|
Denis Smallwood
Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Graham Smallwood, (13 August 1918 – 26 July 1997) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. RAF career Educated at King Edward VI School in Birmingham, Smallwood joined the Royal Air Force in 1938. Smallwood took part in the Second World War and in November 1941 he was appointed Officer Commanding of No. 87 Squadron flying Hurricanes. In 1948 he became Officer Commanding No. 33 Squadron and in 1959 he joined the Directing Staff at the Joint Staff Services College before becoming Station Commander at RAF Biggin Hill in 1953. He became Group Captain, Plans for the Air Task Force in 1956 and then Officer Commanding RAF North Coates in 1959 before becoming Commandant of the College of Air Warfare in 1961. In 1963 he was made Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) and in 1965 he was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 3 Group. He went on to be Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters, Bomber Command in 1967, Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government's foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security". The R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became less restrictive and increasingly targeted industrial sites and the civilian manpower base essential for German war production. In total 364,514 operational sorties were flown, 1,030,500 tons of bombs were dropped and 8,325 aircraft lost in action. Bomber Command crews also suffered a high casualty rate: 55,573 were killed out of a total of 125,000 aircrew, a 44.4% death rate. A further 8,403 men were wounded in action, and 9,838 became prisoners of war. Bomber Command stood at the peak of its post-war military power in the 1960s, the V bombers holding the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent and a supplemental force of Canberra light bombers. In August 2006, a memorial was unveiled at Lincoln Cathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 Deaths
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of the most observed comets of the 20th century; Golden Bauhinia Square, where sovereignty of Hong Kong is handed over from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China; the 1997 Central European flood kills 114 people in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany; Korean Air Flight 801 crashes during heavy rain on Guam, killing 229; Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner land on Mars; flowers left outside Kensington Palace following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in Paris., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200 Titanic (1997 film) rect 200 0 400 200 Harry Potter rect 400 0 600 200 Comet Hale-Bopp rect 0 200 300 400 Death of Diana, Princess of Wales rect 300 200 600 400 Handover of Hong Kong rect 0 400 200 600 Mars Pathfind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1918 Births
This year is noted for the end of the World War I, First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – 1918 flu pandemic: The "Spanish flu" (influenza) is first observed in Haskell County, Kansas. * January 4 – The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia, Sweden, German Empire, Germany and France. * January 9 – Battle of Bear Valley: U.S. troops engage Yaqui people, Yaqui Native American warriors in a minor skirmish in Arizona, and one of the last battles of the American Indian Wars between the United States and Native Americans. * January 15 ** The keel of is laid in Britain, the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier to be laid down. ** The Red Army (The Workers and Peasants Red Army) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nigel Maynard
Air Chief Marshal Sir Nigel Martin Maynard, (28 August 1921 – 18 June 1998) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. RAF career Born the son of Air Vice Marshal Forster Maynard and educated at Aldenham School,Debrett's People of Today Maynard entered the RAF College Cranwell early in 1940 but due to the demands of war his training was cut short and he was posted to No. 210 Squadron flying Sunderlands in June 1940. In 1949 he was appointed Officer Commanding No. 242 Squadron and then, following various staff appointments, he was made Station Commander at RAF Changi in 1960. He went on to be Group Captain, Operations at Headquarters Transport Command in 1962, Director of Defence Plans (Air) at the Ministry of Defence in 1964 and Director of Defence Plans in 1966. He was made Commandant of the RAF Staff College, Bracknell, in 1968 before being appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Far East Air Force in 1970. In 1972 he was made Chief of Staff at Strike Command, in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Humphrey
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Andrew Henry Humphrey, (10 January 1921 – 24 January 1977) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He fought in the Second World War as a fighter pilot taking part in the Battle of Britain and also took part in the withdrawal from Aden in November 1967. He served as the Chief of the Air Staff advising the new Labour Government on the implementation of their latest Defence Review. He then served as Chief of the Defence Staff but caught pneumonia within three months of taking office and died shortly afterwards. Early life The son of John Humphrey CBE and his wife, Agnes Florence Humphrey (née Beatson-Bell), Humphrey was born on 10 January 1921 in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. He was educated at Belhaven Hill School in Dunbar and Bradfield College. RAF career Humphrey joined the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in January 1939 and was granted a permanent commission as a pilot officer on 30 April 1940. Following flying training he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruthven Wade
Air Chief Marshal Sir Ruthven Lowry "Gerry" Wade, (15 July 1920 – 24 September 2001) was a senior Royal Air Force officer who served as Vice-Chief of the Air Staff from 1973 to 1976. RAF career Educated at Cheltenham College, Wade joined the Royal Air Force in 1938 and served in the Second World War. After the War he became Officer Commanding No. 39 Squadron and then Station Commander at RAF Gaydon. He was appointed Director of Operations – Bomber and Reconnaissance in 1966, Air Executive to Deputy for Nuclear Affairs at SHAPE in 1967 and Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group in 1968. He went on to be Deputy Commander-in-Chief at RAF Germany The former Royal Air Force Germany (RAFG) was a command of the Royal Air Force and part of British Forces Germany. It consisted of units located in Germany, initially as part of the occupation following the Second World War, and later as part ... in 1971, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) in January 1973 and Vice-Chief ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vice Chief Of The Air Staff (United Kingdom)
The British Vice-Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) was the post occupied by the senior Royal Air Force officer who served as a senior assistant to the Chief of the Air Staff. The post was created during World War II on 22 April 1940 and its incumbent sat on the Air Council. It was abolished in 1985 when the post's responsibilities were combined with those of the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Policy) and the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) to create a single post, the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff. The Vice-Chief was responsible for defining the operational requirements for the RAF and conducting wider strategic planning. Vice-Chiefs of the Air Staff Holders of the post included: *22 April 1940 – 4 October 1940 Air Marshal Sir Richard Peirse *4 October 1940 – 19 October 1942 Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Freeman *19 October 1942 – 21 March 1943 Air Vice-Marshal C E H Medhurst (acting) Air Chief Marshal Tedder had been due to take the appointment but afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Fletcher (RAF Officer)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Carteret Fletcher, (7 October 1916 – 2 January 1999) was a senior Royal Air Force officer who served as Vice-Chief of the Air Staff from 1967 to 1970. RAF career Educated at St George's College and Rhodes University in South Africa, Fletcher joined the Royal Rhodesian Air Force in 1939 and then transferred to the Royal Air Force. He served in the Second World War as Officer Commanding No. 258 Squadron and as Station Commander at RAF Belvedere in Southern Rhodesia before joining the Directing Staff RAF Staff College (Overseas) in Haifa. After the war he joined the Directing Staff at the Joint Services Staff College and then became a member of the Joint Planning Staff at the Air Ministry. He was appointed Air Attaché in Oslo in 1953, a member of the Directing Staff at the Imperial Defence College in 1956 and Station Commander at RAF Abingdon in 1958. He went on to be Deputy Director of the Joint Planning Staff in 1960, Director of Operational Requi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Derek Hodgkinson
Air Chief Marshal Sir William Derek Hodgkinson, (27 December 1917 – 29 January 2010) was a senior Royal Air Force officer. As a bomber pilot in the Second World War, he was shot down and spent time in Stalag Luft III as "Big S", responsible for the security of the escape committee. Early life Born near Prestbury, Cheshire, and educated in Repton, Hodgkinson took a short service commission with the RAF in 1936, first flying the Avro Anson multi-role aircraft for RAF Coastal Command and then the American-built Hudson medium-level bomber with No. 220 Squadron RAF. Second World War When war was declared, Hodgkinson was responsible for patrolling the English Channel from Heligoland Bight to Stavanger, which included patrols during the Dunkirk evacuation. Hodgkinson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down a Heinkel HE115 float plane. He then became an instructor with the Operational Training Unit (OTU), where in 1942, as a squadron leader, Hodkinson was sele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Gordon Jones
Air Marshal Sir Edward “Tap” Gordon Jones, (31 August 1914 – 20 February 2007) was an officer in the Royal Air Force for 34 years, from 1935 to 1969. He commanded a squadron of obsolescent biplane Gladiator fighters during the Greek Campaign in the Second World War, where he shot down five Italian Fiat CR.42 fighters. He served in mainly operational posts in Europe until he retired. Unusually, he never served a post in the Air Ministry or the UK Ministry of Defence. Early life Jones was born in Widnes, Lancashire (now Cheshire), the third of four sons of Lieutenant Colonel Albert Jones.Obituary '''', 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east and Hertfordshire to the east. Buckinghamshire is one of the Home Counties, the counties of England that surround Greater London. Towns such as High Wycombe, Amersham, Chesham and the Chalfonts in the east and southeast of the county are parts of the London commuter belt, forming some of the most densely populated parts of the county, with some even being served by the London Underground. Development in this region is restricted by the Metropolitan Green Belt. The county's largest settlement and only city is Milton Keynes in the northeast, which with the surrounding area is administered by Milton Keynes City Council as a unitary authority separately to the rest of Buckinghamshire. The remainder of the county is administered by Buck ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
