Basil Collyns
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Basil Collyns
Basil Gordon Collyns, (24 February 1913 – 20 August 1944) was a New Zealand flying ace of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War. He is credited with at least five aerial victories. Born in Greymouth, Collyns was called up to serve in the RNZAF in 1939. After completing his flight training, he was sent to the United Kingdom to serve with the Royal Air Force. After training on the Hawker Hurricane, he was posted to No. 238 Squadron with which he briefly flew in the latter stages of the Battle of Britain. In May 1941 he was transferred to No. 1 Squadron and flew on the Channel Front for six months, during which time he achieved his first aerial victory, before undertaking a period of instructing duties. Returning to operations in June 1942 with No. 243 Squadron he flew a series of operations without success and spent most of the following year as an instructor. In January 1944, he was posted to No. 65 Squadron and undertook a number of sorties ...
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Greymouth
Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coast's inhabitants. The Greymouth urban area had an estimated population of A large proportion of the District, 65%, is part of the Conservation Estate owned and managed by the Department of Conservation making Greymouth a natural centre for walkers and trampers. Location The town is located at the mouth of the Grey River, on a narrow coastal plain close to the foot of the Southern Alps. In clear weather, Aoraki / Mount Cook can be clearly seen to the south from near the town. The mouth of the river divides the town into three areas: Blaketown, close to the river's mouth on the south bank; Karoro, to the southeast, separated from Blaketown by a series of small estuarine lagoons; and Cobden, formerly a separate town, on the river's north ...
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Commission (document)
A commission is a formal document issued to appoint a named person to high office or as a commissioned officer in a territory's armed forces. A commission constitutes documentary authority that the person named is vested with the powers of that office and is empowered to execute official acts. A commission often takes the form of letters patent. Commissions are typically issued in the name of or signed by the head of state. In Commonwealth realms, the documentation is referred to a King's Commission or Queen's Commission (depending on the gender of the reigning monarch). However, in Commonwealth realms other than the United Kingdom, they may be signed by the governor-general, the representative of the monarch of that realm. Terminology Because the word "commission" can also refer generally to an individual's duty, the more specific terms commissioning parchment or commissioning scroll are often used to specify the commissioning document. However the document is not usually i ...
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Sortie
A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. In aviation In military aviation, a sortie is a combat mission of an individual aircraft, starting when the aircraft takes off. For example, one mission involving six aircraft would tally six sorties. The sortie rate is the number of sorties that a given unit can support in a given time. In siege warfare In siege warfare, the word ''sortie'' refers specifically to a sudden issuing of troops against the enemy from a defensive position—that is, an attack launched against the besiegers by the defenders. If the sortie is through a sally port, the verb ''to sally'' may be used interchangeably with ''to sortie''. Purposes of sorties include harassment of enemy troops, destruction of siege weaponry and engineering works, joining the relief ...
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Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabteilung'' of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from having any air force. During the interwar period, German pilots were trained secretly in violation of the treaty at Lipetsk Air Base in the Soviet Union. With the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Versailles Treaty, the ''Luftwaffe''s existence was publicly acknowledged on 26 February 1935, just over two weeks before open defiance of the Versailles Treaty through German rearmament and conscription would be announced on 16 March. The Condor Legion, a ''Luftwaffe'' detachment sent to aid Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, provided the force with a valuable testing grou ...
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London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ...
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RAF Middle Wallop
Middle Wallop is a village in the civil parish of Nether Wallop in Hampshire, England, on the A343 road. At the 2011 Census the population was included in the civil parish of Over Wallop. The village has a public house, The George Inn, and a petrol station as well as The Wallops Parish Hall. The Wallops Together the villages of Over Wallop, Middle Wallop and Nether Wallop are known as The Wallops and run in a line roughly north to south following the course of the Wallop Brook, which has its source in Over Wallop. Middle Wallop airfield To the East of the villages the area is dominated by the Middle Wallop airfield, home to the Army Air Corps, a branch of the British Army. It was supposedly the site of a battle between certain Vitalinus, possibly Vortigern Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was ...
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Hawker Hurricane Mk I Of No
Hawker or Hawkers may refer to: Places *Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra *Hawker, South Australia, a town *Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia *Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica *Hawker Creek, Missouri, United States In business * Hawker (trade), a vendor of food or merchandise * Hawker Aircraft, a British aircraft manufacturer * Hawkers (company), a Spanish sunglasses company Other uses * Hawker (surname) * One who practices falconry, hunting with hawks * Hawker College Hawker College is a senior secondary college in the Australian Capital Territory. It caters to students completing their final two years of secondary education, and offers a wide range of curriculum choices. Established in 1976, Hawker has a non ..., a senior secondary college in the Australian Capital Territory * Hawker (dragonfly), a family of dragonflies in North America and Europe {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawker ...
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Fighter Aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield permits bombers and attack aircraft to engage in tactical and strategic bombing of enemy targets. The key performance features of a fighter include not only its firepower but also its high speed and maneuverability relative to the target aircraft. The success or failure of a combatant's efforts to gain air superiority hinges on several factors including the skill of its pilots, the tactical soundness of its doctrine for deploying its fighters, and the numbers and performance of those fighters. Many modern fighter aircraft also have secondary capabilities such as ground attack and some types, such as fighter-bombers, are designed from the outset for dual roles. Other fighter designs are highly specialized while still filling the ma ...
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RAF Sutton Bridge
Royal Air Force Sutton Bridge or more simply RAF Sutton Bridge is a former Royal Air Force station found next to the village of Sutton Bridge in the south-east of Lincolnshire. The airfield was to the south of the current A17, and east of the River Nene, next to Walpole in Norfolk. History On 1 September 1926 the Air Ministry established R.A.F. Practice Camp Sutton BridgeThe official naming used and found in official Air Ministry notices, the London Gazette and other publications is "R.A.F. Practice Camp Sutton Bridge". One example publication: FLIGHT, 24 May 1928, Air Ministry Announcements, Page 394: The Royal Air Force, Royal Air Force Intelligence, Appointments, I.W.C. Mackenzie to "R.A.F. Practice Camp, Sutton Bridge", 14.4.2/ref> The National Archives (United Kingdom), The National Archives, Kew, United Kingdom, Reference: AIR 28/788 on 289 acres of acquired agricultural land next to Sutton Bridge village from Guy's Hospital Agricultural Estates.Combat Ready!, Author: Al ...
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Blenheim, New Zealand
Blenheim ( ; mi, Waiharakeke) is the most populous town in the regions of New Zealand, region of Marlborough Region, Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of The surrounding Marlborough wine region is well known as the centre of the New Zealand wine industry. It enjoys one of New Zealand's sunniest climates, with warm, relatively dry summers and cool, crisp winters. Blenheim is named after the Battle of Blenheim (1704), where troops led by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough defeated a combined French and Bavarian force. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "Phormium tenax, flax stream" for . History The sheltered coastal bays of Marlborough supported a small Māori people, Māori population possibly as early as the 12th century. Archaeological evidence dates Polynesian human remains uncovered at Wairau Bar to the 13th century. The rich sea and bird life of the area would easil ...
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Pilot Officer
Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and is equivalent to a second lieutenant in the British Army or the Royal Marines. The Royal Navy has no exact equivalent rank, and a pilot officer is senior to a Royal Navy midshipman and junior to a Royal Navy sub-lieutenant. In the Australian Armed Forces, the rank of pilot officer is equivalent to acting sub lieutenant in the Royal Australian Navy. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was "assistant section officer". Origins In the Royal Flying Corps, officers were designated pilot officers at the end of pilot training. As they retained their commissions in their customary ranks (usually second lieutenant or lieutenant), and ...
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Aircrew Brevet
Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose. Commercial aviation Flight deck positions In commercial aviation, the aircrew are called ''flight crew''. Some flight crew position names are derived from nautical terms and indicate a rank or command structure similar to that on ocean-going vessels, allowing for quick executive decision making during normal operations or emergency situations. Historical flightdeck positions include: * Captain, the pilot highest-ranking member or members of a flight crew. * First officer (FO, also called a co-pilot), another pilot who is normally seated to the right of the captain. (On helicopters, an FO is normally seated to the left of the captain, who occupies the right-hand seat).Smith, PatrickPatrick Smith's Ask The Pilot: When a Pilot Dies in Flight AskThePilot.com website, 2013, whic ...
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