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Tuesday, 3 April 2012 |
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After the fall of Singapore in mid February 1942, it was widely believed that the next Japanese was aim to capture Ceylon. Once their battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines were based in Ceylon, their domination of the Indian Ocean would be consolidated. On the side of the Allied Forces were soldiers and officers drawn from across the British Empire and the Commonwealth, nearly a thousand of whom lost their lives that month in successfully defending Ceylon. Today’s Wiz Quiz salutes those who were engaged in the Battle of Ceylon. 1.The overall Commander-in-Chief in Ceylon at the time of the Japanese air raid was an experienced admiral of Britain’s Royal Navy. He arrived in Ceylon in March 1942, after Singapore had already fallen to the Japanese and the Allied Forces were under much pressure on the Eastern war front. As C-in-C, this officer – who had been given wide-ranging powers that subordinated even the British governor of Ceylon - immediately started making improvements to harbour arrangements, radar, civil defence and Colombo’s air raid warning system. These arrangements were not fully finalised when the Japanese bombed on April 5. Who was then Ceylon’s Commander-in-Chief? 2.The attacking Japanese fleet comprised five aircraft carriers plus supporting ships under the command of an Admiral who, as commander of the First Air Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, had earlier overseen the devastating attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941. That attack provoked the Unites States to get directly involved in the Second World War. Who was this Japanese admiral, who later committed suicide during the Battle of Saipan in July 1944?
3. A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, which allowed it to land on water instead of expensively built (and limited) runways. The Consolidated PBY Catalina was a ‘flying boat’ of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft in the United States. It was one of the most widely used multi-purpose aircraft of World War II. The Allied Forces based in Ceylon at the time used Catalina aircraft to engage in maritime patrols of the surrounding Indian Ocean. From which coastal lake in the island were these patrols operating? During the War, a watery ‘runway’ was demarcated there and a flying boat base was established -- the largest such base in the East. Where was this? 4. A pivotal moment in the entire Eastern theatre of World War II was when, on the evening of on April 4, 1942, a young Canadian Squadron Leader Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), on aerial patrol on a Catalina over the Indian Ocean, spotted a Japanese fleet on its way to attack the British base at Ceylon. The officer quickly radioed Colombo a warning to Colombo before their plane was shot down and six crew members were captured by the Japanese: they endured three and a half years of captivity in Japanese prison camps. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called this officer ‘The Saviour of Ceylon.’ Who was he? He was later decorated and retired as an Air Commodore. 5. In the weeks leading up to the Japanese air raids and during the aftermath, the most powerful Ceylonese on the island was former public servant and one-time Auditor General, who was made head of a new Civil Defence Department as Civil Defence Commissioner in the War Cabinet of Ceylon. With the British military and civilian officers, it was this individual who mobilized the country and placed it on a state of readiness to deal with an impending attack. Among other things, he converted the Colombo Race Course into a make-shift air field. Who was this man, who later became the first Ceylonese Governor General of independent Ceylon?
6. H M S Hermes (95) was the world’s first purpose built aircraft carrier (ship). Launched in 1919 and commissioned in 1924, she was part of the British Royal Navy fleet for nearly 30 years. When the Japanese air raid on Colombo took place on April 5 , 1942, this ship was part of the Eastern Fleet and was sent to Trincomalee. On April 9 , 1942, in open seas near Batticaloa, she was attacked by several dozen Japanese dive bombers. The carrier and her escorting destroyer were quickly sunk by the Japanese aircraft. Over 300 men died; most of the survivors were rescued by a nearby hospital ship that the Japanese did not attack. A British commercial photographer on board (who had been enlisted as a photographer for the Admiralty) stood on the burning flight deck of the Hermes calmly taking photographs as the ship sank beneath him. He was among the survivors; the pictures (released to the public in 1945) were hailed as “some of the greatest pictures of World War II.” Who was the photographer? 7. In the 1980s, the popular Lankan music group Gypsies released their first audio cassette containing their innovative hit song Kurumitto – a conversation between a human and a bemused little alien from Mars. It was a cover version of a popular 1977 song by Dutch musician Petrus Antonius Laurentius Pierre Kartner, who sang under the stage name Father Abraham. What was the original song called? 8. Sath Samudura (Seven Seas) is a landmark Lankan Sinhala film that depicts the plight of fishermen living in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. First released in 1967, it was critically acclaimed and won eight Sarasaviya film awards including best picture and best director. In 1997, it was named one of the Top 10 films made during the first 50 years of Lankan cinema. Name the university academic who co-wrote the screenplay and directed the film, which was his first and only cinematic venture. 9. Which stone seal, found in 1799 by Napolean’s soldiers in Egypt, provided the key to understand Egyptian hieroglyphics, the picture based language used in ancient Egypt? It had writing on it in Egyptian, Greek and hieroglyphics. 10.Headcount Index is the percentage of population living below the poverty line, and is widely used to measure poverty in Sri Lanka. It is calculated by dividing the number of poor people in a population by the total population and multiplying it by 100. The headcount index is 8.9 per cent at national level according to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2009/10 conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics. Within this, there are district level variations. Which district in Sri Lanka reported the highest headcount index of 20.3 per cent? 11. On May 23, 2003, during the 56th Cannes International Film Festival in France, which that year paid homage to the great Italian director Federico Fellini, UNESCO’s Director-General presented the UN organization’s Fellini Gold Medal to two outstanding film directors of the world. One was Lester James Peries of Sri Lanka, who was given it ‘in honour of his distinguished career, which has inspired an entire generation of Sri-Lankan directors, and in recognition of his exceptional contribution to Sri Lankan cinema, laying the foundations for a veritable avant-garde cinema on the island.’ Who was the other director? 12.A noted American film director, who excelled in the first half of the 20th Century, once remarked: “My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four -- unless there are three other people!” Whose words are these? 13.A bobsled team from the tropical Caribbean sounds like an oddity, and it is! Yet a certain Caribbean country entered a four-man bobsled team in the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games. The novelty of a Caribbean team in a winter sport made this team firm fan favourites at the Calgary Games. But they crashed on one of their four runs and got out of the sled and walked it to the finish to massive applause. They returned to the Olympics in both 1992 and 1994. In the latter, they came 14th, beating the United States, Russia and France. The 1993 movie Cool Running’s is loosely based on their exploits. What is this Caribbean country? 14.Nasruddin was a Middle Eastern storytelling character -- the subject of many clever tales such as the Stupid Oaf. Nasruddin had gathered stories from far and wide during his travels. In Turkey, he is known as Nasreddin Hodja of Anatolia, a historical character from the days of Seljuk rule in the Middle Ages. Nasreddin, Nasrudin or Nasruddin (different variations of the same) is claimed as native by Afghans, Iranians, Uzbeks and Arabs -- as well as in the Turkic Xinjiang area of western China. What is the modern day name of the country in which Nasruddin was born? 15.Mukesh Ambani, aged 54, is currently (March 2012) the richest Indian in the world (and second richest Asian), with an estimated net worth of around USD 22.3 billion. He heads Mumbai-based Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), whose shares have risen in recent years significantly increasing his personal wealth. Mukesh Ambhani also holds owns a cricket team in Indian Premier League (IPL). They became 2011 winners of the Nokia Twenty20 Champions Trophy. Name this IPL cricket team, for which Lankan cricketer Lasith (Slinga) Malinga also plays. Last week’s answers Last week’s answers1. Galle Buck, in Colombo Fort 2. Lake Gregory, Nuwara Eliya 3. Laxapana-Aberdeen Hydro Project 4. 10.30 pm 5. Australia 6. William Blake (1757 – 1827) 7. Anton Perera 8. Marc Antony Fernando 9. Aconcagua, 6,960 m (22,834 ft) 10. Sweden 11. Jay Parini 12. Confucius 13. Sir James Lovelock 14. Standing long jump 15. Fred Noonan |
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