Military Terminology Quiz.

[2nd Bat]

consider each question and attempt your answer WITHOUT researching your answer on line. In respect for others and to encourage participation by others please just tackle one question every 3 or 4 days. State the question and # with your answer so viewers won't need to scroll back!

#1. What is the military crest of a hill?

#2. What is defilade?

#3. What is the cone of fire?

#4. What is enfilade fire?

#5. In Naval parlance what was "capping the T"?

#6. What was a Shave Tail in the Army?

#7. What was the most common ammunition in the US Army? What WW2 Infantry weapons used it?

#8. What was the purpose of leggings. Why were they issued?

#9. Why were fighter planes with Tracers less effective than fighters that were armed without them?

#10. How many .50 Cal Machine guns were on a B17 flying fortress. (Typically)?

[shiftysgarand]

1. The point at which the enemy is visible from the other side of the hill?
2. Mostly or fully concealed/protected against enemy fire but with a good field of fire?
3. The area in which rounds from a machine gun could potentially hit due to recoil.
4. Dunno
5. Maneuvering so that your ships’ broadsides are aligned with the enemy’s bow or stern allowing you to bring all your guns to bear.
6. Dunno
7. .30-06 M2 ball. Used by M1903, M1917, M1 rifles, M1919, M1917 machine guns, M1918 BAR
8. To protect the ankles of the wearer and keep things out of boots
9. Tracers have a different trajectory than ball rounds. If your tracers were hitting, 80% of your rounds were missing (they also gave away your position)
10. 13 on a G model

[2nd Bat]

so much for limiting the answers to one question at a time. Great job Shifty on most of your responses.

let's try putting it out to others and seek answers (or just more complete answers) to: 1,3,4 and 6 with perhaps a little more on #8?

[shiftysgarand]

Whoops! My reading comprehension skills obviously need work. So sorry, 2nd Bat!

[2nd Bat]

No worries. In your excitement to tackle the quiz you obviously didn't read the full set up. Thanks for playing. I used to do this type of quiz regularly and they tended to be popular threads which attracted additional visitors to the site.

[shiftysgarand]

I quite enjoyed the past quizzes and I think they continue to add to the site. Perhaps more could be made by other members more familiar with other areas of WWII history? I would be happy to make some up about Imperial Japan, for example.

[2nd Bat]

That would be fabulous. My focus is primarily the War in Western Europe as that's where MY father served. These are just an opportunity to share and learn. Please do post a quiz for us to attack.

[2nd Bat]

Since there was no correct response I'll go ahead and answer question number 1 which along with several other questions here have direct application to airsoft. The military crest of a hill the optimum point on the slope proving maximized fire from the hill or ridge without silhouetting the defending position.

[volkssturm]

A Shavetail was a new Second Lieutenant. The origin seems to be uncertain. One version I've seen is that (back in the old days) when the Army bought a new, untrained mule, its tail was shaved. Not sure why. Maybe it was a warning that the mule was unbroken. Another version I've seen, from around WWII, is that when a (former) enlisted man graduated from OCS he'd take his shirts to the base tailor who would add shoulder straps to them. The tailor would get the material by cutting off excess material from the tail of the shirt.

[volkssturm]

Well, since no one's jumping in: Enfilade fire. When your fire is lined up with the long axis of the target. For example a column of troops coming up a road and your line of fire is straight down the road, or enemy troops on line and you get on their flank and can shoot right down the line. I don't know if it's still used much. As I recall from IOBC it was one of a number of ways of employing machineguns.

[2nd Bat]

Excellent Volks. Correct on both counts. I had not heard the epaultets from shirt tails but since officers shirts by regulations had them and enlisted men's shirts didn't it sounds logical. The unbroken mule sounds more correct as the phrase extends within the Army back to Indian Wars days.

[2nd Bat]

Leggings were of course designed to support the ankles and protect against underbrush and snake bites. They were universally disliked as they were hard to put on. Soldiers like my father who started out with putees found them quite convenient. (Everything's relative!). Their main purpose was as a cost savings to minimize shoe leather. The double buckle boot was a big improvement although not enough were produced and distributed to fully eliminate the need for leggings which remained commonplace for GIs. The German Army and British Army (along with many others) issued some form of canvas gaitors throughout the war.

[volkssturm]

The Chinese Nationalist troops had another use for puttees. Their army was very deficient in medical support of any sort, much less first aid kits and bandages. Wounded troops would often take off a puttee and use it for a bandage. While it might stop the flow of blood, I can't imagine it did much for keeping the wound from becoming infected.

[2nd Bat]

Yikes! Desperation can be an ugly thing. I actually wore leggings while in the service though they had long since been removed as an issue item.

[norseman]

Jan 11, 2018 12:45:52 GMT -5 volkssturm said:

A Shavetail was a new Second Lieutenant. The origin seems to be uncertain. One version I've seen is that (back in the old days) when the Army bought a new, untrained mule, its tail was shaved. Not sure why. Maybe it was a warning that the mule was unbroken. Another version I've seen, from around WWII, is that when a (former) enlisted man graduated from OCS he'd take his shirts to the base tailor who would add shoulder straps to them. The tailor would get the material by cutting off excess material from the tail of the shirt.

www.ruralheritage.com/messageboard/frontporch/12873.htm

I had originally thought it had to do with a bell on a mule tail. But it seems a poor cavalry horse would receive a shaved tail because his rider was green.