WWII History Quiz

Hurley was the photographer for Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, Mawson and Shackleton’s Antarctic expeditions, as well as an official Australian photographer during both the First and Second World Wars.

Read about the Scrap Iron Flotilla in this article, or watch a video that includes interviews with veterans who served on the ships.

Originally planned as a wholly British and Commonwealth Naval operation, when the size of the forces to be landed in the first wave was increased from three divisions to five divisions US Navy was added to the operation. Around 80% of the vessels involved were British or Canadian.

The last major Japanese naval operation of the war, it saw the Japanese battleship Yamato and nine other Japanese warships attempt a suicide attack on Allied forces engaged in the Battle of Okinawa. The Japanese force was attacked by U.S. carrier-borne aircraft before it could reach Okinawa; Yamato and five other Japanese warships were sunk. 10 American aircraft were shot down.

A Mid-Atlantic air gap were U-boats could operate out of range of most aircraft was eventually ‘closed’ in 1943, with a force of VLR Liberators (Very Long Range models). The Kriegsmarine lost 287 U-boats to aircraft, a quarter of these were lost to the Liberator.

In January 1941 Australian forces fought their first major battle of World War II. Bardia, a small town on the coast of Libya, some 30 km from the Egyptian border, was an Italian stronghold. The Australian troops occupied Bardia, defeating the Italians in a little over 3 days.

The tank had an excellent gun and very strong front armour. However, it could not be repaired easily, most that were damaged or had mechanical faults had to be abandoned and destroyed by their own crews, as the size of the tank made it very difficult to recover. It was also not built in sufficient quantities to impact the outcome of the war.

Members of the RAAF, AIF and CMF were awarded 20 VCs between 1941-45. None were awarded to the RAN. By comparison, 64 were awarded to Australians during WW1. Ordinary Seaman Edward (Teddy) Sheean was also posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia in 2020 for his actions aboard HMAS Armidale in 1942, giving the RAN their first VC, 78 years after the event.

Stalin's son, Yakov Dzhugashvili, was a lieutenant in an artillery unit, and was captured by the Germans in 1941. Stalin was angered that his son had surrendered. Yakov Dzhugashvili died at Sachsenhausen concentration camp two years after he was captured, Stalin then softened his stance towards Dzhugashvili.

The USA entered the ground war against Germany with Operation Torch, a British-American invasion of Vichy French North Africa which assumed there would be little to no resistance. However, Vichy French forces put up a strong and bloody resistance to the Allies in Oran and Morocco. This led to an Allied invasion of Tunisia, where the Americans saw combat against the Germans.