These are the ten questions from War Dossier daily challenge #19, of 11 October 2026, with the correct answer and an explanation for each. Today's challenge is a different one and it is free to play.
Credit: Sargento Dawson, No. 2 Army Film and Photographic Unit · Licence: Dominio publico (Gobierno del Reino Unido, IWM) · View at original source
The dossier entry: La Operación Shingle (desembarco de Anzio)
Operation Shingle was the Allied amphibious landing at Anzio and Nettuno, south of Rome, launched on 22 January 1944. Conceived by Winston Churchill as a way to outflank the Gustav Line by sea, it put the US VI Corps, commanded by General John P. Lucas, ashore with almost no initial resistance. However, Lucas's caution in consolidating the beachhead instead of pushing toward the Alban Hills gave the Germans time to encircle it with reinforcements.
Challenge answers
1 / 10
Which Allied operation does this photo of tanks and infantry landing on an Italian beach depict?
Operation Shingle, the Anzio landing
Operation Diadem
The capture of Montecassino
The liberation of Rome
Sherman tanks and British infantry landed at Anzio on 22 January 1944.
2 / 10
What civil-defence item were British schoolchildren supposed to carry with them every day?
Their gas mask
A military steel helmet
A light rifle
A combat ration
Children carried their gas mask to school, kept in a cardboard box on a strap, in case of a gas attack.
3 / 10
In what year did the Battle of the Atlantic begin?
1939
1940
1941
1937
It began the same month the war broke out in Europe, with the sinking of the liner Athenia in September 1939.
4 / 10
Which British commando successfully neutralised a coastal battery during the Dieppe raid?
No. 4 Commando
No. 2 Commando
No. 3 Commando
No. 6 Commando
No. 4 Commando successfully completed its mission against the coastal battery, unlike the rest of the landing.
5 / 10
What was the German command's codename for the counterattack launched near Mortain in August 1944?
Operation Luttich
Operation Wacht am Rhein
Operation Zitadelle
Operation Nordwind
The German counterattack at Mortain was codenamed Operation Luttich.
6 / 10
What role did Essex-class carriers play in the American 'island hopping' strategy?
They provided mobile air cover for invasions without relying on fixed land bases
They exclusively transported supply cargo, with no aircraft
They served only as floating hospitals
They were used only for training in US home waters
By projecting air power wherever it was needed, Essex carrier groups let the US support landings and intercept Japanese aircraft without relying on captured airfields, speeding up the advance across the central Pacific.
7 / 10
Which Allied ship was badly damaged after striking a mine off Kiska?
the destroyer USS Abner Read
the battleship USS Nevada
the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown
the cruiser USS Indianapolis
The destroyer USS Abner Read lost dozens of crew after striking a mine near the coast.
8 / 10
Among these episodes on New Guinea, which one covers the whole campaign rather than a single moment or aspect?
the campaign overview
the "Chocos" militia of the 39th Battalion
the Australian withdrawal along the track
the Papuan carriers known as the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels
The other episodes focus on a specific event, unit or aspect, while the overview spans the entire 1942-43 campaign.
9 / 10
In what year was Lord Haw-Haw (William Joyce) hanged in London?
1946
1940
1949
1953
William Joyce was executed on 3 January 1946.
10 / 10
Unlike the regulation death's head worn by the Panzertruppen on their collar, the names German tank crews painted on their own tanks were mainly what kind of mark?
An informal custom of each crew, tolerated by commanders
A mandatory regulation badge for the whole armored branch
A badge awarded only to the most decorated aces
A secret communication code between units
While the collar death's head was a regulation badge, the names painted on tanks stemmed from an informal custom of each crew, tolerated but not imposed from above.
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