Christophe

Guys, One thing is sure : I will be the only one not allowed to ask Question #100... I come back to you as soon as possible with Question #99 Cheers. Ch.

The question refers to Soviet Anti-tank dogs. They were dogs taught to carry explosives to tanks, armored vehicles and other military targets. They were intensively trained by the Soviet and Russian military forces between 1930 and 1996 and used in 1941–1942 against German tanks. Although the original dog training routine was to leave the bomb and retreat so that the bomb would be detonated by the timer, this routine failed and was replaced by an impact detonation procedure which killed the dog in the process. In 1924, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Soviet Union approved the use of dogs for military purposes, which included a wide range of tasks such as rescue, delivery of first aid, communication, tracking mines and people, assisting in combat, transporting food, medicine and injured soldiers on sledges, and detonation of enemy targets. For these purposes, a specialized dog training school was founded in the Moscow Oblast. Twelve regional schools were opened soon after, three of which trained anti-tank dogs.German Shepherd dogs were favored for the program for their physical abilities and ease of training, but other breeds were used as well. The idea of using dogs as mobile mines was developed in the 1930s, together with the dog-fitting mine design. In 1935, anti-mine dog units were officially included in the Soviet Army. The original idea was for a dog to carry a bomb strapped to its body, and reach a specific static target. The dog would then release the bomb by pulling with its teeth a self-releasing belt and return to the operator. The bomb could then be detonated either by a timer or remote control, though the latter was too rare and expensive at the time to be used. A group of dogs practiced this for six months, but the reports show that no dogs could master the task. They performed well on a single target but became confused after the target or location was changed and often returned to the operator with the bomb unreleased, which in a live situation would have killed both the dog and the operator. Continual failures brought about a simplification. The bomb was fastened on the dog and detonated upon contact with the target, killing the animal. Whereas in the first program, the dog was trained to locate a specific target, this task was simplified to find any enemy tank. Dogs were trained by being kept hungry and their food was placed under tanks. The tanks were at first left standing still, then they had their engines running, which was further combined with sporadic blank-shot gunfire and other battle-related distractions. This routine aimed to teach the dogs to run under the tanks in battlefield situations. Ch.

Dan, Congrats!! You got it!! I thought it would be more difficult... Personally, I had never heard about this story... I learnt something... Your turn, now, for Question #98. Ch.

Question #97 : We were 10, then 9. We disappeared more than 50 years ago. Our leader never sent the expected telegraph. Researches lasted 4 months before all our bodies are found. Despite controversy, our death still remains a mystery. Question : 1. Who are we ? 2. What happened to us ? Good hunt and good luck !! Ch.

I am the Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International. From Wikipedia : The Comintern (1919–1943) was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919. The International intended to fight "by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the State." The Comintern was founded after the 1915 Zimmerwald Conference in which Vladimir Lenin had organized the "Zimmerwald Left" against those who refused to approve any statement explicitly endorsing socialist revolutionary action, and after the 1916 dissolution of the Second International. The Comintern had seven World Congresses between 1919 and 1935. It also had thirteen "Enlarged Plenums" of its governing Executive Committee, which had much the same function as the somewhat larger and more grandiose Congresses. The Comintern was officially dissolved during 1943. The complicated relationship between the Comintern and the Communist Party of China (CPC) is an important chapter in the history of Comintern. The CPC was established in 1921 with the help of the Comintern. The CPC declared itself to be a branch of the Comintern. At that time, China had a large revolutionary party called the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang). Its leader, Dr. Sun Yatsen, frustrated by the refusal of aid for China from the democratic Western countries, quickly turned to the Soviet Union and the Comintern. Under the instruction of the Comintern, the CPC joined the Kuomintang. The Kuomintang also applied for membership in the Comintern, but was not accepted since it was essentially considered to be an anti-colonialist bourgeois political party and not a true Marxist vehicle. Sun Yatsen’s successor, Chiang Kai-shek, was once elected as an honorary member of the standing committee of the Comintern. The Northern Expedition became a point of contention over foreign policy by Joseph Stalin and Trotsky. Stalin funded the KMT during the expedition. Stalin countered Trotskyist criticism by making a secret speech in which he said that Chiang's right wing Kuomintang were the only ones capable of defeating the imperialists, that Chiang Kai-shek had funding from the rich merchants, and that his forces were to be utilized until squeezed for all usefulness like a lemon before being discarded. However, Chiang quickly reversed the tables in the Shanghai massacre of 1927 by massacring the Communist party in Shanghai midway in the Northern Expedition. After the success of the joint revolution of the Kuomintang and CPC in reuniting China under a single government, they split over their ideological differences. The Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek ultimately became an anti-Communist force. After being besieged by Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist army, the Chinese Red Army had to escape to try to find a new base - this came to be known as the Long March (1934–1935). During the Long March, the CPC party leadership re-examined its policy in Zunyi (January 1935). Mao Zedong blamed the CPC's failure to ignite a revolution on their decision to blindly follow the Comintern's instructions, which did not take into account the reality of Chinese conditions. During the heated debate, Zhou Enlai unexpectedly accepted the criticism and sided with Mao. Otto Braun was dismissed from his position as the CPC's military commander. After they resettled in Yanan, the native Chinese Communists, such as Mao and Zhu De, became the real powers in the CPC rather than the foreign Communists supplied by the Comintern. Those Chinese Communists who were loyal to the Comintern, such as a group called the 28 Bolsheviks, fell from all of the most important positions within the CPC. Zhou Enlai became an assistant to Mao in political affairs, such as the pursuit of the United Front and diplomacy. By this time, the Comintern and the Soviet Union could no longer control the CPC. The Comintern continued to give advice, but much of it was simply ignored. The CPC was now a truly Chinese entity, much as the Bolshevik Party had been a truly Russian one. An exception to this rule was the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, organized by the Manchuria branch of the CPC in 1932. Geographically separated from the CPC headquarters in Yenan, this guerrilla army did not report directly to the CPC center, but was still led and supported by the Soviet Union under the guise of the Comintern until it was defeated by a Japanese occupation force and fled to the Soviet Union in 1942. Ch.

Jim, Ch.

Hi Jim, In fact the 1st version has not been totally answered, even if I agree that UB should have been the winner, as he identified four of our men... K2009 should have either given the point to UB, either decided the correct answer had not beeen reached yet... For me, the best was to declare UB the winner and ask him for the next challenge. But K2009 asked for a new question... correctly answered by UB. I believe we shoudl give the point to UB and ask him for the next one... Do you agree ? Cheers. Ch.

Hi K2009, This is not an easy one... Except that it is related to a visit of Fidel castro in Poland, with General Jaruzelski (?) on the left.. Question mark... Others ? Any idea ? Cheers. Ch.

Hi Jim, I fully agree !! I think you meant : "we will start the 2012 thread...". Cheers. Ch. PS : and now, K2009, your turn to ask Question #95... :love:

Hi k2009, Welcome to the Quiz !!! You are the winner !!! :jumping: You are right. And, indeed, Svetlana Stalina, Stalin's daughter, died just a few days ago. Here is the original pic. Your turn now to ask a question to, all of us. Again, congratulations !! Your turn, now... Ch.

Question #94 Warning : To revive the Quiz and attract new players, this question is to be answered by new players only. If no new player tries to answer before 1st December, 20:00 GMT time, the challenge will be open again to any player, new or actual... Question #94 : A very easy challenge.... On this photograph, who are we ? Please, give : 1. Our names. 2. Our dates of death. The winner will be the 1st player correctly answering both questions. Goo hunt and good luck... Cheers. Ch.

Hi to all, Harvey, I am really sorry to hear that you will be less present amongst us. But, indeed, your duty is of upmost importance. Please, pay us a visit from time to time... Jim, The Club is narrowing... I know, by experience, how difficult it is to keep the flame of such a project, a Quiz... We need more new people. Otherwise, this Quiz will vanish, as the one I launched did last year... I have an idea. I will ask for the next challenge. A very easy one. But, it will be open to answers only for new players. If no new player tries to answer, - let's say before 1st December, 20:00 GMT time - , it will be open again to any player, new or actual... Indeed, Jim, we need to advertise this to attract new players... What do you think ? Cheers. Ch.

Ouuups... Harvey has been faster than I... Well done Harvey Ch.

The Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" (Чёрная акула; Chornaya Akula Black Shark, NATO reporting name: Hokum A) is a single-seat Russian attack helicopter of the Kamov design bureau. Ch.

That's what I understand, something like NATO nicknames for Soviet equipment, fighters... but, unfortunately, I have no time to look at them in detail, now. Maybe later, if no one finds it before... Cheers. Ch.

I'm lost... I first thought we were looking for a movie title... because of the question "Tell me what movie I am talking about???" Hence Godzilla Ch.

Is the movie one of the versions of Godzilla ? Ch.

Yes, Jim... UB is unfortunately for him correct : Hauptmann gave the expected answer. UB was very close... The score must be the following : 24 points - JimZ 16 points - Harvey 13 points - UB6365 13 points - Christophe 12 points - Hauptmann ... Hauptmann, your turn for the next one !! )) Cheers. Ch.

Hi Hauptmann, You're right !! Congrats, you are the winner !! Your turn, now... To UB : You were really very close, but Guy Burgess was our man ! Ch.

Not far, but not right... Ch.

Hint #1 : In order to hide my sympathies with communism, I joined a British pro-nazi group. Ch.

Thanks UB, I think it is now my turn for question #91, an easy, easy one... Question #91 Who am I ? While being a journalist, I liked alcohol, rings and rainbows. I fought against NATO, while living in Washington, London, and indeed... Moscow. Who am I ? Good hunt and good luck !! Ch.

I am the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (Большая советская энциклопедия, or БСЭ; Bolshaya sovetskaya entsiklopediya) is one of the largest and most comprehensive encyclopedias in Russian and in the world, Issued by the Soviet State from 1926 to 1990, and again since 2002 (under the name Bolshaya Rossiyskaya entsiklopediya or Greatn Russian Encyclopedia.). The 14 younger sisters were published in the languague of each of the non-Russian Republics of USSR (Ukrainian, Byelorussian, Uzbek...)... Ch.

Hi, Yes, these are a list of Arabic States : Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia... Looks like a Congress or maybe Party award... Ch.

Hi UB, Excellent !! You win !! For details on the hints, please see bold parts of the text (from Wikipedia) : Vladimir Ippolitovich Vetrov (Владимир Ипполитович Ветров) (10 October 1932 - 23 January 1985) was a high-ranking KGB spy during the Cold War, who decided to covertly release to France and NATO extremely valuable information on the Soviet Union's clandestine spy program aimed at obtaining technology from the West.. Vetrov was assigned the code-name Farewell by the French intelligence service DST, which recruited him. He was known by that name throughout NATO's intelligence services. His history inspired the book Bonjour Farewell: La Vérité sur la Taupe Française du KGB (1997) by Sergei Kostin. It was loosely adapted for the French film L'affaire Farewell (2009). Authors Sergei Kostin and Eric Raynaud have published a more complete and updated account of the Farewell dossier under the title Adieu Farewell (Laffont, Paris, 2009). This title is now available in English for the first time, thirty years after the events (Farewell, AmazonCrossing, Aug. 2011). Another portrait of Vladimir Vetrov can be found in a powerful literary text by Michel Louyot, Le Violon de neige. Vladimir Vetrov was born in 1932 and grew up within the Soviet system. After college, where he studied engineering, he was enlisted in the KGB. He lived in France for five years, beginning in 1965 when posted there as a Line X officer working for the KGB's 'Directorate T', which specialized in obtaining advanced information about science and technology from western countries. While there he befriended Jacques Prévost, an engineer working with Thomson-CSF. Vetrov returned to Moscow at the end of his posting. There, he rose through the ranks of Directorate T, eventually supervising the evaluation of the intelligence collected by Line X agents around the world, and passing key information to the relevant users inside the Soviet Union. Having become increasingly disillusioned with the communist system, he decided to defect for purely ideological reasons (he never accepted payment for his material). At the end of 1980, he contacted the French businessman and volunteered his services to the West. Between the spring of 1981 and early 1982, Vetrov gave the DST almost 4,000 secret documents, including the complete official list of 250 Line X officers stationed under legal cover in embassies around the world. Included was a breakdown of the Soviet effort to collect scientific, industrial and technical information from the west to improve its own efforts. Members of the GRU, the Soviet Academy of Sciences, and several other bodies all took part in such efforts. Vetrov also provided summaries on the goals, achievements, and unfilled objectives of the program. He identified nearly 100 leads to sources in 16 countries. In February 1982, after heavy drinking caused by a cooling-off period imposed by the French, who were fearful of his discovery through too much contact, Vetrov stabbed his mistress during an argument in his car (she survived). When a man knocked on the car window, Vetrov thought his spying had been discovered, so he stabbed and killed the man. He happened to be another KGB officer. Vetrov was arrested, tried, and sentenced to 12 years in jail in the fall of 1982. While in jail, Vetrov carelessly revealed in letters that he had been involved in "something big" before going to jail. The KGB eventually discovered that he was a double agent. As part of his confession, Vetrov wrote a blistering denunciation of the Soviet system, "The Confession of a Traitor". News of his subsequent execution reached France in March 1985. The information which Vetrov provided enabled the western countries to expel nearly 150 Soviet technology spies around the world; the French expelled 47 Soviet spies, most of whom were from Line X. This caused the collapse of the Soviet's information program at a time when it was particularly crucial. The US created a massive operation to provide the Soviets with faulty data and sabotaged parts for certain technologies, as a consequence to the Farewell Dossier. Your turn, now !! Ch.