Elvis and his double cousin
QUESTION What is a double first cousin?
Double first cousins are children born to a pair of siblings who have married another pair of siblings.
elvis Presley had a double first cousin called Patsy. Her mother, Clettes, was his mother, Gladys’s, sister; and her father, Vester, was the brother of elvis’s father, Vernon.
Janet Davies, Bristol.
My MOTHER had two sisters, one older and one younger than her. they married brothers in the late thirties and early Forties, so their offspring were double first cousins.
Double first cousins share both sets of grandparents, so have double the degree of consanguinity than ordinary first cousins. Genetically, they are as related as half-siblings.
If identical twins marry identical twins, their children are genetically indistinguishable from full siblings. When identical twins have children with siblings, they are more related than half-siblings, but less related than full siblings.
Dave Sinfield, Brighton.
QUESTION Did Italian planes take part in the Blitz?
ITALIAN wartime leader benito Mussolini sent 180 Italian aircraft to support the German luftwaffe during the latter part of the battle of britain and early blitz offensives.
Formed as an expeditionary force, it was known as the Corpo Aereo Italiano, which means Italian Air Corps.
Its units began deploying to forward bases in belgium during early September 1940, but it did not undertake its first operational mission against britain until late october, when the battle of britain was all but over.
targets tended to be ports in the Southeast of england, such as Harwich, Felixstowe, Deal and ramsgate.
Aircraft types included the Fiat br.20 medium twin-engine bomber. like its luftwaffe counterparts, it was not designed for the sort of strategic role required during the battle of britain or blitz and had a relatively short range and bomb load. With a defensive armament of only three machine guns, it would have been easy prey for british fighters. Some of the escorting fighters were Fiat G.50 (Freccia). While more modern in design, it was underpowered and relatively slow. With a top speed of 290 mph, it was inferior to the Spitfire and Hurricane.
the other fighter deployed by the Italians was the open cockpit biplane Cr.42 (Falco). though slow and technically obsolete, it was agile so would have warranted respect from british pilots.
It could be a serious adversary and managed to shoot down Allied designs a generation ahead of it.
operations by the Corpo Aereo Italiano continued into 1941, but were scaled down in size and frequency, with units redeploying to the Mediterranean/North African theatre, where they would have been sorely needed. by April 1941, the last Italian aircraft had left belgium.
the Corpo Aereo Italiano flew 100 bombing missions against british targets. About 20 aircraft were lost, half in combat, the other half in accidents.
the Italian offensive effort over britain can’t be seen as significant and has dropped into historical obscurity. Its major drawback seems to have been the lack of modern and reliable equipment that was up to the task. A. Fellingham, Norwich, Norfolk.
QUESTION
My optician says I can see into the future. He told me I’ve got 2020 vision! On January 1, this joke will become redundant. What other jokes have expired?
Q: WHAT’S brown and comes steaming out of Cow(e)s backwards? A: the Isle of Wight Ferry. this joke has become obsolete because the ferry is now blue/white and diesel-powered. However, being roll-on-roll-off, it still reverses out of port at Cowes. A pre-Space Age joke book from 1953 has: ‘I saw something last night I’ll never get over — the Moon!’ A piece of graffiti in the days when public toilets had a chain, not a button: ‘If you want a cool surprise, pull the chain before you rise.’ Jim Caines, Exeter, Devon. ONE of my favourites from the eighties, though I disagreed with the sentiment, was: America has ronald reagan, Johnny Cash, bob Hope and Stevie Wonder. britain has Margaret thatcher, no cash, no hope and no wonder!
David Bradford, Belmonte, Portugal.
A RIB-TICKLER from the Victorian era: Got Prince Albert in a tin? better let him out or he’ll suffocate! (A Prince Albert tin held tobacco). Also, why should the number 288 never be mentioned in company? because it’s two gross.
Jan Smith, Bath, Somerset.
STEPHEN WRIGHT, a u.S. comedian, told this joke in the days of car phones: ‘I have an answering machine in my car. It says: “I’m home now. but leave a message and I’ll call when I’m out.” ’
In the 1969 Woody Allen film take the Money And run, Virgil is asked: ‘Have you had any experience in running a high-speed digital electronic computer?’ Virgil: ‘yes, I have.’
Interviewer: ‘Where?’ Virgil: ‘My aunt has one.’ In the days when computers were giant machines that would fill a room, the idea that someone would have their own PC at home was hilarious.
Edward Stevens, St Ives, Cambs.