WW2 Trivia

The Doolittle raid was launched from the Hornet on April 18, 1942. The seventh USS Hornet ( CV-8 ) of the United States Navy was an Yorktown class aircraft carrier of World War II, notable for launching the Doolittle Raid, as a participant in the Battle of Midway, and for action in the Solomons before being mortally wounded in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hornet_(CV-8)
 
The Cooler King said:
Just to set the record straight...

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/HEINHE-178.htm

"Just one week before the outbreak of World War II, Germany flew the world's first jet aircraft. That plane was the Heinkel He-178 which, had its development been pushed, might have altered the course of history."

Because The Cooler King disputed my winning the time before last, I will pass my right to ask the next question to him.
 
Charles Havlat is thought to be the very last American soldier killed in action in the European operations of World War II. The son of Czech immigrants, he took a bullet in the head while on patrol in southern Bohemia; shot by German soldiers who were unaware that a ceasefire had been declared and whose commander later apologised.
Source: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/66298
 
Soldiers of the 101st Airborne in WWII had card symbols on their helmets and they can still be seen on 101st Division soldiers today. Can you name the card symbols and the Units (Regiments) associated with them.
 
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You got it, Cooler King. The 101st is made famous partly by their helmet decorations. The soldiers used card symbols (the spade, heart, and club) to indicate the regiment to which they belonged.
502nd Airborne: Heart
327th Glider: Club
506th Infantry: Spade
501st Infantry: Diamond

What's your source? Here's mine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101st_Airborne
 
I had that picture lying around on my hard drive. I am pretty sure I got it from the Wild Bill Guarneresite. You know, some of the 82nd Airborne regiments had helmet insignia too. I can't find the site I saw it on though. Give me a little bit to find a new question.
 
During World War I, both Germany and the US used an early form of napalm in combat flamethrowers, but the substance burned out too quickly to be very effective at igniting targets. Gasoline alone is not an effective burning agent, as it will splash off of the target on impact, and will then flow away from the target like water. What is needed is a thickening agent so that the fuel will stick to it’s intended target for a more complete burning effect. During the early months of World War II, the US Chemical Warfare Service used latex from the Para rubber tree to jell gasoline. This jelled gasoline shot further from flamethrowers, stuck to the target better, and burned longer. But when the US entered the war in the Pacific, natural rubber was in short supply. Research teams at Harvard University, Du Pont and Standard Oil engaged in a Government competition to develop a replacement.

Napalm was developed at Harvard University in 1942-43 by a team of chemists led by chemistry professor Louis F. Fieser, who was best known for his research at Harvard University in organic chemistry which led to the synthesis of the hormone cortisone. Napalm was formulated for use in bombs and flame throwers by mixing a powdered aluminium soap of naphthalene with palmitate (a 16-carbon saturated fatty acid) -- hence napalm [another story suggests that the term napalm derives from a recipe of Naptha and palm oil]. The aluminum soap of naphtenic and palmitic acids turns gasoline into a sticky syrup that carries further from projectors and burns more slowly but at a higher temperature. Naphthenic acids are corrosives found in crude oil; palmitic acids are fatty acids that occur naturally in coconut oil. On their own, naphthalene and palmitate are relatively harmless substances. Napalm itself, is a jelly obtained from the salts of aluminium, palmitic or other fatty acids, and naphthenic acids. Compared to previous incendiary weapons, napalm spread further, stuck to the target, burned longer, and was safer to its dispenser because it was dropped and detonated far below the airplane. It was also cheap to manufacture.

The first use of napalm occurred on July 23, 1944, during pre-invasion air strikes on the island of Tinian, part of the Marianas island chain in the Pacific.
source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/napalm.htm
 
On 22 July, just two days before the invasion, two P-47's dropped on Tinian the first napalm bombs used in the Pacific war. These were fire bombs consisting of jettisonable aircraft fuel tanks filled with a mixture of napalm gel and gasoline. Shortly before the scheduled landing on Tinian, Lt. Comdr. Louis W. Mang, USNR, recently arrived from the United States, easily persuaded Admiral Hill of the efficacy of these new bombs, and, since napalm was in short supply, an order for 8,500 pounds was immediately dispatched to Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile, diesel oil was sometimes used as a less efficient substitute. The new fire bombs were found to be especially effective in burning cane fields and underbrush. During the late afternoon of 23 July thirty were dropped immediately inland and on the flanks of WHITE Beaches 1 and 2 to burn off underbrush cover and destroy enemy personnel that might be located in open trenches and dugouts. In both respects the bombs were successful and their continued employment in the Pacific war was assured. TF 52 Rpt Tinian, Incl A, pp. 93-96.

source: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Marianas/USA-P-Marianas-14.html
 
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