World War II Flashcards
The Japanese launched a surprise attack on which base for the US Pacific fleet on 7 December 1941?
PEARL HARBOR
What name was given to the German operation for the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1942?
BARBAROSSA
After the fall of France in June 1940, where was the French government of Marshall Petain based?
VICHY
Who took over command of the Afrika Korps in February 1941?
ERWIN ROMMEL
Which monastery stood at the centre of the Gustav line in Central Italy?
MONTE CASSINO
What was the name of the B-29 superfortress captained by Paul Tibbetts which dropped the first atomic bomb ‘Little Boy’ on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945?
ENOLA GAY
What two word term was used to describe the period on the Western Front from September 1939 and until the Battle of France in May 1940?
PHONEY WAR
Fought between 23 October and 5 November 1942, the Allied victory at which battle turned the tide in the North African Campaign?
EL ALAMEIN
Which British battlecruiser was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic during the Battle of the Denmark Strait?
HMS HOOD
Where was an agreement signed in 1938 permitting Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland?
MUNICH
What was the name of the Allied project aimed at producing nuclear weapons?
MANHATTAN
What name was given to the operation to evacuate 340,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk from 26 May to 3 June 1940?
OPERATION DYNAMO
Which line of concrete and steel defences stretched between Luxembourg and Switzerland along France’s border with Germany?
MAGINOT LINE
The siege of which Russian city lasted from 8 September 1942 until January 1944?
LENINGRAD
Who became the Nazi-aligned Minister-President of Norway in February 1942?
VIDKUN QUISLING
Which US commander was known as ‘old blood and guts’?
GEORGE PATTON
What name was given to the battle when German forces attempted a breakthrough in the Ardennes region in December 1944?
BATTLE OF THE BULGE
Which Admiral was appointed Reich President in April 1945 after Hitler’s suicide?
KARL DÖNITZ
At which conference on 4 February 1945 did Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin discuss post-war spheres of influence?
YALTA
Also known as the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy, which agreement was signed on 22 May 1939?
PACT OF STEEL
Which naval battle of 3–6 June 1942 is viewed as a turning point in the Pacific war, with four Japanese aircraft carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu) all being sunk?
MIDWAY
Which of the five D-Day beaches was the landing point for the 3rd Canadian Division?
JUNO
Which battle of July 1944 is considered to be the largest tank battle in history?
KURSK AND/OR PROKHOROVKA
Which RAF squadron carried out Operation Chastise on 16/17 May 1943 which was also known as the Dambuster Raid?
617 SQUADRON
Where were 22,000 Polish officers, policemen and others massacred by the Soviet NKVD in April 1940?
KATYN FOREST
Who led air raids on Nagoya, Tokyo and Yokohama on 18 January 1942, the first by the US to strike the Japanese home islands during World War II?
JIMMY DOOLITTLE
Which US General commanded the Allied troops which entered Rome in June 1944?
MARK CLARK
Fought 27-29 March 1941, at which battle did a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Andrew Cunningham intercept and sink or severely damage the ships of the Italian Regia Marina under Admiral Angelo Iachino?
CAPE MATAPAN
The RAF’s first ‘Thousand Bomber Raid’ on 30 May 1942 was carried out against which German city?
COLOGNE
Which German battleship was sunk by RAF bombers from 617 Squadron in Tromso Fjord in November 1944?
TIRPITZ
Which Soviet medium tank produced from 1941 to 1958 is widely regarded to have been the world’s best tank when the Soviet Union entered World War II?
T-34
What type of aircraft were “Faith”, “Hope” and “Charity” which were used in the defence of Malta in 1940?
GLOSTER GLADIATORS
Who commanded the Chindits, who made incursions into Japanese-held Burma?
ORDE WINGATE
Who was known as the “Butcher of Lyon”?
KLAUS BARBIE
What nickname was given to the British commandos who conducted Operation Frankton, a raid on shipping in Bordeaux harbour on 7 December 1942?
COCKLESHELL HEROES
What codename was given to the Allied invasion of Sicily?
OPERATION HUSKY
Who was the commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain?
HUGH DOWDING
Who led the Yugoslav Partisans who were aligned with the Soviet Union?
JOSIP BROZ TITO
Which German Army surrendered at Stalingrad in February 1943?
6TH (SIXTH)
From where was the first successful launch of an A4-rocket made on 3 October 1942? This was the first man-made object to reach space.
PEENEMÜNDE
Which Czech village was destroyed on 9 June 1942 as reprisal for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich?
LIDICE
In which Algerian port did the British attack and destroy the French navy on 3 July 1940 to stop it falling into German hands?
MERS-EL-KÉBIR
What was the name of the first “Liberty Ship” which was launched on 30 December 1941?
SS PATRICK HENRY
Which naval battle of 19–20 June 1944 was nicknamed “The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”?
PHILIPPINE SEA
Where was a staged attack by Nazi forces posing as Poles against a German radio station made on 31 August 1939? This was used as an excuse for the invasion of Poland.
GLEIWITZ
Near which town on the River Elbe did the first contact between Soviet and American troops take place in Germany on 25 April 1945?
TORGAU
The sinking of which British Cunard liner on 17 June 1940 with the loss of an estimated 4,000 plus lives is the worst single loss of life in British maritime history?
RMS LANCASTRIA
Which Belgian fort was captured by German paratroops on 10 May 1940?
EBEN EMAEL
Who commanded U-47 which sank battleship HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow harbour on 14 October 1939?
GÜNTHER PRIEN
Fought 14–15 May 1945, which battle in Yugoslavia was the last major battle of World War II in Europe?
POLJANA
