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Enemy Coast Ahead
''Enemy Coast Ahead'' is an autobiographical book recounting the World War II flying career of Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC, DSO, DFC. It covers his time in RAF Bomber Command from the very earliest days of war in 1939 through to 1943. Gibson wrote the book aged 25 in 1944 whilst off operations. He had by this time completed two full tours, each of 30 operations, with Bomber Command (with 83 and 106 Squadrons), another one as a night-fighter pilot with 29 Squadron and, as leader of the famous Dam Busters raid against the dams of the Ruhr Valley (Operation Chastise) with 617 Squadron in May 1943. It was first published in book form in 1946, to much critical acclaim and a fully uncensored account released in 2003. The book was serialised in the Sunday Express during the winter of 1944-45, following his death in September 1944, when his Mosquito crashed near Steenbergen in the Netherlands. Synopsis Gibson joined the RAF prior to the war, and he recounts the early stages o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Gibson
Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, (12 August 1918 – 19 September 1944) was a distinguished bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was the first Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam Busters" raid in 1943, resulting in the breaching of two large dams in the Ruhr area of Germany. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, in the aftermath of the raid in May 1943 and became the most highly decorated British serviceman at that time. He completed over 170 war operations before dying in action at the age of 26. Early life and education Gibson was born in Simla, British India, on 12 August 1918, the son of Alexander James Gibson and his wife Leonora ("Nora") Mary Gibson. At the time of Gibson's birth, his father was an officer in the Imperial Indian Forestry Service, becoming the Chief Conservator of Forests for the Sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Handley Page Hampden
The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden is a British twin-engine medium bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was part of the trio of large twin-engine bombers procured for the RAF, joining the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Vickers Wellington. The Hampden was powered by Bristol Pegasus radial engines but a variant known as the Handley Page Hereford had in-line Napier Daggers. The Hampden served in the early stages of the Second World War, bearing the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne. When it became obsolete, after a period of mainly operating at night, it was retired from RAF Bomber Command service in late 1942. By 1943, the rest of the trio were being superseded by the larger four-engined heavy bombers such as the Avro Lancaster. Development Origins In 1932, the Air Ministry issued Specification B.9/32 seeking a twin-engined day bomber with higher performance th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force Mass Media
Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a city * Royal, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Royal, Nebraska, a village * Royal, Franklin County, North Carolina, an unincorporated area * Royal, Utah, a ghost town * Royal, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Royal Gorge, on the Arkansas River in Colorado * Royal Township (other) Elsewhere * Mount Royal, a hill in Montreal, Canada * Royal Canal, Dublin, Ireland * Royal National Park, New South Wales, Australia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Royal'' (Jesse Royal album), a 2021 reggae album * ''The Royal'', a British medical drama television series * ''The Royal Magazine'', a monthly British literary magazine published between 1898 and 1939 * ''Royal'' (Indian magazine), a men's lifestyle bimonthly * Royal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II Memoirs
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a "plurality of worlds". Some treat the world as one simple object while others analyze the world as a complex made up of many parts. In ''scientific cosmology'' the world or universe is commonly defined as " e totality of all space and time; all that is, has been, and will be". '' Theories of modality'', on the other hand, talk of possible worlds as complete and consistent ways how things could have been. '' Phenomenology'', starting from the horizon of co-given objects present in the periphery of every experience, defines the world as the biggest horizon or the "horizon of all horizons". In ''philosophy of mind'', the world is commonly contrasted with the mind as that which is represented by the mind. ''T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1946 Non-fiction Books
Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four Allied-occupied Austria, occupation zones. * January 10 ** The first meeting of the United Nations is held, at Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London. ** ''Project Diana'' bounces radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proves that communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening the Space Age. * January 11 - Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic of Albania, with himself as prime minister of Albania, prime minister. * January 16 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, French provisional government. * January 17 - The United Nations Security Council holds its first session, at Church House, Westmin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barnes Wallis
Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (26 September 1887 – 30 October 1979) was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack the dams of the Ruhr Valley during World War II. The raid was the subject of the 1955 film '' The Dam Busters'', in which Wallis was played by Michael Redgrave. Among his other inventions were his version of the geodetic airframe and the earthquake bomb. Early life and education Barnes Wallis was born in Ripley, Derbyshire, to Charles William George Robinson Wallis (1859–1945) and his wife Edith Eyre Wallis née Ashby (1859–1911). He was educated at Christ's Hospital in Horsham and Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Boys' Grammar School in southeast London, leaving school at seventeen to start work in January 1905 at Thames Engineering Works at Blackheath, southeast London. He subsequently changed his apprenticeship to J. Samuel White's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Redgrave
Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' (1947), as well as two BAFTA nominations for Best British Actor for his performances in ''The Night My Number Came Up'' (1955) and ''Time Without Pity'' (1957). At the 4th Cannes Film Festival, he won Best Actor for his performance in '' The Browning Version'' (1951). Youth and education Redgrave was born in Bristol, England, the son of actress Margaret Scudamore and the silent film actor Roy Redgrave. Roy left when Redgrave was six months old to pursue a career in Australia. He died when Redgrave was 14. His mother subsequently married Captain James Anderson, a tea planter. Redgrave greatly disliked his stepfather. He studied at Clifton College and Magdalene College, Cambridge. Clifton College Theatre was opened in 1966 by Redg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Todd
Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance as Corporal Lachlan MacLachlan in the 1949 film ''The Hasty Heart''. His other notable roles include Jonathan Cooper in ''Stage Fright'' (1950), Wing Commander Guy Gibson in '' The Dam Busters'' (1955), Sir Walter Raleigh in '' The Virgin Queen'' (1955), and Major John Howard in ''The Longest Day'' (1962). He was previously a Captain in the British Army during World War II, fighting in the D-Day landings as a member of the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion. Early life and career Richard Todd was born in Dublin. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe-Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for his cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dam Busters (book)
''The Dam Busters'' is a 1951 non-fiction book by Paul Brickhill about Royal Air Force 617 Squadron originally commanded by Wing Commander Guy Gibson V.C. during World War II. The squadron became known as the "Dam Busters" because of Operation Chastise, a mission using highly specialised bombs to destroy Ruhr dams in Germany. The book also covers the subsequent history of 617 Squadron, as an elite squadron specializing in attacking difficult targets with outsize weapons and precision techniques. Among Gibson's successors as commander was Group Captain Leonard Cheshire V.C., and the book describes Cheshire's unorthodox leadership style and innovative target marking techniques. Development After the end of World War II John Nerney, head of the Air Historical Branch of the British Air Ministry identified the need for a history of 617 Squadron. He initially approached its former commanding officer Leonard Cheshire, who declined citing health issues and his work commitments running ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Brickhill
Paul Chester Jerome Brickhill (20 December 191623 April 1991) was an Australian fighter pilot, prisoner of war, and author who wrote ''The Great Escape (book), The Great Escape'', ''The Dam Busters (book), The Dam Busters'', and ''Reach for the Sky''. Early life Brickhill was born in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria to journalist George Russell Brickhill (1879–1965) and Izitella Victoria (née Bradshaw) Brickhill (1885-1966). He was the third son of the couple's five children, the others being Russell (1911–2002), Ayde Geoffrey (1914– ), Lloyd (1918–2011), and Clive (1923–2009). When Brickhill was 11 the family moved to Sydney, where he was educated at North Sydney Boys High School. A classmate, and friend, was actor Peter Finch. Brickhill left school in 1931 as his father had been made redundant as a result of the Depression. While his other brothers continued with their education it was necessary for Brickhill, who was regarded as the least academic of the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dam Busters (film)
''The Dam Busters'' is a 1955 British epic war film starring Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave. It was directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder, and Sorpe dams in Nazi Germany with Barnes Wallis's ''bouncing bomb''. The film was based on the books '' The Dam Busters'' (1951) by Paul Brickhill and '' Enemy Coast Ahead'' (1946) by Guy Gibson. The film's reflective last minutes convey the poignant mix of emotions felt by the characters – triumph over striking a successful blow against the enemy's industrial base is tempered by the sobering knowledge that many died in the process of delivering it. The film was widely praised and became the most popular motion picture at British cinemas in 1955. In 1999, the British Film Institute voted ''The Dam Busters'' the 68th greatest British film of the 20th century. Its depiction of the raid, along with a similar sequence in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Holland (author)
James Holland (born 27 June 1970) is an English author and broadcaster who specializes in the history of World War II. His most recently published written work is 2021's ''Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day'', which follows the Sherwood Rangers, a British tank regiment, throughout multiple battles. Early life and education Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire. He was educated at Chafyn Grove School, Salisbury, and King's School, Bruton, and in 1992 attained a BA degree in History from St Chad's College, Durham. His elder brother Tom Holland is also a writer and historian. Career Holland has written both novels and non-fiction history books focusing on the Second World War, and has presented documentary programming about WWII for television and radio. He is also the co-founder, co-chair and programme director of the annual Chalke Valley History Festival, which is the largest festival dedicated entirely to history in the UK. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
