We Shall Not Sleep Trivia Quiz

Answer: In Flanders Fields

On the morning of May 2nd 1915, Canadian officer Alexis Helmer was killed in the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. His friend John McCrae was a doctor in the Canadian Army, and was so moved by his friend's death that he wrote this famous poem. It was first published in "Punch" magazine, December 1915.

Two years later, McCrae himself was dead too, succumbing not to a bomb or a bullet, but to pneumonia - one of the most common causes of death in the trenches of the First World War.

This is the poem he wrote for his friend;

"In Flanders Fields"

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."

Answer: Murder

Juliet Marion Hulme was born in Blackheath in London in 1938. She moved to New Zealand in 1951, when her father took the post of Rector of the University of Canterbury, in Christchurch.

In June 1954, Juliet together with her friend Pauline Parker, murdered Honora Rieper (Pauline's mother). The motivations for the killing appeared to be based on the strange fantasy world that the two schoolfriends had concocted for themselves. It was also tied in with the fact that Juliet's parents were separating, with the likelihood that Juliet would be sent abroad, away from Pauline.

It was a brutal and frenzied killing, with Honora Rieper being hit at least 45 times by a brick in a stocking which the girls had bought with them to commit the crime.

They were found guilty of murder, and only their youth saved them from the death penalty. Instead, they were ordered to be held in jail "at Her Majesty's Pleasure". Both were released five years later, on the condition that they never made contact with each other ever again.

Juliet eventually moved to Scotland, where she set up home with her own mother. In 1979, she published her first novel under the name "Anne Perry".

Her story was the basis for Peter Jackson's 1995 film, "Heavenly Creatures", starring Kate Winslet as Juliet Hulme.

Answer: 5

All of the novels are set in or around the various Battles of Ypres. Altogether, there were five Battles of Ypres during WW1. They were;

First Battle of Ypres (October 19 - November 22, 1914) - with almost 200,000 casualties from both sides.

Second Battle of Ypres (April 22 - May 15, 1915) - almost 100,000 deaths and injuries were suffered.

Third Battle of Ypres (July 31 - November 6, 1917) - this Battle is also known as Passchendaele - the most brutal and costly of all the battles, where the total of dead and wounded from all sides was close to 1 million casualties.

The Fourth Battle of Ypres was actually a series of battles which took place around Ypres from the 9 - 29 April 1918; these battles included the Battle of the Lys, the Battle of Estaires, the Battle of Hazebrouck and the Battle of Mount Kemmel.

The Fifth and final Battle of Ypres, which features in our book, was actually a series of skirmishes, with the Allies finally forcing the German forces to retreat from Flanders for good. These actions took place between September 28 and October 2, 1918.

Answer: Ambulance driver

Cars were not particularly commonplace during the time of the First World War - therefore, not many people were actually able to drive a vehicle. In the main, only the wealthy could afford cars. Prior to the introduction of motor vehicles, the main mode of transport across land would have been on a train - and for a number of reasons, it was not considered "proper" for a young lady to travel alone on a train. Therefore the introduction of the motor car was an extremely liberating invention for women - it allowed them a lot more freedom to travel, as they could suddenly do so without accompaniment. As a result, at the outbreak of war, many "better off" young women were able to drive vehicles. Many of them (and estimates are in the thousands) volunteered for work as Ambulance Drivers in various theatres of War. Judith Reavley fits this profile perfectly, and hence her employment as an Ambulance Driver on the Western Front makes perfect sense.

Famous literary figures who saw service as Ambulance Drivers during the war include Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, E.E. Cummings, Somerset Maugham, Robert Service (writer of Yukon poetry - the most famous of which is "The Shooting of Dan McGrew"), and Charles Nordhoff, who co-authored "Mutiny On the Bounty".

Answer: Kaiser Wilhelm II

Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor or Kaiser. He was also king of Prussia.

He was born in Berlin on 27 January 1859, the eldest child of Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia and Victoria, Queen Victoria's daughter. After a period of military service, Wilhelm married Augusta Victoria in 1881, who was the princess of Schleswig-Holstein. They had seven children in all.

Wilhelm's father succeeded to the German throne in 1888 as Frederick III. He died that same year though, and Wilhelm became Kaiser of Germany at the age of 29. He had strong militarist tendencies, and strengthened the German Army and Navy considerably. This alienated Britain, and this was further exacerbated when he supported the Boers in South Africa in their fight against the British. However, he maintained a particular fondness for his grandmother, Queen Victoria of England, throughout her reign as monarch.

After Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914, Wilhelm supported Austria in its struggle against Serbia. He probably didn't realize the knock-on effect this would have, bringing Russia and her allies Britain and France to war against Germany and Austria.

America's full scale entry into the war in 1918 exacerbated Germany's exhausted resources, which led to Germany's ultimate military collapse in 1919.
As a result of Germany's defeat, Wilhelm was forced to abdicate and he was exiled to the Netherlands. The victorious allies unsuccessfully tried to extradite and try him for war crimes.

When Hitler rose to power in the 1930s, Wilhelm harboured hopes of being restored to the throne for some while, but this didn't happen. He died on 4 June 1941.

Answer: A French cargo ship accidentally exploded in Canada

The city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc on December 6th 1917. The Mont Blanc was a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, and it accidentally collided in with a Norwegian ship, the SS Imo in Halifax Harbour.

There were were over 11,000 casualties, with more than 2,000 killed by debris, fires, or collapsed buildings. This is still the world's most devastating accidental non-nuclear explosion in terms of casualties.

A comprehensive account of this horrific accident can be found on the Halifax Community website, at the following link;

http://www.halifax.ca/Community/explode.html

Answer: Master

Aidan Thyer is the (fictional) Master of St John's College who plays an important role throughout the series of books.

St John's College, is an institution which is known formally as The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge. St Johns is one of 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. Cambridge University is the second oldest University in the English speaking world - it was founded in the 13th Century by some disgruntled scholars from the oldest University, Oxford.

St John's College was founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort in 1511. Its aims, as stated in the Statutes of the College, are "the promotion of education, religion, learning and research". Constitutionally, it is a charity under English law, although St John's College is the second wealthiest of the Oxbridge colleges, with fixed assets of £567,390,000.

Alumni of St John's College include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops and one Saint - the 16th Century Welsh martyr, Richard Gwyn.

Answer: The Boer War

The Boer War took place from 1899 to 1902. It was essentially a war waged by the Britsh Empire for the gold mines in the Dutch Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. As such, there was no great moral reason behind the war - it was based on pure commercial greed. Both The Peacemaker and Mason the journalist witnessed the horrors of this apparently pointless war, and vowed never to allow such a senseless slaughter to occur again. This is the central conceit of Anne Perry's series of novels.

The Crimean War (October 1853 -February 1856) saw the French, British and Turks battle with Russian Empire to gain control of key trade routes in southern Europe.

The Peninsular War (1807 -1814) saw British help Spain and Portugal repel the invasion of Napoleon's French forces.

The Korean War - 1950 - 1953 - was essentially a Civil War between North and South Korea, but really a front for the Cold War.

Answer: German Officer

Colonel von Schenckendorff was The Peacemaker's cousin, and therefore his conduit to the leader of Germany. However, as the War had progressed, he had become disillusioned with both his own side's conduct in the War, and with the proposals of the original treaty which The Peacemaker had encouraged both sides to sign.

Therefore von Schenckendorff escaped through the Allied lines to find the Reavleys, and eventually makes his way back to London with them to reveal both The Peacemaker's plans, and his identity.

Answer: David Lloyd George

The Welshman, David Lloyd George, succeeded Herbert Asquith as Prime Minister in 1916. He remained as PM until he was succeeded by Andrew Bonar Law in 1922.

Lloyd George was a Liberal, but he led a Coalition Government throughout his period in office.

William Ewart Gladstone was another famous Liberal Prime Minister who was elected as PM on four different occasions during the 19th Century.

Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of Britain during the years of the Second World War.