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John Beech Austin
John Beech Austin (17 July 1917 – 12 January 2012) was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War. He was one of the RAF's longest-serving special duties pilots, dropping agents and supplies to Resistance movements in eight countries in occupied Europe. Early life Austin was born in Sutton Coldfield, and matriculated from King Edward's School, Birmingham, aged 16 and went to work for the Coventry branch of the Midland Bank as a junior clerk. Wartime activities In 1938 he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) in anticipation of war breaking out. He was trained to fly in Tiger Moth biplanes at weekends, was given lectures in theoretical maintenance in weekday evenings, and learned how to navigate using maps on his knees. 'I only did a small amount of flying, but had quite a lot of lectures.' Two weeks before war broke out, his unit of Volunteer Reserves was disbanded. Its members were called up, and then were sent home to await instructio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of Lichfield, 7 miles southwest of Tamworth and 7 miles east of Walsall. Sutton Coldfield and its surrounding suburbs are governed under Birmingham City Council for local government purposes but the town has its own town council which governs the town and its surrounding areas by running local services and electing a mayor to the council. It is in the Historic county of Warwickshire, and in 1974 it became part of Birmingham and the West Midlands metropolitan county under the Local Government Act 1972. History Etymology The etymology of the name Sutton appears to be from "South Town". The name "Sutton Coldfield" appears to come from this time, being the "south town" (i.e. south of Tamworth and/or Lichfield) on the edge of the "col f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Filton
Royal Air Force Filton or more simply RAF Filton is a former Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Air Force (RAF) station located north of the city centre of Bristol, England. Throughout its existence, RAF Filton shared the airfield with the Bristol Aeroplane Company (later British Aircraft Corporation) whose works, now owned by BAE/Airbus, are situated on the south side of the main runway. History First World War The first squadron to form at the airfield during the First World War was No. 33 Squadron RFC which formed during January 1916 and was composed of elements of No. 20 Squadron RFC which flew the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2. The next squadron was 42 Squadron which moved to Filton during April 1916 from crews of 19 Squadron and again flew the B.E.2. Then No. 66 (Fighter) Squadron was formed in June 1916 with Sopwith Pup biplanes before the squadron moved on to France in March 1917. The squadron was joined by 62 Squadron in August 1916 when the squadron was formed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, hu, Szávaszentdemeter, la, Sirmium) is a city and the administrative center of the Srem District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the left bank of the Sava river. , the city has a total population of 37,751 inhabitants, while its administrative area has a population of 79,940 inhabitants. As Sirmium, it was a capital of the Roman Empire during the Tetrarchy of 4th century CE. Ten Roman emperors were born in or near this city, Emperors Herennius Etruscus (251), Hostilian (251), Decius Traian (249–251), Claudius Gothicus (268–270), Quintillus (270), Aurelian (270–275), Probus (276–282), Maximian (285–310), Constantius II (337–361) and Gratian (367–383). Name The modern town name is ''Sremska Mitrovica'' ( sr, Сремска Митровица). The Hungarian name was ''Szávaszentdemeter'' while in Croatian it is referred to as ''Srijemska Mitrovica''. Mitrov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the northwest and the Po Valley. The countries with coasts on the Adriatic are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, and Slovenia. The Adriatic contains more than 1,300 islands, mostly located along the Croatian part of its eastern coast. It is divided into three basins, the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of . The Otranto Sill, an underwater ridge, is located at the border between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto, along the eastern coast and back to the strait along the western (Italian) coast. Tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight, although larger amplitudes are known to occur occasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Bullseye
Operation Bullseye was the code-name of the first Special Operations Executive (SOE) mission to Yugoslavia since its occupation by the Axis forces. It was led by Capt D.T. Bill Hudson with the objective to discover what was happening in Yugoslavia and co-ordinate all forces of resistance there. The mission also included three Royal Yugoslav Army (RYA) officers from Montenegro: Maj Mirko Lalatović, Maj Zaharije Ostojić anSgt Veljko Dragićevićthe wireless transmitter (W/T) operator. The group boarded the submarine HMS Triumph in Malta and reached Petrovac on the Montenegrin coast on 20th Sep 1941. Background, logistics and the first contacts The quick and intense Axis Blitzkrieg Operation Punishment in April 1941 had caught Yugoslav government and the army unprepared. Within a fortnight, the army had capitulated, King Peter II and the Royal Government left for exile in London together with the SOE agents posted in the country. Disjointed snippets of news of uprisings, ... [...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] |
Draža Mihailović
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Дража Михаиловић; 27 April 1893 – 17 July 1946) was a Yugoslavs, Yugoslav Serb general during World War II. He was the leader of the Chetniks, Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army (Chetniks), a royalist and nationalist movement and guerrilla force established following the Invasion of Yugoslavia, German invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941. Born in Ivanjica and raised in Belgrade, Mihailović fought in the Balkan Wars and the First World War with distinction. After the fall of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia in April 1941, Mihailović organized the Chetniks at Ravna Gora (highland), Ravna Gora and engaged in guerrilla warfare alongside Josip Broz Tito's Yugoslav Partisans, Partisans against occupying German forces. Opposing strategies, ideological differences and general distrust drove them apart, and by late 1941 the two groups were in open conflict. Many Chetnik groups Collaborationism, collaborat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chetniks
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist movement and guerrilla force in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. Although it was not a homogeneous movement, it was led by Draža Mihailović. While it was anti-Axis in its long-term goals and engaged in marginal resistance activities for limited periods, it also engaged in tactical or selective collaboration with the occupying forces for almost all of the war. The Chetnik movement adopted a policy of collaboration with regard to the Axis, and engaged in cooperation to one degree or another by establishing '' modus vivendi'' or operating as "legalised" auxiliary forces under Axis control. Over a period of time, and in different parts of the country, the movement was progressively drawn into collaboration agreements: first with the puppet G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija; sk, Juhoslávia; ro, Iugoslavia; cs, Jugoslávie; it, Iugoslavia; tr, Yugoslavya; bg, Югославия, Yugoslaviya ) was a country in Southeast Europe and Central Europe for most of the 20th century. It came into existence after World War I in 1918 under the name of the ''Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes'' by the merger of the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (which was formed from territories of the former Austria-Hungary) with the Kingdom of Serbia, and constituted the first union of the South Slavic people as a sovereign state, following centuries in which the region had been part of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Peter I of Serbia was its first sovereign. The kingdom gained international recog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have been undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to History of local government in Yorkshire, periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as a geographic territory and cultural region. The name is familiar and well understood across the United Kingdom and is in common use in the media and the Yorkshire Regiment, military, and also features in the titles of current areas of civil administration such as North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Within the borders of the historic county of Yorkshire are large stretches of countryside, including the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and Peak District nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Dishforth
Royal Air Force Dishforth or more simply RAF Dishforth is a former Royal Air Force station near to Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. Opened in 1936, the base was used as a bomber airfield during the Second World War with both British and Canadian squadrons flying missions from the airfield. After the war, the base was used by various squadrons and training units before being disposed of in 1992 and handed over to the Army Air Corps. History The site at Dishforth was elected during the expansion period of the Royal Air Force in the 1930s. Named after the village of Dishforth, just to the north of the main runway, the base was opened in September 1936. Just like RAF Leeming further north, the airfield was adjacent to the Great North Road (now the A1(M)), and even extended over the road for some of its dispersal areas in the late 1930s. Five C-type hangars were built at the south-east boundary of the airfield, with the technical areas beyond the hangars. The creation of hardstandi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the Second World War. Alongside the Vickers Wellington and the Handley Page Hampden, the Whitley was developed during the mid-1930s according to Air Ministry Specification B.3/34, which it was subsequently selected to meet. In 1937, the Whitley formally entered into RAF squadron service; it was the first of the three medium bombers to be introduced. Following the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Whitley participated in the first RAF bombing raid upon German territory and remained an integral part of the early British bomber offensive. In 1942 it was superseded as a bomber by the larger four-engined " heavies" such as the Avro Lancaster. Its front-line service included maritime reconnaissance with Coastal Command and the second line roles of glider- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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