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John Cloudsley-Thompson
John Leonard Cloudsley-Thompson DSc CBiol FSB FRES FZS (23 May 1921 – 4 October 2013) was a British naturalist renowned for his work on desert fauna. He was a tank commander during the Second World War. Biography Early life Thompson was born in Murree, in pre-partition India (now Pakistan), where his father worked in public health. He returned to the UK to be educated at Marlborough College and then learn about natural sciences at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Second World War His time at Cambridge was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. He volunteered for the army at a Reception Unit in Reading in September 1939. After initially assisting his father (who by then was the Medical Officer of Health for Lambeth) in setting up casualty clearing stations, he volunteered to join the Royal Tank Regiment. Before his call up in 1941, Thompson had joined the Local Defence Volunteers and then the Home Guard. He was sent to Sandhurst for officer training, and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murree
Murree ( Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is about northeast of Islamabad. It has average altitude of . The British built this town during their rule to escape the scorching heat in the plains of Punjab during the summer. Construction of the town was started in 1851 on the hill of Murree as a sanatorium for British troops. The permanent town of Murree was constructed in 1853 and the church was consecrated shortly thereafter. One main road was established, commonly referred to even in modern times, as the mall. Murree was the summer headquarters of the colonial Punjab Government until 1876 when it was moved to Shimla. Murree became a popular tourist station for British citizens of the British Raj. Several prominent Britons were born here including Bruce Bairnsfather, Francis Younghusband, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metropolitan Borough Of Lambeth
Lambeth was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in south London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855 and became part of the County of London in 1889. The parish of Lambeth became a metropolitan borough in 1900, following the London Government Act 1899, with the parish vestry replaced by a borough council. Geography The ancient parish was divided into the six divisions of Bishop's Liberty, Prince's Liberty, Vauxhall Liberty, Marsh and Wall Liberty, Lambeth Dean and Stockwell Liberty. It covered an area 4,015 acres (recorded in 1851 census) and was north to south, but only at its widest east to west. In addition to the historic riverside area of Lambeth, this included Kennington, Vauxhall, Stockwell, Brixton, the western part of Herne Hill, Tulse Hill and West Norwood. As the population was increasing, in 1824 the ancient parish was subdivided into eccles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cromwell Tank
The Cromwell tank, officially Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M), was one of the series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in the Second World War. Named after the English Civil War-era military leader Oliver Cromwell, the Cromwell was the first tank put into service by the British to combine high speed from a powerful, reliable engine (the Rolls-Royce Meteor) and reasonable vehicle armour, armour. The intended dual-purpose high velocity gun could not be fitted in the turret, so a medium velocity dual purpose gun was fitted instead. Further development of the Cromwell combined with a high velocity gun led to the Comet tank. The name "Cromwell" was initially applied to three vehicles during development. Early Cromwell development led to the creation of the Cavalier tank, A24 Cavalier. Later Cromwell development led to the creation of the competing Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Centaur (A27L) design. The Centaur tank was closely related to the Cromwell, both vehicles being externa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Villers-Bocage
The Battle of Villers-Bocage took place during the Second World War on 13 June 1944, one week after the Normandy Landings, which had begun the Western Allies' conquest of German-occupied France. The battle was the result of a British attempt to improve their position by exploiting a gap in the German defences west of the city of Caen. After one day of fighting in and around the small town of Villers-Bocage and a second day defending a position outside the town, the British force retreated. The Allies and the Germans regarded control of Caen as vital to the Normandy battle. In the days following the D-Day landings on 6June, the Germans rapidly established strong defences in front of the city. On 9June, a two-pronged British attempt to surround and capture Caen was defeated. On the right flank of the British Second Army, the 1st US Infantry Division had forced back the German 352nd Infantry Division and opened a gap in the German front line. Seizing the opportunity to bypass the G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Normandy Landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France (and later western Europe) and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on D-Day was far from ideal, and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2006, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, ''Concise.Britannica.com'BC-Tobruk. Tobruk was the site of an ancient Greek colony and, later, of a Roman fortress guarding the frontier of Cyrenaica. Over the centuries, Tobruk also served as a waystation along the coastal caravan route. By 1911, Tobruk had become an Italian military post, but during World War II, Allied forces, mainly the Australian 6th Division, took Tobruk on 22 January 1941. The Australian 9th Division ("The Rats of Tobruk") pulled back to Tobruk to avoid encirclement after actions at Er Regima a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crusader Tank
Crusader, in full "Tank, Cruiser Mk VI, Crusader", also known by its General Staff number A.15, was one of the primary British cruiser tanks during the early part of the Second World War. Over 5,000 tanks were manufactured and they made important contributions to the British victories during the North African campaign. The Crusader tank would not see active service beyond Africa, but the chassis of the tank was modified to create anti-aircraft, fire support, observation, communication, bulldozer and recovery vehicle variants. The first Crusader Mark I tanks entered service in 1941, and, though manoeuvrable, it was relatively lightly armoured and under-armed. The following Crusader Mark II had a maximum armour of . The main armament for the Crusader Mark I and II's was a 40 mm Ordnance QF 2-pounder gun; the following Crusader Mark III was fitted with a 57 mm Ordnance QF 6-pounder gun at the expense of one member of the crew in the turret. This variant was more than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Crusader
Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) against the Axis forces (German and Italian) in North Africa commanded by Erwin Rommel. The operation was intended to bypass Axis defences on the Egyptian–Libyan frontier, defeat the Axis armoured forces and relieve the 1941 Siege of Tobruk. On 18 November 1941, the Eighth Army launched a surprise attack. From 18 to 22 November, the dispersal of British armoured units led to them suffering 530 tank losses and inflicted Axis losses of about 100 tanks. On 23 November, the 5th South African Brigade was destroyed at Sidi Rezegh ( ) but inflicted many German tank casualties. On 24 November Rommel ordered the "dash to the wire" and caused chaos in the British rear echelons but allowed the British armoured forces to recover. On 27 November, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)
The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army that saw distinguished active service during the Second World War, where its exploits in the Western Desert Campaign gained it the ''Desert Rats'' nickname. After the Munich Agreement, the division was formed in Egypt during 1938 as the Mobile Division (Egypt) and its first divisional commander was the tank theorist Major-General Sir Percy Hobart. In February 1940, the name of the unit was changed to the 7th Armoured Division. The division fought in most major battles during the North African Campaign; later it would land and fight in the Italian Campaign during the early stages of the invasion of Italy before being withdrawn to the United Kingdom where it prepared to fight in North-west Europe. It began landing in Normandy during the afternoon of D-Day, 6 June 1944, and fought its way across Europe ending the war in Kiel and Hamburg, Germany. Although the division was disbanded during the 1950s, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th County Of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters)
The 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. It was raised in 1901 from Second Boer War veterans of the Imperial Yeomanry. During the First World War it served dismounted at Gallipoli, was remounted to serve in Macedonia, Egypt and Palestine, before being converted to machine gunners for service on the Western Front. 2nd and 3rd Line units remained in the United Kingdom throughout. Between the wars, it was converted to an Armoured Car Company before being expanded back to regimental size and forming a duplicate regiment, the 4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters). Both regiments served throughout the North African Campaign (notably at El Alamein), before moving on to Sicily (3rd CLY) and Italy. Both regiments returned to the United Kingdom in time to prepare for the opening of the Second Front. Due to losses, and a shortage of replacement personnel and equipment, the regiments were amalgamated in August 1944 as 3rd/4th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th (Queen's Own) Hussars
The 4th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. It amalgamated with the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars, to form the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars in 1958. History Formation and early history The regiment was first raised by the Hon. John Berkeley as The Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Dragoons in 1685, as part of the response to the Monmouth Rebellion by the regimenting of various independent troops, and ranked as the 4th Dragoons. The regiment transferred its allegiance to King William III in February 1689 and fought the depleted forces of James II in Scotland later that year. The regiment saw action at the Battle of Steenkerque, where it suffered heavy losses, in August 1692 and at the Siege of Namur in July 1695 during the Nine Years' War. The regiment suffered heavy losses again at the Battle of Almansa in April 1707 during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandhurst, Berkshire
Sandhurst is a town and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest borough in Berkshire, England. It is in the south eastern corner of Berkshire, and is situated west-southwest of central London, north west of Camberley and south of Bracknell. Sandhurst is known worldwide as the location of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (often referred to simply as "Sandhurst", "The Academy" or "The RMA"). Despite its close proximity to Camberley, Sandhurst is also home to a large and well-known out-of-town mercantile development. The site is named "The Meadows" and has a Tesco Extra hypermarket and a Marks & Spencer, two of the largest in the country. A large Next clothing and homeware store is open on the site of the old Homebase. Geography Sandhurst is in South East England near the junction of Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey. The town has four main districts, from west to east: Little Sandhurst, Sandhurst (central) and College Town, with Owlsmoor to the northeast. North of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
