Military Operation Names Quiz | Military Matters

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What was the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War Two named?

Answer: Barbarossa

Originally to be called Fritz after Colonel Bernhard Von Lossberg's son. Hitler disapproved and it was renamed after the folk name of 12th century Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick I who had brought the Slavs under Germanic control.

2. The US air raids on Libya in April 1986 were given what name?

Answer: Operation Eldorado Canyon

US President Reagan ordered reprisal strikes against Libya ten days after a terrorist attack in Berlin linked to Libya. Two US soldiers were killed after an explosion in the popular La Belle nightclub. 41 people were killed in the raids on Tripoli and Benghazi.

3. When Germany unleashed its V-1 and V-2 terror weapons on Britain in World War Two the RAF responded with an operation to find and destroy the German V weapon bases. What was this operation named?

Answer: Operation Crossbow

Reacting from intelligence reports, Winston Churchill ordered Operation Crossbow in May 1943. Launch sites and rocket production at Peenemunde had 36000 tonnes of bombs dropped upon them and by February 1944 73 of the 96 launch sites had been destroyed.

4. Operation Yonatan saw Israeli forces swing into action on the 3rd July 1976 in an attempt to rescue airline passengers being held where?

Answer: Entebbe

Named for the leader of the mission Lt Col Yonatan Netanyahu, who was killed during the raid, it was previously known as Operation Thunderbolt. 4 Hercules transport aircraft landed at Entebbe airport in Uganda and rescued the passengers of Air France flight 139. Three of the 103 hostages were killed during the mission along with six of the eight hijackers and over 40 Ugandan troops. One hostage, Dora Bloch, recovering from a choking fit in a Ugandan hospital was not rescued and was reportedly dragged from her bed and beaten to death by Ugandan soldiers after the raid.

5. The US invasion of Grenada went by which name?

Answer: Operation Urgent Fury

US Department of Defense Regulation 5200.1-R offers the following guidelines for the naming of activities. Make it meaningful. Identify and target the critical audiences. Be cautious of fashions. Make it memorable. Winston Churchill objected to the American name given to bomber raids on Romanian oilfields, "Soapsuds" suggesting it was a trivial name to give an exercise in which brave men may well die, and the name was changed to Tidal wave. Churchill wrote "Operations in which large numbers of men may lose their lives ought not to be described by code words which imply a boastful or overconfident sentiment, or, conversely, which are calculated to invest the plan with an air of despondency . . ..

They ought not to be names of a frivolous character . . ..

They should not be ordinary words often used in other connections . . .. Names of living people--Ministers and Commanders--should be avoided."

6. The destruction of German trains in France and Germany during World War 2 was given what fairly obvious name?

Answer: Operation Chattanooga Choo Choo

Operation names were given to keep the nature of the operation secret but in Operation Chattanooga Choo Choo there seems to have been little effort made to hide the operation's targets.

7. Operation Eagle Claw was the name given to which mission?

Answer: Rescuing US embassy staff held hostage in Iran

Planned as Operation Rice Bowl. The mission failed when a Sea Stallion helicopter collided with a C-130 Hercules killing 8 of the would be rescuers. Desert storms and equipment failure caused the mission to be aborted at the staging area "Desert One" on April 24th 1980. The hostages were eventually released on January 20 1981.

8. The planned German invasion of Britain during World War Two was given what code name?

Answer: Sealion

After the fall of France, Britain refused peace overtures from the Germans and Gross admiral Erich Raeder was given the responsibility of outlining invasion plans of Britain. He came up with four conditions that needed to be met before any invasion could be attempted.

They were; enemy naval forces were to be destroyed or unable to intervene, control of the air and the elimination of the RAF, coastal defenses to be destroyed, and British silent service activities against landing forces prevented. The invasion was postponed on September 17th 1940 and was eventually shelved altogether.

9. The United States invasion of Panama was given what name?

Answer: Operation Just Cause

Originally to be called Operation Blue Spoon. General James Lindsay, Commander in Chief of Special Operations Command asked the question "Do you want your grandchildren to say you were in Blue Spoon?" Apparently the answer was no and the name changed accordingly.

10. The Allied invasion of Northern Europe beginning with the Normandy landings became known as Operation ____?

Answer: Overlord

Churchill again intervened in the naming of this operation. Originally to be called Operation Roundhammer, a combination of two previous invasion codes, Sledgehammer and Round Up; the British called the name a "revolting neologism" and Churchill renamed it Operation Overlord.

Source: Author quogequox

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Stillman before going online.
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Military Operation Names Trivia Quiz

A quick quiz on the names given to various military operations over the years.

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