Bodyguards Trivia Quiz

Answer: Metropolitan Police Force

The Queen's Police Officer is the personal bodyguard to the Queen and is provided by the Diplomat Protection Department of the Metropolitan Police Force or 'Met'. He is usually a Superintendent.
The Household Cavalry is based at Hyde Park Barracks in Knightsbridge where it is close enough to respond to any emergency at Buckingham Palace. The unit is a mounted regiment but members are also required to perform dismounted duties and are charged with providing the escort during state occasions. There is also an active duty section of the regiment which is equipped with modern armoured vehicles.
The Queen's Guard is assigned to guarding sovereign palaces such as Buckingham Palace and they are drawn from different regiments such as the Coldstream Guards, Grenadier Guards, Scots Guards, Welsh Guards, and Irish Guards. They are the sentries seen at Buckingham Palace wearing the distinctive bearskin head gear. Units from the Queens Guard and Household Cavalry are reviewed by the Queen at the annual 'Trooping of the Colour' ceremony.
The Secret Intelligence Service MI6 concerned with foreign espionage.

Answer: Secret Service

Secret Service agents, with their distinctive business suits , sunglasses and ear piece, provide personal security to the President and Vice President and their families. They were originally commissioned in 1865 under the Department of the Treasury to guard against counterfeit currency.
Only one member has died on duty while defending a president from an assassination attempt. In 1950 private Leslie Coffeit was killed in a gun battle with two would be assassins who were attempting to kill President Truman who was in residence at Blair House. One assailant was killed and the other captured. The only other death of a serving officer was that of William Craig who died when a run-away trolly car rammed into President McKinley's carriage. In another act of notable bravery during the Kennedy assassination, agent Clint Hill jumped onto the car carrying the president and first lady using his body to protect them until they reached the hospital.
President Nixon attempted to introduce elaborate uniforms for officers to wear on State occasions but these were discarded as being too elaborate!

Answer: Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a mixed blessing to many of the Roman emperors. Only the first Emperor, Augustus, was able to command their complete loyalty. Originally recruited from soldiers to guard generals in the Roman Army, the guard played an increasingly important role in politics as the the old republic gave way to the empire. When Tiberias moved the guard headquarters into Rome proper emperors became increasingly subject on their whim. For example, when opponents assassinated Caligula the guard made no attempt to apprehend the perpetrators but championed a reluctant Claudius as the new emperor and dared the senate to oppose them. During the later empire the Praetorian Guard became a byname for intrigue. However, by and large, they allowed for the removal of cruel, weak, and unpopular emperors and generally supported the strong.
There was no unit called the Imperial Guard in Rome.
Lictors were bodyguards assigned to magistrates who held imperium (power) in the republic.
Quaestor's were officials who supervised financial affairs during republican times.

Answer: Romania

The all pervasive Securitate was the largest secret police organisation in the Eastern Bloc (outsside the Soviet Union) and scrutinised all aspects of life in Romania. It provided bodyguards for VIP's including the the Party Secretary and President. It was set up with KGB guidance in 1945 and reached the peak of its power during the time of Nicolae Ceausescu.

The Securitate was abolished after Ceausescu's downfall in 1989. There was some suggestion that a section of the Securitate was implicated in an incident that sparked the '89 revolution when shooting broke out at a peaceful rally that was being addressed by Ceausescu.

Answer: Emperor of Byzantium

The Varangian Guard had a fearsome reputation with their battlefield exploits, large battle axes and excessive drinking. They were first recruited by the Byzantine emperor Basil II in 988 when these newcomers finally reached Constantinople after working their way down through Russia.

The Byzantine court was renowned for its murder and intrigue so Basil took the opportunity to recruit these Scandanivians as bodyguards as he distrusted his own guardsmen. Over the years they were joined by Anglo-Saxons who had been displaced by the Norman invasion of England. In subsequent years they swore an oath of loyalty to the emperor but it was more to the office than the individual who held it.

They were the only element of the Byzantine army which mounted a strong defence when Constantinople was sacked during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.

They were disbanded shortly thereafter.

Answer: Housecarls

The Housecarls (Huscarls) were introduced to Anglo-Saxon England by King Canute after the Danish invasion. They were the nearest thing there was to a professional army during those times and were adopted by the Saxon kings as their personal bodyguard. They never numbered more than 3000 and are forever remembered for their heroic defence of King Harold during the battle of Hastings where most of them perished. The survivors were dispersed throughout Europe and some of them ended up joining the Varangian Guard in Byzantium.
Berserkers were unruly warrior gangs who attached themselves to the courts of Scandanavian kings as bodyguards and shock troops.
Knights were professional cavalrymen during the Middle Ages some of whom held lands in the domain of the Lords they served.
Squires were young men aspiring to the rank of knighthood who served an existing knight as his attendant and shield carrier. The term later came to describe a gentleman who was the most prominent landholder in a district.

Answer: Schutzstaffel (SS)

As the Nazi party expanded members Stosstrup provided the nucleus of small protective squads which provided a party wide security force and became known as the "Schutzstaffel" SS (Protective Squadrons). Members had to conform to the Nazi ideal of racially pure ayran ancestry. The unit was led by Heinrich Himmler from 1929-45 and became one of the largest and most powerful organisations in Nazi Germany. During the war the Waffen SS division Liebstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, the personal security unit for Hitler, became a fully fledged panzer division. After the Nuremburg trials the SS was declared a criminal organisation.
SA or brownshirts were Nazi party stormtroopers who took on opponents from all quarters in the 1920's and 30's.
The Gestapo were the secret police of Nazi Germany and ruthlessly eliminated all opposition. (Note that from about 1938 onwards the term "Gestapo" was widely used for the entire Nazi terror apparatus).
The Abwehr was the intelligence gathering agency of the German armed forces.

Answer: Imperial Guard

Originally a small elite in the French army, the Imperial Guard was expanded during Napoleon's many military campaigns eventually numbering up to 100,000 at the time of the Russian invasion. The Imperial Guard played a major part during the final stages of the battle of Waterloo when they were committed in a futile attempt to reverse the tide and suffered terrible casualties from the massed musket fire of the British redcoats. When they crumbled and retreated without orders for the first time ever the French army lost all hope of victory and was defeated.
The Gendarmerie are the French national military police force.
There was no Hessian Guard or Revolutionary Guard.

Answer: Swiss Guard

The Papal Swiss Guard was established in 1506 by Pope Julius II and is the only one still in existence. The Swiss guards were Swiss mercenaries and served in many European courts where they gained a reputation for discipline and loyalty. The Vatican Guards assigned to ceremonial duties have a distinctive Renaissance style uniform of blue, red, orange and yellow. Contrary to popular belief this uniform was not designed by Michaelangelo but appeared in its present form in 1914. Other members are more anonymous and are trained in modern security methods. The term of service is 2 to 25 years and in 2005 there were 134 members.
Another group of Swiss guards gained immortal fame defending Tuileries Palace against the Paris mob and militia during the French Revolution. The famous Lion Monument in Lucerne commemorates their brave but forlorn stand.
There is no Swedish Guard or Vatican police.
The College of Cardinals is a body of the Roman Catholic Church who advise the Pope on church matters and participate in Papal elections when the Holy See is vacant.

Answer: Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier

The machete wielding Tonton Macoute or "bogeymen" with their characteristic dark glasses, terrorised Haiti during the rule of Francois Duvalier. They were formed after the former medical doctor declared himself "President for Life" in 1959 and continued their activities during the rule of his son and successor "Baby Doc" Duvalier. A Presidential Guard was formed to provide personal security for the President.
Idi Amin was the well known President of Uganda.
Jean Bedel Bokassa was President and later self proclaimed Emperor of the Central African Republic (Empire).
Hastings Banda was the first President of independent Malawi declaring himself "President for Life" in 1971.