The freezing cold war . . .
QUESTION What is the highest altitude at which a major battle has been fought? The 25,330ft Siachen Glacier in the disputed area of Kashmir, to the north of India and Pakistan, is considered to be the highest battlefield in the world.
At the end of a UN-brokered ceasefire in 1949, India and Pakistan agreed on a ceasefire line in undivided Kashmir according to the Karachi Agreement of 1949. however, its easternmost stretch was not demarcated beyond a point called NJ9842, a glaciated himalayan area, because it was considered inhospitable and uninhabited.
It simply said that from NJ9842, the line would run ‘thence north to the glaciers’ — the Siachen, Rimo and Baltoro.
From the Sixties, Pakistan began to redraw its maps to claim the glaciated valleys were under its control. It invited international climbers to conquer the peaks to give the claim legitimacy.
In 1982, it was discovered the Pakistan army were on manoeuvres to secure the area. India responded by launching Operation Meghdoot (named after the divine cloud messenger in a Sanskrit poem) on April 13, 1984, and its army and air force occupied the Siachen Glacier.
Pakistan deployed troops, but they were overwhelmed by the Indian forces, which secured more than 1,000 square miles of territory comprising most of the Siachen Glacier and all tributary glaciers, including the major passes of Saltoro Ridge.
hostilities continued until 1999 and have not ended officially, though a ceasefire deal was made in 2003. More than 1,300 Pakistani soldiers died on Siachen between 1984 and 1999.
According to Indian estimates, it costs £ 200 million a year to maintain the country’s presence on the glacier, and more than 2,000 Indian and Pakistani troop deaths have been due to the extreme weather conditions. Both countries maintain a military presence in the region at a height of more than 20,000 ft.
L. Reddy, Luton, Beds. QUESTION What is the easiest way to sharpen a pair of scissors? The classic method is to take a piece of aluminium kitchen foil about 10 in long and fold it several times so you have a thick, folded strip. Then simply cut through the foil five or ten times to sharpen a pair of scissors.
The alternative method is to fold a piece of fine grit sandpaper with the rough edges facing outwards and cut through it several times. Mrs Eileen Wallace, Perth. QUESTION Is it true that the white webbing belt worn by Ursula Andress in the film Dr No once belonged to a Royal Marine? What happened to it? ThAT webbing belt did not belong to a Royal Marine.
I was the leading seaman in charge of the gunner’s party on board the destroyer hMS Troubridge in 1962, which was moored at Jamaica’s Ochos Rios beach at the time of the filming.
I was responsible to the gunnery officer for the maintenance and issue of khaki kit used for landing parties and other non-ceremonial duties, small arms and ammunition.
White webbing was issued only to ratings for ceremonial duties and is not part of their personal kit.
During the filming of Dr No, the gunnery officer who was liaising with the film crew instructed me to issue a number of ratings with white webbing belts, gaiters and anklets. One of these belts was later used
Bruce (Ned) Kelly, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. The belt belonged to Gordon Joslin, then a 28-year-old petty officer aboard hMS Troubridge.
Ursula Andress felt the ivory cotton bikini she had helped design was missing something, and one of the film crew was dispatched to ask sailors from the Troubridge for a webbing belt.
The belt and bikini were sold in the Christie’s James Bond auction of 2001 after Andress found them in her attic.
They were bought for £41,125 by Robert earl, owner of the Planet hollywood chain, to display at his restaurant in Times Square, New York.
Ned Dawson, Croydon, Surrey.
QUESTION Did Cliff Richard once accuse The Beatles of playing out-of-tune guitars?
AS The previous answer suggested, was it sour grapes that led Cliff Richard to accuse The Beatles of playing out of tune?
If so, it was with good reason, because a John Lennon comment almost destroyed Cliff’s career.
Between 1958 and 1960, Cliff Richard and The Shadows produced some of the best home-grown rock ’n’ roll: Move It, Dynamite, Apron Strings, D In Love, Choppin’ ’N’ Changin’, She’s Gone and I’m Gonna Get You.
In 1960, they were the first British band to tour the U.S. and Cliff appeared on ed Sullivan’s TV show several times, long before the Fab Four. By 1963, Cliff and the boys were on top of the world with the film Summer holiday and No. 1 songs.
By then, The Beatles had had their first hits and they saw Cliff and The Shadows as rivals. At first it was friendly rivalry; the bands met at a party at the home of Bruce Welch of The Shadows, singing each other’s songs well into the night.
Cliff praised The Beatles in the Press and sent them a good luck telegram before they left for America.
Then it turned sour. In Michael Braun’s 1964 book about The Beatles, Love Me Do, Lennon was quoted as saying: ‘We still hate [Cliff’s] records.’
Cliff became a symbol of the establishment that the Sixties generation was turning its back on and ridiculing.
If Cliff did think The Beatles played out of tune, I’m sure he would have told them to their faces, as he often ran into George harrison and Paul McCartney at Abbey Road recording studios.
Anthony Petrie, Stockport.