All Questions
Tagged with second-world-war or world-war-two
1,664 questions
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How much help did the Royal Navy give over land during the Battle of Britain?
By Battle of Britain I refer to the air conflict of summer/fall 1940 over southern Britain.
The British Royal Air Force were outnumbered in aircraft something like 2550 to 1960 according to the ...
- 105k
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Did PM Curtin actually say "...from one hour ago, Australia has been at war with the Japanese Empire"?
One hour after Japanese bombers struck at Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941, Prime Minister John Curtin of Australia declared that "from one hour ago, Australia has been at war with the ...
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Can anyone provide context for a skirmish at "Derry Moon Asseeb"?
Forty years or so ago I was told a story by an Oxford linguist: he'd been attached to Monty's army as an intelligence officer, after undergoing training which included hours every day reading captured ...
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In 1944, were American civilians able to buy 5 US gallon jerrycans?
In 1944 USA, were civilians able to buy empty 5 US gallon jerrycans, the type of metallic containers used by the military. Especially in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and other states in the North-...
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How did gas restrictions work in the United States during the 1940's? [duplicate]
Sorry for my bad English here (I'm French speaking)...
I'm writing an adventure novel occurring in October 1944, in the USA. A woman (lets call her Alice) is working as a scientist in a military ...
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Are there any surviving PHOTOS of James J Kilroy's ship inspection marks? [duplicate]
Three days ago, I asked this question:
Are there any surviving examples of James J Kilroy's ship inspection marks?
Despite a good number of up votes, there have been no responses. Not even ...
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2
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Could Engima have been broken during WWII if the Germans had used best practices? [closed]
It's pretty common knowledge (as outlined by the answer in this question: "This telegram must be closely paraphrased before being communicated to anyone." Why? and other sources) that one of ...
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Did the Battle of Midway change US carrier doctrine, if so, how?
I recently watched this 15 minute animated YouTube video about the battle of Midway.
Though the United States had the element of surprise from better intelligence, they lost a remarkable amount of ...
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"This telegram must be closely paraphrased before being communicated to anyone." Why?
Some historical documents from WWII have a notice on them stating
This telegram must be closely paraphrased before being communicated to anyone.
The documents I've seen were received by the United ...
- 1,082
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Why did the early WW2 Japanese forces so outperform their Western opponents at jungle warfare?
If you read things like the fall of Singapore, you'll see the British really struggled at fighting the Japanese in the jungle in 1941 and 1942.
To paraphrase what I heard listening to a podcast:
WW2 ...
- 7,883
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Which sort of troops were Axis casualties at the end of North African campaign?
End of North African front:
The chronology of events says that the defeated Axis army retreated in Libya and then Tunisia while French North Africa was invaded when Axis forces landed there from ...
- 7,704
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When did (and who in) the French command come up with the idea that the Ardennes were impassable?
One of the reasons the French were defeated was that they believed the Ardennes to be impassable for modern armies. The Germans took a big risk, admittedly, but it paid off handsomely.
As a young man, ...
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Did Nobel laureate Böll wish to go to war?
I was watching an interview with the late Reich-Ranicki. Around 4:45 the moderator states that Heinrich Böll wanted to go to the frontsee below. This, knowing Böll's religious and (early as well as ...
- 2,670
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Why were U-Boat attacks on naval vessels (especially destroyers) such a rare occurrence?
I can understand why the U-Boats didn't attack naval vessels when the ships were aware of their presence, particularly in situations where the Allies were using the convey system. But I don't often ...
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How did the military in the Scandinavian countries compare 1940?
A few years ago, Sweden's former prime minister and later foreign secretary Carl Bildt caused a minor scandal with the following tweet:
"The defense forces of 🇸🇪 in 1940 weren’t stellar, but ...
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