General Knowledge Quiz

[Gloster]

The husband of the author whose best known novel starts ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again‘ is also credited with a well-known phrase. What is it, or at least the four best known words?

 

[xotGD]

You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment.

 

[Gloster]

You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment.

No. He did not say it in a book, although there was later a connection.

 

[Gloster]

Well, nobody else has answered, so a clue. The book of which the first line was quoted in the question was Rebecca. So what is the author’s husband credited with saying, four words of which went on to be a book and film title?

 

[martinsh]

Have googled this and thus ruled myself out

 

[MotCO]

Daphne de Maurier wrote Rebecca as a challenge by some one to write a book without ever mentioning the heroine's first name. Was the challenge set by the husband, and is this relevant to the answer?

 

[SuspectUsual]

Her husband was a military bloke who went on to work for the then Princess Elizabeth and later the Duke of Edinburgh - is it something to do with them?

 

[MotCO]

Her husband was a military bloke who went on to work for the then Princess Elizabeth and later the Duke of Edinburgh - is it something to do with them?

It wasn't 'Never complain, never explain', was it?

 

[Gloster]

Daphne de Maurier wrote Rebecca as a challenge by some one to write a book without ever mentioning the heroine's first name. Was the challenge set by the husband, and is this relevant to the answer?

Nothing to do with this.

It wasn't 'Never complain, never explain', was it?

No, it wasn’t.

Her husband was a military bloke who went on to work for the then Princess Elizabeth and later the Duke of Edinburgh - is it something to do with them?

He was indeed a military bloke, but it was related to an event some years before he worked for them.

 

[SuspectUsual]

He was indeed a military bloke, but it was related to an event some years before he worked for them

So related to his military career? Something in the Second World War?

 

[Gloster]

So related to his military career? Something in the Second World War?

Correct on both points.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Correct on both points.

And this is a four word phrase?

“Nice chap, no General” is all I can think of but I think that was Montgomery

 

[Gloster]

And this is a four word phrase?

“Nice chap, no General” is all I can think of but I think that was Montgomery

The statement was probably made, if it was actually made as claimed, in the presence of or to members of Montgomery’s staff, though probably not to Montgomery himself.

 

[SuspectUsual]

So whilst planning rather than doing?

 

[Gloster]

So whilst planning rather than doing?

Indeed, it was supposed to have been said during the planning and was to be proven true in the operation.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance?

 

[Acathater]

A bridge too far?

 

[Gloster]

A bridge too far?

Correct. Daphne du Maurier was married to Lieutenant-General Frederick ‘Boy’ Browning, ‘father of the airborne forces’, who may have said during the planning of Operation Market Garden, ‘I think we may be going a bridge too far’, something that was proved with the Arnhem debacle. There is a little bit of doubt: he almost certainly though this during planning, but whether he said so at the time or managed to later on insert the belief that he had into the narrative remains just a bit open. The last four words were used by Cornelius Ryan for his 1974 book and the later film.

To you to launch the next question.

 

[Acathater]

Following on from the last.........who played Browning in the film?

 

[CarltonA]

Following on from the last.........who played Browning in the film?

Dirk Bogarde?

 

[Acathater]

Dirk Bogarde?

yep that's it
your turn

 

[CarltonA]

yep that's it
your turn

Which creature, found in the UK and elsewhere, has the scientific name Milvus Milvus?

 

[DaleCooper]

Which creature, found in the UK and elsewhere, has the scientific name Milvus Milvus?

Shrew

 

[CarltonA]

Shrew

No, that's not the one.

 

[xotGD]

Hedgehog?

 

[DaleCooper]

Roe Deer

 

[CarltonA]

Hedgehog?

No, the creature in question is not a mammal.

 

[CarltonA]

Roe Deer

Sorry, no.

 

[341o2]

Red Kite. conservation success story. First encounter hem visiting the Chinnor & Princess Risborough Railway, now seen as far south as the New Forest

 

[CarltonA]

Red Kite. conservation success story. First encounter hem visiting the Chinnor & Princess Risborough Railway, now seen as far south as the New Forest

Is correct, please take the floor.