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Birmingham Blitz
The Birmingham Blitz was the heavy bombing by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' of the city of Birmingham and surrounding towns in central England, beginning on 9 August 1940 as a fraction of the greater Blitz , which was part of the Battle of Britain; and ending on 23 April 1943. Situated in the Midlands, Birmingham, the most populous British city outside London, was considered an important industrial and manufacturing location. Around 1,852 tons of bombs were dropped on Birmingham, making it the third most heavily bombed city in the United Kingdom in the Second World War, behind London and Liverpool. There was also significant bombing of towns in the neighbouring Black Country, particularly in Dudley, Tipton, Smethwick and West Bromwich, where there were hundreds of casualties. As with most provincial cities bombed during the Blitz, reports of the bombing were kept low key. Wartime censorship meant that Birmingham was not mentioned by name in contemporary news reports about the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bull Ring Blitz
A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, including for sacrifices. These animals play a significant role in beef ranching, dairy farming, and a variety of sporting and cultural activities, including bullfighting and bull riding. Due to their temperament, handling requires precautions. Nomenclature The female counterpart to a bull is a cow, while a male of the species that has been castrated is a ''steer'', '' ox'', or ''bullock'', although in North America, this last term refers to a young bull. Use of these terms varies considerably with area and dialect. Colloquially, people unfamiliar with cattle may refer to both castrated and intact animals as "bulls". A wild, young, unmarked bull is known as a ''micky'' in Australia.Sheena Coupe (ed.), ''Frontier Country, Vol. 1'' (Weldon Ru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incendiary Bomb
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, thermite, magnesium powder, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus. Though colloquially often known as bombs, they are not explosives but in fact are designed to slow the process of chemical reactions and use ignition rather than detonation to start or maintain the reaction. Napalm for example, is petroleum especially thickened with certain chemicals into a 'gel' to slow, but not stop, combustion, releasing energy over a longer time than an explosive device. In the case of napalm, the gel adheres to surfaces and resists suppression. Pre-modern history A range of early thermal weapons were utilized by ancient, medieval/post-classical and early modern armies, including hot pitch, oil, resin, animal fat and other similar compounds. Subs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M1919 Browning Machine Gun
The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The M1919 saw service as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries. The M1919 was an air-cooled development of the standard US machine gun of World War I, the John M. Browning-designed water-cooled M1917. The emergence of general-purpose machine guns in the 1950s pushed the M1919 into secondary roles in many cases, especially after the arrival of the M60 in US Army service. The United States Navy also converted many to 7.62 mm NATO, and designated them Mk 21 Mod 0; they were commonly used on riverine craft in the 1960s and 1970s in Vietnam. Many NATO countries also converted their examples to 7.62 mm caliber, and these remained in service well into the 1990s, as well as up to the present day in some countries. Operation Loading The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Small Heath
Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. The slightly elevated site offers poor agricultural land, lying on a glacial drift of sand, gravel, and clay, resulting in a heathland that provides adequate grazing for livestock. The land, therefore, seems to have developed as a pasture or common land, on which locals could graze their animals. However, the site lies directly on the route between Birmingham and Coventry, and so was probably used by drovers transporting animals to and from the two cities, and the livestock markets within each. The Coventry Road itself was first recorded in 1226, leading from the Digbeth crossing of the River Rea. At this time Birmingham was a medieval market town whilst Coventry was a major city of national importance. In 1745, the Coventry Turnpike was cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham Small Arms Company
The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand tool, hand, power tool, power, and machine tool, machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process. After the Second World War, BSA did not manage its business well, and a government-organised rescue operation in 1973 led to a takeover of such operations as it still owned. Those few that survived this process disappeared into the ownership of other businesses. History of the BSA industrial group Machine-made guns BSA began in June 1861 in the Gun Quarter, Birmingham, England. It was formed by a group of fourteen gunsmith members of the Birmingham Small Arms Trade Association specifically to manufacture guns by machinery. They were encouraged to do this by the War Office which gave the BSA gunsmiths free access ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bull Ring, Birmingham
The Bull Ring is a major shopping area in central Birmingham England, and has been an important feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages, when its market was first held. Two shopping centres have been built in the area; in the 1960s, and then in 2003; the latter is styled as one word, Bullring. When combined with Grand Central (to which it is connected via a link bridge) it is the United Kingdom's largest city centre based shopping centre. The site is located on the edge of the sandstone city ridge which results in the steep gradient towards Digbeth. The slope drops approximately from New Street to St Martin's Church which is very visible near the church. The current shopping centre was the busiest in the United Kingdom in 2004 with 36.5 million visitors. It houses one of only four Selfridges department stores and previously the fourth largest Debenhams in the UK. Toponym The area was first known as Corn Cheaping in reference to the corn market on the site. The name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham Market Hall
Birmingham Market Hall was a municipal market hall in the Bull Ring area of Birmingham, England (and part of the city centre there), from 1835 to 1940, when the interior and roof were destroyed by enemy bombing; although parts remained in use until final demolition in the 1960s. Background Urban population increases in 18th & 19th century England and Wales arising out of industrialisation, gave impetus to changes in the ownership and provision of physical market places for the sale of foodstuffs and other products in towns and cities. More than 300 Acts of Parliament were passed between 1801 and 1880 allowing nascent local governments to acquire market rights from their manorial holders, and to fund the construction of market facilities. From about 1800, market halls emerged as the 'perfect form' of the market place, and town followed town in bringing their markets indoors into roofed buildings supplying amenities such as water and heating. In particular, St. John's Market, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griffon engined Mk 24 using several wing configurations and guns. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the war. The Spitfire remains popular among enthusiasts; around 70 remain airworthy, and many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world. The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928. Mitchell developed the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing with innovative sunken rivets (designed by Beverley Shenstone) to have the thinnest possible cross-section, achieving a potential top speed greater than that of several contemporary figh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castle Bromwich
Castle Bromwich () is a large suburban village situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of the West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east; also Sutton Coldfield to the east and north east, Shard End to the south west, Castle Vale, Erdington and Minworth to the north and Hodge Hill to the west – all areas of the City of Birmingham. It constitutes a civil parish, which had a population of 11,857 according to the 2001 census, falling to 11,217 at the 2011 census. The population has remained quite stable since then; the 2017 population estimate was 12,309. It was a civil parish within the Meriden Rural District of Warwickshire until the Local Government Act 1972 came into force in 1974, when it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. In 1861, the population was 613. This rose to just over 1,000 in the 1920s, when half of the original parish was ceded to the City of Birmingham for the construction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castle Bromwich Assembly
Castle Bromwich Assembly is a factory owned by Jaguar Land Rover. It is located on the Chester Road in Castle Vale, Birmingham, England and employs 3,200 people. The plant covers an area of 110 acres (44.5 hectares), with a 60,000 m² (6-hectare) manufacturing facility. It manufactures all Jaguar saloon and sports cars. The site was first developed as Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory, a shadow factory for the production of aircraft by the car industry as part of the rearmament of the UK in the pre-Second World war era. After initial problems it was brought under the control of aircraft manufacturers and became one of the largest producers of aircraft during the war. History Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory Nuffield: 1936–1940 In 1936, the British government had formalised a plan under the Air Ministry called the Shadow factory plan to increase capacity within Britain's aircraft industry. Headed up by automotive pioneer Herbert Austin, the plan was to create nine new factor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erdington
Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The former council district consisted of the ward of Erdington, and Tyburn, (formerly Kingsbury), Stockland Green and Kingstanding, although all of Kingstanding and most of both Tyburn and Stockland Green wards lie outside the historical boundaries of Erdington. Stockland Green was formerly part of Aston, Kingstanding part of Perry Barr and Tyburn (Tyburn Road South & Birches Green) partially split between Aston and Hodge Hill ( Castle Vale). Erdington (ward) was part of the Sutton Coldfield constituency before 1974. History Erdington Manor Erdington had its own manor house, Erdington Hall, which was protected on three sides by a double moat and on the fourth by the River Tame. It had developed from a small forti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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