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James Leathart
James Leathart, (5 January 1915 – 18 November 1998) was a British flying ace who served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He was credited with having shot down at least eight aircraft. Leathart joined the RAF in 1937, having already served in the Auxiliary Air Force for a time. Once his training was completed, he was posted to No. 54 Squadron. He flew Supermarine Spitfire fighters during the Battle of France but used a training aircraft to rescue a downed RAF pilot from Calais in France during a mission for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He led No. 54 Squadron during its participation in the Battle of Britain and achieved further aerial victories to add to those claimed during the fighting in France. His later war service included periods in the Middle East and he participated in the D-Day landings at Normandy on 6 June 1944. After the war, he remained in the RAF, holding a series of staff postings for most of the remaind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Mansbridge (artist)
John Mansbridge (1901–1981) was a British artist. He was an official war artist during World War II and Head of Fine Art at Goldsmiths College in London. Biography Mansbridge was the son of Albert Mansbridge, the founder of the Workers Educational Association and was educated at Manchester Grammar School. He attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London, where he was taught by Henry Tonks. From 1927 to 1935, he designed posters for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London and then the London Passenger Transport Board. In 1929, Mansbridge began teaching at Goldsmiths' College School of Art and became the senior lecturer in painting there after World War II. As well as holding that post, and being Head of Fine Art, until his retirement in 1966 he also lectured on the history of art and architecture for the extramural department of University of London. At the beginning of World War II, Mansbridge applied to the War Artists' Advisory Committee, WAAC, for a full-t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world; it has buildings in every style of English architecture since late Anglo-Saxon. Oxford's industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing, information technology and science. History The history of Oxford in England dates back to its original settlement in the Saxon period. Originally of strategic significance due to its controlling location on the upper reaches of the River Thames at its junction with the River Cherwell, the town grew in national importance during the early Norman period, and in the late 12th century became home to the fledgling University of Oxford. The city was besieged during The Anarchy in 1142. The university rose to dom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Hornchurch
Royal Air Force Hornchurch or RAF Hornchurch is a former Royal Air Force sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The airfield was known as Sutton's Farm during the First World War, when it occupied of the farm of the same name. It was used for the protection of London, being east north-east of Charing Cross. Although the airfield closed shortly after the end of the war, the land was requisitioned in 1923 because of the expansion of the Royal Air Force and it re-opened as a much larger fighter station in 1928. The airfield was ideally to cover both London and the Thames corridor from German air attacks. It was a key air force installation between both wars and into the jet age, closing in 1962. History In 1915 the London Air Defence Area (LADA) was established and airfields were built around London to defend the capital from the growing threat from German airships. Sutton's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF South Cerney
Royal Air Force South Cerney or more simply RAF South Cerney is a former Royal Air Force station located in South Cerney near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England. It was built during the 1930s to conduct flying training. The airfield was turned over to the British Army in 1971 and is now known as the Duke of Gloucester Barracks. History Construction of the airfield began in 1936 and it was still underway when it opened on 16 August 1937. No. 3 Flying Training School was the initial tenant and was equipped with a variety of biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ... aircraft which were replaced by Airspeed Oxfords in mid-1938. When the World War II, Second World War began in August 1939, the school was redesignated as a Service Flying Training School (SFTS) an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Grantham
Royal Air Force Spitalgate or more simply RAF Spitalgate formerly known as RFC Grantham and RAF Grantham was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station, located south east of the centre of Grantham, Lincolnshire, England fronting onto the main A52 road. History The station opened in 1915 as Royal Flying Corps Station Grantham, becoming RAF Grantham on 1 April 1918 - a name it bore until 1942 when it was renamed as RAF Spitalgate. Throughout the First World War the station focused on flying training, hosting a succession of reserve (Nos 49, 86 (Canadian), 11, and 50) and then training squadrons (the renamed No. 49 (Training) Squadron and 15, 20, and 37, plus No. 39 in 1919) plus several United States Army Air Service squadrons (9th, 50th, 174th, and a detachment of 43rd).Rafweb.orStations - Spitalgate accessed June 2020. Flying training continued at RAF Grantham during the inter-war years; Nos 100 and 39 Squadrons were present for much of the 1920s. No. 3 Group RAF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and is equivalent to a second lieutenant in the British Army or the Royal Marines. The Royal Navy has no exact equivalent rank, and a pilot officer is senior to a Royal Navy midshipman and junior to a Royal Navy sub-lieutenant. In the Australian Armed Forces, the rank of pilot officer is equivalent to acting sub lieutenant in the Royal Australian Navy. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was "assistant section officer". Origins In the Royal Flying Corps, officers were designated pilot officers at the end of pilot training. As they retained their commissions in their customary ranks (usually second lieutenant or lieutenant), and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acting Rank
An acting rank is a designation that allows a soldier to assume a military rank—usually higher and usually temporary. They may assume that rank either with or without the pay and allowances appropriate to that grade, depending on the nature of the acting promotion. An acting officer may be ordered back to the previous grade. This situation may arise when a lower-ranking officer is called upon to replace a senior officer, or fill a position higher than the current rank held. Address When addressing an individual with an acting rank, the person should be addressed as if the full rank were held. For example, a member who is an acting master seaman would be addressed as "Master Seaman Smith", and not "Acting Master Seaman Smith" ("acting" is a designation, not a rank). In writing, the acting nature of the rank may or may not be spelled out, so that forms such as "acting captain", "captain (acting)" or "captain" are used. Documents dealing with rank, seniority and promotion will te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commission (document)
A commission is a formal document issued to appoint a named person to high office or as a commissioned officer in a territory's armed forces. A commission constitutes documentary authority that the person named is vested with the powers of that office and is empowered to execute official acts. A commission often takes the form of letters patent. Commissions are typically issued in the name of or signed by the head of state. In Commonwealth realms, the documentation is referred to a King's Commission or Queen's Commission (depending on the gender of the reigning monarch). However, in Commonwealth realms other than the United Kingdom, they may be signed by the governor-general, the representative of the monarch of that realm. Terminology Because the word "commission" can also refer generally to an individual's duty, the more specific terms commissioning parchment or commissioning scroll are often used to specify the commissioning document. However the document is not usually i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light Bomber
A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance. The earliest light bombers were intended to drop their bombs in level flight over a target. During World War I some air forces began to distinguish between light bombers and the earliest purpose-built attack aircraft which carried out ground attack, close air support, anti-shipping and similar missions. After World War I, attack aircraft were typically identifiable by their ability to carry multiple fixed machine guns, automatic cannons and rockets in addition to bombs. Light bombers have often served as attack aircraft and vice versa. Purpose-built light bombers disappeared from military aviation by the end of World War II, as advancements in propulsion and aeronautical design enabled newer attack/strike aircraft, fighter-bombers, and multirole aircraft types to deliver equal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hawker Hart
The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircraft in the inter-war period, but was obsolete and already side-lined for newer monoplane aircraft designs by the start of the Second World War, playing only minor roles in the conflict before being retired. Several major variants of the Hart were developed, including a navalised version for the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers. Beyond Britain, the Hart would be operated by a number of foreign nations, including Sweden, Yugoslavia, Estonia, South Africa, and Canada. Design and development In 1926, the Air Ministry stated a List of Air Ministry Specifications#1920-1929, requirement for a two-seat high-performance light day-bomber, to be of all-metal construction and with a maximum speed of 160 mph (258 km/h). Designs were tendered by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Hooton Park
Royal Air Force Hooton Park or more simply RAF Hooton Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, is a former Royal Air Force station originally built for the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 as a training aerodrome for pilots in the First World War. During the early/mid-1930s, it was one of the two airfields (with Liverpool Speke) handling scheduled services for the Merseyside region. Hooton Park was home to No. 610 (County of Chester) Squadron and, post Second World War, to No. 611 (West Lancashire) and No. 663 (AOP) Squadron. The airfield closed in 1957 after the disbandment of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, but the three pairs of Belfast Truss hangars erected in 1917 survived the closure. The site was bought by Vauxhall Motors, who built their Vauxhall Ellesmere Port plant there, which today produces the Vauxhall Astra. A small remaining section of the airfield site is now owned and managed by The Hooton Park Trust. The hangars are also home to The Griffin Trust and an aircra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the latter half of the 19th century after commercialization of the electric telegraph, the telephone, and electrical power generation, distribution, and use. Electrical engineering is now divided into a wide range of different fields, including computer engineering, systems engineering, power engineering, telecommunications, radio-frequency engineering, signal processing, instrumentation, photovoltaic cells, electronics, and optics and photonics. Many of these disciplines overlap with other engineering branches, spanning a huge number of specializations including hardware engineering, power electronics, electromagnetics and waves, microwave engineering, nanotechnology, electrochemistry, renewable energies, mechatronics/control, and electrical m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
