20 Questions - Game 248

[wintergreen]

I'm not going to ask this yet before awaiting others' input on its merits as question 20.
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Served in the British Army?
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[Spartaculous]

Hint: For the first few questions, I thought you were going to get this rather easily. Then you went astray.

So then I guess Guy Simonds.

[cdngooner]

So then I guess Guy Simonds.

Dammit, how do you DO that? It's like you can see into my SOUL! Yes, when it was asked if he was "born before 1950, or spent more than 5 years in Canada," and I said, "Yes", I thought you would figure very quickly that he was Canadian. But you all seemed to veer away from that. Then, when the inevitable "born in Europe" question came, I thought I had you.

My intended clue, after Q20, was going to be he has something in common with several of my previous subjects. (of course Simonds was: one of Monty's favourite corps commanders; achieved fame in a country other than his country of birth; Canadian).

Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds led the 1 Cdn Div in the Sicily invasion, then I Cdn Corps in the Italian Campaign, then II Cdn Corps in Normandy, then First Cdn Army in the Scheldt Campaign. Considered the best Canadian general of all time, Monty continually gave II Cdn Corps the most important jobs (clearing Caen; taking the heights east of Caen; clearing the Scheldt; leading Operation Veritable.

[Hominidae]

I think what got us off track was the "died aged 70 or older" question (perfectly good question, to be clear). Once it became very unlikely that he was born after 1949, he wasn't any more likely to be Canadian than the average target. The WWII thing cemented this even more.

Great round!

[Spartaculous]

So then I guess Guy Simonds.

Dammit, how do you DO that? It's like you can see into my SOUL!

This one was relatively easy. Once you cued us that we were likely looking for a Canadian, it was simple enough to look at everyone on this list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Canadian_Army_generals_of_World_War_II
Exactly one of them fit the main criteria (born in or after 1900, born in England, no E in first name).

Not quite as much fun as Mark Sykes. I was very proud of that one (along with Alexander Butterfield). But I guess I do get credit for being the one to ask

Is this a real human being who was either born before January 1, 1950 or who lived in Canada for at least 5 years?

Also:

I think what got us off track was the "died aged 70 or older" question (perfectly good question, to be clear). Once it became very unlikely that he was born after 1949, he wasn't any more likely to be Canadian than the average target. The WWII thing cemented this even more.

Yes, these are all very good points. I will add to it that sometimes, I think that the questioning goes off in certain directions (letters in names, age at death, etc.) that just don't help out too much, when really we should be focusing on what the person is famous for. (Something to keep in mind for the next round.)

Anyways, yes, another fun round. Thanks cdngooner!

[JustAGuyNamedWill]

And with that, the 41st round of 20 questions in March ends