WWII Forums Quiz Part VII

This is what I found but another site report the Samaria's damage as dated December 16. "On December 17, 1939, five ocean liners carrying 7,450 men of the First Canadian Division, arrived at Liverpool. Unknown to them, they had narrowly escaped what could have been a major sea disaster. The passenger liner Samaria, showing no lights, had passed right through the convoy unaware of the convoy's position! It struck the wireless masts of the escorting carrier HMS Furious on her port side, struck a glancing blow on the port side of the next ship astern, the liner Aquitania, then passed close down the starboard side of the third and fourth ships sailing in line ahead. If the Samaria had collided head on with the Furious, the ships following would have all crashed into her."

 

You got it. Can you imagine the blow to morale and the effect it would have had on future decisions if the men of the First Division had been lost.

Your go, TiredOldSoldier.

 

The battle of Coral Sea starts with the Japanese landings on Tulagi supported by the light carrier Shoho on May 3 1942 and the strike on Tulagi by US navy planes the next day.
The main japanese carrier force (Shokaku and Zuikaku) had already left Truk but was not available immediately, why?

 

Nice try but no, the two ships arrived at Truk on Apriil 19 after the Indian Ocean raid and left on the first of May, plenty of time to refuel.

 

I was sure too that the answer was "No fuel", wasn't that the case ? Or their tender ship had been sunk in Truk harbor (that was later?)?

 

Nothing to do with fuel shortages, the operation involved 9 A6M (Zero) and 7 B5N2 (Kate). But what were they attempting to do? The operation was attempted on the 2 of May and again on the 3 when one Zero was lost but was abandoned when news of the presence in the area of US carriers was confirmed.

 

BIG Hint: had the mission gone as planned none of the Zeros would have come back.
If you dont't guess now I will be really disappointed .

 

I think they were involved in the Indian Ocean raid which occurred shortly before the Battle of the Coral Sea.

 

Is this what you re looking for?


USSBS: Interrogations of Japanese Officials -- 10/53

Were you in the SOLOMON Area during the Battle of CORAL SEA, 7-8 May 1942?
A.Yes, I was on the Zuikaku, which was the flagship, serving as staff officer of the Fifth Air Flotilla.

Q. What was the mission of the Shoho?
A. The mission of the Shoho was: first, to defend the transport ships in its task force going to PORT MORESBY; and secondly, to scout for submarines.
Q. At what distance were the anti-submarine patrols maintained, and what type planes used?
A. About 15 miles. Fighters were used. Torpedo planes were used for scouting at the same time.
Q. How many planes did the Shoho carry?
A. 12 Zero fighters and about 9 to 12 torpedo planes. The Shoho isn't a main aircraft carrier.
Q. Were any land-based planes employed in this action?
A. Yes, RABAUL based planes. It was the 25th Land-Based Air Flotilla; 50 to 60 fighters, Zero Type, 30 to 40 bomber planes. They attacked cruisers. Q. Were any planes operated from TULAGI?
A. Yes, TULAGI was prepared as a seaplane base for operation against PORT MORESBY. DEBOINE and TULAGI are the seaplane bases which were used against PORT MORESBY
Q. What was the mission of the Shokaku and Zuikaku and their task force?
A. The mission of those two aircraft carriers was first to defend the PORT MORESBY attacking group. The second mission was to attack the American Fleet which was expected to appear on the scene; and the third, to make and air raid on TOWNSVILLE and to destroy American and Australian planes and ships that were being delivered there.
...
Q. How did you first know the location of the American force?
A. Following the attack on TULAGI we knew the force was in the general area. The exact location wasn't known, but it was expected that American carriers, battleships and possibly some British forces were in the CORAL SEA. After our attack on the tanker and destroyer the morning of the 7th of June [sic] and your attack on Shoho about 4 p.m., we sent out a dusk attack of about 27 bombers and torpedo planes to attack the American carrier force. They did not find it although searched for almost 300 miles. Finally they jettisoned their bombs and torpedoes and returned to their own carriers. While returning they passed over the American carrier at night. Some planes mistook the American force for the Japanese carriers, turned on their lights and tried to land before they realized their mistake. Then all planes returned to the Japanese carriers/ About ten planes were lost during this flight.
Q. Why did you attack our tanker (Neosho) and destroyer (Sims) instead of our carrier force during the morning of 7 May?
A. Our scouting planes from the Shokaku and Zuikaku erroneously reported the tanker group as the American carrier group; therefore, the Japanese carrier planes attacked them instead of the American carriers.

 

Now if you are looking beyond May 8 1942, then the

"Zuikaku cruises around the Coral Sea looking for survivors of the carrier battlegroup for two days. Then Zuikaku and Shokaku return to Japan, where they missed the Battle of Midway."

 

Nice try but I was looking for what happened just before the battle not after it.

The two fleet carriers were scheduled to fly off 9 reiforcement Zeros to a forward base before moving to support the Port Moresby invasion force and the Shoho, the "escorting" kates were meant to bring back the pilots to the carriers. The mission was aborted twice due to bad weather and finally abandoned when the Japanese received news of the US raid on Tulagi.

The "one way mission" should have been a dead giveaway ... unless you got sidetracked thinking of kamikazes .

Can't search for a good one right now so over to you for the nice info on the Shoho interrogation, the info looks wrong though as I believe the Shoho had an incomplete air group with 4 A5M4, 9 A6M2 and 6 B5N2.

 

Okay..let's continue the Australian connection. What medical facility treated 30,000 Australian and American troops? During what period and where was it located?

 

Well since no one wants to play.....the question was inspired by seeing the site in the attached photo when we were in Kuranda. I am retiring from the field and it is open to whomever wishes to post a question.


Rocky Creek World War Two Hospital Complex (Former)

Place ID ​

601815

Status ​

Permanent Entry

Address ​

Kennedy Highway

Town/Suburb ​

ROCKY CREEK

LGA ​

ATHERTON SHIRE COUNCIL

Theme ​

Defending Australia

Theme ​

Providing health services
Significance

The Rocky Creek World War II Hospital Complex is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as an example of a World War II installation located in North Queensland. Being close to the Papua New Guinea battlefield, Queensland played a vital role hosting and supporting Australian and United States Servicemen. As a hospital complex, the site is significant for the role it played in the provision of medical treatment to these troops, including the use of new treatments and technology, and for the research conducted regarding the treatment of malaria.

The Entertainment Igloo, constructed in 1943, demonstrates a rare aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage as one of the few remaining small igloos designed and operated as a theatre during World War II.
The Rocky Creek World War II Hospital Complex has a special association with those who spent time at the facility during the Second World War for cultural and spiritual reasons.
The Rocky Creek World War II Hospital Complex has the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history. Concrete slabs and scatters of artefacts could reveal information about the technology used in temporary military buildings during World War II.
The Rocky Creek World War II Hospital Complex has a special association with the work of the Australian Army Medical Women's Service (AAMWS) and with the important work of medical units, especially the Malaria Control Unit who developed new technology in Australia during World War II. History

The Rocky Creek World War II Hospital Complex was in operation from October 1942 until September 1945 as part of the medical installations established in North Queensland during World War II. Some 30 000 patients were treated at this facility in almost three years.

In the 1930s the threat of war with Japan became imminent. As Japanese aggression moved across the Pacific in the early 1940s, a military presence in North Queensland gradually intensified. The Australian Army first began investigating the resources of North Queensland in the late 1930s, and when war was declared on Japan on 9 December 1941, the construction of military installations began immediately. The bombing of Darwin (March 1942) and Townsville (July 1942), and the arrival of American troops in the north (from March 1942), added further impetus to the establishment of facilities in the area. When hostilities extended to Papua New Guinea in May 1942, the military presence in the north intensified further still.
The installation of medical infrastructure on the Rocky Creek site commenced on 6 October 1942 with the arrival of the 19th Field Ambulance from Calcium. They were charged with the preparation of a camp for the 5th Australian Camp Hospital (ACH). The 5th ACH arrived at Rocky Creek from Redbank on 14 October 1942. The Commanding Officer, Lt-Col LA Little (AAMC) and Matron K Cahill, assisted by several nursing sisters and a few male orderlies, established a small camp hospital on the south eastern side of Rocky Creek. Their duties complete, the 19th Field Ambulance left Rocky Creek on 17 October 1942 to set up camp just outside of Kuranda, where an Advanced Dressing Station (ADS) was to be established.
Over the next few weeks, activity at the site increased. The first patients were admitted on 20 October 1942, and were joined the next day by more patients when the 1st Australian Camp hospital left Wondecla and removed its patients to Rocky Creek. November 2 saw the arrival of the 1st Australian Mobile Laundry Unit, while 20 VADs (later AAMWS) commenced duties on 14 November, providing much needed nursing support.
In January 1943an advance party of 2/2nd Army General Hospital (AGH) AIF arrived at the Rocky Creek Hospital site, signifying a new phase in the hospital's development, and an intensification of activity. The 2/2nd AGH AIF replaced the 5th AGH which moved the next day, 5 January 1943 to a new hospital unit established at the North Cairns State School. The 2/2nd AGH, under the command of Colonel Talbert, the Commanding Officer, and Matron, Miss Jean Oddie, launched into the arduous task of expanding the small tent hospital into a large 1200 bed General Hospital. On 20 April 1943 they were joined by the 2/6th AGH AIF, who after serving two years in the Middle East (Greece, Crete, Jerusalem and Gaza), arrived back in Australia to find themselves transferred to Rocky Creek.
Patients treated at the Rocky Creek Hospitals usually arrived in Cairns from Papua New Guinea, to be transported to Rocky Creek by the 4th Australian Hospital Ambulance Train. The train ran three times a week.
The Rocky Creek Hospital Complex covered a site of 763 acres, encompassing private land purchased by the Australian Military Forces, and Crown Land. The Complex initially consisted of the 2/2nd AGH; the 2/6th AGH; the Mobile Laundry Administration Area; the 2/1st Australian Convalescent Depot, and associated medical installations. The 1200 bed 2/2nd AGH was constructed by a local Cairns firm, TJ Watkins PTY Ltd at a cost of £143 667. There were 73 buildings in total, including facilities for the 4th Australian Static Laundry. The Entertainment Igloo, recreation hut and warehouses were also constructed by Watkin and PR Ayre, at a cost of £2796. The 1200 bed hospital of the 2/6th AGH was built by AH Hodge and Sons of Toowoomba, while the 600 bed 2/1st Convalescent Depot was constructed by Clive Kynaston of Cairns.
Both the 2/2nd and the 2/6th Hospitals employed a similar layout and were constructed using similar materials. The two hospitals consisted of 40 wards, offices, stores and other auxiliary buildings. The wards were laid out in pairs, with a service annexe in between. Most were constructed with canvas, and measures 60 feet x 20 feet. Early wards had earth floors, watered daily to make them firm, and a rattan carpet down the middle isle. Other buildings were constructed from timber and iron. Later wards were set on a concrete slab and had a capacity of approximately 50 patients. By March 1944 both hospitals had been transformed from tent to hut hospitals and the bed capacity had increased to 1400, however, by September 1944 the daily bed average had increased to 1760. The buildings still had canvas walls but the floors were concrete and each ward had its own amenities, such as a wood stove, kerosene refrigerator, a permanent toilet and an office and dressing room. In October 1944 electricity supply, originally generator powered, switch to mains power, supplied by the Barron Falls Hydro Electricity Board.
The concrete ward floors consisted of reinforced concrete slabs varying in thickness. The annexes were bordered and partitioned by concrete wall bases, from which protruded metal wall ties. The concrete wall bases were slightly flanged on either side. On these flanges would have rested sheets of asbestos cement which formed the walls. They were probably nailed at the base to a wooden runner which would have sat on top of the wall base. The metal ties probably passed through the wood and continued up between the walls to the roof, or were bent over the wood if not in use. Where the asbestos cement sheets met the concrete, cover strips would have been nailed. Scatters of pieces of these cover strips are found over most of the site.
One of the wards in the 2/2nd AGH was the Malaria Experimental Ward. Participants involved in the experiments were all volunteers, and the trials involved groups of 5-6 volunteers being injected with parasites from the Anopheles mosquito which carries the malaria virus. Treatments were confidential and all volunteers signed a statement absolving the Army and medical staff of responsibility for any side effects.
While the work hours for staff at the Hospital Complex were long, various facilities were provided for their enjoyment in the leisure time available. The complex included an open-air picture show, where bingo was often played before the main feature. There was also a log-cabin recreational room and a tennis court with an ant-bed floor which was utilised by both patients and medical staff. Others spent their time planting garden beds outside their quarters and the hospital wards. Movies were shown in the Entertainment Igloo, constructed in 1943. A truck, with a projector on the back, would reverse up to the building along the built up driveway, so that the projector pointed towards the screen. Concerts and dances were also held in the building.
The staged closure of the Rocky Creek Hospital Complex began in 1944, and continued through to 1945. The 2/6th AGH was the first to close, in October 1944, followed by the 2/2nd AGH on 30 September 1945, which subsequently moved to Darley (Victoria). Following the end of the war, military buildings at Rocky Creek were auctioned and either dismantled or relocated. Some are to be found in the district today, having been purchased by local residents and farmers. Portions of land were sold as freehold allotments and many were subsequently converted to agricultural use. The Entertainment Igloo was purchased by Frank and Eileen Frazer in 1947. The stage was converted into a family home, in which the Frazers raised their 11 children. Mr Frazer manufactured cane furniture in the auditorium. Following the death of her husband, Mrs Frazer stayed on at the igloo until ill health forced her to move to Cairns in 1995. The igloo and land were donated to the Atherton Shire Council. In the lead up to the 50th anniversary of victory in the Pacific celebrations in 1995, a War Memorial Park was established on the former site of the Mobile Laundry Administration Area through the efforts of a group of local residents. Various memorials, a flag pole, interpretive shelter and a sheltered park bench have been erected at the Park. Anzac Day commemorative ceremonies are now conducted at the park, while the remains of the Rocky Creek site are often visited by locals and visitors to the area where either they, or a relative, spent time at the hospital during the Second World War. It is also anticipated the local Tolga State School will utilise the Memorial Park for the purposes of education, in particular to develop an understanding among students of the importance of the Rocky Creek Hospital Complex during the Second World War.

 

Seems a shame to see this come to a dead-end. Thought someone would have restarted it before now!

What was Project Ivory Soap?

 

That is a great one Michelle !! I had not heard of it before and do not know why they kept it secret for so long.

Project Ivory Soap - Aircraft of World War II - Warbird Forums

 

You got it TA! More on it here too Top Secret Project Ivory Soap -- Aircraft Repair Ships

Your go.

 

Who was the #1 tank ace for the Russians during WWII ?

 

Think this came up before
http://www.ww2f.com/russia-war/13555-greatest-russian-tank-ace.html

 

For a tired old soldier you are pretty quick !
Over to you.