Silenced by the Night Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Dambusters Raid

The British Air Ministry had identified the highly industrialized Ruhr Valley as a strategic target during World War II, in particular the dams within the region. These reservoirs were more than just a source of hydroelectric power, they also provided the area's steel mills with a vital pure water supply, the valley's drinking water and was a source for the canals to ensure that transportation channels were maintained.

The specially crafted "bouncing bombs" used in this mission were designed by Barnes Wallis, the assistant chief designer at the Vickers plant. They were vital to the mission as they could be dropped by the planes from a distance, away from their targets, and they zeroed in on the dams like a stone skimming over water. The original idea of using standard bombs was quashed because they would have been ineffective against the dams due to their inability to be dropped with a great deal of accuracy.

To ensure surprise, the operation was launched under the cover of darkness on 16th May 1943. The British were able to destroy both the Mohne and Edersee dams, which caused severe flooding throughout the Ruhr. It would be five months before the region was able to return to production. The Royal Air Force (RAF) lost eight aircraft and 56 crew during the raids.

Answer: Vlad III the Impaler

In 1462, as part of Mehmet's conquest of the Balkans, the sultan began his advance on Wallachia. In an effort to impede him and his forces, Vlad instituted a "scorched earth" policy, which saw the destruction of his country's crops, the killing of livestock and the poisoning of drinking water. He went so far as to send civilians riddled with diseases such as leprosy, the plague and syphilis to infiltrate and infect the Turkish ranks.

Knowing that he could not face the Turks in an open field confrontation, Vlad launched a daring surprise attack on Mehmet's forces at night, descending on his opponent with some 10,000 cavalry. The Turks lost a great number of soldiers, though it was felt that most of these casualties were self inflicted, a result of confusion created by the night-time chaos. As the Turks fought amongst themselves, the raiders disappeared into the darkness.

However, whilst the Turkish casualties numbered in the thousands, the mission failed in its primary goal - to assassinate Mehmet - and the sultan would, once again, resume his march on the city of Targoviste.

Answer: Black Hawk Down

The United States, along with the United Nations, became involved with the conflict in Somalia with the aim of protecting the food aid sent to areas affected by famine as a result of the civil war within the country. On 3rd October, 1993, the US launched Operation Gothic Serpent, a mission designed to kidnap two of Mohamed Farrah Aidid's top lieutenants, which would severely impact upon the Somali National Alliance's chain of command.

The planned one hour assault came awry when three US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, two of which crashed deep within the opposition's territory. Surrounded by thousands of enemy troops, the mission now became a desperate defense of the survivors of the two crashed aircraft. Fighting, which lasted throughout the night was fierce and bloody. Eighteen US soldiers were killed and 73 were wounded before a heavily armoured United Nations convoy was able to extract the stranded troops.

Answer: The Philippines

Tens of thousands of US troops were taken prisoner after the Battle of Bataan and were submitted to enduring, what became known as, the Bataan Death March. They were delivered to various prison camps across the Philippines and, of these, a little over 500 US troops, Allied soldiers and civilians were sent to Cabanatuan, where they were subjected to brutal conditions, including torture and starvation.

Fearing that these prisoners were likely to be executed prior to Douglas MacArthur and his forces arriving at Luzon, a rescue bid, that became known as The Great Raid, was launched on 30th January 1945. Using the cloak of night, a team comprised of US Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrillas launched a coordinated attack on the camp that took the Japanese by complete surprise, inflicting heavy losses upon them.

The rescue was achieved with minimal losses to the Allies but, while the rescue of the POWs was of the utmost importance, the upshot of the mission was that the prisoners were able to tell their tales of the miseries that they endured and this hardened the resolve of the Allies to arrive at a quicker end to the Japanese involvement in the war.

Answer: Postmaster

British Intelligence discovered that Italy and Germany were using the harbour at Santa Isabel on Bioko to dock ships that were re-supplying Axis U-boats in the Atlantic Ocean. To neutralize this threat they needed to tread warily because the island was Spanish territory and Spain, in this conflict, was a neutral country.

The sting came in the form of a swanky party on the island to which they were able to coax the captains and the crew of the supply ships. While they were enjoying the festivities, British commandos, under the cover of darkness, snuck into the harbour, cut the moorings and towed away three ships. This successfully crippled naval logistics for the Axis nations and also increased the flagging moral of the British... all without a single shot being fired.

Answer: Idi Amin

On 27th June, 1976, an Air France Airbus left Tel Aviv for Paris. It didn't get there, as two Palestinian PFLP-EO members and two German RZ affiliates managed to hijack the plane during its stopover in Athens. From there the plane was diverted to Uganda via Libya, where they were met by another squad of terrorists and 100 soldiers supplied by Idi Amin.

The terrorists demanded the release of a series of prisoners allied to their cause, before releasing 148 non-Israelis and retained the rest and the crew as hostages. Israel's rescue mission, which was abetted by Uganda's neighbour, Kenya, involved a 4,000 kilometre (2,500 mile) flight under the cover of darkness on July 3, before their engagement with the extremists. As a result of the raid, all seven hijackers were killed along with 45 of Amin's soldiers, and many of the Ugandan Air Force planes were destroyed. Despite the loss of three hostages and one Israeli soldier, the mission was considered a success.

The aftermath was a different story. Another Israeli hostage, Dora Bloch, was murdered in her hospital bed in Uganda. She'd previously fallen ill and was transferred out of the hijacked plane to receive medical attention. In addition, incensed at the support provided by Kenya, President Amin ordered the deaths of all Kenyans living in Uganda and, whilst some 3,000 of them managed to flee the country in time, 245 of their countrymen were slain.

Answer: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

The Congo gained its independence from Belgium on 30th June, 1960, with Lumumba as its first Prime Minister. Within days the army mutinied and, fearing for the welfare of their citizens and their significant mining interests within the DRC, Belgium sent in her troops.

Added to this was the quest for secession by the mineral rich provinces of Katanga and South Kasai, whose quest was receiving tacit support from Western powers. Desperately Lumumba turned to both the United Nations and the Soviet Union for support which, both the United States and Belgium saw as a threat, This triggered a coup, led by one of Lumumba's trusted allies, Colonel Joseph Mobutu, in late 1960, a coup that also appeared to have the fingerprints of the US's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), upon it. Mobutu seized power, and had Lumumba kidnapped and transferred to Katanga.

On the night of 17th January, 1961 Lumumba was hauled away into the bush and executed by a firing squad, supervised by Belgian army officers. His body was buried where it fell. In a bid to remove all evidence of the crime, Belgian soldiers would later dig up the body, hack it to pieces and have the parts dissolved in sulphuric acid.

Answer: No

Under orders from US President Jimmy Carter, eight US Navy helicopters left the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Their plan was to rendezvous at a remote desert location in Iran, codenamed Desert One. There, they would refuel and, the next night, deliver commandos to the embassy to rescue the hostages.

Only six of the helicopters made it to Desert One courtesy of an unexpected sandstorm, which severely restricted visibility. Worse, one of the six had a cracked rotor blade and was unlikely to reach its target. As the task required a minimum force of six helicopters to succeed, the call was made to abort the mission. In the chaos that followed, one of the helicopters collided with the refueling plane, destroying both aircraft and killing eight US personnel.

Answer: Delaware

The Revolution appeared to be at the point of collapse. Washington's Continental Army had suffered a series of demoralizing defeats and, with the end of the year approaching, so too was the expiry date of most of his army's enlistments.

In a bold move, under the cover of darkness, Washington ferried troops, horses and artillery across the Delaware River on Christmas night. This was not without risk from Mother Nature... the river was, at the time, being hammered by a storm and the waters were freezing. However, the tactic allowed him to spring a surprise attack on the Hessian forces based at Trenton. They swiftly took the town and, soon after, secured another victory at the Battle of Princeton.

Morale and optimism received a huge boost. This led to a strong number of troops re-enlisting and allowed Washington's army to remain firm until support from the French arrived.

Answer: Neptune

As stated above, Operation Overlord covered the entirety of the plan to invade Western Europe on 6th June 1944. The amphibious assault, Operation Neptune, involved 160,000 troops from Canada, Great Britain and the United States landing on five heavily fortified beaches. Spearheading Operation Neptune was the dropping of some 23,400 paratroopers behind enemy lines under the cover of darkness. Their task was to secure strategic roads, bridges and towns to prevent German reinforcements reaching the coast, thus protecting the vulnerable Allied flanks.

The British 6th Airborne (approximately 7,900 paratroopers) were able to achieve a concentrated landing and complete their key objectives. The US 82nd and 101st Airborne groups (approximately 15,500) ran into severe weather and some intense anti-aircraft fire, causing their paratroopers to be scattered across a wide area. Worse, many were to drown in flooded fields or were shot down as they tried to land in the towns. Such was the chaos, it is estimated that barely 15% of these men were able to reach their rendezvous. Remarkably, this created a sort of paradox. Whilst, on the surface, it appeared to be a disaster, the German High Command became convinced that this was the real assault and the beach landing was merely a diversion, which led them to, critically, holding back their armoured divisions from protecting the beaches.