Battle Facts - Part III Quiz | Historical Battles

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Preserving food in sealed, airtight containers was invented for British forces during World War I, and as a result the famous tinned bully-beef was created.

Answer: False

A French inventor by the name of Nicholas Appert came up with the idea of storing food in airtight containers in 1795. Napoleon wanted a better way of storing food for his armies so he offered a prize for the best invention. Appert took up the challenge and won the prize.
Appert's efforts would lead British inventor, Peter Durand, to take the process one step further in 1810, and he introduced food preserved in tin cans.

2. According to popular belief, during the Second World War, the first fatality created as a result of the first Allied bomb to land on Berlin was ______________________?

Answer: An elephant.

Berlin's one and only elephant died when the first bomb hit Berlin. During the war over 3,000 animals died in the Berlin zoo. The zoo was fortified during the war and was an important area of resistance in the final days of the Battle of Berlin.

3. "Limey" (the slang name for Britons used by the Americans) came about because British sailors were issued lemons and/or limes on-board their navy ships.

Answer: True

Scurvy was a major problem for sailors on the naval ships of the British fleets. As an example, in 1768 the British explorer, Captain James Cook, had a crew complement of 98 men during his first voyage, he lost 41 of those men to scurvy.

Scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C.

To combat this, by 1795 all sailors were issued with lemons or limes. The "yanks" started to call the British sailors "Limeys" and the name stuck.

4. The Roman army used superior military tactics to defeat their enemies in battle. Which of these terms are NOT a weapon or hand held defensive object?

Answer: Ausilia.

The Ausilia were the auxiliary troops that protected the flanks (sides) of the attacking Roman foot soldiers.

The gladius was a sword, the Pila was a javelin and the scuta was a shield.

The Romans did not believe in allowing the enemy to escape from their clutches during battle. They believed that by removing the maximum number of enemy soldiers on the battlefield at the time would ultimately lead to complete victory.

5. What was the name of the submarine that launched the first ever submarine attack?

Answer: The Turtle.

The Turtle was a one-man operated submarine that attempted to sink the HMS Eagle, but failed.

The Hunley takes out the honour to be the first submarine to sink an enemy ship during combat.

U-47 ( a German U-Boat) sunk the HMS Royal Oak.

The USS Nautilus was the first nuclear powered submarine.

6. The first submarine attack occurred during what war?

Answer: The American Revolution (1776)

The Turtle attempted to sink the HMS Eagle in 1776, during the American Revolution. The operator was Sgt. Ezra Lee of Continental Army. The plan failed.

A replica of the submarine can be seen at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport, England.

7. According to the British version of events, what sank the German U-Boat, U-28, in 1917 during an attack on the English vessel, the SS Olive Branch?

Answer: A truck landed on it.

U-28 attacked the SS Olive Branch in the Arctic Sea on 2 September 1917. The submarine fired a torpedo that did not successfully sink the ship that was carrying munitions and other supplies. The submarine surfaced and closed in to finish off the doomed ship with cannon fire.

The second shell detonated the live munition cargo with a massive explosion that reportedly hurled a truck (part of the cargo) into the air. The truck landed on top of U28 and subsequently sunk it. Speculation has been raised after the event indicating that the explosion may have caused the submarine to be hit swamped by a large wave that capsized it.

8. Nine days before the USS Arizona was sunk by dive bombers at Pearl Harbor, a photo of the ship was released with the captioned words: "It is significant that despite the claims of air enthusiasts no battleship has yet been sunk by bombs".

Answer: True

The photo was part of a programme for the yearly US Army-Navy football game. The programme featured a photo of the Arizona with the above mentioned caption on the 29th of November, 1941.

On the 7th of December, 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour and sank the Arizona taking with it 1,177 lives. The ship is now part of a memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

9. The name of the squadron that was led by Manfred "the Red Baron" Von Richthofen during World War One was known as the Flying _____________?

Answer: Circus

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a fighter pilot in World War I. He had 80 confirmed kills making him a fighter "ace".

He was also known as the Red Baron and the Red Devil.

The unit was known as the Flying Circus because of the tents they used when they moved locations, and also because of their colourful planes.

10. On 1 September 1939, German troops invaded Poland and World War II commenced. As part of the Blitzkrieg tactics the Germans overwhelmed the Poles in just over a month. In terms of material losses for the German Army, in what order did the losses occur? (highest losses of equipment to the lowest)

Answer: Vehicles, motorcycles, tanks, artillery.

The Germans lost:
6,046 vehicles.
5,538 motorcycles.
674 tanks.
195 pieces of artillery.

About 16,000 men died and 32,000 were wounded.

The Poles lost over 66,000 men in deaths and 133,700 wounded. Over 687,000 men became prisoners of war.

(Source - Osprey's Battles of WW2: Poland 1939, by Steven Zaloga)

Source: Author Lssah

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Battle Facts - Part III Trivia Quiz

Welcome to part three of this series - and enjoy!

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