British Institutions - The Royal Hospital Chelsea Quiz

Answer: King Charles II

In 1681 King Charles II signed the warrant authorising the construction of a hospital for those in his service 'broken by age or war'. The oldest part of the present day hospital is the Figure Court which was started in 1682, its existing Doric style columns, colonnade, panel work and benches are all original and contemporary with this date.

The central position in the court is occupied by a statue of King Charles II in the guise of a Roman emperor. The statue was designed and cast by British/Dutch sculptor Grinling Gibbons, an artist responsible for many fine works which can be found at a number of British stately homes and public buildings which date from the late seventeenth century.

Originally gilded, the seven foot six inch statue was presented to the King during 1682 and moved to its current site at the Royal Hospital after the King's death in 1685.

Answer: False

Residency of the Royal Hospital Chelsea is restricted to former veterans of the British Army only. Until 1869, Royal Naval veterans had their own dedicated hospital at Greenwich, a district to the east of the City of London.

Answer: Wren

Sir Christopher Wren is rightly acclaimed as one of the greatest architects of all time and certainly one of, if not the greatest, architects in the history of England. In addition to his work on the design of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Wren was also responsible for a wide range of new buildings replacing many of those lost during the Great Fire of London in 1666. Principal amongst his canon of works must be the iconic St. Paul's Cathedral, but he is also accorded some responsibility for over fifty other churches in collaboration with Nicholas Hawksmoor, a proponent of the English Baroque architectural style.

Other famous architectural works by Sir Christopher Wren include the southern frontage of Hampton Court Palace, Marlborough House in Westminster and the library of Trinity College at Cambridge University.

Answer: Three hundred

Although the number of residents fluctuates from time to time, the Royal Hospital Chelsea is presently established to house and care for three hundred veterans both male, and in more recent years, former female members of the British Army. At its foundation in the latter decades of the seventeenth century, the Royal Hospital Chelsea was established to accommodate and care for a total of four hundred and twelve veterans from both the commissioned and non-commissioned ranks.

Answer: Hôtel des Invalides

The Great Hall, and the Octagon, a large reception area located to the northern end of Figure Court, are attached to two long four storey buildings, one each to the east and west which are known as the Long Wards. Each of the Long Wards consists of eighteen wainscoted berths positioned back to back providing enough space to accommodate thirty six veterans in comfort and safety on each floor.

The staircases in each of the Long Wards are wide and were specifically designed to be negotiated by the elderly and infirm; a demonstration of modern, forward-thinking by Sir Christopher Wren over three hundred years ago!

Answer: False

Today the trustees of the Royal Hospital Chelsea aim to encourage any veterans facing the prospect of spending their twilight years alone to become residents of the hospital. Eligible veterans must be of state pension age which, at the time of writing, is 60 years for females and 65 years for males. Prospective residents must also be in receipt of an Army Service Pension or a War Disability Pension, either of which are to be surrendered upon becoming a resident of the hospital. Places are available to those veterans not in receipt of either of these pensions but fees of £175 per week are payable to cover these individuals living costs. Limited spaces are available for former commissioned officers but these residents must have served for a minimum of 12 years in the ranks before they obtained promotion into the commissioned ranks. Residents must also be free from any responsibilities towards a spouse or a family. Finally, any prospective resident should have a good military service record and be of good character; this final point is to ensure that veterans are suitable to represent the hospital and the wider veteran community in the public arena.

Answer: National Army Museum

On the 16th of April 1941 the Soane infirmary, a section of the East Wing, received a hit from an aerial mine with heavy loss of life. A total of four nurses, the Ward-master and eight pensioners were killed along with a further 37 casualties suffering wounds of varying degrees during the raid. Surprisingly, casualties suffered by the residents and staff at the hospital during the war years were relatively light especially when considering that the vast majority of the residents remained there for the duration of the war and during the heaviest bombing of the Blitz.

The National Army Museum was established on the site of the Soane Infirmary in 1961 and was officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen on the 11th of November 1971.

Answer: V2 rocket

On the 3rd of January 1945 the north-east wing was completely destroyed after taking a direct hit from one of Germany's most advanced 'vengeance' weapons, the V2 rocket, the world's first ballistic missile which resulted in the deaths of five persons, both residents and staff with a further nineteen people injured.

In total, the Royal Hospital Chelsea received a total of twenty-nine hits from high explosive bombs and one hundred and seventeen hits by incendiary devices between August 1939 and January 1945. Loss of life at the hospital during WW2 totalled twenty-one fatalities and thirty-three wounded.

Answer: False

The wearing of the red coat is only mandatory when a pensioner is representing the Royal Hospital Chelsea in an official capacity or when attending an important parade, such as the annual Founders Day parade which takes place every June; veterans can often be seen in their scarlet tunics attending the Chelsea Flower Show, an event which has taken place on the hospital's south grounds since 1913. For general day-to-day wear and whilst at breakfast and lunch, the pensioners are expected to wear a uniform consisting of a dark blue coat, black trousers with a black hat bearing the initials 'RH' in red felt; this uniform, known as 'blues', is also required to be worn by pensioners when they are within two miles of the hospital. Pensioners are permitted to dress down in civilian clothing during the evenings and whilst attending for their evening meals.

Answer: A member of the Royal Family is or will be present

The distinctive black tricorne hats are only worn in conjunction with the red tunics and even then, only on those important occasions at which a member of the royal family is present. As mentioned earlier, the pensioner's alternative headdress consists of a dark blue shako, a style of cylindrical military cap with a small peak, which is worn with the dark blue double-breasted tunic.