July 4, 2013

CHURCHILL QUIZ: FINEST HOUR 136, AUTUMN 2007

BY JAMES LANCASTER 

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Each quiz includes four questions in each of six categories: Churchill contemporaries (C), literary matters (L), miscellaneous (M), personal details (P), statesmanship (S) and war (W), with the easier questions first. Can you reach Level 1 ?

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Level 4:

1. To whom was Herbert Asquith referring when he told his daughter in 1900 “He derives from no-one…an original and most extraordinary phenomenon”? (C)

2. Who worked with WSC in 1941-45 and later became U.S. President? (C)

3. List three flowers or trees named for Winston Churchill. (M)

4. What led Churchill to write: “I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful.”? (W)

5. Mes Aventures de Jeunesse is the French title of which of his books? (L)

6. A Moral of the Work in The Second World War is In Defeat: —–(S)

Level 3:

7. When Germany invaded Russia in June 1941 many thought Russia would be overrun. What was WSC’s view? (S)

8. In Cuba, 1895, Churchill wrote for the Daily Graphic. Which member of his family also wrote for this paper? (L)

9. Of whom did WSC write “…to her that I poured out my many troubles”? (P)

10. To whom did WSC say: “I mean to be Prime Minister…It would be a great lark if you were President of the United States at the same time”? (C)

11. Churchill once said, “—- words are the best, and the old words when —- are the best of all” Fill in the blanks; it is the same word. (L)

12. In his Preliminary Examination for Sandhurst, WSC had a choice of three essay subjects: Rowing versus Riding, Advertisements, or The American Civil War. Which did he choose? (P)

Level 2:

13. What region did Churchill describe to his wife in 1929 as “…twenty Switzerlands rolled into one…between us and the…Pacific Coast”? (M)

14. Like Churchill, this soldier-politician changed parties, won a Nobel prize, and wrote many books. Churchill met him in America in December 1900. Who was he? (C)

15. In 1874, what were the three big events in Randolph Churchill’s life? (P)

16. In March 1900 one of WSC’s senior officers wrote to him: “…I shall someday shake hands with you as Prime Minister of England, you possess the two necessaiy qualifications genius and —-.” Fill in the short word. (S)

17. In which of his books are the words “You cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. She was made to be wooed and won by youth.”? (L)

18. In January 1935 WSC wrote to Clemmie “All the —- are mating, not only the father and the mother, but both brothers and both sisters have paired off. The Ptolemys always did this and Cleopatra was the result.” Fill in the blanks. (P)

Level 1:

19. “I had hoped we were hurling a wildcat on the shore, but all we got was a stranded whale.” WSC wrote this about which campaign? (W)

20. In Ottawa on 31Dec ’41, to what did WSC refer when he said: “It fits beautifully, and is large enough for any swelling which may take place”? (M)

21. Who was the Churchill friend who directed Lady Hamilton (in America That Hamilton Woman), Sir Winston’s favourite film? (M)

22. “One strokes the nose of the alligator and the ensuing gurgle may be a purr of affection, a grunt of stimulated appetite, or a snarl of enraged animosity.” Who was WSC referring to? (S)

23. “Sancti Spiritus—its name not withstanding—is a forsaken place.” Where is Sancti Spiritus? (W)

24. Which small South African town awarded Churchill the freedom of the borough on 10 October 1964? (W)