June 24, 2015

Finest Hour 113, Winter 2001-02

Page 45

By Curt Zoller ([email protected])

TEST your knowledge! Most questions can be answered in back issues of Churchill Center publications but it’s not really cricket to check. Twenty-four questions appear each issue, answers in the following issue. Categories are Contemporaries (C), Literary (L), Miscellaneous (M), Personal (P), Statesmanship (S) and War (W).


1207. On 19 January 1935, Churchill was unpleasantly surprised by one of his son Randolph’s rash decisions. What was it? (P)

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1208. At the presentation address to Churchill for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Mr. Siwertz of the Swedish Academy compared Churchill to what famous British personality? (L)

1209. When did Churchill learn that he was selected for the Nobel Prize? (M)

1210. What event allowed Churchill to use the name Sir Winston? (P)

1211. What caused Churchill to order a stop to the evacuation of British children to Canada on 23 Sep40? (S)

1212. On 31 January 1947, what did Churchill say in Parliament about dealings with terrorists? (W)

1213. Less than a week after the Wavertree election, Randolph Churchill again caused a violent reaction from his father. What was it? (C)

1214. Who was the editor of the 1968 Scribner one-volume abridged edition of Churchill’s Marlboroughl (L)

1215. Who were the American and British Ambassadors in Tokyo at the outbreak of war with Japan? (M)

1216. What financial award came with the Nobel Prize for Literature? (P)

1217. When did Churchill gave this early warning concerning the aerial vulnerability of the nation’s capital? “…the crash of bombs exploding in London and the cataracts of masonry and fire and smoke will warn us of the inadequacy…in our aerial defences. We are vulnerable as we have never been before.” (S)

1218. Whom did Churchill send to Singapore in September 1941 to give him a personal report on the situation? (W)

1219. Who was British Ambassador to the United States when Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940? (C)

1220. What was the title Churchill originally planned for his only novel? (L)

1221. Who said, “Winston has written a huge book all about himself and called it The World Crisis'”? (M)

1222. How old was Churchill when he became Prime Minister for the second (or officially the third) time? (P)

1223. At the ARCADIA Conference in December 1941, Churchill and Roosevelt decided against an immediate build-up of American ground forces in Britain. Where did Roosevelt want to put the American troops? (S)

1224. The English and Austrian Armies under the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene defeated the French and Bavarians at Blenheim in the War of the Spanish Succession. Was the victory at Blenheim in the 16th, 17th or 18th century? (W)

1225. Who commented in 1907 regarding Churchill as Undersecretary of the Colonies, “The sooner…Mr. Winston Churchill is sent as an ambassador to Timbuctoo the better it would be for the Country and the Empire”? (C)

1226. What is the name of the woman in Churchill’s SavroLzl (L)

1227. On 14 June 1928 Churchill spoke in the House of Commons about the Revised Prayer Book. What were his comments about Church and State? (M)

1228. What in general did Churchill say about tyranny when he spoke in Parliament on 14 April 1937 about the Spanish Civil War? (P)

1229. On 13 May 1901 in his speech on Army Reform, what did Winston Churchill prophesy about a future European war? (S)

1230. What was “Operation Sledgehammer”? (W)

ANSWERS TO LAST TRIVIA (1177 -1206)

(1177) The PM’s country house is named “Chequers.” (1178) Churchill referred to the outbreak of World War I writing to his wife on 2Augl4. (1179) The first vessel named Winston Churchill with WSC’s permission was a cutter built by Percy Coverdale and launched in 1942. (1180) Churchill was not able to retain the Admiralty after Gallipoli because the Tories would not join a Coalition Government if Churchill remained there. (1181) He recommended compromise and concessions if the Irish delegates accepted Dominion status. (1182) The CO. of the USS Churchill is Cdr. Michael T. Franken.

(1183) The estate Churchill inherited was Garron Towers, County Antrim, Ireland. (1184) WSC’s agent for Lord Randolph Churchillvtas Frank Harris, journalist and editor of the Evening News, Fortnightly Review, Saturday Review and Vanity Fair. (1185) Churchill commented on children to his secretary Elizabeth Nel when she left to get married. (1186) Marigold Churchill is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London. (1187) Churchill wrote on 8Decl 5 to J. L. Garvin: “The Balkans must be left to stew in their own bitter juice.” (1188) Churchill was asked to leave the Admiralty on 27 May 1915.

(1189) The Leader of the House who resigned in 1921 was Andrew Bonar Law. (1190) Churchill commented in Thoughts and Adventures: “I would make all boys learn English…. But the only thing I would whip them for is not knowing English.” (1191) King George V wanted Admiralty appointments to be made entirely on seniority. Churchill insisted that they should be made based on qualifications. Churchill ultimately won. (1192) The Churchill family motto is “Fiel Pero Desdichado” (Faithful but Unfortunate). (1193) Churchill sent Rear Admiral Arthur Limpus to Constantinople in 1912. (1194) Churchill was attached to the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards for training.

(1195) Sir Ernest Cassel gave Churchill £500 as a wedding present. (1196) Churchill donated his books on Lord Randolph and Marlborough to the Library of No. 10 Downing Street. (1197) Louis Mountbatten was appointed Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command. (1198) The Epstein bust of Churchill was cast in 1946. (1199) Operation “Culverin,” 1943, was a strategic plan for operations against northern Sumatra and Malaya. (1200) “Moonlight Sonata” was the code-name for German air attacks on 18Nov40 against targets including Coventry.

(1201) Churchill referred to Kitchener as the “Overburdened Titan” who told him, “…the Fleet was ready.” (1202) The first book actually started by Churchill was Savrola, but it was not the first published. (1203) Lady Eden had the cats removed from No. 10 Downing Street. (1204) Churchill sent one of his polo ponies to Sir Archibald Sinclair and kept two for morning rides in Rotten Row. (1205) Churchill’s issues as Chancellor were reduction of income tax, widows’ pensions, extended old age insurance and cheap housing. (1206) Churchill’s comment after the fall of Tobruk was: “Defeat is one thing; disgrace is another.

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