Astonishing Facts....

[RizzoTheRat]

The highest rank in the British Army is Field Marshal, although it's an odd mix of real commands (Montgomery) and ceremonial (Prince Philip and Prince Charles). The ceremonial title has been given to foreign heads of state on occasion, which have included Emperor Hirohito and Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Field Marshal William Robertson joined the army as a private and is the only person to have held every single rank in the army.

Kermit power said:

Thanks for that! I heard about it on a Radio 4 interview with Richard Todd, but had forgotten his name, and it was a pain to try and track down!

Do you know what program that was on? I wouldn't mind a listen.

[Harry Flashman]

Halmyre said:

The Vambo said:

Harry Flashman said:

Halmyre said:

When they filmed 'The Longest Day', the part of 27 year old Colonel Vandervoort was played by 55 year old John Wayne. This means that, in 1962 when the film was made, 18 years after the event, Vandervoort was still 10 years younger than the actor playing him.

A paratrooper colonel at 27? Proper bloke - that is amazing.

There were a lot more err... situation vacant then than now.

Leonard Cheshire was a Group Captain at 26 - two ranks higher. He was a real one-off.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cheshire

Wow.

[Kermit power]

RizzoTheRat said:

The highest rank in the British Army is Field Marshal, although it's an odd mix of real commands (Montgomery) and ceremonial (Prince Philip and Prince Charles). The ceremonial title has been given to foreign heads of state on occasion, which have included Emperor Hirohito and Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Field Marshal William Robertson joined the army as a private and is the only person to have held every single rank in the army.

Didn't we have to agree not to commission any more Field Marshals when NATO was set up, on the basis that it outranked any equivalent US rank, so if we had any Field Marshals, they'd automatically have seniority over their American counterparts?

RizzoTheRat said:

Kermit power said:

Thanks for that! I heard about it on a Radio 4 interview with Richard Todd, but had forgotten his name, and it was a pain to try and track down!

Do you know what program that was on? I wouldn't mind a listen.

No, sorry. I only turned it on part way through in the car.

[Ayahuasca]

Hitler expected his Field Marshals to fight to the death or commit suicide rather than surrender. He therefore promoted von Paulus, the general commanding German forces at Stalingrad, to Field Marshal hours before the Russians captured him. Von Paulus knew exactly what was expected, but he angered Hitler by refusing to comply, and he ended up surviving the war with some honour.

Edited by Ayahuasca on Monday 22 January 16:20

[DRFC1879]

mickk said:

Killer2005 said:

Sir Isaac Newton invented the cat flap.

Was he a dyslexic Yorkshireman?

No but obviously I am because I read it as "flat cap" then saw the quote and had to go back and check that it accurately quoted the original post.

[enjo]

Ayahuasca said:

Hitler expected his Field Marshals to fight to the death or commit suicide rather than surrender. He therefore promoted von Paulus, the general commanding German forces at Stalingrad, to Field Marshal hours before the Russians captured him. Von Paulus knew exactly what was expected, but he angered Hitler by refusing to comply, and he ended up surviving the war with some honour.

Edited by Ayahuasca on Monday 22 January 16:20

Reading War in the West? Just finished listening to the audio book - it has this and lots of other similar stories.

[Nimby]

RizzoTheRat said:

...

Field Marshal William Robertson joined the army as a private and is the only person to have held every single rank in the army.

I was mildly surprised (OK, not astonished) to learn from my son that officers have to buy their own pip / crown / sword insignias when they are promoted. They aren't "presented" in a ceremony as I thought.

Edited by Nimby on Monday 22 January 22:44

[Ayahuasca]

The top 100 fighter pilot aces were all Germans.

[cuprabob]

Actor Audie Murphy was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of WW2. Quite a life he had and even played himself in the film about his military career...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy

[anonymous-user]

Nimby said:

RizzoTheRat said:

...

Field Marshal William Robertson joined the army as a private and is the only person to have held every single rank in the army.

I was mildly surprised (OK, not astonished) to learn from my son that officers have to buy their own pip / crown / sword insignias when they are promoted. They aren't "presented" in a ceremony as I thought.

Edited by Nimby on Monday 22 January 22:44

Traditionally, Commisioned Officers have always had purchase their own uniforms. Needless to say it's changed somewhat in recent times where uniform has almost become PPE, but a lot of officers still like to keep an NCO on-side for exchanging shoes etc ;-)

[mattyn1]

cuprabob said:

Actor Audie Murphy was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of WW2. Quite a life he had and even played himself in the film about his military career...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy

It is very early, I am a little jaded, but I read this as Eddie Murphy!

tt

[thainy77]

Ayahuasca said:

The top 100 fighter pilot aces were all Germans.

I didn't believe that so had to check but the Germans absolutely dominated the list, crazy!

[Sheets Tabuer]

All the planets in the solar system would fit between the Earth and the Moon.

[Antony Moxey]

Sheets Tabuer said:

All the planets in the solar system would fit between the Earth and the Moon.

Distance from earth to moon: 384, 400km
Diameter of all the planets combined (not including Pluto): 392, 776km.

[4Q]

Antony Moxey said:

Sheets Tabuer said:

All the planets in the solar system would fit between the Earth and the Moon.

Distance from earth to moon: 384, 400km
Diameter of all the planets combined (not including Pluto): 392, 776km.

You included the Earth in that figure though which is just over 12,000km.


Edited to add that I was sceptical too so I went and checked

Edited by 4Q on Tuesday 23 January 09:21

[Antony Moxey]

Guilty! However I was assuming the fact meant the distance between the two rather than taking all the others and cramming them in between the two objects. Good fact though, and an easy one to remember.

[Jonboy_t]

Before he discovered cookies, the Cookie Monster was called Sid.

[The Dangerous Elk]

Jonboy_t said:

Before he discovered cookies, the Cookie Monster was called Sid.

I always assumed he was called Slim

[julian64]

V8LM said:

VEX said:

Pub quiz answer that I have never forgotten (i got it right btw)

In computer terms a byte is 8 bits

And 4 bits is a nibble!

V.

And 48 bits is a gobble.

The more important question though is how many bytes in a kilobyte. 1000 or 1024?.

[Moonhawk]

RizzoTheRat said:

Field Marshal William Robertson joined the army as a private and is the only person to have held every single rank in the army.

Is that even possible given NCO and Officer ranks run in parallel?