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No. 217 Squadron RAF
No. 217 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the RAF. It was formed and disbanded four times between 1 April 1918 and 13 November 1959. In World War I it served in a strike role against enemy bases and airfields in Belgium. In World War II as part of RAF Coastal Command it served first in a maritime patrol role along the Western Approaches and later in an anti-shipping role in the English Channel. Ordered to the Far East in 1942, the squadron was retained for two months in Malta in an anti-shipping role, protecting Allied convoys, before moving to Ceylon to defend the approaches to India, serving in an anti-submarine and anti-shipping role. It was equipped and training for a strike role, when the war ended. In the postwar period, it served for five years in a maritime reconnaissance role, and then briefly in a support role for Operation Grapple, the British hydrogen bomb tests on Christmas Island. History World War I No. 217 Squadron traces its ancestry back to the Royal Naval ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bristol Beaufort
The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber. At least 1,180 Beauforts were built by Bristol and other British manufacturers. The Australian government's Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) also manufactured variants of the Beaufort. These are often known collectively as the DAP Beaufort. More than 700 Australian-built Beauforts saw service with the Royal Australian Air Force in the South West Pacific theatre, where they were used until the end of the war. Beauforts first saw service with Royal Air Force Coastal Command and then the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm from 1940. They were used as torpedo bombers, conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942,Robertson 1976, p. 30. when they were removed from active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka.", "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF St Eval
Royal Air Force St. Eval or RAF St. Eval was a Royal Air Force station for the RAF Coastal Command, southwest of Padstow in Cornwall, England, UK. St Eval's primary role was to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the south west coast. Aircraft from the airfield were also used for photographic reconnaissance missions, meteorological flights, convoy patrols, air-sea rescue missions and protection of the airfield from the Luftwaffe. History The construction of the station The Royal Air Force's 1930s expansion plan included a requirement for a station to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the South-west coast of England. The site at St Eval was chosen as a Coastal Command airfield and work started in 1938. Five widely dispersed cottages, two houses and portions of two farms were acquired by compulsory purchase; the village of St Eval was completely demolished in order to build the airfield. Levelling of the site by G Wallace Ltd involved the remo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Bicester
Bicester Aerodrome, formerly RAF Bicester, is an airfield on the outskirts of the English town of Bicester in Oxfordshire. Dating back to 1916, this military airfield is notable as the location of the first flight of the prototype Handley Page Halifax in 1939 and was later the home of No. 71 Maintenance Unit, RAF (Royal Air Force); the RAF finally left in 2004. The airfield consists of of well-drained short-mown grass, with two nominal runways (not marked) of 06/24 () and 16/34 () long. The airfield surface is bumpy in places, due to collapsing field drains, requiring care on the part of pilots operating aircraft in those areas. History In 1911, flying first took place on the site, when Lt H.R.P Reynolds landed a Bristol Boxkite biplane on the field. Organised flying began in 1916 when a Training Depot was established. In January 1917, the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) moved into the site, then , with the arrival of 118 night bomber squadron. Canvas-covered Bessonneau hangars were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Warmwell
Royal Air Force Warmwell or more simply RAF Warmwell is a former Royal Air Force station near Warmwell in Dorset, England from 1937 to 1946, located about 5 miles east-southeast of Dorchester; 100 miles southwest of London. During the Second World War it was used by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force. History RAF use At above sea level RAF Warmwell originally opened in May 1937 as a landing ground named RAF Woodsford, for units carrying out air-to-ground firing and bombing on ranges set up off the south coast of Dorset at Chesil Bank. With the airfield code of 'XW' it was renamed RAF Warmwell in July 1938 due to possible confusion with Woodford, near Manchester, which was an airfield where Avro was producing the Lancaster bomber. After the use by squadrons using the ranges diminished, and as the Second World War started more and more units were based here to act as fighter defence for the important naval facilities at Portland and Portsmo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Tangmere
RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, and one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The famous Second World War aces Wing Commander Douglas Bader, and the then inexperienced Johnnie Johnson were stationed at Tangmere in 1941. History First World War The aerodrome was founded in 1917 for use by the Royal Flying Corps as a training base. In 1918 it was turned over to the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps (USSC) as a training ground, and continued as such until the end of the Great War in November of that year, after which the airfield was mothballed. Inter-War Years In 1925 the station re-opened to serve the RAF's Fleet Air Arm, and went operational in 1926 with No. 43 Squadron equipped with biplane Gloster Gamecocks (there is a row of houses located near the museum entrance called Gamecock Terrace). As war threatened in the late 1930s, the fighter aircraft based at Tangmere beca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MoD Boscombe Down
MoD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in 2001 by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). The base was originally conceived, constructed, and operated as Royal Air Force Boscombe Down, more commonly known as RAF Boscombe Down, and since 1939, has evaluated aircraft for use by the British Armed Forces. The airfield has two runways, one in length, and the second . The airfield's evaluation centre is currently home to Rotary Wing Test and Evaluation Squadron (RWTS), Fast Jet Test Squadron (FJTS), Heavy Aircraft Test Squadron (HATS), Handling Squadron, and the Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS). History First World War An aerodrome opened at the Boscombe Down site in October 1917 and operated as a Royal Flying Corps Training Depot Station. Kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Driffield
Royal Air Force Driffield or RAF Driffield is a former Royal Air Force station in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in England. It lies about south-west of Driffield and north-west of Beverley. It is now operated by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, as the Driffield Training Area. History The site was first opened in 1918 by the Royal Air Force under the name of RAF Eastburn, and closed in 1920. In 1935 a new airfield was built, initially training bomber crews. In 1977 the site was turned over to the British Army for use as a driving school, and was renamed Alamein Barracks, a satellite to Normandy Barracks of the Defence School of Transport at Leconfield. The station was the initial posting of Leonard Cheshire VC, who was at that time a member of 102 Squadron. On 15 August 1940 there was a German air raid on the airfield. Casualties included the first fatality in the Women's Royal Air Force. On 1 August 1959, the station was armed with PGM-17 Thor The PGM-17A Thor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of . Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven. Belgium is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bergues
Bergues (; nl, Sint-Winoksbergen; vls, Bergn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgian border. Locally it is referred to as "the other Bruges in Flanders". Bergues is a setting for the 2008 movie '' Welcome to the Sticks'' (Original French title: ''Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis''). History The town's name derives from the Dutch ''groene berg'', which means "green hill". According to legend, St Winnoc, son of the Breton king, retired to Groenberg, a hill on the edge of the coastal marshes (see Marcae below). His establishment soon developed into a small monastery. In 882, when the Normans began their incursions, the Flanders count Baudouin II built primitive fortifications. Later, about 1022, count Baudouin IV built Saint-Winnoc church and interred the relics of St Winnoc there. This church formed the basis of an abbey. Trade was aided by proximity to the sea, which had not yet receded to Dunkirk, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = , battles_label = Wars , battles = First World War , disbanded = merged with RNAS to become Royal Air Force (RAF), 1918 , current_commander = , current_commander_label = , ceremonial_chief = , ceremonial_chief_label = , colonel_of_the_regiment = , colonel_of_the_regiment_label = , notable_commanders = Sir David HendersonHugh Trenchard , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Roundel , identification_symbol_2 = , identification_symbol_2_label = Flag , aircraft_attack = , aircraft_bomber = , aircraft_el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Commune de Dunkerque (59183) INSEE It lies from the border. It has the third-largest French harbour. The population of the commune in 2019 was 86,279. Etymology and language use The name of Dunkirk derives from '' or ' |
