The British Soldier In France, 1944 Quiz

Answer: Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 - 24 January 1965)was of course the British Prime Minister through World War II.
Apart from his famous "We will fight them on the beaches" pronouncement Churchill is fondly remembered for two superb retorts to Lady Astor;
Lady Astor - "You Sir are drunk"
Churchill - "And you madam are ugly. I however shall be sobre in the morning".
This was closely followed by;
Lady Astor - "Winston, if I were your wife I'd put poison in your coffee".
Churchill - "Nancy, if I were your husband I'd drink it."

Answer: "...has behaved remarkably correctly"

The booklet states that "Indeed, the individual German soldier has behaved, on the whole, remarkably correctly in France. He was ordered to do so. It was part of the plan for winning France over to the Nazi "New Order" for Europe. But the French have not been won over. They have had a long and painful lesson on what the "New Order" means".

Answer: 5,000

The figure claimed is 5,000 which equates to one for every two hours of occupation. The booklet expands to claim that 1,500,000 Frenchmen were made prisoners of war and a further 1,000,000 were deported to Germany to work on the German war machine. 150,000 were placed in prisons or concentration camps inside France itself.

Answer: Cycle races

A cycling challenge, unlike any other sport, would bring out almost the entire population of a town to watch and support and would therefore have the greatest immediate impact. British soldiers should not expect to win and should accept defeat with good grace.
Cricket is a British sport scarcely played in France and football too had not developed as far as it had in Britain.
Drinking was simply not on the cards due to very heavy rationing. Beers had been watered down in any case to extend the volumes that were available. The booklet explains, "If you should be offered wine or spirits remember that this will be stronger drink than you are used to".

Answer: Sou

The Germans withdrew existing French coins to melt down for armaments, replacing them with softer zinc and aluminium coins? They also replaced the traditional motto of "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) with "Travail, Famille, Patrie" (Work, Family, Fatherland).
The booklet goes on to state, "Don't be mean, but don't be extravagent either; if you are the prices are bound to go up, which would be bad luck on the local population and do you no good either".

Answer: Religion and politics

The booklet instructs - "Don't get into arguments about religion or politics. If a Frencman raises one of the points which have strained Anglo-French relations since 1940, drop the matter. There are two sides to every question, but you don't want to take either".

Answer: The able-bodied have been largely deported leaving the old and the young who may not be so agile in the face of oncoming traffic

The booklet states; " France today, thanks to the Germans, contains an undue proportion of the very old and the very young; the able-bodied have been largely deported. So do not drive through French towns and villages at a rate which means the inhabitants skipping out of your way. They may not be able to do so!"

Answer: Maréchal Phillipe Pétain

The Vichy government was a collaborationist puppet government to the Germans. It was detested by the vast majority of loyal Frenchmen. Paul Reynard was the French Prime Minister when they were defeated by the Germans.
Albert Lebrun was the French President at the time of defeat who invited Maréchal Phillipe Pétain to form the government of Vichy France.
When hostilities ended Pétain was convicted of treason and his sentence to death commuted personally by the intervention of Charles de Gaulle.

Answer: Of necessity the British had cause to bomb strategic targets in France to damage the German war machine. This led to the death of many French people.

The booklet states; "Remember how when the R.A.F has bombed factories and airfields and railways used by the Germans in France, often killing and injuring French citizens in the process, the French still understand what we are doing so well that they help our airmen who bail out to escape and pile flowers on the graves of British airmen who crash.

Unfortunately, later bombing in thickly populated areas has caused increasingly heavy civilian casualties. It is only natural that these should have caused some resentment. Remember, too, the heroic French stand made at the Battle of Bir Hakeim and the way the French drove the Germans out of Corsica. We need not doubt the goodwill of the vast majority of the people of France.

Their feelings towards us are probably more cordial than at any time in the past".

Answer: Montmartre

The booklet makes several fascinating insights to the perceived natures of the average British and French man.
"It is also as well to drop any ideas about French women based on stories of Montmatre and nude cabaret shows. These were always designed as a tourist-attraction for foreigners. If you should happen to imagine that the first pretty French girl who smiles at you intends to dance the can-can or take you to bed, you will risk stirring up a lot of trouble for yourself - and for our relations with the French".
It goes on to say; "Thanks to jokes about 'Gay Paree', 'French fares' and 'Pictures from Paris' there is a widespread belief among people in Britain that the French are a particularly gay, frivolous people with no morals and few convictions. This is especially untrue at the present time, when the French have been living a life of hardship and suffering. But the idea of the French living in a glorious orgy of wine, women and song, never was true, even before the war."
I say "vive la difference" personally!

I hope you have enjoyed this quiz. Over sixty years on and the nations of Europe are at peace and the dark days to which I have referred are long behind us. Heavy lessons learned by all that must be remembered but not repeated.
We may all raise our pint of ale, glass of wine and stein of lager to that and enjoy the cultural differences that makes these three mighty nations, strong proud and so damned peculiar to one other. Cheers, a votre sante, prosit.