The Way Ahead Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Duke of Glendon's Light Infantry

Although fictitious, the regiment had a plausible name. There was actually a real regiment with a similar name - The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. This regiment served with great distinction during both world wars, its soldiers earning eight Victoria Crosses for valour.

The proud regimental tradition that forms the ethos of the British army was maintained in the film by the role of the two DoGLI veterans at the Royal Hospital (the Chelsea Pensioners) who were sceptical throughout that the modern day conscripts were not up to the tough demands of soldiering that they had experienced.

Answer: Garage Mechanic/Petrol Pump Attendant

Jim Perry was played by the film's big Hollywood star, David Niven. As a product of Stowe Public School and Sandhurst Military Academy, Niven appeared rather out of place at the beginning of the film, as a man serving petrol and attending Territorial Army training in a private's uniform. The next time we saw him, however, he was a veteran of of Dunkirk and had passed through officer's training. As such, Niven's character was representative of the more meritocratic nature of the British forces during the Second World War.

Niven had actually been a Light Infantry officer in real life, serving as a subaltern in the Highland Light Infantry before he went to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. He re-enlisted after the outbreak of war, putting his acting career on hold. 'The Way Ahead' was one of only two films that he agreed to participate in during the war.

Answer: The Houses of Parliament

Ted Brewer was played by the legendary comic actor, Stanley Holloway. When the film was made, he was in his mid-fifties, which was obviously too old in reality to serve as a newly conscripted infantry soldier. Since it was practically 'de rigeur' to have at least one 'chirpy Cockney' in every British war film at the time, however, then who better than this genuine Londoner who was to become famous on both sides of the Atlantic for his role as Eliza Doolittle's father in the screen version of 'My Fair Lady'(1964)? Incredibly, Holloway was 73 years old when he danced and sang his way through that film.

Brewer's peacetime occupation became a recurring motif in the film, with him using his skills to repair the boiler for Mrs Gillingham, the kindly lady who looked after the platoon with tea, cakes and hot baths at her home, and in a poignant scene where Brewer looked on wistfully at the stokers at work on board the troopship carrying him to his first theatre of war.

Answer: Davenport and Parsons at a department store

The pompous Mister Davenport had been young Bill Parsons' line manager at the exclusive Burbage's department store. He had smugly assumed that being in charge of the Officer's Kit section would mean that he would be exempted from conscription. In reality, the actor who played Davenport, Raymond Huntley, was 39 years old at the time the film was made; it would have been his age more than his occupation that would have saved him from being called up! Huntley was an established character actor who had a long and distinguished film and television career until the 1970s.

Answer: Fletcher, their platoon sergeant

Stainer was a car salesman played by Jimmy Hanley, a famous comic actor. Sergeant Ned Fletcher was played by William 'Billy' Hartnell, whose role as the tough veteran NCO was a departure from his previous roles as a comic actor. Hartnell came to bemoan his success in the role, since he found himself typecast in tough guy roles from then on!

Hartnell found everlasting fame towards the end of his career, however, when he won the part of the original Doctor Who, the iconic timelord in the long running TV science fiction series. Hartnell played the role of the first doctor from 1963 to 1966. He also reprised a similar role to Ned Fletcher when he played Sergeant-Major Bullimore in the successful TV comedy series, 'The Army Game' between 1957 and 1961.

Answer: He was worried about his wife

Bill Parsons's wife was pregnant with their first child. She was also struggling to pay hire purchase payments on the furniture because Parsons' army pay wasn't going far enough, and she was being harassed by debt collectors. Upon his arrest and return to the camp, he was given sensible advice on how to proceed by Lieutenant Perry who, in a reassuring act of solidarity with the young private, spoke up for him in front of the commanding officer.

Parsons was played by Hugh Burden, who had starred as the pilot in the successful RAF film, 'One of Our Aircraft is Missing'(1941). He enjoyed a long and successful TV acting career, with the odd film part here and there - most notably 'One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing'(1975).

Answer: North Africa

The platoon's battalion was deployed as part of Operation Torch - the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa in November 1942. Their troopship was torpedoed en route, which meant that they arrived too late for the assault. The platoon was deployed in reserve, defending a Tunisian village in case the German counter attack broke through the Allied lines.

Answer: Played darts with them

When the platoon set up quarters in a Tunisian village, they were regarded with some hostility and suspicion by the local populace. Relations between the previously Vichy French and the British were strained, to say the least, because of various battles between the two armies in Syria and Madagascar, not to mention the attack on the French fleet (resulting in the deaths of more than 2,000 French sailors) by the Royal Navy at Mers-El-Kebir in June 1940.

Rispoli the café owner was played by a young Peter Ustinov who had co-written the script for the film. In typical style, he stole every scene that he was in, playing the surly and pacifist Frenchman and speaking fluent French throughout.

In the story, Private Luke, played by the inimitable John Laurie, put up a dart board to break the boredom of the provincial café. This intrigued the locals, who quickly became addicted to the game.

Answer: Evans Lloyd

Evans Lloyd was played by James Donald. A landlord's agent in peacetime, he was initially a malcontent in the platoon who resented army life. His strong principles and leadership qualities saw him promoted, however.

James Donald portrayed Lloyd as a more complex, less stereotypical character than many of the other members of the platoon. Donald was to enjoy a relatively successful postwar film and TV career, most memorably in the roles of Egbert, the treacherous Northumbrian prince in 'The Vikings'(1958) and of Group Captain Ramsey, the Senior British Officer in 'The Great Escape'(1963).

Answer: The platoon advanced through smoke to death or glory - we don't find out which

The end was a classic scene, symbolic of Britain's struggle during the war. Running low on ammunition, and facing a larger enemy force, the men fixed bayonets and advanced with determined faces through a smog of gun smoke.

Since the war was far from over, and the film's release was just before the Allied invasion of Normandy, the uncertainty of the ending served as a fitting illustration that victory was still uncertain. Only one thing was certain - the British citizen soldiers had the courage and determination to fight to the end.

In a self-conscious reference to the scene, the closing credits to the 1960s/'70s TV sitcom 'Dad's Army' showed the Home Guard Platoon doing exactly the same thing, with John Laurie (Private Luke in 'The Way Ahead', and Private Fraser in 'Dad's Army') reprising his role in the scene.