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John Gingell
Air Chief Marshal Sir John Gingell, (3 February 1925 – 10 December 2009) was a senior Royal Air Force commander and Gentleman usher of the Black Rod. Military career The son of Ernest (1895–1981) and Hilda (née Attwood; 1894–1957) Gingell, he was educated at St Boniface's Catholic College, Plymouth. He was commissioned into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in April 1945.Air Chief Marshal Sir John Gingell profile rafweb.org; accessed 5 June 2014. A few months later he transferred into the , serving in the |
Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admiral in a navy or a full general in an army or other nations' air forces. The rank of air chief marshal is immediately senior to the rank of air marshal but subordinate to marshal of the air force. Air chief marshals are sometimes generically considered to be air marshals. Royal Air Force use and history Origins Prior to the adoption of RAF-specific rank titles in 1919, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became air chief marshal would have been air admiral. The Admiralty objected to any use of their rank titles, including this modified form, and so an alternative proposal was put forward: air-officer ranks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), the active reserve for the RAF, by providing an additional non-active reserve. However during the Second World War the high demand for aircrew absorbed all available RAuxAF personnel and led the RAFVR to quickly become the main pathway of aircrew entry into the RAF. It was initially composed of civilians recruited from neighbourhood reserve flying schools, run by civilian contractors with largely RAF-trained flying instructors as well as other instructors in related air war functions, such as observers and wireless operators. After the war, and with the end of conscription in the early 1960s, the RAFVR considerably reduced in size and most functions were absorbed into the RAuxAF. The RAFVR now forms the working elements of the Universit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Aiken (RAF Officer)
Air Chief Marshal Sir John Alexander Carlisle Aiken, (22 December 1921 – 31 May 2005) was a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer, and the Commander of British forces in Cyprus at the time of the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974. RAF career Educated at Birkenhead School, Aitken joined the Royal Air Force in 1941, serving in the Second World War in North-West Europe, flying Spitfires with No. 611 Squadron from 1942 and in the Far East as a flight commander with No. 548 Squadron flying Spitfires out of Darwin from 1944. In 1948 he became an instructor at the RAF College Cranwell before becoming Officer Commanding Birmingham University Air Squadron in 1950. He was made Personal Staff Officer to the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Fighter Command in 1954, Officer Commanding No. 29 Squadron in 1956 and a Staff Officer at Headquarters Allied Forces Northern Europe in 1958. He went on to be Deputy Director, Intelligence (Air) at the Air Ministry in 1960 before being ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Bird-Wilson
Air Vice Marshal Harold Arthur Cooper "Birdie" Bird-Wilson, (20 November 1919 – 27 December 2000) was a senior Royal Air Force officer, and a flying ace of the Second World War. Early life Bird-Wilson was born in Prestatyn, North Wales, on 20 November 1919. His father was a tea-planter in Bengal, and his parents remained in India, sending Bird-Wilson to boarding school. He later went to Liverpool College. Military career On 30 November 1937, having had a few weeks initial officer training, he was granted a short-service commission in the RAF. In August 1938 he was assigned to No. 17 Squadron, learning the rudiments of being a fighter pilot in Gloster Gauntlets. The Squadron was re-equipped with Hawker Hurricanes in June 1939. Ten weeks later, he was flying a BA Swallow out of RAF Cranwell when he crashed in bad weather. His passenger was killed, and Bird-Wilson was left without a nose. He was treated by pioneering plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe, who offered Bird-Wilson t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliament Of The United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and the overseas territories. Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of the sovereign ( King-in-Parliament), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons (the primary chamber). In theory, power is officially vested in the King-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the prime minister, and the powers of the House of Lords are limited to only delaying legislation; thus power is ''de facto'' vested in the House of Commons. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections to 650 single-member constituencies held at least every five years under the first-past-the-post system. By constitutional convention, all governme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joint Force Command Brunssum
Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFCBS) is a NATO command with its headquarters at Brunssum, the Netherlands. It was established in 2004 from previous commands as part of NATO's continuing command structure reductions in the face of a then-diminishing threat. History Allied Forces Central Europe from 1953 Originally the command was known as Headquarters, Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) when it was activated in August 1953 in Fontainebleau, outside Paris, France. Ensuring interoperability among land forces of the different NATO Member States has always been a challenge, which is why a variety of NATO standardization activities, such as the NATO Standardization Office, have been underway since the 1950s. After General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) in 1950, he found that devising command arrangements in the Central Region, which contained the bulk of NATO’s forces, was to be complicated.Dr Gregory Pedlow, Evolution ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assistant Chief Of The Defence Staff
The Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (ACDS) is a senior British military officer. There are a number of ACDS appointments and they are held by officers of two-star rank (rear admiral, air vice-marshal, or major general). They work in the Ministry of Defence. Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Health) The ACDS(H) reports to the Surgeon General. * Surgeon Rear Admiral Lionel Jarvis (2008–2011) * Major General Jeremy Rowan (2011–2014) * Surgeon Rear Admiral Alasdair Walker (2014–2015) * Major General Martin Bricknell (2015–2018) Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Capability & Force Design) * Air Vice-Marshal Graeme A. Robertson (1994–1996) * Rear-Admiral Nigel R. Essenhigh (1996–1998) * Major-General John P. Kiszely (1998–2001) * Rear-Admiral Rory A.I. McLean (2001–2004) * Rear-Admiral Timothy J.H. Laurence (2004–2007) * Air Vice-Marshal Kevin J. Leeson (2007–2009) * Rear-Admiral Alan D. Richards (2009–2011) * Major-General Mark Poffley (2011†... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force Germany
The former Royal Air Force Germany (RAFG) was a command of the Royal Air Force and part of British Forces Germany. It consisted of units located in Germany, initially as part of the occupation following the Second World War, and later as part of the RAF's commitment to the defence of Europe during the Cold War. The commander of RAFG doubled as commander of NATO's Second Allied Tactical Air Force. History From 1954 Canberra bombers equipped No. 69 Squadron RAF, 69 (briefly), No. 102 Squadron RAF, 102, No. 103 Squadron RAF, 103, No. 104 Squadron RAF, 104, No. 149 Squadron RAF, 149 Squadrons, and later 59 Squadron at RAF Gütersloh. This force was under RAF Bomber Command, Bomber Command control from Britain and had been moved to Germany because of overcrowding of suitable airfields in the UK. With the establishment of the British nuclear bomber forces in the context of NATO's strategy of massive retaliation the Canberra bomber squadrons were again withdrawn from Germany. Af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implemented the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the perceived threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. The organization's motto is ''animus in consulendo liber'' (Latin for "a mind unfettered in deliberation"). NATO's main headquarters are located in Brussels, Belgium, while NATO ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ministry Of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MOD states that its principal objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests and to strengthen international peace and stability. The MOD also manages day-to-day running of the armed forces, contingency planning and defence procurement. The expenditure, administration and policy of the MOD are scrutinised by the Defence Select Committee, except for Defence Intelligence which instead falls under the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament. History During the 1920s and 1930s, British civil servants and politicians, looking back at the performance of the state during the First World War, concluded that there was a need for greater co-ordination between the three services that made up the armed forces of the United Kingdom: t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Steel (missile)
The Avro Blue Steel was a British air-launched, rocket-propelled nuclear armed standoff missile, built to arm the V bomber force. It allowed the bomber to launch the missile against its target while still outside the range of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). The missile proceeded to the target at speeds up to Mach 3, and would trigger within 100 m of the pre-defined target point. Blue Steel entered service in 1963, by which point improved SAMs with longer range had greatly eroded the advantages of the design. A longer-range version, Blue Steel II, was considered, but cancelled in favour of the much longer-range GAM-87 Skybolt system from the US. When development of that system was cancelled in 1962, the V-bomber fleet was considered highly vulnerable. Blue Steel remained the primary British nuclear deterrent weapon until the Royal Navy started operating Polaris ballistic missiles from ''Resolution''-class submarines. Development Blue Steel was the result of a Min ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avro Vulcan
The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) is a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe and Company ( Avro) designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V bombers produced, the Vulcan was considered the most technically advanced, hence the riskiest option. Several reduced-scale aircraft, designated Avro 707s, were produced to test and refine the delta-wing design principles. The Vulcan B.1 was first delivered to the RAF in 1956; deliveries of the improved Vulcan B.2 started in 1960. The B.2 featured more powerful engines, a larger wing, an improved electrical system, and electronic countermeasures, and many were modified to accept the Blue Steel missile. As a part of the V-force, the Vulcan was the backbone of the United Kingdom's airborne nuclear deterrent during much of the Cold War. Although the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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