Answer to Ian's Historical Question

The martello tower was created as defense against seabourne
raiders (and invasion) after an illuminating battle off the
coast of Corsica in 1794. In this battle, a tower of small
height (about 15 feet) stood off a squadron of British
naval vessels for about 3 days, allowing French/Corsican
infantry elements to deploy and prevent a landing in
reconnaissance force for the support of Corsican rebels.

There were 74 Towers built along the southern coast of
England. The political significance of the towers has been
understated. They were primarily used as defenses against
smuggling during the early 19th century. In 1830, a second
French Invasion scare caused the rebuilding and outfitting
of the towers. During WWI, the existence of the towers was
considered a deterrent to German invasion attempts. During
WWII, the towers were used as advance warning sites for
German aircraft during the Battle of Britain


My turn....tomorrow.

[Ianpbaker]

well done, i'm impressed

[Ianpbaker]

Nice easy one for you, in May 1943, something was first used, that helped define the outcome of ww2 by halting the production of factories in the Mohne/West Ruhr area of germany, what was it and who invented it.

[Edited by Ianpbaker on 12-18-2000 at 01:26 PM]

Well, I haven't yet thrown in the towel but I'm close.

1. It wasn't the Grumann F6F Hellcat. The most successful
naval air fighter of WWII saw most of its work in the
Pacific.

2. It was NOT the Norden Bombsight. That was invented by
Norden in 1922, and refined for the US Navy by 1932. In
1936, it was stolen and given to the Germans for $3000.
They never used it. Furthermore, the descriptions of its
accuracy were exagerated to say the least.

http://www.uh.edu/admin/engines/epi1004.htm

3. Radar (and the magnetron that was the precursor) was
invented/discovered arount 1940.

Still Working

Got it!

Dambuster's Bouncing Bomb, invented by Barnes Wallis. In
may of 1943 a raid by the 617th Squadron breached the Mohne
Dam, flooding the entire West Rhur valley, destroying 125
factories, about 7000 acres of productive farmland and 25
bridges.

It looked like an oil barrel.

[Edited by DerFarm on 12-18-2000 at 03:51 PM]

Actually it was a bad batch of sausage.

[Ianpbaker]

Come on derfarm, i've only just started

Yes, but you have to learn somewhere.

***Sadly shaking his head, DerFarm pulls out a 6ft 2x4 and
proceeds to beat Ian about the head and shoulders***

Dennis: DON'T make me come over there!

[Ianpbaker]

[sarcasm]very funny[/sarcasm]. it's your turn.

[paulw]

The effect of the bouncing bomb was actually very small in terms of lost output overall. The main effects were propaganda and a damn fine tune!

Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah dum dee-dum dee dum dee-dum da da da da da daaaa daaa daaa daaa etc.

Cheers,

P.