Q 01/05

Which new weapon first went into action with British forces at the Somme in September 1916?

A) Tanks

B) Poison gas

C) Zeppelins

D) Submarines

Answer · why

A) Tanks

Tanks crawled into battle for the first time on 15 September 1916, with a top speed under 4 mph, and several broke down before they reached the German...

Q 02/05

Which fantasy author caught trench fever at the Somme in 1916 while serving as a signals officer?

A) CS Lewis

B) Kenneth Grahame

C) JRR Tolkien

D) Mervyn Peake

Answer · why

C) JRR Tolkien

JRR Tolkien fell ill with the louse-borne disease in October 1916 as his battalion attacked Regina Trench. A close school friend had been killed on th...

Q 03/05

What did Captain Nevill's East Surrey men kick across no man's land on the first day of the Somme?

A) Rugby balls

B) Footballs

C) Cricket balls

D) Tennis balls

Answer · why

B) Footballs

Footballs bought by Nevill on leave in London gave his men something reassuringly familiar to chase towards the German trenches. He was killed in the ...

Q 04/05

Which future dictator, then a dispatch runner, was wounded in the thigh at the Somme in 1916?

A) Benito Mussolini

B) Francisco Franco

C) Joseph Stalin

D) Adolf Hitler

Answer · why

D) Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was hit when a shell burst among his regiment's messengers, and he spent almost two months recovering in a hospital at Beelitz.

Q 05/05

The Somme offensive was meant to relieve German pressure on the French army at which fortress city?

A) Verdun

B) Amiens

C) Cambrai

D) Ypres

Answer · why

A) Verdun

Verdun had been under German attack since February 1916, draining so many French divisions that Britain had to take the leading role on the Somme.