"? After direct enquiries the Auschwitz museum confirmed it has no record of such an underground fuel tank so Pilecki's Auschwitz "submarine" remains a mystery.

http://witoldsreport.blogspot.co.uk/200 ... rt-by.html

[Sarek]

I give another;

When and which German unit first entered Czestochowa in 1939?
What is the incident called and why?

That is four questions, is it to many?

Sarek

[Mischa]

After the outbreak of World War II Germans they entered the center 3 September 1939 and the next day made the murders which have passed into history as the bloody Monday. During the occupation took place repression aimed at the social elite and the Jewish population. In 1942. Created was created for the growing number of incoming German community separate district.
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cz%C4%99stochowa#Historia

[Ponury]

Old military barracks in the small Polish town of Kutno. What famous european marshal in 1920 served in their ministry?

[pbickle@ihug.co.nz]

Was it Edward Smigly-Rydz?