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Eddy Blondeel
Lieutenant-Colonel Doctor of Dental Surgery, Dr. (Dent.) Edouard "Eddy" Blondeel (25 January 1906 – 23 May 2000) was the wartime commander of the Belgian 5 SAS, 5th SAS. After the war he was first Commanding Office of the 1st Parachute Battalion (Belgium), 1st Regiment of Parachutists. He retired from the Belgian Army, army in 1947 to work as an engineer with Arjo Wiggins, Wiggins Teape. Early life Eddy Blondeel was born in Ghent on January 25, 1906. He initially studied at the German School in Ghent but in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I, his parents no longer wanted him to be educated at a German school, leading to their decision to enroll him in a Multilingualism, bilingual Belgium, Belgian school. In his youth he had excelled at basketball, fencing and Rowing (sport), rowing and at the age of 13 he had taken up scouting, which he claimed "helped develop his character." Before the Second World War he was appointed Commissioner of Scouts in the Flanders area of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in size only by Brussels and Antwerp. It is a port and university city. The city originally started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie and in the Late Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe, with some 50,000 people in 1300. The municipality comprises the city of Ghent proper and the surrounding suburbs of Afsnee, Desteldonk, Drongen, Gentbrugge, Ledeberg, Mariakerke, Mendonk, Oostakker, Sint-Amandsberg, Sint-Denijs-Westrem, Sint-Kruis-Winkel, Wondelgem and Zwijnaarde. With 262,219 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019, Ghent is Belgium's second largest municipality by number of inhabitants. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luxembourg War Cross
The Luxembourg War Cross (french: Croix de Guerre, german: Kriegskreuz) is a military decoration of Luxembourg. It was created on 17 April 1945 by the Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg. The War Cross recognizes military service and feats of bravery. The medal is often referred to as the Luxembourg Croix de Guerre (French for War Cross) as French is one of Luxembourg's three official languages. Luxembourg bestowed the War Cross on both Luxembourg citizens and members of the Allied Forces for acts of particular bravery or valor during the Liberation of Luxembourg. The War Cross could also be awarded to military units. The Luxembourg War Cross was one of the rarest foreign decorations bestowed on allied troops due to the small number of combat operations that took place in Luxembourg—in contrast to major fighting in places like Belgium, France, and Germany. War Cross 1940–1945 The War Cross 1940–1945 was established in April 1945 by Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, and sports. Another widely recognized movement characteristic is the Scout uniform, by intent hiding all differences of social standing in a country and encouraging equality, with neckerchief and campaign hat or comparable headwear. Distinctive uniform insignia include the fleur-de-lis and the trefoil, as well as merit badges and other patches. In 1907, Robert Baden-Powell, a Lieutenant General in the British Army, held a Scouting encampment on Brownsea Island in England. Baden-Powell wrote '' Scouting for Boys'' (London, 1908), partly based on his earlier military books. The Scout Movement of both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts was well established in the first decade of the twentieth century. Later, programs for younger children, such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rowing (sport)
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars—one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses long with several lanes marked using buoys. Modern rowing as a competitive sport can be traced to the early 17th century when professional watermen held races (regattas) on the River Thames in London, England. Often prizes were offered by the London G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, singlestick, appeared in the 1904 Olympics but was dropped after that and is not a part of modern fencing. Fencing was one of the first sports to be played in the Olympics. Based on the traditional skills of swordsmanship, the modern sport arose at the end of the 19th century, with the Italian school having modified the historical European martial art of classical fencing, and the French school later refining the Italian system. There are three forms of modern fencing, each of which uses a different kind of weapon and has different rules; thus the sport itself is divided into three competitive scenes: foil, épée, and sabre. Most competitive fencers choose to specialize in one weapon only. Competitive fencing is one of the five activitie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's hoop (a basket in diameter mounted high to a Backboard (basketball), backboard at each end of the court, while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A Field goal (basketball), field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the 3 point line, three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one, two or three one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (Overtime (sports), overtime) is mandated. Players advance the ball by bouncing it while walking ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one language other than their mother tongue; but many read and write in one language. Multilingualism is advantageous for people wanting to participate in trade, globalization and cultural openness. Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages has become increasingly possible. People who speak several languages are also called polyglots. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language (L1). The first language (sometimes also referred to as the mother tongue) is usually acquired without formal education, by mechanisms about which scholars disagree. Children acquirin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arjo Wiggins
Arjowiggins is an independent paper manufacturer based in Scotland. History The company's origins go back to 1761 when Buckland Mill in Dover in Kent commenced operations. Meanwhile, in France, in the middle of the 20th century there were four competing paper mills that manufactured sophisticated paper products with high added value, especially security papers (banknotes, passports, etc.). A joint merger plan was drawn up in 1954 and led to the formation of the first French paper-manufacturing group: Arjomari. The name of the group came from the first two letters of the names of the paper mills participating in the merger: Arches, Johannot, Marais, Rives. In 1890 Buckland Mill was bought by ''Wiggins Teape'', a paper milling business formed some 40 years earlier by Edward Wiggins and Henry Teape. In 1970 the company was acquired by BAT Industries, who went on to acquire ''Appleton Papers'' of the US in 1978. The business expanded rapidly in the 1980s as it exploited the mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5 SAS
The 5th Special Air Service (5th SAS) was an elite airborne unit during World War II. It consisted entirely of Belgian volunteers. It saw action as part of the SAS Brigade in Normandy, Northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands and (Germany). Initially trained in sabotage and intelligence gathering, they converted to motorized reconnaissance on armored jeeps. They were the first Allied unit to set foot onto Belgian soil and the first to cross the Siegfried line, albeit accidentally. History A Belgian Independent Parachute Company was officially founded at Malvern Wells (Worcestershire) on 8 May 1942 by Henri Rolin, the then-Belgian undersecretary for defense. It comprised the following: * A Company, 2nd Battalion Belgian Fusiliers, a Battalion mainly made up of Belgian volunteers from South and North America organised after January 1941, who moved to Great Britain in June 1941. A Company as a whole volunteered in February 1942 to train as an Independent Parachute Company under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
