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Quiz about King of the Conmen
Quiz about King of the Conmen

King of the Conmen Trivia Quiz


Doug Hartman was dubbed the 'King of the Conmen' by 'The News of the World' in 1982. He spent a great deal of his life behind bars, but still lived a varied life - how much do you know about him?

A multiple-choice quiz by ArleneRimmer. Estimated time: 8 mins.
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Author
ArleneRimmer
Time
8 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
98,322
Updated
Mar 09 22
# Qns
25
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
13 / 25
Plays
522
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Question 1 of 25
1. Doug was a driver for the BBC Correspondent Unit from D Day to the end of the war. Which famous Dimbleby did he work with? Hint


Question 2 of 25
2. As he travelled through war-ravaged Europe, Dimbleby and Doug were among the first to visit which of these concentration camps? Hint


Question 3 of 25
3. The Russians imposed some strict limitations to the Allies going to Berlin, but permitted 'Charlie Peter One' (Dimbleby's BBC crew) access. Doug took him there - but in what mode of transport? Hint


Question 4 of 25
4. Doug was to embark on his life of crime while in Berlin. The Russian soldiers were looking for a certain item, and smashed Dimbleby's because they did not know the difference between cheap and expensive, buying Doug's at an amazing price - but what was the item which inspired Doug to make a fortune on the Black Market? Hint


Question 5 of 25
5. Having made £1,000 by selling this item to the Russian soldier, Doug decided to go west to buy as many of these as he could, in order to sell them to the Russians. To which city did he go to buy them? Hint


Question 6 of 25
6. As a member of the BBC unit, Doug was part of the team which went to the Nuremburg Trials in 1945, sitting in the gallery every day (there was nothing else to do in the city). How long did the trial last? Hint


Question 7 of 25
7. Jobs were difficult to come by, but Doug had his Black Market money to fall back on. In 1947 he went to London, and found that his fortune was disappearing - through what? Hint


Question 8 of 25
8. Now needing money to continue with this habit, Doug bought some forged £5 notes. When he tried to use them, he was unable to do so - why? Hint


Question 9 of 25
9. One of Doug's more lucrative exploits in the late 1940s was that of using Post Office Savings Books. What was the name of the man who introduced him to this fraud? Hint


Question 10 of 25
10. At the same time as he was using illegal Post Office Books, Doug was also obtaining money fraudulently through which means? Hint


Question 11 of 25
11. Caught and on trial in Autumn 1948, Doug was sentenced to four years penal servitude (which meant there would be no remission until he had served at least 5/6 of his sentence). When he was charged, he asked that a number of other charges be taken into consideration (this effectively meant that he could not be taken to court for these again) - how many other charges did he ask to be taken into consideration? Hint


Question 12 of 25
12. Dimbleby wrote to Doug in prison in the late 1940s.


Question 13 of 25
13. As a long-term prisoner, Doug was moved from prison to prison, and was among the first to be sent to the first Open Prison in Britain - what was it called? Hint


Question 14 of 25
14. Scrabbling around to make a living after being released, Doug was soon back into crime. He would go from area to area selling door-to-door - what bogus product did he sell? Hint


Question 15 of 25
15. Serving a two-year sentence for this racket, Doug was given a 'fairly pleasant' job in the prison, but in which part of the prison? Hint


Question 16 of 25
16. While making no excuses for himself, Doug recalls how he worked happily for ten months after this sentence, and how the firm he worked for went bankrupt suddenly. Unable to get another job because of his record, he was soon back into crime, this time dealing with stolen cheques. Just ten years after the war had finished, he was embarking on his fourth prison sentence - but for how long this time? Hint


Question 17 of 25
17. When recalling all his time in prison over the years, Doug admitted to only one incident when he misused the trust placed in him by the prison authorities. He helped a prisoner escape (and denied it vigorously for thirty years). It was reported in the newspaper 'The News of the World' as the con concerned sold his story when he was free - do you know the name of the man Doug helped escape? Hint


Question 18 of 25
18. Doug met Val during this sentence, and they were married as soon as he was released in1966. Out of prison once again, and settled at last with a steady job in a printers, Doug lost his job after only a few months. Why did he this happen? Hint


Question 19 of 25
19. Determined not to let this set-back destroy him, Doug followed another legal path to solvency. He started up his own business with help from his wife. What did they do? Hint


Question 20 of 25
20. It would seem that Doug and Val were not to enjoy the fruits of their labour at this time, for a unhappy twist of the knife, though no fault of theirs, destroyed their happy, productive, legal lifestyle. What went wrong? Hint


Question 21 of 25
21. Finding it increasingly difficult to make a living by legal means on his release this time, Doug left Val in 1979 to go to London and back to his criminal lifestyle. This time Doug had reached the 'pinnacle of his life in crime'; in the next eighteen months he would net over - how much money? Hint


Question 22 of 25
22. The judge at his next trial would not listen to the story of Doug's Queen's Pardon (given after the fiasco mentioned in question 20), and after receiving eleven years' sentence, Doug was sent to Wandsworth. After just ten days, he was recalled to court where Judge reduced the sentence according to the Queen's Pardon. Along with this reduction, Doug was permitted more responsibility once again; this included involvement in the seventh Paralympics in 1984 - where was this held? Hint


Question 23 of 25
23. Britannia, the semi-open part of Norwich prison, was Doug's next stop. Here he met a man called Colin who encouraged him in another direction - but which one? Hint


Question 24 of 25
24. Harassed while working on a fruit and veg stall in a market, Doug panicked and ran off to London again. Still utilising the loophole in the banking system, Doug defrauded thousands of pounds; it was inevitable that he would be caught again, and he was. This time he took another step forward and became a Christian while in prison waiting for his hearing. His case was to be heard by the judge who sent him down in 1981, and his defence lawyer was a man who had once prosecuted him. What was this lawyer's name? Hint


Question 25 of 25
25. While out for seven days' parole, Doug was harassed by the police; by reporting this and the previous harassment, he secured a base by which any future harassment would be taken into account. At how many trials did Doug call upon this as a form of defence? Hint



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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Doug was a driver for the BBC Correspondent Unit from D Day to the end of the war. Which famous Dimbleby did he work with?

Answer: Richard

At this time Doug was a law-abiding citizen, with no thought whatsoever of defrauding anybody.
2. As he travelled through war-ravaged Europe, Dimbleby and Doug were among the first to visit which of these concentration camps?

Answer: Buchenwald

This was in early April 1945; George Patten had contacted them asking if they could come and record the scenes at the camp he had just liberated, and Richard asked Doug to go along with him.
3. The Russians imposed some strict limitations to the Allies going to Berlin, but permitted 'Charlie Peter One' (Dimbleby's BBC crew) access. Doug took him there - but in what mode of transport?

Answer: Mercedes

The radio crew had found this abandoned staff car near Weimar, probably because the previous owner had run out of fuel. Doug recalls that this was a real luxury, although the scenes they drove through were not as palatable.
4. Doug was to embark on his life of crime while in Berlin. The Russian soldiers were looking for a certain item, and smashed Dimbleby's because they did not know the difference between cheap and expensive, buying Doug's at an amazing price - but what was the item which inspired Doug to make a fortune on the Black Market?

Answer: watch

It seemed that the Russian soldiers valued a watch by the noise of the tick, and smashed Richard's expensive Swiss watch because they could not hear a tick. Doug's cheap watch, however, they delighted over and paid what amounted to over £1,000 for it (it had cost him somewhere in the region of half a crown (twelve and a half pence).
5. Having made £1,000 by selling this item to the Russian soldier, Doug decided to go west to buy as many of these as he could, in order to sell them to the Russians. To which city did he go to buy them?

Answer: Brussels

There Doug spent the money he had been given for his old watch on over one hundred timepieces with loud ticks. This transaction was to net him over £30,000 profit within an hour of his return to Berlin.
6. As a member of the BBC unit, Doug was part of the team which went to the Nuremburg Trials in 1945, sitting in the gallery every day (there was nothing else to do in the city). How long did the trial last?

Answer: 216 days

Doug's experiences as driver to the BBC unit were to remain in his memory his entire life - from the horrors of Buchenwald to the graphic testimony of Nuremburg. And his easy-money experiences in Berlin were also to remain, and colour the next fifty years of his life.
7. Jobs were difficult to come by, but Doug had his Black Market money to fall back on. In 1947 he went to London, and found that his fortune was disappearing - through what?

Answer: gambling

His first 'gamble' was an insider tip on a fixed race - and it started Doug off on a lifetime of gambling and the frauds which were to feed his habit.
8. Now needing money to continue with this habit, Doug bought some forged £5 notes. When he tried to use them, he was unable to do so - why?

Answer: they had the same serial numbers

He bought ten notes, and tried betting on a horse with all ten of them at once. The bookie noticed that the serial numbers were identical and Doug had to make a run for it.
9. One of Doug's more lucrative exploits in the late 1940s was that of using Post Office Savings Books. What was the name of the man who introduced him to this fraud?

Answer: Charlie

When Doug was caught about six months later, he had over four hundred Post Office Savings Books, all illegal, in the boot of his car, and had drawn many thousands of pounds from the Post Office in order to gamble on the horses.
10. At the same time as he was using illegal Post Office Books, Doug was also obtaining money fraudulently through which means?

Answer: army paybooks

He would go to an army camp with a spare paybook, pretend to be the person named on the front and collect the wages!
11. Caught and on trial in Autumn 1948, Doug was sentenced to four years penal servitude (which meant there would be no remission until he had served at least 5/6 of his sentence). When he was charged, he asked that a number of other charges be taken into consideration (this effectively meant that he could not be taken to court for these again) - how many other charges did he ask to be taken into consideration?

Answer: 470

. . . each of these was a Post Office Account he had opened illegally. It was the sheer number of additional charges that led to his harsh sentence - defrauding the Post Office was, apparently, quite a thing in the country at the time, and following Doug Hartman's arrest, trial and sentencing, the Post Office closed the loophole which made it possible.
12. Dimbleby wrote to Doug in prison in the late 1940s.

Answer: True

Doug corresponded regularly with Richard Dimbleby and also with Frank Gillard. He did not stay in touch with his mother as he vowed never to be in touch with his family again after his sentencing, feeling that he had disgraced them.
13. As a long-term prisoner, Doug was moved from prison to prison, and was among the first to be sent to the first Open Prison in Britain - what was it called?

Answer: Leyhill

It was in Leyhill that Doug met Klaus Fuchs, the German physicist who worked on the A-Bomb for the Allies in the war, and later defected to East Germany.
14. Scrabbling around to make a living after being released, Doug was soon back into crime. He would go from area to area selling door-to-door - what bogus product did he sell?

Answer: soap powder

They would use imitation 'Persil' and 'Rinso' packets, fill them with soda and a little soap powder, and sell them to housewives. The more packets Doug sold, the more commission he received, and he continued in this racket for many months, selling door-to-door across the country.

When they were caught in 1952, Doug received a two-year sentence as he had a record, while the other men were put on probation (where they were effectively free but had to report regularly).
15. Serving a two-year sentence for this racket, Doug was given a 'fairly pleasant' job in the prison, but in which part of the prison?

Answer: reception

It was while he was here that Doug came across Derek Bentley, who was hanged for murder - at the age of 19. His partner in crime, Christopher Craig, was only 16 and served a sentence, being released in 1963. The murder actually took place while Bentley was being detained by police and Craig was trying to escape - Craig fired the shot which killed the policeman. Bentley's hanging sparked a public outcry which eventually led to the abolition of hanging in the UK.
16. While making no excuses for himself, Doug recalls how he worked happily for ten months after this sentence, and how the firm he worked for went bankrupt suddenly. Unable to get another job because of his record, he was soon back into crime, this time dealing with stolen cheques. Just ten years after the war had finished, he was embarking on his fourth prison sentence - but for how long this time?

Answer: eight years

With remission this could be reduced to just six years, but this was by far the longest sentence he had received to date.
17. When recalling all his time in prison over the years, Doug admitted to only one incident when he misused the trust placed in him by the prison authorities. He helped a prisoner escape (and denied it vigorously for thirty years). It was reported in the newspaper 'The News of the World' as the con concerned sold his story when he was free - do you know the name of the man Doug helped escape?

Answer: Alfie Hinds

It was the testimony of the other escapee, Walkington, which reinstated Doug's 'red-band' (trustee) status. The content of the article in the 'News of the World' had caused the prison authorites to demote him in the prison, but when Walkington was recaptured he cleared Doug of involvement. Hinds was to write a book, in which he described Doug's part in his escape, although this time he did not name him.
18. Doug met Val during this sentence, and they were married as soon as he was released in1966. Out of prison once again, and settled at last with a steady job in a printers, Doug lost his job after only a few months. Why did he this happen?

Answer: the union would not give him membership

Doug had learnt the typesetting trade in prison, but the union would not give him membership because it was not an apprenticeship. He got a similar job in a firm without union membership in Norwich, but that fell through when the owner died and his son, who had the firm join the union, took over. Two printing jobs behind him, Doug had to find other employment or go back to crime.
19. Determined not to let this set-back destroy him, Doug followed another legal path to solvency. He started up his own business with help from his wife. What did they do?

Answer: a mini-cab firm

One thing about Doug - whatever he did, he put his heart and soul into it! The mini-cab firm was an instant success, and all totally legal and above-board. Doug pushed himself too hard, however, and suffered a nervous breakdown in 1970.
20. It would seem that Doug and Val were not to enjoy the fruits of their labour at this time, for a unhappy twist of the knife, though no fault of theirs, destroyed their happy, productive, legal lifestyle. What went wrong?

Answer: a dodgy tax-disk

Needing a new tax disk, Doug allowed someone else to get it for him - not knowing he was getting an adapted out-of-date disk, highly illegal. Caught for speeding while taking a client to the train station, the tax disk was noticed and Doug was given a sentence of twelve months.

This was later overturned with a Queen's Pardon when Tom, the man who supplied the disk, turned up and confessed. However, the Hartman's mini-cab firm had folded, never to be revived, as the publicity lost them their customers.
21. Finding it increasingly difficult to make a living by legal means on his release this time, Doug left Val in 1979 to go to London and back to his criminal lifestyle. This time Doug had reached the 'pinnacle of his life in crime'; in the next eighteen months he would net over - how much money?

Answer: £100,000

There was a loophole in the banking system by which anyone could sign the back of a cheque made out to someone else and have that cheque either cashed or paid into their bank account. Doug would steal cheques from the post and cash them. It was for this crime that Doug earned the title 'King of the Conmen' and it was through him that cheques are no longer able to be paid to anyone other than the name mentioned on the cheque - cheques are now printed with the double lines (crossed) on them so this can no longer happen. Before this, the writer of the cheque had to draw the two lines themselves.
22. The judge at his next trial would not listen to the story of Doug's Queen's Pardon (given after the fiasco mentioned in question 20), and after receiving eleven years' sentence, Doug was sent to Wandsworth. After just ten days, he was recalled to court where Judge reduced the sentence according to the Queen's Pardon. Along with this reduction, Doug was permitted more responsibility once again; this included involvement in the seventh Paralympics in 1984 - where was this held?

Answer: Stoke Manderville

The British had just four months to prepare for this event, after it was moved to Stoke Manderville from an American venue. Doug and other prisoners worked on the village, where Doug was part of the catering team.
23. Britannia, the semi-open part of Norwich prison, was Doug's next stop. Here he met a man called Colin who encouraged him in another direction - but which one?

Answer: Christianity

Doug became interested in Christianity while in prison, and Val, who came to see him regularly, waited for him once again.
24. Harassed while working on a fruit and veg stall in a market, Doug panicked and ran off to London again. Still utilising the loophole in the banking system, Doug defrauded thousands of pounds; it was inevitable that he would be caught again, and he was. This time he took another step forward and became a Christian while in prison waiting for his hearing. His case was to be heard by the judge who sent him down in 1981, and his defence lawyer was a man who had once prosecuted him. What was this lawyer's name?

Answer: John Bevan

Eddie Harvey was a friend, who, with Val, agreed to stand as sureties. Monroe Davis was another judge and Charlie Crane was a member of the church Doug and Val had attended after his release from prison the time before.
25. While out for seven days' parole, Doug was harassed by the police; by reporting this and the previous harassment, he secured a base by which any future harassment would be taken into account. At how many trials did Doug call upon this as a form of defence?

Answer: none

Doug was never in trouble with the police again. He and Val remarried in November 1988, both Christians now. Doug has visited prisons all over the country to tell his story and shares the salvation news of Jesus Christ, and wrote the book 'King of the Conmen' with the help of Roger Day. It was from this book I learned of Doug Hartman and developed this quiz.
Source: Author ArleneRimmer

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor thejazzkickazz before going online.
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