A War of Words Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cold war

This picture rebus shows some ice to represent "cold" and the Cenotaph war memorial in London.

The term 'cold war' is usually a reference to the decades after the Second World War that were characterised by political tensions between the Communist Eastern Bloc, led by the Soviet Union, and the alliance of western countries that included the USA and other NATO members. The race by both sides to develop and refine nuclear weapons added a significant threat and fuelled fears of mass destruction if 'cold' war were to escalate into actual armed conflict. This particularly icy period in world history is generally considered to have ended along with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Major incidents of the Cold War included the Berlin Blockade in 1949, the signing of the Warsaw Pact in 1955, the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961 and 1962's Cuban Missile Crisis.

Answer: Waterloo

...floodWATER LOOking...

The Battle of Waterloo took place in 1815 between French forces led by Napoleon Bonaparte and a coalition headed by the Duke of Wellington (the commander-in-chief of the British army) and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (a Prussian field marshal and newly-created prince). It brought to an end the period of history known as the Hundred Days, which had been triggered by Napoleon's escape from exile in Elba. It was also the final battle of the Napoleonic Wars, which had first begun in 1803.

The Duke of Wellington gave his name to the waterproof rubber boots commonly known as wellingtons or "wellies". However, his original boots were based on Hessian boots and made of leather. The name of the Battle of Waterloo has also become synonymous with both a popular song by the Swedish band ABBA and one of London's busiest railway stations - an old plan of which is shown in the picture clue.

Answer: Punic Wars

WIN US CARP can be rearranged to give PUNIC WARS

The term 'Punic Wars' is a collective one for the three separate Punic Wars that took place between the Carthaginian and Roman Empires in the second and third centuries BC. Carthage was a city state and major naval power located close to the modern city of Tunis (the capital city of Tunisia) on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea from Italy (as can be seen from the picture clue). It was the leading power of the region prior to the start of the First Punic War in 264 BC, but lost that status after a decisive defeat by the Romans in 261 BC, who had dramatically improved their navy in order to achieve victory. The Second Punic War (218-201 BC) and Third Punic War (149-146 BC) ended in the same result. The final war completely destroyed Carthage and the city was abandoned after almost all its people were either killed or enslaved. The ruins of the city have survived into the 21st century and become a popular tourist attraction.

Although Carthage was a seaport and its trade included large quantities of fish, it is unlikely that carp would have been a major commodity there since they are predominantly found in fresh water.

Answer: France

The Battles of ARRAS (reading down diagonally from the top-left corner), the MARNE (reading upwards from the middle of the bottom row) and the SOMME (right-to-left along the bottom row) all took place in France.

The town of Arras and the Rivers Marne and Somme in north-west France all gave their names to several battles of the First World War. Battles of Arras took place in 1914, 1915 and 1917; the First Battle of the Marne was in 1914, with the Second Battle of the Marne occurring near the end of the war in 1918. The Battle of the Somme was a major offensive of 1916, while the Second Battle of the Somme (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) took place in 1918. These battles were some of the bloodiest of the war and, although estimates of casualties vary considerably between sources, it is safe to say that well over a million men were killed or injured as a result. The 1916 Battle of the Somme, which lasted around 4.5 months, probably accounted for around a million casualties in its own right.

Answer: Spitfire

This picture rebus shows a chicken roasting on a spit and some flames (fire).

The Supermarine Spitfire was designed by British aircraft engineer R. J. Mitchell and first took to the skies in 1936. However, it gained fame when it played an instrumental part in the Battle of Britain and went on to become the Royal Air Force (RAF)'s key fighter plane for the remainder of the Second World War. The Spitfire was also flown by dozens of different air forces around the world. It remained in active service with the RAF until the mid-1950s and a small number of the aircraft were still flying in the 21st century - mostly in historic flypasts or providing flight experiences.

Answer: Artillery

'Route' is a clue to 'artery', 'sick' relates to 'ill' and 'around' is the instruction to put 'ill' inside 'artery'. Doing this correctly creates the word 'artillery' - a technical term for 'big guns'. The picture clue shows an "ill artery" with a dangerous swelling known as an aneurysm.

The term artillery can refer to both large land-based weapons with long-range firepower - e.g. cannons, howitzers, or missile launchers - or to the army units, such as regiments or squadrons, that operate them. While the term is now generally associated with different types of powerful guns, its history can be traced back to the pre-gunpowder era of warfare, when weapons such as catapults and trebuchets were used instead.

Answer: Lexington and Concord

The Battles of Lexington and Concord took place on the 19th April, 1775 in Massachusetts, an area which at the time was known as the Province of Massachusetts Bay and was one of the crown colonies of British North America. The battles were the result of a British offensive to locate and destroy the local militia's supplies and marked the first hostilities of the American Revolutionary War. Although the British forces partially succeeded in their task, the battles are considered to be a victory for the American forces, after the arrival of numerous reinforcements led the British army to retreat back to Boston with a considerably higher number of casualties. After these battles - which might be more correctly described as skirmishes (particularly in the case of Lexington) - the war continued for another eight years before the British accepted American independence under the terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

The picture clue shows an outline map of the US state of Massachusetts.

Answer: Midway

The arrow in the picture clue is pointing at the letter 'a', the centre or 'mid' point of the word 'way'.

The Battle of Midway was a naval confrontation between the US and Japanese fleets in June 1942, following a Japanese plan to invade Midway Island, an atoll to the far west of the Hawaiian archipelago. The battle lasted for four days and cost the lives of around 300 Americans and 3,000 Japanese. A total of seven ships were sunk (which included an aircraft carrier and destroyer belonging to the US, along with four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser) and hundreds of aircraft were lost on both sides. It proved to be a decisive victory for the US and was a vital step for the Allies in establishing naval and air superiority over the Japanese in the Pacific theatre.

Answer: Pearl Harbor

The letters of HARP LABORER can be rearranged to form PEARL HARBOR.

Pearl Harbor is a US naval base in the state of Hawaii, but the name is also now synonymous with the Japanese attack on the base on the morning of the 7th December, 1941. The unprovoked and unannounced attack was a particular shock to both the US government and US people because, at the time, the country was not at war with Japan and was not involved in the wider Second World War - although that position changed immediately afterwards as a direct result of the attack. The Japanese succeeded in sinking or damaging several US battleships, cruisers and destroyers, along with a large number of aircraft. However, the US navy's aircraft carriers were not in port at the time of the attack and therefore escaped damage. While the attack itself was a clear victory for the Japanese, it did not achieve its key aim of disabling the US Pacific Fleet.

The picture clue shows an oyster - a well-known pearl-producing mollusc.

Answer: Air Force

...flAIR FOR CElebration...

An air force is the branch of a nation's military that is responsible for warfare in the air. They usually operate a range of different aircraft for different military purposes - fighter planes for air-to-air combat, bombers for conducting ground attacks, patrol aircraft to monitor borders or conduct searches and support planes for tasks such as air-to-air refuelling or transportation. However, other armed forces branches may also operate aircraft, such as army attack helicopters or naval aircraft.

One of the first independent military air forces in history was Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded by amalgamating the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service in 1918, during the final stages of the First World War. The picture clue shows the motto of the RAF, which translates into English as "Through Adversity to the Stars".