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Edric Gifford, 3rd Baron Gifford
Major Edric Frederick Gifford, 3rd Baron Gifford, VC (5 July 1849 – 5 June 1911) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Military career Edric Gifford was born at Ropley in Hampshire on 5 July 1849. His father was Robert Francis Gifford, 2nd Baron Gifford, and his mother was Hon. Swinburne Frederica Charlotte FitzHardinge Berkeley. His brother was Maurice Gifford, CMG, who raised "Gifford's Horse" in the Second Matabele War. He was educated at Harrow, and in 1869 entered the 83rd Foot. On the death of his father in 1872, he became 3rd Baron Gifford. In 1874, at the age of 23, Gifford was a lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, 24th Foot (later the South Wales Borderers), British Army during the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, when the events took place which resulted in the award of his Victoria Cross with the citation: In 1876, Gifford lef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ropley
Ropley is a village and large civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It has an acreage of , situated east of New Alresford. It is served by a station on the Mid Hants Railway heritage line at Ropley Dean, just over from the village shops. It is southwest of Alton, just off the A31 road. It lies within the diocese of Winchester. The St Swithun's Way, part of the Pilgrims' Way from Winchester to Canterbury, passes through the village. It is distinguished by its general absence of pavements in favour of boundary walls, hedges and mature trees. Ropley holds an annual Boxing Day walk, and a pram race on the spring bank holiday in May. Etymology Ropley is first recorded in AD 1167 as ''Ropeleia''. The name is derived from the Old English personal name ''Hroppa'', cognate to modern day Robert, and the common suffix ''léah'' which means meadow, small woodland or woodland clearing. The latter meaning is most likely, hence Ropley is translatable as ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territorial evolution of the British Empire, territories of the British Empire from which it developed. They are connected through their English in the Commonwealth of Nations, use of the English language and cultural and historical ties. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental relations, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member nations. Numerous List of Commonwealth organisations, organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Australia is Australia's largest state, with a land area of , and is also the List of country subdivisions by area, second-largest subdivision of any country on Earth. Western Australia has a diverse range of climates, including tropical conditions in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley, deserts in the interior (including the Great Sandy Desert, Little Sandy Desert, Gibson Desert, and Great Victoria Desert) and a Mediterranean climate on the south-west and southern coastal areas. the state has 2.965 million inhabitants—10.9 percent of the national total. Over 90 percent of the state's population live in the South-West Land Division, south-west corner and around 80 percent live in the state capital Perth, leaving the remainder ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Alfred Street
General John Alfred Street, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (1822 – 5 December 1889) was a British Army officer who was the 25th General Officer Commanding, Ceylon. Early life Street was the second child and eldest of three sons of Captain John Street (1791-1829), of the Royal Artillery, and Catherine, daughter of the lawyer and antiquarian Sir Henry Jardine of Harwood. His widowed mother subsequently married the geologist, chemist, and agricultural improver Sir George Mackenzie, 7th Baronet. Career He joined the British Army as an ensign in 1839, became Lieutenant (by purchase) in 1841 and was promoted to captain in 1848. In 1842 he served in China with the 98th Foot during the First Opium War where he was present at the attack and capture of Chin Kiang Foo and at the Nanking landing. In 1854 he was posted to Crimea War, Crimea as Brigade-Major of the 1st Brigade, 4th Division and was present at the Battle of Balaklava, battles of Balaklava, Battle of Inkerman, Inkerm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major (rank)
Major is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer military rank, rank used in many countries. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators, major is one rank above Captain (land), captain in armies and air forces, and one rank below lieutenant colonel. It is considered the most junior of the senior officer ranks. Background Etymologically, the word stems from the Latin word meaning "greater". The rank can be traced back to the rank of sergeant major general, which was shortened to sergeant major, and subsequently shortened to ''major''. When used in hyphenated or combined fashion, the term can also imply seniority at other levels of rank, including major general, denoting a low-level general officer, and sergeant major, denoting the most senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) of a military unit. The term major can also be used with a hyphen to denote the leader of a military band such as in Pipe-Major, pipe-major or drum-major. Links to major ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brevet (military)
In military terminology, a brevet ( or ) is a warrant which gives commissioned officers a higher military rank as a reward without necessarily conferring the authority and privileges granted by that rank. The promotion would be noted in the officer's title (for example, "Bvt. Maj. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain" or "Bvt. Col. Arthur MacArthur"). It is not to be confused with a '' Brevet d'état-major'' in Francophone European military circles, where it is an award, nor should it be confused with temporary commissions. France In France, ''brevet'' is a word with a very broad meaning, which includes every document giving a capacity to a person. For instance, the various military speciality courses, such as military parachutism, are ended by the award of a brevet. The more important brevet in the French military is that of the École de guerre (''lit''. "school of war"), the French Staff College. Between 1870 and 1940, an ''officier breveté'' was a graduate of the ''École ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anglo-Zulu War
The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and the British defence at Battle of Rorke's Drift, Rorke's Drift. Following the passing of the British North America Act 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might lead to a ruling white minority over a black majority in South Africa. This would yield a large pool of cheap labour for the British sugar plantations and mines, and was intended to bring the African Kingdoms, tribal areas, and Boer republics into South Africa. In 1874, Sir Henry Bartle Frere, Bartle Frere was appointed as British High Commissioner for Southern Africa to effect such plans. Among the obstacles were the armed independent states of the South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garnet Wolseley
Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (4 June 183325 March 1913) was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He became one of the most influential British generals after a series of victories in Canada, West Africa and Egypt, followed by a central role in modernizing the British Army in promoting efficiency. Wolseley is considered to be one of the most prominent and decorated war heroes of the British Empire during the era of New Imperialism. He served in Burma, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, China, Canada and widely throughout Africa—including his Ashanti campaign (1873–1874) and the Nile Expedition against Mahdist Sudan in 1884–85. Wolseley served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces from 1895 to 1900. His reputation for efficiency led to the late 19th century English phrase "everything's all Sir Garnet", meaning, "All is in order." Early life and education Lord Wolseley was born into a prominent Anglo-Irish family in Dublin, the eldest s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of islands in the Mediterranean, third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily and Sardinia. It is located southeast of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, and north of Egypt. Its capital and largest city is Nicosia. Cyprus hosts the British Overseas Territories, British military bases Akrotiri and Dhekelia, whilst the northeast portion of the island is ''de facto'' governed by the self-declared Northern Cyprus, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is separated from the Republic of Cyprus by the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, United Nations Buffer Zone. Cyprus was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 13,000 years ago, with farming communities em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Wales Borderers
The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. In 1782, it became the 24th Regiment of Foot, and had its depot in Warwickshire. Based at Brecon from 1873, the regiment recruited from the border counties of Brecknockshire, Monmouthshire, and Herefordshire. It was not called the South Wales Borderers until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in a great many conflicts, including the American War of Independence, various conflicts in India, the Zulu War, Second Boer War, and World War I and World War II. In 1969 the regiment was amalgamated with the Welch Regiment to form the Royal Regiment of Wales. History Early history The regiment was formed by Sir Edward Dering, 3rd Baronet as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot in 1689, becoming known, like other regiments, by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
