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No. 32 Squadron RAF
Number 32 (The Royal) Squadron (sometimes abbreviated as No. 32 (TR) Squadron) of the Royal Air Force operates in the VIP and general air transport roles from RAF Northolt in Greater London. Originally formed in 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps, the squadron saw action during the First and Second World Wars with fighter aircraft, but was disbanded in 1969. The Metropolitan Communications Squadron, involved in the VIP transport role, was renamed as No. 32 Squadron at that time. In 1995, the squadron was merged with the Queen's Flight and incorporated 'The Royal' title into its name. At this time the squadron moved from RAF Benson to RAF Northolt, where it remains. The merger ended the RAF's provision of dedicated VIP transport aircraft; the squadron's aircraft are available to VIP passengers only if not needed for military operations. Two flights within the squadron operate the Dassault Envoy IV CC1 and AgustaWestland AW109 aircraft. History Formation and First World Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heraldic Badges Of The Royal Air Force
Heraldic badges of the Royal Air Force are the insignia of certain commands, squadrons, units, wings, groups, branches and stations within the Royal Air Force. They are also commonly known as crests, especially by serving members of the Royal Air Force, but officially they are badges. Each badge must be approved by the reigning monarch of the time, and as such will either have a Tudor Crown (heraldry), King's or St Edward's Crown, Queen's Crown upon the top of the badge, dependent upon which monarch granted approval and the disbandment date of the unit.Most units/squadrons and bases had their badges updated to the Queen's Crown sometime after her accession, (although in some cases many years elapsed before the badge was updated). Most of the flying units were disbanded after the Second World War, so their badges retained the King's Crown. Queen Elizabeth II promulgated an order in October 1954 detailing that all current badges in use, and from that date on, were to use the Queen's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airco DH
The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early United Kingdom, British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Airco produced many thousands of aircraft for both the British and Allied military air wings throughout the war, including fighter aircraft, fighters, trainer aircraft, trainers and medium bomber, bombers. The majority of the company's aircraft were designed in-house by Airco's chief designer Geoffrey de Havilland. Airco established the first airline in the United Kingdom, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, which operated as a subsidiary of Airco. On 25 August 1919, it commenced the world's first regular daily international service. Following the end of the war, the company's fortunes rapidly turned sour. The interwar period was unfavourable for aircraft manufacturers largely due to a glut of surplus aircraft from the war ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Owen Donaldson
Captain John Owen Donaldson (May 14, 1897 – September 7, 1930) was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. Early life Donaldson was born in Fort Yates, North Dakota, the son of General Thomas Quinton Donaldson. He left Cornell and joined the Royal Flying Corps in Canada in March 1917. World War I When the U.S. declared war, he transferred to the American air service. He was attached to the RAF (successor to the RFC), and posted to No. 32 Squadron RAF. From July 22 through August 29, 1918, he destroyed four Fokker D.VII fighters and drove down three others out of control.Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918, p. 36 On September 1, he was shot down by Theodor Quandt and captured. The following day, he and another prisoner escaped and tried to steal a German two-seater for a flying exit. Donaldson received a bayonet wound in the back struggling with a sentry, and the refuge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Claydon
Captain Arthur Claydon (25 September 1885 – 8 July 1918) was a British World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. Biography Claydon was one of five brothers, born in Deeping St. James, Lincolnshire. In 1902 he and his older brother Ebenezer emigrated to Canada, and after settling in Winnipeg founded their own general contracting business in 1904. Having been a member of the militia unit The Winnipeg Grenadiers since 1903, he was commissioned as a lieutenant when he enlisted into the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 18 February 1916, and was assigned to the 38th Battery, 10th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery. After arriving in England he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps on 30 October 1916, to train as a pilot at Reading. On 29 April 1917 he was seconded to the RFC with the rank of temporary lieutenant, and was appointed a flying officer the same day. He was posted to No. 32 Squadron on 6 September. On 11 November 1917 he was shot down by German a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Tyrrell
Captain Walter Alexander Tyrrell (23 August 1898 – 9 June 1918) was a British First World War flying ace credited with seventeen aerial victories. Early life and background Tyrrell was born in Belfast, one of three sons of John Tyrrell, a merchant, alderman and justice of the peace, who was the High Sheriff of Belfast in 1914, and his wife Jeanie (née Todd). The family resided at Fairview Buildings, Crumlin Road. He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and the Belfast Municipal Technical Institute. World War I Tyrrell joined the Royal Navy, serving in the Royal Naval Air Service's Armoured Car Division as a petty officer from 26 December 1914 until 24 November 1915, under Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson. He spent eight months in Belgium and France, but was discharged after an accident, when an armoured car crushed his foot. He returned to Belfast where he was a member of the Queen's University Belfast Officers' Training Corps and worked as an apprentic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Coningham (RAF Officer)
Air Marshal Sir Arthur "Mary" Coningham, (19 January 1895 – Declared death in absentia, presumably 30 January 1948) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. During the First World War, he was at Gallipoli campaign, Gallipoli with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, was discharged in New Zealand as medically unfit for active service, and journeyed to Britain at his own expense to join the Royal Flying Corps, where he became a flying ace. Coningham was later a senior Royal Air Force commander during the Second World War, as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Second Tactical Air Force, 2nd Tactical Air Force and subsequently the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Flying Training Command, Flying Training Command. Coningham is chiefly remembered as the person most responsible for the development of forward air control parties directing close air support, which he developed as commander of the Western Desert Air Force between 1941 and 1943, and as commander of the tactical ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
En Cadre
A cadre (, , ) is the complement of commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers of a military unit responsible for training the rest of the unit. The cadre may be the permanent skeleton establishment of a unit, around which the full unit can be built if needed. In countries which have conscription, a cadre may comprise the permanent staff of a regiment who train the conscripts assigned to it. The term comes from the French expression ''en cadre'', with the same meaning. In the Military of the United States, a cadre is a group or member of a group of leaders, especially in units that conduct formal training schools. In United States Army jargon, the word is singular and plural. At the United States Military Academy, the upper-class cadets who conduct Cadet Basic Training for incoming freshmen are called the cadre. In the British Armed Forces, a cadre is a group of instructors or a unit that trains potential instructors or non-commissioned officers (NCOs), in which case it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Arras (1917)
The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British Empire, British offensive on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German Empire, German defences near the French Third Republic, French city of Arras on the Western Front. The British achieved the longest advance since trench warfare had begun, surpassing the record set by the French Sixth Army (France), Sixth Army on 1 July 1916. The British advance slowed in the next few days and the German defence recovered. The battle became a costly stalemate for both sides and by the end of the battle, the British Third Army (United Kingdom), Third Army and the First Army (United Kingdom), First Army had suffered about 160,000 casualties and the German 6th Army (German Empire), 6th Army about 125,000. For much of the war, the opposing armies on the Western Front were at stalemate, with a continuous line of Trench warfare, tre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the upper reaches of the Somme, a river in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the Allies. More than three million men fought in the battle of whom one million were wounded or killed, making it one of the deadliest battles in human history. The French and British had committed themselves to an offensive on the Somme during the Chantilly Conference in December 1915. The Allies agreed upon a strategy of combined offensives against the Central Powers in 1916 by the French, Russian, British and Italian armies, with the Somme offensive as the Franco-British contribution. Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, supported on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Front (World War I)
The Western Front was one of the main theatres of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The German advance was halted with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France, which changed little except during early 1917 and in 1918. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several offensives along this front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. Entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire and artillery repeatedly inflicted severe casualties during attacks and counter-attacks and no significant advances were made. Among the most costly of these offensives were the Battle of Verdun, in 1916, with a combined 700,000 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded by countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command. No civilian has received the award since 1879. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two-thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch. The investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace. The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. Since then, the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals, of which 11 to members of the Britis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
