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Ian Lapraik
Colonel Ian Lapraik (13 September 1915 – 15 March 1985) was a distinguished officer in the Special Air Service Regiment, despite potentially crippling childhood illness. Early life Lapraik was born in Edinburgh, but lived most of his early life in Glasgow. He suffered from tuberculosis of the knee at age seven and had been crippled for five years including two years with his leg in plaster. When he was at university, he was still thought to be too "fragile" for vigorous sports, although he had worked on his strength by running. He was also excluded from the Officer Training Corps, despite having achieved distinction as a runner in international inter-student games. Lapraik was educated at the High School of Glasgow (1927–1934) and Glasgow University. He then qualified as a lawyer. Military career Lapraik enlisted in the Highland Light Infantry on 3 September 1939, the day that war was declared against Germany. After training at the reputedly tough Officer Cadet Train ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boroughmuirhead
Burghmuirhead (sometimes anglicised as Boroughmuirhead) is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area lies between Bruntsfield to the north and Morningside, Edinburgh, Morningside to the south. West is Merchiston and east is Greenhill, Edinburgh, Greenhill and then Grange, Edinburgh, The Grange. The area was once part of the lands of Greenhill. It takes its name from the Burgh Muir, an area of oak forest which stretched over much of today's south Edinburgh; all that now remains is the parkland of Bruntsfield Links. The anglicised form of the name was used for Boroughmuirhead Post Office which closed in 2010 (replaced by Bruntsfield Post Office in Bruntsfield Place), and also was the former name of the now Grangebank House, located down a lane to the west of Morningside Road. Today the names Holy Corner and Church Hill, Edinburgh, Church Hill are more commonly used to describe the respective northern and southern parts of Burghmuirhead. References * Smith, Charles J., ''Mornings ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east and northeast, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west, and Sudan to the northwest. Ethiopia has a total area of . As of 2022, it is home to around 113.5 million inhabitants, making it the 13th-most populous country in the world and the 2nd-most populous in Africa after Nigeria. The national capital and largest city, Addis Ababa, lies several kilometres west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the African and Somali tectonic plates. Anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out to the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period. Southwestern Ethiopia has been proposed as a possible homeland of the Afroasiatic langua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beaufort Scale
The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. History The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort (later Rear Admiral), a Royal Navy officer, while serving on . The scale that carries Beaufort's name had a long and complex evolution from the previous work of others (including Daniel Defoe the century before) to when Beaufort was Hydrographer of the Navy in the 1830s, when it was adopted officially and first used during the voyage of HMS ''Beagle'' under Captain Robert FitzRoy, who was later to set up the first Meteorological Office (Met Office) in Britain giving regular weather forecasts. In the 18th century, naval officers made regular weather observations, but there was no standard scale and so they could be very subjective – one man's "stiff breeze" might be another's "soft breeze". Beaufort succeeded in standardising the sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Sicilian , demographics1_info1 = 98% , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , demographics1_title3 = , demographics1_info3 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code_type = ISO 3166 code , area_code = IT-82 , blank_name_sec1 = GDP (nominal) , blank_info_sec1 = €89.2 billion (2018) , blank1_name_sec1 = GDP per capita , blank1_info_sec1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies south of Sicily (Italy), east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The official languages are Maltese and English, and 66% of the current Maltese population is at least conversational in the Italian language. Malta has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC. Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British, amongst others. With a population of about 516,000 over an area of , Malta is the world's tenth-smallest country in area and fourth most densely populated sovereign cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
War Cross (Greece)
The War Cross ( el, Πολεμικός Σταυρός) is a military decoration of Greece, awarded for heroism in wartime to both Greeks and foreign allies. There have been three versions of the cross, the 1917 version covering World War I, the 1940 version covering the Second World War and the Greek Civil War, and the 1974 version covering peacekeeping missions in the subsequent years. 1917 version Establishment and history The first version was established by the Venizelist "National Defence" Government on 28 February 1917, and confirmed by Royal Decree on 31 October, shortly after the entry of the whole of Greece in the First World War. Its creation was inspired by the French ''Croix de guerre'', and it was awarded to military personnel of all branches for acts of valour in the Macedonian front (1916–1918), the Allied Expedition to the Ukraine (1919) and the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 (rarely after 1920 due to its Venizelist connotations). In addition, from 1919, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of The Phoenix (Greece)
The Order of the Phoenix ( el, Τάγμα του Φοίνικος) is an order of Greece, established on 13 May 1926, by the republican government of the Second Hellenic Republic to replace the defunct Royal Order of George I. The order was retained after the restoration of the monarchy in 1935 and continues to be awarded by the current Third Republic. The honour is bestowed by the Greek government to Greek citizens who have excelled in the arts and literature, science, public administration, shipping, commerce, and industry. It is also awarded to foreigners who have helped raise Greece's international prestige. Grades The Order has five classes: * ''Grand Cross'' ('Μεγαλόσταυρος') - wears the badge of the Order on a sash on the right shoulder, and the star of the Order on the left chest; * ''Grand Commander'' ('Ανώτερος Ταξιάρχης') - wears the badge of the Order on a necklet, and the star of the Order on the right chest; * ''Commander'' ('Ταξ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of The British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were originally made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire (later Commonwealth) and the Viceroy of India. Nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most Commonwealth countries ceased recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire when they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. Since 1993 it has been awarded specifically for 'highly successful command and leadership during active operations', with all ranks being eligible. History Instituted on 6 September 1886 by Queen Victoria in a royal warrant published in ''The London Gazette'' on 9 November, the first DSOs awarded were dated 25 November 1886. The order was established to reward individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in war. It was a military order, until recently for officers only and typically awarded to officers ranked major (or equivalent) or higher, with awards to ranks below this usually for a high degree of gallantry, just short of deserving the Victoria Cross. Whilst normally given for service un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symi
Symi, also transliterated as Syme or Simi ( el, Σύμη), is a Greek island and municipality. It is mountainous and includes the harbor town of Symi and its adjacent upper town Ano Symi, as well as several smaller localities, beaches, and areas of significance in history and mythology. Symi is part of the Rhodes regional unit. The economy of Symi was traditionally based on the shipbuilding and sponge industries. The population reached 22,500 at its peak during that period. Symi's main industry is now tourism, and its permanent population has declined to 2,495 with a larger population during the summer. The island is known for its unique shrimps. Named "Symi's shrimps", these are small shrimps that are pan fried and eaten whole (with the shell). Geography Geographically, Symi is part of the Dodecanese island chain, located about north-northwest of Rhodes (and from Piraeus, the port of Athens), with of mountainous terrain. Its nearest land neighbors are the Datça and Bozb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacred Band (World War II)
The Sacred Band or Sacred Squadron ( el, Ιερός Λόχος) was a Greece, Greek special forces unit formed in 1942 in the Middle East, composed entirely of Greek officers and officer cadets under the command of Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes. It fought alongside the Special Air Service, SAS in the Western Desert (North Africa), Western Desert and the Aegean Sea, Aegean, as well as with General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, Leclerc's ''Free French Forces'' in Tunisia. It was disbanded in August 1945 but is the precursor to the modern Special Forces of the Hellenic Army. History Establishment Immediately after the Battle of Greece, German occupation of Greece in April–May 1941, the Greek government in exile, Greek government fled to Egypt and started to form military units in exile. The plethora of officers in relation to the number of ordinary soldiers, led Hellenic Air Force, Air Force Lt. Colonel G. Alexandris to suggest the creation of an Army unit, formed by office ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe
George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, Baron Jellicoe of Southampton, (4 April 1918 – 22 February 2007), was a British politician, diplomat and businessman. Lord Jellicoe was the only son but sixth and youngest child of John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, who was a First World War naval commander, commander at the Battle of Jutland, and Admiral of the Fleet; and his wife Florence Gwendoline (died 1964), who was the second daughter of Sir Charles Cayzer, 1st Bt., of Gartmore, Perthshire. He inherited the title Earl Jellicoe at the age of 17, on the death of his father. As well as commanding the Special Boat Service in the Second World War, George Jellicoe was a long-serving parliamentarian, being a member of the House of Lords for 68 years (1939–2007). Early life Jellicoe was born at Hatfield and was christened on 29 July 1918 by the Most Rev. and Right Hon. Cosmo Lang, 89th Archbishop of York, while King George V (represented by Admiral Sir St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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