The Saturday briefing
IS THERE anything you are desperately yearning to know? Are there any pressing factual disputes you would like us to help resolve? This is the page where we shall do our best to answer any questions you throw at us, whatever the subject.
I CAN remember back in the 1950s often visiting Ashford in Kent where a First World War tank was displayed in the middle of the High Street. Years later I tried to find some information about it but had no response. Can you help?
J R Porter, Chislehurst, Kent. ASHFORD is very proud of its tank which has stood in St George’s Square, just off New Street, for nearly a century. It was presented to the town on August 1, 1919, in recognition of its fundraising efforts for the National War Savings appeal. It arrived by train and was cheered by large crowds as it was driven down Ashford High Street.
More than 1,000 such tanks were made but most became sources of scrap metal during the Second World War. Ashford’s survived because its mechanical parts had been removed in 1929 to enable it to be turned into an electricity sub-station. It became an official war memorial in 2006.
IS it true you can only rise to a certain grade in the civil service unless you attended certain schools such as Eton and Harrow and that no matter how competent you are, without this privileged background you could never become a permanent secretary of state.
Ian S Cunningham, by email. IT isn’t true and it never has been – but attending a fee-paying top public school has always been a huge advantage in a civil service career.
According to a recent report, 54 per cent of permanent secretaries have been privately educated though only 7 per cent of children attend private schools. The same report also calculated that 22 per cent of UK pop stars also had a private education. SOMEONE told me that in the Second World War there was a Nazi regiment made up solely of Muslims. It was named Handschars and they wore the fez. They were reputed to be the bloodiest regiment in the German army. Can you verify one way or the other?
ME Coulson, North London THIS is a pretty close description of the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) though technically they were not formally a part of the German army but an armed branch of the Nazi party.
They fought mostly in Bosnia and Croatia against Yugoslav partisan forces and were mainly but not exclusively Muslims.
Their title “Handschar” was the name of a local fighting knife, which must have contributed to the reputation for violence.
After the war many faced criminal charges in Yugoslavia and some were executed. A fez did form part of their uniform.
TOM Cruise broke his ankle while performing his own stunts
Dotty Rug, £69.99. 0345 6402020/argos.co.uk If you’re looking for a quirky rug to liven up a lounge or perhaps something to finish off the playroom this dotty rug is sure to meet your requirements. in the filming of Mission: Impossible 6. Has any other actor been injured or killed doing their own stunts?
J Rhodes, Leeds INJURIES are not uncommon but there have also been deaths. Here are three of them:
In 1982 Vic Morrow was killed in a scene involving a helicopter and pyrotechnics in Twilight Zone: The Movie. The fireworks exploded, cutting the tail off the helicopter Morrow was flying in.
In 1988 Roy Kinnear was filming The Return Of The Musketeers when he fell from a horse and suffered injuries from which he died the following day.
In 1993 Brandon Lee, son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, was killed in a bizarre stunt accident on the set of The Crow. His character was supposed to get shot by blanks but the gun held a fragment of a live bullet.
HAS any golfer ever carded a hole-in-one on a par 4 in any of the four majors? If so, how many times has this been achieved?
Terry Shaw, Rugby, Warwickshire by I AM assured there has only ever been one hole-in-one on a par 4 in PGA history and that was not in a major. It happened on the 332-yard 17th hole at TPC Scottsdale in the Phoenix Open (then the FBR Open) in 2001.
Andrew Magee doubted he’d even reach the green with his tee shot so let loose before the previous group had finished the hole. His ball ran on to the green, much to the surprise of those playing. It passed one player then hit the putter of another which deflected it into the hole. Result: technically a hole-in-one, which on a par 4 is one better than an albatross, which is a condor.
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