Britain in the 1960s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Seamen

In May 1966 a national strike was called by The National Union of Seamen. One of the main Union Officials at that time was John Prescott who backed the strike 100%. The strike ended on June 29th but not after Harold Wilson's government had proclaimed a state of emergency which allowed price capping on food and enabled the Royal Navy to clear the ports of shipping.

Answer: Kuwait

On June 19th 1961 Kuwait became a sovereign Emirate thus ceasing to be a British protectorate. However, a few days later Abdul Karim Kassen, President of Iraq, announced that Iraq was going to annex Kuwait. On the 27th June, Kuwait requested British assistance and troops were sent into the country. On October 19th the Arab League took over the protection of Kuwait and the last of the British troops left the area.

Answer: Professionals were allowed to compete

Up until 1968 Wimbledon was a purely amateur event, although in 1967 an invitation match was held where past Wimbledon Champions that had turned professional were allowed to compete. Late in 1967 it was resolved that Wimbledon would be open to all professionals, and the following year the first Open Championships were held, the winners being Rod Laver and Billie Jean King.

Answer: Spy

George Blake was serving 42 years imprisonment for spying for the Russians. At that time, this was the longest prison sentence ever handed down by a British Court. Born in Holland he escaped to Britain in 1942 and joined the Royal Navy. When the war finished he joined MI6 and eventually was sent to Korea where he was captured and held prisoner by the North Koreans. During this time he studied Karl Marx and turned to Communism.
On his return to the UK he continued to work for MI6 but also began working for the Russians. When he was eventually caught he was sentenced to 42 years.
In 1966 he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs by climbing over the wall on a rope ladder and eventually ended up in Moscow where he remained ever since.
It is rumoured that he gave the Russians details of over 400 British spies out of which 42 were subsequently killed.

Answer: Harold Macmillan

On July 13th 1962, Harold Macmillan sacked seven of his Ministers in which became known as "The Night of the Long Knives", named after the German purge in 1934.
Overnight Macmillan had sacked the Lord Chancellor, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Defence, the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Minister of Housing and the Minister without Portfolio. Just two years later the government was beaten in the General Election.

Answer: Coal waste slid down a mountain side

On October 21st 1966 coal waste from the local colliery slipped down the mountain side at Aberfan in South Wales, engulfing the local school and surrounding houses. A total of 144 people were killed, of which 116 were school children in the middle of their lessons.
A subsequent enquiry said that the slippage was caused by an underground spring and two days of continuous rain causing the waste coal to move.
A disaster fund was set up and in a very short space of time over 1.5 million pounds had been raised.
The Coal Board were found to be at fault but it was not until 1997 that the Coal Board repaid the money spent by the disaster fund in ensuring that the remaining tips were made safe.

Answer: Leatherslade Farm

The Great Train Robbery was carried out on 8th August 1963. A total of just over 2.5 million pounds were stolen which, at today's rates, equates to over 40 million pounds. Thirteen of the robbers were captured after their fingerprints were discovered at their hide out at Leatherslade Farm in Buckinghamshire.

Answer: Secretary of State for War

John Profumo was Secretary of State for War when it was discovered that he was having relations with a 'high society' call girl named Christine Keeler. The main reason that Profumo was embarrased was that Christine Keeler was having an affair with Eugene Ivanov, the Russian Naval Attache, at the same time.

Originally denying that he had relations with Christine he eventually admitted that he had lied about the affair after considerable pressure was put onto the Government by the Labour Party. Ten weeks later he resigned from politics. After his resignation in June 1963 he began working for charities in the East End of London.

In 1975 he was awarded the CBE for his charity work.

Answer: The clash between Mods and Rockers

On the Whitsun Bank Holiday in 1964 over 1,000 Mods and Rockers clashed on Brighton beach terrorising the local people. The clashes spread to Margate and other seaside resorts. The Mods, with their neat dress and scooters, arrived at Brighton not knowing that the Rockers, with their motorbikes and leathers, had already arrived at the seaside resort.

After a few minor skirmishes full scale riots occurred and many arrests were made. These clashes continued throughout the year, in many of the south coast seaside resorts.

Answer: The death penalty

In 1965 a free vote was held in both Houses of Parliament and a decision was made to suspend the death penalty for a period of five years. In 1969 another free vote was held and the death penalty was abolished altogether except for, treason, piracy with violence, causing fire or explosions in warehouses or naval shipyards, espionage on naval ships and some offences within the armed services.

The last people to be hanged in Britain were Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans on 13 August 1964 for their part in the murder of John West on 7 April 1964.

Answer: Kim Philby

Kim Philby was dubbed "The Third Man" after he was discovered to be a Russian spy, along with Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean. Born Harold Hardian Russell Philby he worked for British Intelligence during the war and was awarded the OBE for his services.

After the war he continued to work for MI6, whilst still spying for Russia and, at the same time, was also a correspondent for The Economist newspaper, operating from Beirut. It was while he was in Beirut it became obvious that the game was up and he defected on a Russian freighter and ended up in Moscow where he was granted asylum in Russia.

He died in 1988 at the age of 76.

Answer: Ian Smith

In December 1966 Harold Wilson held talks with the Rhodesian Prime Minister, Ian Smith, over Smith's Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Ian Smith had already declared UDI for Rhodesia the previous year but Wilson was still hoping to gain concessions from Smith, but Smith stating that as far as he was concerned Rhodesia was already a Republic, severed all ties with Great Britain.

Answer: The Torrey Canyon

In 1967 the Torrey Canyon ran aground on rocks between Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. She was carrying a full cargo of 120,000 tons of crude oil which began to spill onto the beaches. Attempts were made to refloat her but she started to break up spilling oil into the sea.

The RAF and Fleet Air Arm were used to bomb the stricken ship in an attempt to blow her up and burn off the oil that was beginning to reach the nearby beaches. Although the exercise was eventually declared a success, a substantial amount of oil reached the beaches which had a devastating effect on the local wildlife.

Answer: MOT testing

In 1965 Barbara Castle was appointed Minister of Transport, and during her time in office introduced a number of laws that are still in force today. She introduced the breath test for drivers suspected of drinking, the 70mph speed limit on motorways and the compulsory fitting of front seat belts on new cars, although she could not make the wearing of these belts law.
Although she introduced these laws that affected motorists, Barbara could not drive and did not hold a driving licence.
The MOT test was introduced by Ernest Marples in 1960 for cars over ten years old.

Answer: Permanent British Summer Time

In the early 1960s the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) had been campaigning for single summer time to be used during the winter months and double summer time in the summer months. It was agreed that for a trial period commencing February 1968 Britain would remain on permanent summer time, i.e. GMT + 1 hour throughout the whole year. Although it appeared that more accidents occurred during the morning, a substantial decrease in accidents occurred in the evening.

However in 1971 it was decided to revert back to normal summer time. ROSPA are still lobbying for a change to double summer time, but there are substantial objections from farm workers, outdoor labourers and people in the north of Scotland where, in the winter time, sunrise would not occur until after 10.00am.