Although the term D-Day is used routinely as military lingo for the day an operation or event will take place, for many it is also synonymous with June 6, 1944, the day the Allied powers crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, beginning the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control during World War II. Within three months, the northern part of France would be freed and the invasion force would be preparing to enter Germany, where they would meet up with Soviet forces moving in from the east. Test your knowledge of certain military and combat terms and quotes in today’s word quiz.
1. enfilade
(a) the opposing troops on a battlefield
(b) a military dispatch sent to allied troops behind enemy lines
(c) gunfire directed from a flanking position along the length of an enemy battle line
(d) competitive or opposing action of incompatibles
2. Geneva Convention – the year
(a) 1939
(b) 1256
(c) 1864
(d) 1914
3. bidonville
(a) a temporary or casual shelter or lodging
(b) a shoulder cord worn by designated military aides
(c) an establishment that serves as an informal social club (as for soldiers)
(d) a settlement of jerry-built dwellings on the outskirts of a city (as in France or North Africa)
4. triage
(a) a card game resembling chemin de fer, commonly played by soldiers in WWII, in which three hands are dealt and players may bet either or both hands against the dealer's
(b) any of three fixed lines of reference in an aircraft that run in the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical directions, are mutually perpendicular, and usually pass through the aircraft's center of gravity
(c) the sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients and especially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors
(d) a square cap with three ridges on top worn by French resistance fighters in WWII
5. halberd
(a) a proclamation of a king (as of France) calling his vassals to arms
(b) a hard cheddar-type cheese made in the south of France
(c) a weapon especially of the 15th and 16th centuries consisting typically of a battle-ax and pike mounted on a handle about six feet long
(d) something immaterial that impedes or separates
6. charger
(a) an all-out usually desperate attack
(b) a broadax formerly used as a weapon of war
(c) a war machine for converting any of various forms of energy into mechanical force and motion
(d) a horse for battle or parade
7. “War is all hell.”
(a) George Patton
(b) Napoleon Bonaparte
(c) William Tecumseh Sherman
(d) Julius Caesar
8. foray
(a) to make a raid or brief invasion
(b) a front-line soldier in World War I
(c) a localized military action undertaken without formal declaration of war by regular armed forces against persons (as guerrillas or aggressors) held to be violators of international peace and order
(d) the regaining of something (as by recapture)
9. MASH
(a) military arranged surgery hall
(b) mobile army surgical hospital
(c) medical assets for surgical help
(d) medical assistance separate hospital
10. ordnance
(a) a law set forth by a wartime governmental authority
(b) a prescribed usage, practice, or ceremony
(c) a line along which a battle is fought
(d) military supplies including weapons, ammunition, combat vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment
Correct answers:
1c; 2c; 3d; 4c; 5c; 6d; 7c; 8a; 9b; 10d
Rate your stature:
| # Correct | Your Military Counterpart |
| All 10 | Eisenhower |
| 7-9 | Patton |
| 4-6 | Hogan |
| 2-3 | Klink |
| 0-1 | Pyle (as in Gomer) |
Intro text: history.com
Definitions: Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary
