Military Matters QI


Military Matters

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Military Matters. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

This programme contains some strong language.

0:00:020:00:05

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:00:260:00:28

Goooooood evening!

0:00:280:00:30

Good evening, good evening, good evening, good evening, good evening

0:00:300:00:33

and welcome to QI,

0:00:330:00:36

where tonight we're on parade for all things military.

0:00:360:00:40

Here to do battle are the flag-waving Jimmy Carr.

0:00:400:00:44

APPLAUSE

0:00:440:00:48

The sabre-rattling Sheila Hancock.

0:00:480:00:50

APPLAUSE

0:00:500:00:53

The war-mongering Jeremy Clarkson.

0:00:530:00:57

APPLAUSE

0:00:570:01:00

And the ambulance-driving Alan Davies.

0:01:010:01:03

APPLAUSE

0:01:030:01:06

And now their buzzers are suitably belligerent.

0:01:090:01:11

Jimmy goes...

0:01:110:01:12

MUSIC: Theme from The Great Escape

0:01:120:01:16

Sheila goes...

0:01:190:01:21

MUSIC: Theme from 633 Squadron

0:01:210:01:25

Jeremy goes...

0:01:250:01:27

MUSIC: Ride Of The Valkyries by Wagner

0:01:270:01:31

And Alan goes...

0:01:340:01:35

March! March! March! March!

0:01:350:01:38

March! March! March!

0:01:380:01:40

Nice!

0:01:410:01:42

What was unusual about Britain's war with Finland in 1941?

0:01:420:01:47

Jeremy?

0:01:490:01:50

Well, not a shot was fired.

0:01:500:01:53

Oooh...

0:01:530:01:54

No, it was the only time, I think,

0:01:540:01:56

that two democracies have ever gone to war with one another.

0:01:560:01:59

KLAXON

0:01:590:02:02

-That's a hell of an alarm.

-Yeah.

0:02:030:02:05

-Does it know what we're thinking?

-Yes, definitely.

0:02:050:02:07

How did you know that?

0:02:070:02:09

Welcome to my world!

0:02:090:02:11

11 years ago, Jeremy Clarkson, you said, on this very programme...

0:02:120:02:16

That that was true!

0:02:160:02:17

That the 1941 Anglo-Finnish War was the only one

0:02:170:02:20

fought between two democracies.

0:02:200:02:22

Yeah. Well, have we declared war since the show started on France?

0:02:220:02:26

No, there had been others before.

0:02:260:02:28

A viewer named Otto Lowe has written to us...

0:02:280:02:31

-Otto? He'd know!

-..to point out that we were wrong.

0:02:310:02:34

So we're retro-actively taking points from you today.

0:02:340:02:36

LAUGHTER

0:02:360:02:38

You had a slightly bad start to the year, but now it's got terrible!

0:02:380:02:41

LAUGHTER

0:02:410:02:43

-I'm really sorry.

-It is 11 years ago I mentioned it!

0:02:430:02:46

There was the fourth Anglo-Dutch War of 1780 to 1784.

0:02:460:02:51

-The Football War of 1969...

-What was that?

0:02:510:02:53

..between El Salvador and Honduras.

0:02:530:02:55

-Football War?

-The Football War.

0:02:550:02:57

Had Honduras kicked a football into their...?

0:02:570:02:59

LAUGHTER

0:02:590:03:01

It only lasted ten hours, it must be said.

0:03:010:03:03

Was there a half time?

0:03:030:03:05

LAUGHTER

0:03:050:03:06

Well, I'll go back to my original answer, then,

0:03:060:03:08

which was not a shot was fired.

0:03:080:03:11

I'm afraid that's not true, either.

0:03:110:03:13

13 people were killed in the Anglo-Finnish War.

0:03:130:03:15

The British attacked a port called Petsamo on 30th July, 1941.

0:03:150:03:20

I still think it's the only proper war fought between two democracies.

0:03:200:03:24

Oh, give in, Jeremy, give in.

0:03:240:03:27

LAUGHTER

0:03:270:03:29

If you'd gone home after the programme and looked it up,

0:03:290:03:32

then you'd have known.

0:03:320:03:34

I did look it up before I mentioned it 11 years ago!

0:03:340:03:36

LAUGHTER

0:03:360:03:38

Well, Wikipedia has got more accurate since then. But, erm...

0:03:380:03:41

LAUGHTER

0:03:410:03:44

The fact is, despite its reputation, the Anglo-Finnish War of 1941

0:03:440:03:48

is not the only time two democracies have fought each other.

0:03:480:03:51

Now, if I can be serious for a moment.

0:03:510:03:53

More than 100 million people were killed

0:03:530:03:55

in wars during the 20th century

0:03:550:03:57

and the total number of people ever killed by wars

0:03:570:04:00

could be as many as one billion.

0:04:000:04:02

Einstein described war as "a cloak that covers acts of murder."

0:04:020:04:07

And Antoine de Saint-Exupery called it "a disease, like typhus."

0:04:070:04:12

With all that in mind, here is my question to you.

0:04:120:04:15

Why did Hitler have such a silly moustache?

0:04:150:04:18

LAUGHTER

0:04:180:04:20

Thank God for that! I thought I was on the wrong show for a minute.

0:04:200:04:23

It all got very serious.

0:04:230:04:25

I'm sure you'd agree with my description of war, Sheila?

0:04:250:04:27

I would, absolutely.

0:04:270:04:29

this is a difficult show for me to be on because I'm a Quaker pacifist.

0:04:290:04:32

So I'm not an ideal person on the thing.

0:04:320:04:35

Were you born a Quaker?

0:04:350:04:37

No, I wasn't. I was "a Quaker by convincement," as they call it.

0:04:370:04:39

-Is that what it's called?

-Yeah. Yeah.

0:04:390:04:41

Because my family, the Fry family were very early Quakers.

0:04:410:04:43

-Of course they were, yeah.

-It's a very admirable thing.

0:04:430:04:46

-And the pacifism is taken very seriously, isn't it?

-Yes.

0:04:460:04:48

Well, it's a lovely thing until Hitler comes along

0:04:480:04:51

and then it's not much use.

0:04:510:04:53

Well, if we'd have done something about it before Hitler came along,

0:04:530:04:58

-then maybe we would have...

-Shaved his moustache off!

0:04:580:05:00

And I think the reason he had that moustache

0:05:000:05:02

is he was probably a fan of Oliver Hardy.

0:05:020:05:05

Ah, well, it's certainly true that they were popular in the '20s

0:05:050:05:09

and increasingly in the '30s among...

0:05:090:05:12

-Well, Charlie Chaplin, of course, is best known.

-Exactly.

0:05:120:05:14

But, supposedly, Hitler changed from

0:05:140:05:18

what was a relatively bushy moustache...

0:05:180:05:21

You may have seen a famous photograph of him as a gefreiter,

0:05:210:05:23

a corporal in the First World War - there he is on the left.

0:05:230:05:26

But there are a couple of stories. No-one's quite sure which is true.

0:05:260:05:29

There was a fellow who served with him, Alexander Moritz Frey,

0:05:290:05:33

great uncle Alexander,

0:05:330:05:35

he was in the same regiment in the First World War as Hitler

0:05:350:05:39

and he said that Hitler trimmed it into the familiar toothbrush

0:05:390:05:42

in order to fit into the gas mask properly.

0:05:420:05:45

Frey's account is controversial, apparently.

0:05:450:05:47

He went on to become a satirist and fantasy novelist,

0:05:470:05:50

starting a family tradition.

0:05:500:05:52

And so...

0:05:520:05:54

But here's a point about Hitler. He's judged very harshly by history,

0:05:540:05:57

but he did kill Hitler.

0:05:570:05:59

LAUGHTER

0:05:590:06:01

APPLAUSE

0:06:030:06:05

That's... I can't take that away from you, Jimmy.

0:06:060:06:09

-Credit when credit is due.

-That's true.

0:06:090:06:11

Some historians believe that Hitler only adopted the 'tache in 1919.

0:06:110:06:16

And his sister-in-law, who lived in Liverpool...

0:06:160:06:18

What, she had one as well?

0:06:180:06:20

LAUGHTER

0:06:200:06:21

She may have done. Do you know what her name was?

0:06:210:06:24

-Muriel.

-Almost, as it were.

0:06:240:06:26

Scouse Adolf.

0:06:260:06:28

-Bridget Hitler.

-Bridget Hitler...?

0:06:280:06:30

Yeah, that was her name. Bridget Hitler.

0:06:300:06:32

-Bridget Hitler?!

-Is that true?

0:06:320:06:34

Yes. She was married to Alois Junior, who was Hitler's half brother.

0:06:340:06:37

And they had a son, William Patrick Hitler.

0:06:370:06:40

Billy Hitler!

0:06:400:06:42

William Patrick Hitler went to America

0:06:420:06:43

and won a Purple Heart in the Navy.

0:06:430:06:46

Changed his name, I presume.

0:06:460:06:48

Eventually, to Stuart-Houston, I think.

0:06:480:06:50

And he claimed he wanted to forget anything to do with his uncle,

0:06:500:06:54

but he named his first son Alexander Adolf Stuart-Houston.

0:06:540:06:58

LAUGHTER

0:06:580:07:00

Are there still, in the American phone book...

0:07:000:07:02

I know there's a weird fact,

0:07:020:07:03

it's quite interesting, might work on this show,

0:07:030:07:05

where there's still, I think, nine people called Adolf Hitler...

0:07:050:07:09

-Really?

-..that were obviously born before he came to...

0:07:090:07:12

Oh, watch it, because in 11 years they're going to ask you a question.

0:07:120:07:15

LAUGHTER

0:07:150:07:17

-Oh, Jesus!

-You'll be, "Arrgh!"

0:07:170:07:19

You're simmering about that, aren't you?

0:07:190:07:21

I'm not a sore loser, but...

0:07:210:07:23

Yeah.

0:07:230:07:24

Anyway, yes, Bridget in her memoirs said that he came to visit Liverpool

0:07:240:07:28

and that she told him that he should trim the ends of his moustache

0:07:280:07:31

to make it less bushy.

0:07:310:07:32

But as she put it, "As in most things, he went too far."

0:07:320:07:35

LAUGHTER

0:07:350:07:37

That's put him in his place.

0:07:370:07:39

Hey, take it easy, Bridget.

0:07:390:07:41

Yeah, I know!

0:07:410:07:42

Yeah, and speaking of things going a little bit too far,

0:07:420:07:45

here's a question on mutinies.

0:07:450:07:46

Everybody remembers the mutiny on the Bounty,

0:07:460:07:49

but give me the name and rank

0:07:490:07:50

of the man who was overthrown and cast adrift in an open boat?

0:07:500:07:53

-Christian.

-Fletcher Christian. Wasn't he the one that...?

0:07:530:07:56

KLAXON

0:07:560:07:59

Is this just the BBC still getting at me?

0:08:010:08:04

LAUGHTER

0:08:040:08:06

APPLAUSE

0:08:060:08:09

You were about to correct Sheila, weren't you?

0:08:090:08:12

I was about to say, no, Fletcher Christian was the one who...

0:08:120:08:14

The mutineer.

0:08:140:08:15

..did the mutinying, but Captain...

0:08:150:08:18

Was he a captain or was he called Bligh?

0:08:180:08:20

KLAXON

0:08:200:08:23

He was called Bligh. He was called William Bligh.

0:08:230:08:26

But he was a lieutenant commander.

0:08:260:08:28

I thought it was Marlon Brando.

0:08:280:08:30

KLAXON

0:08:300:08:32

Oops, what happened there?

0:08:320:08:34

Yeah, he was a commanding lieutenant on the Bounty

0:08:340:08:36

and there was a mutiny and they cast him adrift in an open boat.

0:08:360:08:41

And they gave him just a sextant and a pocket watch

0:08:410:08:44

and, miraculously, he made it all the way to Timor.

0:08:440:08:46

It was a remarkable feat.

0:08:460:08:48

But Bligh seems to have had problems commanding people,

0:08:480:08:50

because he was made governor of New South Wales

0:08:500:08:52

quite a few years after the mutiny and they mutinied.

0:08:520:08:55

There was a military putsch to kick him out.

0:08:550:08:57

-He obviously had the knack.

-He had a bit of a knack.

0:08:570:09:00

-So this guy had a knack of upsetting people he worked with.

-Yeah.

0:09:000:09:03

All right...

0:09:030:09:05

LAUGHTER

0:09:050:09:08

Which of these was originally used for military purposes?

0:09:100:09:13

-The bumper car.

-Not the bumper car, in fact.

0:09:140:09:17

-The Ferris wheel.

-Not the Ferris wheel.

0:09:170:09:19

-The merry-go-round.

-That thing that goes round, for sea sickness.

0:09:190:09:22

Well, there we are, we've all gone for something different.

0:09:220:09:25

That's rather pleasing.

0:09:250:09:27

And the only one that's correct is the merry-go-round.

0:09:270:09:29

Which was originally used for that purpose of war training.

0:09:290:09:33

You would sit on the horse and a servant would have a ring

0:09:330:09:37

and you'd have a lance and you would go round and round

0:09:370:09:39

and you'd try and get your lance through the ring

0:09:390:09:42

to practise your accuracy.

0:09:420:09:44

I mean, that's surely bullshit. No?

0:09:440:09:46

LAUGHTER

0:09:460:09:48

No. A merry-go-round was invented to...

0:09:480:09:50

-That can't be right.

-A carousel, it was called a carosello and...

0:09:500:09:53

So the original was sort of like a tennis ball machine.

0:09:530:09:55

Yeah, kind of, yeah.

0:09:550:09:57

Call Of Duty is better, isn't it, really.

0:09:570:10:00

But while we're on the subject of fairgrounds,

0:10:000:10:02

there had been a particular problem in the Boer War,

0:10:020:10:05

where they'd noticed that the British were not very good

0:10:050:10:07

at aiming and firing rifles.

0:10:070:10:09

So they passed special laws.

0:10:090:10:11

-One of the basics, really, isn't it?

-Yeah.

0:10:110:10:13

They passed special laws

0:10:130:10:14

that allowed fairgrounds to have rifle ranges,

0:10:140:10:17

so you could fire rifles, live ammunition.

0:10:170:10:19

-Sorry, there's live ammunition in the fairground?

-Yes.

0:10:190:10:22

-Have you never gone to one of those?

-But it's always like a little cap.

0:10:220:10:25

-Tin pellet.

-Yeah, a pellet.

0:10:250:10:26

I mean, mostly, you get the pellets, but what is allowed, in law,

0:10:260:10:29

even to this day, is live actual ammunition, proper ammunition.

0:10:290:10:32

-In a fairground?

-Yeah.

-Really? Gosh.

0:10:320:10:34

Wow...

0:10:340:10:35

-Really?

-Yeah, really.

0:10:350:10:37

What, a 7.62 mm...

0:10:370:10:38

Up to .23.

0:10:400:10:41

-It is frowned upon if you bring your own gun.

-I was going to say.

0:10:410:10:44

I just I want to make it absolutely clear for Jeremy.

0:10:440:10:46

If I turned up with my AK, I'd get all those balloons.

0:10:460:10:48

But a .22 would work. So you could have that.

0:10:480:10:51

It would be quite good to turn up at a fairground with an AK-47

0:10:510:10:55

and go, "I think I'll be taking that bear home."

0:10:550:10:58

LAUGHTER

0:10:580:11:00

Someone needs a cuddle.

0:11:000:11:02

Have you ever fired an AK-47?

0:11:020:11:04

Er, not in anger, Jeremy.

0:11:040:11:06

No, somebody put it onto automatic

0:11:060:11:08

and quite literally stood me in front of a barn door

0:11:080:11:11

and I missed it.

0:11:110:11:13

LAUGHTER

0:11:130:11:15

-Is that...?

-As we all would.

0:11:150:11:16

It just flies around like a mad thing.

0:11:160:11:18

Of course, the man that did that isn't here to tell the story.

0:11:180:11:21

LAUGHTER

0:11:210:11:22

Very unfortunate incident.

0:11:220:11:24

It never breaks down and it never hits anything.

0:11:240:11:26

-And what, it just flies...

-It just does that.

0:11:260:11:28

And then rushes about in your hands. Terribly dangerous.

0:11:280:11:31

Well, that explains all of the series of the A-Team.

0:11:310:11:33

LAUGHTER

0:11:330:11:35

So it is actually realistic, the idea that, you know,

0:11:350:11:38

no-one got shot, ever.

0:11:380:11:40

Nobody could possibly get shot with an AK,

0:11:400:11:42

not unless you weren't aiming at them.

0:11:420:11:43

If I aimed at you, most of the audience would be history.

0:11:430:11:47

LAUGHTER

0:11:470:11:48

Well, that's you. Not everybody.

0:11:480:11:50

I mean, if they knew how to handle it.

0:11:500:11:52

No, it's pretty much everybody.

0:11:520:11:54

Unless you're a burly Russian shot putt enthusiast,

0:11:540:11:58

then you could probably hold onto it. But I couldn't.

0:11:580:12:00

-I fired a machinegun in Vietnam.

-Really, did you?

0:12:000:12:03

Did you hit anything?

0:12:030:12:04

I hit the end of the field.

0:12:040:12:06

LAUGHTER

0:12:060:12:07

A field's reasonable.

0:12:070:12:08

But they'd got all these old weapons from the American war

0:12:080:12:11

and you go up and you buy bullets.

0:12:110:12:13

-"How many bullets do you want?"

-Oh, my goodness.

0:12:130:12:15

I think I bought ten bullets.

0:12:150:12:16

And they put it in and then you squeeze the trigger

0:12:160:12:19

and they've gone, like that.

0:12:190:12:20

You think, "Oh, I wish I had more."

0:12:200:12:22

That's the evil of guns, isn't it? It triggers something.

0:12:220:12:25

Sheila, you're a Quaker pacifist. Have you got any good gun stories?

0:12:250:12:28

LAUGHTER

0:12:280:12:32

I'm not allowed!

0:12:320:12:33

Oh, dear...!

0:12:330:12:35

It would be so good, though, if you went,

0:12:350:12:37

"Yeah, has anyone ever had a go on a bazooka?"

0:12:370:12:40

That's what we were told, that you could bazooka cows and things,

0:12:400:12:44

but I didn't get the chance to do that.

0:12:440:12:47

-You're a vegetarian!

-We had a...

0:12:470:12:48

LAUGHTER

0:12:480:12:50

You see, this is what guns do, isn't it?

0:12:520:12:54

Vegetarian of the Year.

0:12:540:12:55

The other thing that I learned about was that they used cattle...

0:12:550:12:59

Erm...

0:12:590:13:01

Oh, no, that was a stand-up routine I did. That's not true.

0:13:010:13:04

LAUGHTER

0:13:040:13:06

APPLAUSE

0:13:060:13:10

I think you're beginning to blur the lines.

0:13:110:13:14

It comes to something when I'm struggling to remember a fact

0:13:140:13:16

and it's something I made up myself.

0:13:160:13:18

LAUGHTER

0:13:180:13:19

Anyway, one important skill for a soldier is map reading.

0:13:190:13:23

But why are maps so difficult to fold?

0:13:230:13:26

Well, because now they're on your phone, so you've got to break it.

0:13:260:13:29

Well, we've got some ones that aren't on a phone.

0:13:290:13:32

My father was a navigator in rallying and he could...

0:13:320:13:35

Oh, was he?

0:13:350:13:37

He could fold one in the passenger seat of a Mini Cooper

0:13:370:13:39

-in the dark at night.

-Did he pass that skill on?

0:13:390:13:42

-This is torture, you know?

-So whenever I go to fold up a map...

0:13:420:13:45

-Genuinely, this is my idea of hell.

-Of hell, yeah.

0:13:450:13:48

It is hell.

0:13:480:13:49

That's right, because there are...severe problems.

0:13:490:13:52

So there they are.

0:13:540:13:55

I mean, I'll tell you, probably the best idea

0:13:550:13:57

-is not to unfold it in the first place, Stephen.

-Yeah.

0:13:570:14:00

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:14:000:14:01

Hey, well done!

0:14:010:14:03

That's impressive!

0:14:050:14:07

That is 12 seconds.

0:14:070:14:08

It's like anything with maps, my father was a navigator.

0:14:100:14:12

And I know what all the symbols mean.

0:14:130:14:15

Sheila, we've missed our turn!

0:14:150:14:17

Concentrate!

0:14:170:14:19

Right, I'll race you.

0:14:190:14:21

Oh, oh, we'll cheat...

0:14:210:14:22

You're sort of doing what I do there, I think.

0:14:220:14:24

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:14:270:14:29

Oh, Sheila!

0:14:290:14:30

My car is just full of those.

0:14:330:14:35

Pyongyang. Pyongyang.

0:14:350:14:38

-Haven't you got a satnav?

-Where would we be without satnav?

0:14:380:14:40

Hey...! "Where would we be?"

0:14:420:14:44

Elstree. Probably at those studios, I don't know.

0:14:440:14:47

Come on, everyone, make an effort.

0:14:470:14:49

LAUGHTER

0:14:490:14:51

The fact is, most maps have got nine folds one way and two the other,

0:14:510:14:55

which means that there are 2,048 different ways of folding them.

0:14:550:14:59

-Two to the power of 11.

-Really?

0:14:590:15:01

A man called Miura, who was an aeronautical designer,

0:15:010:15:04

was doing solar panel foldings

0:15:040:15:07

and he came up with this way of doing it...

0:15:070:15:09

And all you have to do is that and it folds.

0:15:110:15:13

You just push the corners together.

0:15:140:15:17

And it doesn't matter what you...

0:15:170:15:18

-And what's more...

-It wouldn't work.

0:15:180:15:21

-Sorry?

-It wouldn't work if you gave it to me.

0:15:210:15:23

-Stephen, could you...

-Well, I'll give you one.

0:15:230:15:26

The one that you've got there, is that a map of Mars?

0:15:260:15:29

You've got one there.

0:15:290:15:31

And you just take the top-right and bottom-left corners,

0:15:310:15:34

-or any other way.

-That way?

0:15:340:15:36

It's so folded, it just does it by itself.

0:15:360:15:38

-Take the corners and push them together.

-Oh, my God!

0:15:380:15:40

That's it! Jeremy, you've done it!

0:15:400:15:42

APPLAUSE

0:15:420:15:45

-But this man is the greatest genius who ever lived.

-Isn't he? I know!

0:15:500:15:53

-It's fantastic.

-Who is he?

0:15:530:15:54

He's called Miura, he's a...

0:15:540:15:56

LAUGHTER

0:15:560:15:59

Good God!

0:15:590:16:00

Of course, what you don't realise, he was trying to make a crane.

0:16:000:16:03

LAUGHTER

0:16:030:16:05

Koryo Miura his name is, and they are very handy.

0:16:050:16:08

I would have been so fucking pleased if I'd invented that.

0:16:080:16:12

LAUGHTER

0:16:120:16:14

Well, there are other things you can do with folding.

0:16:140:16:16

I've got some tissues here. And if we...

0:16:160:16:18

-Oh, what are we doing now?

-Oh, origami!

0:16:180:16:20

You're each... If I can give you each a tissue.

0:16:200:16:23

All right, so I'll pass...

0:16:230:16:25

OK.

0:16:250:16:26

There we are. Pass it down. Oops...!

0:16:270:16:29

-What are we doing with the tissue?

-And I'll have one here.

0:16:290:16:31

OK, so what are we up to?

0:16:310:16:33

-What you're trying to do is scrunch it up...

-Oh, yeah, OK.

0:16:330:16:36

-..like this in your hands.

-Yeah.

0:16:360:16:38

-And you scrunch it up. And then...

-Stick it right up your bum!

0:16:380:16:40

No!

0:16:400:16:41

LAUGHTER

0:16:410:16:43

You try and think of an animal...

0:16:430:16:44

Like, I'm thinking of an animal.

0:16:440:16:46

I'm thinking of a sort of swan or something like that.

0:16:460:16:48

-I've really scrunched mine up.

-I'm thinking of a swan.

0:16:480:16:51

-Like that, can you see my swan?

-Do I have to think of a swan?

0:16:510:16:53

There you are...

0:16:530:16:55

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:16:550:16:59

There we are.

0:17:040:17:05

Tiger. I've got tiger.

0:17:050:17:08

-I've got absolutely nothing at all.

-Oh, well.

0:17:090:17:11

I thought of a badger, but it got run over.

0:17:110:17:13

LAUGHTER

0:17:130:17:16

Excellent! Well done, all.

0:17:160:17:18

Now, what's the worst thing you can find in a Morrison Sandwich?

0:17:180:17:22

Well, Morrison was Food Minister during the war.

0:17:220:17:25

-Ah, you've got straight to it.

-Herbert.

0:17:250:17:27

-He was in charge of sandwiches, was he?

-No. Well...

0:17:270:17:30

He was, in fact, in charge of home defence. And he came up...

0:17:300:17:34

Making sure no-one got in and took them.

0:17:340:17:36

-Home Guard?

-Not the Home Guard, exactly,

0:17:360:17:38

But he came up with a home defence idea, which was a type of shelter.

0:17:380:17:42

-It was for the more deprived families and they...

-Not the Anderson?

0:17:420:17:45

-It was indoors.

-..they were given free. It was indoors.

0:17:450:17:47

Indoors, as opposed to the Anderson shelter, which was outside.

0:17:470:17:50

-Exactly right.

-Which I spent my life in.

0:17:500:17:53

And a dear friend of mine was in one of those

0:17:530:17:55

-and her house took a direct hit and she survived.

-Yes.

0:17:550:17:58

One of the things we wanted to say

0:17:580:18:00

is that it was actually not, as it might seem,

0:18:000:18:02

a rather unsafe contrivance.

0:18:020:18:03

-But it actually worked really, really well, it seems.

-Yeah, it did.

0:18:030:18:06

But there was one problem. Sometimes, the top bit,

0:18:060:18:08

which was solid metal, and the bottom was solid metal,

0:18:080:18:11

sometimes, the top bit just crashed down

0:18:110:18:13

and the person was caught in what was then called a Morrison sandwich.

0:18:130:18:16

-Wow!

-Oh, gosh!

-But it was considered safer.

0:18:160:18:18

And it was also quite loved, unlike the Anderson shelter,

0:18:180:18:21

which was pretty hated, is that right?

0:18:210:18:23

Well, I quite liked it, actually.

0:18:230:18:24

You used to sit, be outside and you could watch,

0:18:240:18:27

you always had binoculars and you could watch the dog fights going on,

0:18:270:18:30

-you know, in the Battle of Britain and...

-God!

0:18:300:18:32

And you felt kind of safe down there.

0:18:320:18:34

The only thing was that you were frightened

0:18:340:18:36

that you'd be trapped in the shelter.

0:18:360:18:38

I sleep with my hand over my head,

0:18:380:18:39

because there was an escape hatch

0:18:390:18:41

at the back of the Anderson shelter with a spanner

0:18:410:18:43

that you would use to get out.

0:18:430:18:45

And I used to sleep like that on my bunk, and I still do.

0:18:450:18:48

I sleep with one hand over the head.

0:18:480:18:51

You could probably sleep somewhere else now, Sheila.

0:18:510:18:53

LAUGHTER

0:18:530:18:55

This one on the left...

0:18:550:18:57

This one on the left, it's actually a weight test.

0:18:580:19:01

It's being tested for how much it can take.

0:19:010:19:03

And, as you can see, it's a fair amount of weight.

0:19:030:19:05

Anyway, yes, Morrison sandwich...

0:19:050:19:07

Morrison's sandwiches, as opposed to Morrison sandwiches,

0:19:070:19:09

which were people caught there.

0:19:090:19:11

There's a Morrison's sandwich, and, of course,

0:19:110:19:13

they're delightful, fresh and charming and I wouldn't want

0:19:130:19:15

to suggest anything about them that was unpleasant.

0:19:150:19:18

-You've never had one in your life, have you?

-Well, no, but...

0:19:180:19:20

LAUGHTER

0:19:200:19:22

I know they exist.

0:19:220:19:23

APPLAUSE

0:19:230:19:26

So, yes, Morrison sandwiches could be deadly,

0:19:260:19:29

but Morrison's sandwiches are, of course, delicious.

0:19:290:19:32

LAUGHTER

0:19:320:19:34

What begins with M that you could shoot with one of these?

0:19:340:19:38

Those guys are tiny!

0:19:390:19:41

LAUGHTER

0:19:410:19:42

A mallard.

0:19:420:19:44

A mallard is very good, absolutely. You recognise what that is?

0:19:440:19:47

-It's a punt gun.

-It is indeed a punt gun.

0:19:470:19:50

APPLAUSE

0:19:500:19:53

-There's a few punters in.

-Yeah...!

0:19:530:19:55

You're good on guns, aren't you, Jeremy?

0:19:550:19:58

Well, I shot one of those, but I shot a clay pigeon with it.

0:19:580:20:01

And proved that a man can actually fly.

0:20:020:20:06

LAUGHTER

0:20:060:20:08

So don't tell me you weren't on a punt?

0:20:080:20:10

No, I wasn't on a punt and there's a sort of momentum thing goes

0:20:100:20:13

and you get it going and then you just can't stop it.

0:20:130:20:15

And I was airborne for 20 minutes.

0:20:150:20:18

LAUGHTER

0:20:180:20:19

That's one of the reasons they have them on punts is...

0:20:190:20:22

-I mean, the boat goes backwards.

-That's the point.

0:20:220:20:24

You could fire that in Norfolk

0:20:240:20:26

and you would wind up in Stavanger three weeks later

0:20:260:20:29

doing 300 miles an hour.

0:20:290:20:30

More or less true. But also, more distressingly, perhaps,

0:20:300:20:33

if you like waterfowl,

0:20:330:20:34

one shot can destroy up to 50 at a time.

0:20:340:20:37

-So you could have...

-So is it shot like a shotgun?

0:20:370:20:40

Yeah, it's just a huge amount of blast.

0:20:400:20:42

I mean, I know you're a vegetablist, which is fine...

0:20:420:20:44

LAUGHTER

0:20:440:20:46

What I don't understand about these

0:20:460:20:47

is that if you actually hit a duck, it vaporised it.

0:20:470:20:51

LAUGHTER

0:20:510:20:52

And apart from licking the lake or the grass...

0:20:520:20:54

LAUGHTER

0:20:540:20:56

..there's no nutritional value from an atomised layer.

0:20:560:20:59

You're pretty much right.

0:20:590:21:00

Seriously, why do they have such a great, big gun for it?

0:21:030:21:06

-Well, it was used in the United States of America, of course...

-Ah!

0:21:060:21:10

..in the early part of the 19th century.

0:21:100:21:12

But even the Americans realised

0:21:120:21:13

they were going to deplete their waterways just too much.

0:21:130:21:16

So, by 1860, it was banned. You couldn't use it any more.

0:21:160:21:19

-And then they use hand grenades now.

-Yes. They do, yeah.

0:21:190:21:22

I got picked up, this is another gun story, and I apologise, Sheila,

0:21:220:21:25

but I got picked up by a man once at an airport in Phoenix

0:21:250:21:28

and he was a big noise in the NRA and we had very little in common.

0:21:280:21:32

And he drove along in complete silence

0:21:320:21:34

and he just turned to me after about ten minutes and went,

0:21:340:21:37

"What is your personal preference of firearm?"

0:21:370:21:39

As a small talk. That was small talk.

0:21:390:21:42

-"I don't really have one, mate."

-And you said punt gun.

0:21:420:21:44

"Punt gun, mate."

0:21:440:21:46

Yeah, I should have done.

0:21:460:21:48

I tried that earlier with Sheila. We didn't really hit it off.

0:21:480:21:50

LAUGHTER

0:21:500:21:51

I almost want to go to a rifle range with you

0:21:510:21:54

to see you with one of these guns.

0:21:540:21:56

You're obviously hopeless at it.

0:21:560:21:58

LAUGHTER

0:21:580:22:01

APPLAUSE

0:22:010:22:04

The punt gun was used to massacre mallards, Muscovy ducks,

0:22:040:22:08

mergansers and other mother-duckers.

0:22:080:22:11

From ducks to Drakes.

0:22:110:22:13

What was the name of the fleet of ships

0:22:130:22:15

that got its arse kicked in 1589 during the Anglo-Spanish War?

0:22:150:22:19

The Spanish Armada.

0:22:200:22:21

KLAXON

0:22:210:22:23

-Oh, taking one for the team now.

-Well, I knew that would come.

0:22:230:22:26

-Yeah. That was 1588, the Spanish Armada.

-Oh.

0:22:260:22:29

-Is this the next year?

-The next year.

0:22:290:22:31

-They came back and had another go?

-No, this is what's so interesting.

0:22:310:22:34

This is the English Armada.

0:22:340:22:35

What's interesting is we just don't teach this in schools,

0:22:350:22:38

but it's a far worse defeat on the English.

0:22:380:22:40

Was this Cadiz?

0:22:400:22:41

No, Cadiz was singeing the King of Spain's beard, as it was called.

0:22:410:22:44

-It was a success.

-Cadiz is pronounced Cardiff, by the way.

0:22:440:22:47

IN SPANISH ACCENT: Cadiz. Cadiz.

0:22:470:22:48

But if you say Cardiff,

0:22:480:22:49

you're much closer to the way the Spanish say it.

0:22:490:22:52

-As I've found out.

-Oh, really?

0:22:520:22:54

Just say Cardiff and they go, "Oh, si, si. That way."

0:22:540:22:57

You walked to it?!

0:22:570:22:58

If you say Cadiz, they go, "Que?"

0:22:580:23:00

But, anyway, it's nothing to do with Cadiz.

0:23:000:23:02

Was it the one where we went and did too long?

0:23:020:23:04

No, what's interesting about this is that the English had a plan.

0:23:040:23:07

Having seen off the Spanish Armada,

0:23:070:23:09

Drake, filled with confidence,

0:23:090:23:11

thought they would really defeat Philip II of Spain

0:23:110:23:13

and we would really finish the job.

0:23:130:23:15

Instead of which, we lost 40 ships and it was an utter disaster.

0:23:150:23:19

But they don't teach it in English schools.

0:23:190:23:22

The Spanish Armada that is taught a lot and we celebrate

0:23:220:23:25

was not really that much of a triumph, to be honest.

0:23:250:23:27

We didn't sink their ships in the great battle.

0:23:270:23:30

The fire ships that Drake invented to send into them

0:23:300:23:33

didn't destroy any Spanish shipping.

0:23:330:23:35

So it was just not really that great a triumph.

0:23:350:23:38

It was the wind that beat them, not really Drake.

0:23:380:23:40

But where... What... I've forgotten what the question was about 1589?

0:23:400:23:43

What was the name of the fleet of ships that got its arse kicked?

0:23:430:23:46

Oh, it's the name of the fleet of ships. I don't know.

0:23:460:23:49

-It was the English Armada.

-Oh, was it? Yeah.

0:23:490:23:51

-Yeah, well, I don't want to learn about that.

-No!

0:23:510:23:54

LAUGHTER

0:23:540:23:55

Anyway, the year after the Spanish Armada,

0:23:550:23:58

an English Armada was soundly beaten by Spain.

0:23:580:24:00

But we don't really like to talk about it.

0:24:000:24:02

That was something that people are generally ignorant about.

0:24:020:24:05

And here are some more.

0:24:050:24:07

Fingers on buzzers, if you please.

0:24:070:24:09

I'll give you 100 points if you can name one of the countries

0:24:090:24:12

where either the first or last shots of the First World War were fired.

0:24:120:24:18

-Well...

-It's worth it, for 100 points.

0:24:180:24:20

-France.

-KLAXON

0:24:200:24:22

Germany, England...

0:24:220:24:24

It's where that guy, the king, the man was shot in the carrier.

0:24:240:24:27

-..Austria, Turkey.

-Where was that?

0:24:270:24:29

Well, that first shot in Sarajevo was not the shot of the war.

0:24:290:24:32

It's what caused the war later.

0:24:320:24:34

Oh, you mean soldiers shooting.

0:24:340:24:36

Once the war was underway,

0:24:360:24:38

-the first shot that was actually fired in it...

-Romania.

0:24:380:24:40

-The Isle of Man.

-Denmark.

0:24:400:24:42

-Jersey.

-No. I'll tell you.

0:24:420:24:44

It was Togoland.

0:24:440:24:45

That was the next thing I was going to say.

0:24:450:24:48

LAUGHTER

0:24:480:24:49

It was a German colony. And on the 4th August, 1914,

0:24:490:24:52

the British Empire declared war on Germany

0:24:520:24:55

and three days later it attacked Togoland,

0:24:550:24:57

Germany's small, but strategic colony there.

0:24:570:24:59

And Regimental Sergeant Major Alhaji Grunshi

0:24:590:25:01

was the first to shoot back when the German-led police force

0:25:010:25:04

shot the approaching British forces, colonial forces.

0:25:040:25:07

-He was obviously better at it than Jeremy.

-Yeah!

0:25:070:25:09

-So he became...

-Did he actually hit anything?

0:25:090:25:11

He didn't necessarily hit anybody,

0:25:110:25:13

but he became the first member of the British Army to fire a shot in the war.

0:25:130:25:17

Because I'd be the perfect armed guard for a Quaker meeting.

0:25:170:25:20

You would! You would!

0:25:200:25:22

I'm loving everything that you're so bad with guns.

0:25:220:25:25

-You missed again.

-Yes, I have.

0:25:250:25:27

But the war also ended in Africa, in fact.

0:25:270:25:29

The last actual battle took place

0:25:290:25:31

on a golf course in Northern Rhodesia, which is now called Zambia.

0:25:310:25:35

They stopped fighting eventually,

0:25:350:25:37

but German troops fought on for ages

0:25:370:25:39

in what is now Tanzania, Tanganyika as it was.

0:25:390:25:42

And they surrendered on November 25th, 1918.

0:25:420:25:44

If you shoot someone on a golf course,

0:25:440:25:45

is it considered polite to shout "Fore!"?

0:25:450:25:47

-You'd think it would be the least you could do.

-Probably.

0:25:470:25:50

So, yes, 14 days after the armistice was the last shot of the war

0:25:500:25:53

that anybody can find, which was in Tanganyika.

0:25:530:25:56

So, yeah, the first shots of World War I were fired in Togo,

0:25:560:26:00

the last in Tanganyika.

0:26:000:26:02

And, finally, our last question.

0:26:020:26:04

What happened to the last of the Mohicans?

0:26:040:26:06

He had a haircut.

0:26:060:26:08

LAUGHTER

0:26:080:26:10

-Wild West show?

-Well, what is a Mohican?

0:26:100:26:13

-A hairstyle.

-Well, aside from a hairstyle, yes.

0:26:130:26:16

Well, it's an Indian. Native American tribe, is it?

0:26:160:26:18

-Oh, no, wait...

-You said what?

0:26:180:26:20

Have I... I've gone and trodden on one of those landmines.

0:26:200:26:22

Because you can't say Indian, can you?

0:26:220:26:24

What do I say, Native American?

0:26:240:26:26

No, actually you can say Indian.

0:26:260:26:28

I found, doing a documentary all over the reservations...

0:26:280:26:30

-I can say it?

-..they called each other Indians.

0:26:300:26:32

I nearly got fired for that once.

0:26:320:26:34

LAUGHTER

0:26:340:26:36

APPLAUSE

0:26:360:26:37

Things go around, don't they?

0:26:390:26:41

The American Indian Movement is the premier political body

0:26:430:26:45

fighting for the rights of American Indians

0:26:450:26:47

and they call themselves the American Indian Movement, AIM.

0:26:470:26:50

It's a whole new world since I left.

0:26:500:26:52

LAUGHTER

0:26:520:26:54

There are two sets of Native Americans, American Indians,

0:26:540:26:57

that have been known as Mohicans.

0:26:570:26:58

They're the Mohegans, who live in Connecticut

0:26:580:27:01

and run the Casino of the Sky.

0:27:010:27:03

Yeah, the Mohegan Sun Casino, I've been there.

0:27:030:27:06

-It's called Mohegans, is it?

-Mohegan, yeah.

0:27:060:27:09

And then the Mahicans or Ma-he-cans,

0:27:090:27:11

also provide a gambling service for you

0:27:110:27:13

at the North Star Mohican Resort in Wisconsin,

0:27:130:27:16

known as "the Midwest's Friendliest Casino".

0:27:160:27:18

Yeah.

0:27:180:27:19

The guy on the right there is rubbish.

0:27:190:27:22

He is.

0:27:220:27:23

The worst Native American ever.

0:27:230:27:25

-It doesn't work, does it?

-Not joining in, is he?

0:27:250:27:27

He's going, "No-one told me we were supposed to dress as Indians!"

0:27:270:27:31

LAUGHTER

0:27:310:27:32

"I look ridiculous!"

0:27:320:27:34

LAUGHTER

0:27:340:27:35

So, we haven't seen the last of the Mohicans.

0:27:350:27:38

They're still coining it in their casinos.

0:27:380:27:40

Ker-ching, ker-ching, chin-go ker-chook-chook-chook, ching ching.

0:27:400:27:43

As Neville Chamberlain said,

0:27:430:27:45

"In war, no matter which side may call itself the victor,

0:27:450:27:48

"there are no winners, all are losers."

0:27:480:27:50

And so it is with QI.

0:27:500:27:52

But let's see who is the least losing of them all.

0:27:520:27:55

Lord, oh, bless my blimey...

0:27:550:27:57

Well, I have to say, it's a fantastic score

0:27:570:28:00

for a first-time performance.

0:28:000:28:02

Wow! Look at that!

0:28:020:28:04

Quaking away at minus 2 is Sheila Hancock!

0:28:040:28:07

APPLAUSE

0:28:070:28:10

In second place, with minus 8, it's Jimmy Carr.

0:28:110:28:15

-APPLAUSE

-Minus 8 is good, that's great.

0:28:150:28:18

In third place, going great guns, it's Jeremy.

0:28:190:28:23

Minus 13. APPLAUSE

0:28:230:28:26

Which means... How did you do that?

0:28:260:28:28

And only just last is...

0:28:280:28:32

Alan on minus 14.

0:28:320:28:34

APPLAUSE

0:28:340:28:37

That's all from Sheila, Jimmy, Jeremy, Alan and me.

0:28:420:28:44

And I leave you with this deep thought

0:28:440:28:46

of American humorist Jack Handy.

0:28:460:28:47

"I can picture in my mind a world without war,

0:28:470:28:50

"a world without hate

0:28:500:28:51

"and I can picture us attacking that world,

0:28:510:28:53

"because they'd never expect it."

0:28:530:28:55

Goodnight.

0:28:550:28:56

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS