No. 660 Squadron RAF
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No. 660 Squadron RAF
No. 660 Squadron was a Royal Air Force Air Observation Post squadron associated with the 21st Army Group during World War II. Numbers 651 to 663 Squadrons of the RAF were Air Observation Post units working closely with Army units in artillery spotting and liaison. A further three of these squadrons, 664–666, were manned with Canadian personnel. Their duties and squadron numbers were transferred to the Army with the formation of the Army Air Corps on 1 September 1957. History Formation and World War II No. 660 Squadron was formed at RAF Old Sarum on 31 July 1943 with the Auster III and in February 1944 the Auster IV. From November 1943, it was based at Hammerwood Park, a country house in Sussex. However, as the squadron's role was to support the Second British Army, in July 1944 it moved to France. Fighting in the break-out from Normandy it followed the army across the low countries and into Germany. The squadron disbanded at Holtenau, Germany on 31 May 1946. The squadron toda ...
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 170 ...
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Hammerwood Park
Hammerwood Park is a country house in Hammerwood, near East Grinstead, in East Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building. One of the first houses in England to be built in the Greek Revival architectural style, it was built in 1792 as the first independent work of Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as a 'demonstration of primeval force', the house was owned by Led Zeppelin from 1973 until 1982. History The site before 1792 The land previously comprised part of a previous estate known as The Bower, probably named after a family called Atte Boure, who are listed as paying tax to Edward I in the 1290s, a substantial landholding which included parts of the parishes of East Grinstead and Hartfield. Sometime during the 1500s the owners, the Botting family, founded an iron forge to the east of the ponds in the valley to the south of the current house (coordinates: ). The forge may have been in existence in 1558, when Hugh Botting left "two tons of yron" ...
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Aircraft Squadrons Of The Royal Air Force In World War II
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, helicopters, airships (including blimps), gliders, paramotors, and hot air balloons. The human activity that surrounds aircraft is called ''aviation''. The science of aviation, including designing and building aircraft, is called '' aeronautics.'' Crewed aircraft are flown by an onboard pilot, but unmanned aerial vehicles may be remotely controlled or self-controlled by onboard computers. Aircraft may be classified by different criteria, such as lift type, aircraft propulsion, usage and others. History Flying model craft and stories of manned flight go back many centuries; however, the first manned ascent — and safe descent — in modern times took place by larger hot-air ...
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List Of Royal Air Force Aircraft Squadrons
Squadron (aviation), Squadrons are the main form of flying unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF). These include Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) squadrons incorporated into the RAF when it was formed on 1 April 1918, during the First World War. Other squadrons of the RAF include those from Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth air forces which have served within the RAF structure and squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm before it transferred to the Royal Navy in 1939. Some squadrons have an individual tradition of presenting their squadron number in Roman numerals or using a suffix to their squadron number (such as "(F)" for "Fighter", "(B)" for "Bomber" or "(AC)" for "Army Co-operation") to indicate a past or present role. An example would be No. 18 Squadron RAF, No. 18 (Bomber) Squadron RAF which currently actually operates the heavy-lift Boeing Chinook (UK variants), Chinook helicopter. However, these practices have, at least in the past, been deprecated at ...
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Auster
Auster Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1938 to 1961.Willis, issue 122, p.55 History The company began in 1938 at the Britannia Works, Thurmaston near Leicester, England, as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited, making light observation aircraft designed by the Taylorcraft Aircraft Corporation of America. 1,604 high-wing Taylorcraft Auster monoplanes were built during World War II for the armed forces of the UK and Canada, primarily for the role of Air Observation Post (AOP). During the war the head office and drawing office were at a big old house on the outskirts of Thurmaston called "The Woodlands". The fuselages and wings were manufactured at Syston under the works manager by the name of Sharp. Sheet metalwork was done at the old 'en tout cas' works at Thurmaston. Final assembly, fitting out and testing took place at Rearsby aerodrome. The name changed to Auster (after the Roman name for the south wind) on 7 March 1946, when production shi ...
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Defence Helicopter Flying School
The Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS) was a military flying school based at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire, England. The school, established in 1997, was a tri-service organisation and trained helicopter aircrews for all three British armed forces. It initially used the Eurocopter Squirrel HT1 and Bell Griffin HT1 helicopters, which were retained despite the introduction of the Airbus Juno HT1 and Airbus Jupiter HT1. The school was re-badged as No. 1 Flying Training School during February 2020 and continues to provide helicopter training for the British armed forces. History Background Prior to the establishment of the Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS) in 1997, each of the UK's air-arms provided their own helicopter crew training. The Royal Air Force (RAF) trained crews using the Westland Gazelle HT.3 at No. 2 Flying Training School based at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire and 705 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) operated the Gazelle HT.2 from RNAS ...
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Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south; it covers an area of , with a population of almost 84 million within its 16 constituent states. Germany borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th ce ...
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Kiel Airport
Kiel Airport (german: Flughafen Kiel, ) is a small regional airport in Kiel, Germany. It is located in the borough of Holtenau, north of the city centre. It is registered as a ''public airfield'' (german: Verkehrslandeplatz). As of 2006, it served 30,528 passengers p. a. History The aerodrome was built in 1914 on a plain area that had been created from material dug out during the construction of the Kiel Canal. In 1927, the Kiel Airport Company (german: Kieler Flughafengesellschaft) was founded, which operated the State Airport of Kiel (german: Landflughafen Kiel). During this time, there were 27 national and international destinations. In 1937, the airport was designated a military airbase. However, it continued to be used for civilian flights, such as scheduled flights to Braunschweig and Berlin (Tempelhof). Its taxiways were extended in 1963, a first terminal was built in 1965. This terminal was used for scheduled flights to West Berlin operated by Pan Am. In 1987, ...
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Second Army (United Kingdom)
The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army was the main British contribution to the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 and advance across Europe. First World War The Second Army was part of the British Army formed on 26 December 1914, when the British Expeditionary Force was split in two due to becoming too big to control its subordinate formations. The army controlled both III Corps and IV Corps. Second Army spent most of the war positioned around the Ypres salient, but was redeployed to Italy as part of the Italian Expeditionary Force between November 1917 and March 1918. In 1919 it was reconstituted as the British Army of the Rhine.Edmonds (1987) Commanders * 1914–1915 General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien * 1915–1917 General Sir Herbert Plumer * 1917–1918 General Sir Henr ...
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RAF Old Sarum
Old Sarum Airfield is a grass strip airfield north-north-east of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. The adjacent areas are a mix of vacant land, residential and industrial sites. Residential areas are to the south and east, occupying the old airfield married quarters and officers' mess, now known as Throgmorton Hall. Industrial/business units occupy a number of the World War I and World War II airfield buildings, as well as several large modern warehouses, office blocks and car showrooms, the development of which is continuing to the present day. Old Sarum is a well-preserved flying field of the World War I period, bounded by one of the most complete suites of technical and hangar buildings of the period. The site has three Grade II* listed hangars and a Grade II listed former workshop, all built in 1918, as well as a Grade II listed Territorial Army Headquarters (the 1935 Station Headquarters). The airfield was designated as a conservation area by Salisbury District Council in ...
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Ensign Of The Royal Air Force
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be different from the civil ensign (merchant ships) or the yacht ensign (recreational boats). Large versions of naval ensigns called battle ensigns are used when a warship goes into battle. The ensign differs from the jack (flag), jack, which is flown from a jackstaff at the bow of a vessel. In its widest sense, an ensign is just a flag or other standard. The European military rank of Ensign (rank), ensign, once responsible for bearing a unit's standard (whether national or regimental), derives from it (in the cavalry, the equivalent rank was Cornet (rank), cornet, named after a type of flag). Ensigns, such as the ancient Roman ensigns in the Arch of Constantine, are not always flags. National ensigns In nautical use, the ensign is flown on a shi ...
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Army Air Corps (United Kingdom)
The Army Air Corps (AAC) is a component of the British Army, first formed in 1942 during the Second World War by grouping the various airborne units of the British Army. Today, there are eight regiments (seven Regular Army and one Reserve) of the AAC as well as four Independent Flights and two Independent Squadrons deployed in support of British Army operations around the world. Regiments and flights are located in the United Kingdom, Brunei, Canada, and Germany. Some AAC squadrons provide the air assault elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade through Joint Helicopter Command. History First formation: 1942–1949 The British Army first took to the sky during the 19th century with the use of observation balloons. In 1911 the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers was the first heavier-than-air British military aviation unit. The following year, the battalion was expanded into the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps which saw action throughout most of the First World War unt ...
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