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1943 Gibraltar B-24 Crash
The 1943 Gibraltar Liberator AL523 crash was an aircraft crash that resulted in the death of General Władysław Sikorski, the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile. Sikorski's Liberator II crashed off Gibraltar almost immediately after takeoff on 4 July 1943. An estimated sixteen people died, including many other senior Polish military leaders. The plane's pilot was the only survivor. The crash was ruled to have been an accident, but Sikorski's death remains an unsolved mystery. The crash marked a turning point for Polish influence on their Anglo-American allies in World War II. Background The relationship between the Soviet Union and Poland was tenuous at best during World War II for a variety of reasons, and became more so, after the 1940 Katyn massacre of over 20,000 Polish servicemen by the Soviets came to light. However, pragmatic general Władysław Sikorski was still open to some form of normalisation of Polish-So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models designated as various LB-30s, in the Land Bomber design category. At its inception, the B-24 was a modern design featuring a highly efficient shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing. The wing gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine. In comparison with its contemporaries, the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low-speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling and was less robust than the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. While aircrews tended to prefer the B-17, General Staff favored the B-24 and procured it in huge numbers for a wide variety of roles. At approximately 18,5 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eduard Prchal
Eduard Maximilian Prchal (January 1, 1911 – December 4, 1984) was a Czechoslovakian pilot and sole survivor of a 1943 plane crash that killed the Polish Prime Minister. Biography Eduard Prchal was born into a family of cabinet makers. After completing his secondary education he worked for a brief period as a car sales representative. In October 1930, he was required to do military service; with help of his uncle, a colonel, he applied successfully to the Czechoslovak Air Force. His basic flying training ended in October 1931, and he was posted to an observation squadron based at Hradec Králové. Prchal was soon recognised as being a skilled pilot. In 1932 he graduated from flying training as an operational military pilot, and in 1934 he completed night flying training. Prchal served in the army until May 1937, then joined the Baťa shoe company as a commercial pilot. On June 22, 1939, soon after the German occupation of Czech lands, Prchal illegally crossed the border in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polish Army
The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stretches back a millennium – since the 10th century (see List of Polish wars and History of the Polish Army). Poland's modern army was formed after Poland regained independence following World War I in 1918. History 1918–1938 When Poland regained independence in 1918, it recreated its military which participated in the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921, and in the two smaller conflicts ( Polish–Ukrainian War (1918–1919) and the Polish–Lithuanian War (1920)). Initially, right after the First World War, Poland had five military districts (1918–1921): * Poznań Military District (Poznański Okręg Wojskowy), HQ in Poznań * Kraków Military District (Krakowski Okręg Wojskowy), HQ in Kraków * Łódź Military District (Łódz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrzej Marecki
Andrzej Marecki (2 September 1898 – 4 July 1943) was a Polish military officer. He was a colonel in the Polish Army, lecturer in tactics and member of the Polish General Staff during World War II. He died in the controversial 1943 Gibraltar B-24 crash. Biography Andrzej Marecki was born on 2 September 1898. He participated in the Polish–Soviet War of 1918–1921. In the years 1924–1926 he studied in the Wyższa Szkoła Wojenna (Polish Military Academy). After graduating, from 1928 he was a lecturer in tactics at his ''alma mater''. In the years 1934–1936 he served with the . From February 1936 he was a military attaché at the Polish diplomatic mission in Stockholm. In February 1939 he was attached to the Polish General Staff. Following Polish defeat after the German and Soviet invasion of Poland, he made his way through Romania to France, where he joined the recreated Polish Army in France. He taught a Polish course at the École Supérieure de Guerre, and later became ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polish General Staff
Polish General Staff, formally known as the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces (Polish: ''Sztab Generalny Wojska Polskiego'') is the highest professional body within the Polish Armed Forces. Organizationally, it is an integral part of the Ministry of National Defence and the Chief of the General Staff is the highest ranking military officer at the Ministry. It was created in 1918, and for a time bore the name Main Staff (''Sztab Główny''). Currently the position of Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces (''Szef Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego'') is General Rajmund Andrzejczak, since 2 July 2018. History and structure On 25 October 1918, a decision was made to establish the directorate of the chief of staff of the Polish Army. In 1928 the General Headquarters of the Polish Army was established, known commonly at the time as the Main Staff (''Sztab Główny''). In September 1939, during the Invasion of Poland by the Wehrmacht and the Red Army, all the instit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tadeusz Klimecki
Tadeusz Klimecki (November 23, 1895July 4, 1943) – Brigadier General of the Polish Army, Chief of Polish General Staff. Early life and service in the Imperial and Royal Army Tadeusz Klimecki was born in Tarnów, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father was a local lawyer, Joseph Klimecki, and his mother was Ludwika Regiec. In 1913 he graduated from the gymnasium in Jasło and enrolled at the Faculty of Law of the Jagiellonian University. In 1914 he joined the Eastern Legion, and at its dissolution he was drafted into the Austrian army. After graduating from the school of infantry officers he was sent to the Italian front as a platoon leader. In 1915 he was appointed a standard-bearer, in 1916 – a second lieutenant. By the end of World War I he had been wounded three times and served as a company commander. Service in the Polish Army From November 1918 served in the Polish Army. Between November 1918 and October 1925 he was a company and battalion commander in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armia Krajowa
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the aftermath of the German and Soviet invasions in September 1939. Over the next two years, the Home Army absorbed most of the other Polish partisans and underground forces. Its allegiance was to the Polish government-in-exile in London, and it constituted the armed wing of what came to be known as the Polish Underground State. Estimates of the Home Army's 1944 strength range between 200,000 and 600,000. The latter number made the Home Army not only Poland's largest underground resistance movement but, along with Soviet and Yugoslav partisans, one of Europe's largest World War II underground movements. The Home Army sabotaged German transports bound for the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union, destroying German supplies and ty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan Gralewski (courier)
Jan Gralewski (3 March 1912 – 4 July 1943) was a Polish philosopher, essayist and soldier. Member of Polish resistance (Home Army) during World War II, he died in the controversial 1943 Gibraltar B-24 crash. Life Gralewski was born on 3 March 1912 in Warsaw. He graduated from the University of Warsaw's philosophy department where he studied under Władysław Tatarkiewicz. He researched topics related to philosophy and literary theory, publishing several articles and essays on those topics even before graduating the university. Before World War II he published some essays in ''Arkady'' and ''Życie Sztuki''. He continued writing and publishing during the war, while at the same time joining Polish resistance (ZWZ, Home Army) where he became a courier travelling between the occupied Poland and the Polish government in exile in the West. He was also involved in the underground education initiatives. In 1942 he married poet and scholar Alicja Iwańska, then also a resistance memb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chippenham (UK Parliament Constituency)
Chippenham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Michelle Donelan, a Conservative, who also currently serves as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The 2010 constituency includes the Wiltshire towns of Bradford on Avon, Chippenham, Corsham and Melksham. A parliamentary borough of Chippenham was enfranchised in 1295. It sent two burgesses to Parliament until 1868 and one thereafter until the borough constituency was abolished in 1885. There was a county division constituency named after the town of Chippenham from 1885 to 1983, when the name of that constituency was changed to North Wiltshire. Following the 2003–2005 review into parliamentary representation in Wiltshire, the Boundary Commission created a new county constituency, reviving the name of Chippenham as a seat. It is formed from parts of the previously existing Devizes, North Wiltshire and Westbury constituencies. Bou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the Two-party system, two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. It is the current Government of the United Kingdom, governing party, having won the 2019 United Kingdom general election, 2019 general election. It has been the primary governing party in Britain since 2010. The party is on the Centre-right politics, centre-right of the political spectrum, and encompasses various ideological #Party factions, factions including One-nation conservatism, one-nation conservatives, Thatcherism, Thatcherites, and traditionalist conservatism, traditionalist conservatives. The party currently has 356 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Members of Parliament, 264 members of the House of Lords, 9 members of the London Assembly, 31 members of the Scottish Parliament, 16 members of the Senedd, Welsh Parliament, 2 D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC is granted in recognition of "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land" to all members of the British Armed Forces of any rank. In 1979, the Queen approved a proposal that a number of awards, including the Military Cross, could be recommended posthumously. History The award was created on 28 December 1914 for commissioned officers of the substantive rank of captain or below and for warrant officers. The first 98 awards were gazetted on 1 January 1915, to 71 officers, and 27 warrant officers. Although posthumous recommendations for the Military Cross were unavailable until 1979, the first awards included seven posthumous awards, with the word 'deceased' after the name of the recipient, from rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Cazalet
Colonel Victor Alexander Cazalet, MC (27 December 1896 – 4 July 1943) was a British Conservative Party Member of Parliament for nineteen years. He came from a prominent, wealthy English family. In his political career, he was a noted authority on international affairs and was a veteran of World War I. He became the liaison officer with Polish General Sikorski after the outbreak of World War II. He promoted strong military ties with the United States before and during the war and was an outspoken advocate for creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Cazalet was also an amateur athlete and squash champion in Great Britain for many years. He became godfather to actress Elizabeth Taylor after developing a friendship with her family. Travelling back to London from Gibraltar, he was killed in the 1943 Gibraltar B-24 crash at age 46 along with General Sikorski and 15 others. Early life and education Victor Cazalet was born in London, at 4 Whitehall Gardens, on 12 December 1896, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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