WW2, the Pacific War Quiz

[andycapp]

Thanks for the pictures of the Wellington and the Mitchell, Kitten - and for illustrating the absurdity of my 'clue' suggesting that the 'Helen' looked like a cross between the two - my defence is senility and a fading mental image of what they looked like.

Thanks also for the links which I found very interesting, particularly 'Australia @ War' . home.st.net.au

Case thanks for the picture of the 'Helen', that matches mine - I'm a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to accessing information on the net.

AoA, yes you're right about the name 'Bock's Car', Case got that (despite the spelling). You're also right about the reasons that particular aircraft was used - makes you wonder what might have happened had the aircraft dropping that A bomb crashed on take off.

The aircraft that transported MacArthur and his family from Del Monte airfield on Mindanao was a B-17 from 40th Reconnaissance Sqn piloted by Lt. Frank Bostrom. The story of MacArthur's escape from the Phillipines makes interesting reading see home.st.net.au/~dunn/macarthur.htm

Still looking for the name of the aircraft - you've got me stumped on the name of the hollywood actress - I'll ask my wife when she gets home - she's a movie buff and a walking encyclopedia on movies etc.

 

[andycapp]

Kitten, thanks for the links about Singapore. The incompetence that led to the fall of Singapore is staggering.

The author of the account makes some interesting comments, however I disagree with his contention that even after the fall of Malaya, Singapore could have been held. He neglects the superiority the Japanese had in the air and anyway, fighting battles in hindsight is always easier - I still hold to the view that once Malaya was lost so was Singapore.

As I have mentioned elsewhere the British military establishment were aware of the potential problems in defending Malaya and Singapore in the late 1930's and even used the situation of a potential Japanese attack as a case study in military colleges.

It can be argued that the weaknesses in the Allied situation in Malaya and Singapore had many contributing factors, however political and military incompetence are the root causes for the final disaster.