Pivotal Battles Through the Ages Quiz

Answer: Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

Rommel commanded the German Afrika-Korps, which also included a large Italian element. Paulus was the commander of the German 6th Army at the Battle of Stalingrad. Falkenhorst was the general who planned the German invasion of Denmark and Norway. Guderian was a tank soldier, recognised as the founder of the Blitzkreig style of combined forces assault.

When the opening barrage of the battle started on the night of 23 Oct 42, Rommel was on sick leave, with his deputy, Gen Stumme in command. The following day, 24 Oct 42, Stumme died of a heart attack and General Ritter Thoma assumed command. That same day, Hitler requested that Rommel return to duty, and he was back in his headquarters on 25 Oct 42, where he directed the Axis forces for the remaining 9 days or so of the battle.

During the El Alamein campaign, around half of Rommel's 105,000-man army was killed, wounded or taken prisoner. He also lost over 450 tanks and 1,000 guns. These losses, coupled with the Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria to the rear of Rommel's army, signalled the beginning of the end for the Afrika Korps. By May 1943, despite some setbacks, the Allied victory was complete, with the surrender of the entire Afrika-Korps.

El Alamein is regarded as pivotal, since the loss of North Africa denied Hitler access to the Suez Canal and the oilfields of the Middle East, important strategic objectives.

Answer: Marathon

Using superior tactics, the outnumbered Greeks defeated the Persians and drove them back on to their invasion ships. Fearing that the Persians would simply sail a little further round the coast and take Athens, Miltiades despatched a messenger to run back to Athens to warn them of a possible attack.

The runner, Phidippides, ran the 26 miles or so back to Athens, so the Athenians were prepared when Darius' ships came in to view. On seeing that the Athenians were ready for battle, Darius sailed away in defeat. According to legend, Phidippides died of exhaustion, having fought all day before making his epic run.

This battle paved the way for further victories and, ultimately, the upsurge in confidence that led to the flowering of the Greek civilisation.

Answer: Hawker Hurricane

This may surprise many people. Although the Spitfire had a superior performance, the Hurricanes were much more numerous at this stage of the war. It was a very stable gun platform and could take a lot of punishment and still bring its pilot home. The Messerschmidt Bf 109 was a formidable foe, but was working out at the limit of its range during the Battle, so the pilot was frequently constrained by the fuel left.

The FW 190 did not enter service until August 1941, nearly a year after the Battle of Britain.

Answer: Trafalgar

The superior seamanship and gun-handling of the Royal Navy, combined with Nelson's brilliant tactics resulted in a major defeat for Napoleon. The outcome ensured British supremacy at sea for the next 100 years, and led Napoleon to abandon any plans he had for the invasion of Britain. Sadly, Nelson was shot by a French marine sniper during the battle, but lived long enough to know that he had achieved a great victory.

The other options were also Nelsonian naval victories.

Answer: Admiral Nagumo

Admiral Togo, a major Japanese hero, lived earlier, and served in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904. Admiral Yamamoto commanded the Japanese Fleet at the Battle of Midway in 1942. Admiral Tagaki commanded the Japanese Fleet at the Battle of the Coral Sea, also in 1942. Nagumo's assault on Pearl Harbor was truly a turning point in WW2, since it finally brought America into the war.

Answer: Jutland

Fought between the German High Seas Fleet under Admiral Scheer, and the British Grand Fleet under Admiral Jellicoe, this was the largest ever battle of its kind. Both sides claimed victory. Numerically, in terms of men killed and ships sunk, the Germans achieved a tactical victory. However the damage sustained by the survivors of the German Fleet meant long repairs, while the Royal Navy, by virtue of its superior numbers, could absorb its losses more readily. On his return to his base at Scapa Flow in the Shetland Islands, Jellicoe signalled the Admiralty that the Fleet would be ready for sea once again in four hours.

The German Fleet would never again put to sea until after the Armistice, when they were "rounded up" and taken to the anchorage at Scapa Flow in the Shetlands.

Answer: Amiens

Ludendorff's quote reflected his concern at the morale of his troops and their readiness to capitulate, rather than at the numbers of men or guns lost. The gains made by the Allies on the first day of the battle were spectacular, and owed much to the outstanding bravery and determination of the Canadian divisions, and the competence - not a word you normally associate with WWI leaders - of their commander, General Arthur W Currie.

The period following the battle became known as the "Hundred Days", with the Allies pushing the Germans further and further back. Morale in Germany fell ever faster, with mutinies and revolts breaking out in the German Army and Navy. With the spectre of revolution looming across Germany, and to prevent the mutinies spreading to the front-line troops, the German High Command insisted that the government seek an armistice. The Armistice was signed by Ludendorff and the French commander, Marshal Foch, at 05:00 on the 11th November 1918, and the guns fell silent at 11.00 that same morning. Germany's surrender was ratified in the Treaty of Versailles in May 1919.

Answer: Benedict Arnold

Up till the second part of the Battle of Saratoga, Benedict Arnold had fought with distinction for the Patriot side during the American War of Independence from Britain. Halfway through the battle he was effectively relieved of his command by General Horatio Gates, but then went on to lead a series of charges which broke the British line, ultimately leading to their defeat. After the battle, Arnold was exonerated and ultimately posted as commandant of the fort at West Point, New York in 1780. An extravagant man, he fell into debt: tarnished at Congress, facing financial ruin and court-martial for "creative accounting", he offered the British Commander, Sir Henry Clinton, the intelligence information Clinton needed to carry out an attack on Fort West Point and its some 3000 defenders for 20,000 pounds sterling. The plan was discovered when his intermediary with the British, Major John Andre, was caught with the incriminating documents in Arnold's handwriting. Andre was executed as a spy; Arnold fled on a British ship and then went on to serve the British cause as well as he had earlier served the American cause.

An easy question for Americans - Benedict Arnold's name is something of a colloquialism in the US for a traitor (much like Quisling in Norway). He was generally treated with scorn and contempt by his adopted nation of Britain, where his name in now almost unknown.

I have chosen Saratoga as a pivotal battle, since it demonstrated that American Revolutionaries could defeat the British Army unaided. This message was sufficient to embolden France enough to enter the War of Independence on the American side, making the outcome almost inevitable.

Answer: Stalingrad

Before the battle, the city of Stalingrad had a population of some 500,000 people. By the end of the battle, close to 1.5 million people had perished (estimates vary). Germany never recovered from her losses: the vital strategic oilfields of the Caucasus were closed off to her, and the Soviet Armies began a series of offensives, which took them to Berlin itself. Of a German army of 300,000 men only 91,000 were left alive to surrender: of these only some 5,000 survived the gulags to make it home again to Germany.

Answer: Lord Charles Howard of Effingham

Many people assume that the commander was Sir Francis Drake; in fairness, Howard frequently referred to Drake, his Vice-Admiral, in matters of tactics and seamanship.

The Armada's objective was to guard the Channel from the Dutch and English fleets, while a 16,000-strong Spanish invasion force under the Duke of Parma crossed the Channel from Flanders in barges where, supplemented by the 17,000 troops carried on the Armada itself, they would march on London and take the capital. In the event, the Armada was defeated at Gravelines by the smaller and handier ships of the English, and fled up the North Sea, to return home via the north coast of Scotland and the west coast of Ireland. Many were driven ashore and wrecked on the rocky Scottish and Irish shores by terrible gales, with less than half of the 130 ships of the Armada making it back to Spain. Of those wrecked, many Spaniards were killed out of hand by hostile natives, although in some places the Spaniards were made welcome, many settling in their new homes and intermarrying with the local inhabitants, and traces of their Spanish lineage can be seen in their descendants to this day.