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89th (Cinque Ports) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
The 89th (Cinque Ports) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) raised in Kent just before the outbreak of World War II. It served during the Battle of Britain and defended the Suez Canal while batteries served in the Battle of Crete and the Siege of Tobruk. The regiment then fought through the North African and Italian campaigns. Origin This unit was formed as a consequence of the doubling in size of the TA after the Munich Crisis in late 1938. Formally, it was a duplicate of the newly converted 75th (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, based on two batteries (234th and 235th) transferred from that regiment, together with a more experienced anti-aircraft (AA) battery (205th), which had served with several Kent units, most recently 55th (Kent) AA Rgt, and provided the regimental headquarters (RHQ) at Sittingbourne. Whether officially sanctioned or not, the new regiment used the same 'Cinque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flag Of The British Army
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging (such as the maritime environment, where semaphore is used). Many flags fall into groups of similar designs called flag families. The study of flags is known as " vexillology" from the Latin , meaning "flag" or " banner". National flags are patriotic symbols with widely varied interpretations that often include strong military associations because of their original and ongoing use for that purpose. Flags are also used in messaging, advertising, or for decorative purposes. Some military units are called "flags" after their use of flags. A ''flag'' (Arabic: ) is equivalent to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
55th (Kent) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
55th (Kent) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army from 1925 until 1955. In World War II it defended the Thames Estuary, Medway Towns and Dover during The Blitz and later served in Iraq and North Africa. It then supported British Eighth Army and US Fifth Army during the Sicily and Italian campaigns until the end of the war. Origin German air raids by Zeppelin airships and Gotha bombers on British cities during World War I had shown the need for strong anti-aircraft (AA) defences in any future war. When the Territorial Army (TA) was reformed in the 1920s it began raising five dedicated AA units of the Royal Artillery (RA). The last of these was 55th (Kent) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, raised in January 1925 at Tonbridge, Kent (later at Tunbridge Wells) with headquarters at Fort Clarence in Rochester. For a number of years the regiment consisted of this single battery (which was redesignated 163 (Kent) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faversham Explosives Industry
Faversham, in Kent, England, has claims to be the cradle of the UK's explosives industry: it was also to become one of its main centres. The first gunpowder plant in the UK was established in the 16th century, possibly at the instigation of the abbey at Faversham. With their estates and endowments, monasteries were keen to invest in promising technology. Faversham was well placed. It had a stream which could be dammed at intervals to provide power for watermills. On its outskirts were low-lying areas ideal for the culture of alder and willow to provide charcoal, one of the three key gunpowder ingredients. The stream fed into a tidal creek where sulphur, another key ingredient, could be imported, and the finished product loaded for dispatch to Thames-side magazines. The port was also near the Continent where, in time of war, demand for gunpowder was brisk. Gunpowder The first factories The first factories were small, near the town, and alongside the stream, between the Lond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faversham
Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great Britain), A2, which follows an ancient British trackway which was used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons, and known as Watling Street. The name is of Old English origin, meaning "the metal-worker's village". There has been a settlement at Faversham since pre-Roman times, next to the ancient sea port on Faversham Creek. It was inhabited by the Saxons and mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Favreshant''. The town was favoured by Stephen of England, King Stephen who established Faversham Abbey, which survived until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538. Subsequently, the town became an important seaport and established itself as a centre for brewing, and the Shepherd Neame Brewery, founded in 1698, remains a significant major employer. The town was al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
QF 3
QF may stand for: * Qantas, an airline of Australia (IATA code QF) * Qatar Foundation, a private, chartered, non-profit organization in the state of Qatar * Quality factor, in physics and engineering, a measure of the "quality" of a resonant system * Quick-firing gun, a sort of artillery piece * Quiverfull, a movement of Christians who eschew all forms of birth control * A gun breech that uses metallic cartridges (see British ordnance terms#QF) * Quds Force The Quds Force ( fa, نیروی قدس, niru-ye qods, Jerusalem Force) is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War ... an expeditionary warfare unit of IRGC {{disambig fr:QF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oswestry
Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Oswestry until that was abolished in 2009. Oswestry is the third-largest town in Shropshire, following Telford and Shrewsbury. At the 2011 Census, the population was 17,105. The town is five miles (8 km) from the Welsh border and has a mixed English and Welsh heritage. Oswestry is the largest settlement within the Oswestry Uplands, a designated natural area and national character area. Toponym The name ''Oswestry'' is first attested in 1191, as ''Oswaldestroe''. This Middle English name transparently derives from the Old English personal name Ōswald and the word ''trēow'' ('tree'). Thus the name seems once to have meant 'tree of a man called Ōswald'.A. D. Mills, ''A Dictionary of English Place Names'' (Oxford: Oxford U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. They are split into the West Midlands and East Midlands. The region's biggest city, Birmingham often considered the social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands, is the second-largest city and metropolitan area in the United Kingdom. Symbolism A saltire (diagonal cross) may have been used as a symbol of Mercia as early as the reign of Offa. By the 13th century, the saltire had become the attributed arms of the Kingdom of Mercia. The arms are blazoned ''Azure, a saltire Or'', meaning a gold (or yellow) saltire on a blue field. The saltire is used as both a flag and a coat of arms. As a flag, it is flown from Tamworth Castle, the ancient seat of the Mercian Kings, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The National Archives (United Kingdom)
The National Archives (TNA, cy, Yr Archifau Cenedlaethol) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its parent department is the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the official archive of the UK Government and for England and Wales; and "guardian of some of the nation's most iconic documents, dating back more than 1,000 years." There are separate national archives for Scotland (the National Records of Scotland) and Northern Ireland (the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland). TNA was formerly four separate organisations: the Public Record Office (PRO), the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Historical Manuscripts Commission, the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) and Office of Public Sector Information, His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). The Public Record Office still exists as a legal entity, as the enabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-Aircraft Command
Anti-Aircraft Command (AA Command, or "Ack-Ack Command") was a British Army command of the Second World War that controlled the Territorial Army anti-aircraft artillery and searchlight formations and units defending the United Kingdom. Origin The formation of a Command-level body of anti-aircraft defences had been announced in 1938, but Anti-Aircraft Command was not formed until 1 April 1939 under General Sir Alan Brooke, who had been commander of Anti-Aircraft Corps. He then passed control to Sir Frederick Pile, who would remain in command until the end of the war.Routledge, Chapter 26. AA Command was under the operational direction of RAF Fighter Command as part of Air Defence of Great Britain, and occupied a headquarters known as ''Glenthorn'' in the grounds of Bentley Priory, home of Fighter Command. The majority of AA Command's guns and searchlights were operated by Territorial Army units. Some Regular Army units joined after they returned from the Dunkirk evacu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
6th Anti-Aircraft Division (United Kingdom)
The 6th Anti-Aircraft Division (6th AA Division) was an air defence formation created within Anti-Aircraft Command of Britain's Territorial Army just before the Second World War. It defended the Thames Estuary and the approaches to London during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. Origin The 6th AA Division was formed during 1939 to take responsibility for the air defence of the Thames Estuary, Essex and North Kent, with its HQ at Uxbridge, Middlesex. The existing 27th (Home Counties), 28th (Thames & Medway), 29th (East Anglian) and 37th AA Brigades were transferred to this new formation, together with the new formations and units of the Royal Artillery (RA) and Royal Engineers (RE) being raised as part of the expansion of the TA after the Munich Crisis.Frederick, p. 1047. The divisional HQ was provided by duplicating the 1st AA Division's headquarter elements at RAF Uxbridge, including 1st AA Divisional Signals.Lord & Watson, p. 184. Major-General Frederick Hyland was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chatham, Kent
Chatham ( ) is a town located within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. The town developed around Chatham Dockyard and several Army barracks, together with 19th-century forts which provided a defensive shield for the dockyard. The Corps of Royal Engineers is still based in Chatham at Brompton Barracks. The Dockyard closed in 1984, but the remaining major naval buildings are an attraction for a flourishing tourist industry. Following closure, part of the site was developed as a commercial port, other parts were redeveloped for business and residential use, and part was used as the Chatham Historic Dockyard museum. Its attractions include the submarine . The town has important road links and the railway and bus stations are the main interchanges for the area. It is the administrative headquarters of Medway unitary authority, as well as its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
28th (Thames And Medway) Anti-Aircraft Brigade
28th (Thames and Medway) Anti-Aircraft Brigade (28 AA Bde) was an air defence formation of the British Territorial Army created in 1925 to command anti-aircraft units in Kent and around the militarily important Medway Towns, which it defended during the Second World War. In 1940 the brigade was responsible for the defences on the south side of the Thames Estuary including the Royal Naval Dockyard at Chatham and the Port of Dover. The brigade was heavily engaged throughout the Battle of Britain, in the summer of 1940, and The Blitz, from autumn 1940 to spring 1941, operating a total of 70 heavy anti-aircraft (HAA) guns controlled from a gun operations room (GOR) at Chatham. During 1942 many of the brigade's experienced units were transferred to active theatres overseas. Increasingly the brigade included women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). From mid-1944 the German '' Luftwaffe'' began launching V-1 flying bombs against southeast England, whose speed and maneuv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
