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No. 266 Squadron RAF
No. 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. History First World War The squadron was formed from Nos 437 and 438 Flights at Mudros, Greece on 27 September 1918 to carry out anti-submarine patrols in that area, flying Short 184s and Short 320, 320s along with Felixtowe F.3s.Halley 1988, p. 333. In February 1919 it was transferred to the Caucasus on . It operated from Petrovsk (air base), Petrovsk and from and as part of the British Caspian Flotilla. It was withdrawn on 27 August 1919 and disbanded on 1 September 1919 at Novorossisk.Jefford 2001, p. 83. Second World War The squadron was reformed on 30 October 1939 at RAF Sutton Bridge as a fighter squadron, one of the Rhodesian gift squadrons and was named 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron in honour of the gift. Originally it was equipped with the Fairey Battle light bomber but soon after in January 1940 it received the Supermarine Spitfire and became a fighter squadron. It was in action over Dunkirk in early June ...
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Godfrey Huggins
Godfrey Martin Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern (6 July 1883 – 8 May 1971), was a Rhodesian politician and physician. He served as the fourth Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1933 to 1953 and remained in office as the first Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland until October 1956, becoming the longest serving prime minister in British Commonwealth history. Early life and education Huggins was born at 'Dane Cottage', Knoll Road, Bexley in northern Kent, England (now a London Borough of Bexley, borough of London), the second child, but eldest son of a stockbroker. The family later moved to a property his father built, 'Shore House' in Sevenoaks, a town 27 miles from London. He was educated at Brunswick House, a preparatory school in Hove and then moved to Sutherland House, a similar school in Folkestone. He suffered a severe infection of the left middle ear at the age of 11, which left him deaf on that side and delayed his move to Malvern College in ...
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Fairey Battle
The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and Hind biplanes. The Battle was powered by the same high-performance Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine that powered various contemporary British fighters such as the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. As the Battle, with its three-man crew and bomb load, was much heavier than the fighters, it was therefore much slower. Though a great improvement over the aircraft that preceded it, its relatively slow speed, limited range and inadequate defensive armament of only two .303 (7.7 mm) machine guns left it highly vulnerable to enemy fighters and anti-aircraft fire.Ethell 1995, p. 177. The Fairey Battle was used on operations early in the Second World War. During the "Phoney War" the type achieved the distinction of scoring the first aer ...
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Fighter Aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield permits bombers and attack aircraft to engage in tactical and strategic bombing of enemy targets. The key performance features of a fighter include not only its firepower but also its high speed and maneuverability relative to the target aircraft. The success or failure of a combatant's efforts to gain air superiority hinges on several factors including the skill of its pilots, the tactical soundness of its doctrine for deploying its fighters, and the numbers and performance of those fighters. Many modern fighter aircraft also have secondary capabilities such as ground attack and some types, such as fighter-bombers, are designed from the outset for dual roles. Other fighter designs are highly specialized while still filling the ma ...
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RAF Boxted
Royal Air Force Boxted or more simply RAF Boxted is a former Royal Air Force station located north-northeast of Colchester, Essex England. Opened in 1943, it was used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). RAF Boxted has the distinction of having been the airfield for the two most successful USAAF fighter groups in air-to-air combat. After the war it was used by the Royal Air Force for jet aircraft testing. It was closed in 1947. Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields. It also has a small grass private airstrip and a museum which opened in 2011. History United States Army Air Forces use The airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force and Ninth Air Forces. It was known as USAAF Station AAF-150 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its USAAF Station Code was "BX". USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Boxted were: * ...
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Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very close to the Prime Meridian. Le Havre is the most populous commune of Upper Normandy, although the total population of the greater Le Havre conurbation is smaller than that of Rouen. After Reims, it is also the second largest subprefecture in France. The name ''Le Havre'' means "the harbour" or "the port". Its inhabitants are known as ''Havrais'' or ''Havraises''. The city and port were founded by King Francis I in 1517. Economic development in the Early modern period was hampered by religious wars, conflicts with the English, epidemics, and storms. It was from the end of the 18th century that Le Havre started growing and the port took off first with the slave trade then other international trade. After the 1944 bombings the firm of Auguste ...
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La Poterie-Cap-d'Antifer
La Poterie-Cap-d’Antifer is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. History During World War II, Operation Biting (also known as the Bruneval Raid) was a successful Combined Operations raid to capture components of a German Würzburg radar set at La Poterie-Cap-d’Antifer and evacuated by the Bruneval beach on 27/28 February 1942. On 6 June 1944, small boats simulated an invasion fleet headed towards the area as part of Operation Taxable. Geography A farming village in the Pays de Caux, some north of Le Havre, at the junction of the D111 and D950 roads. The commune borders the English Channel and has a beach and some spectacular limestone cliffs. Population Places of interest * The church of St. Martin, dating from the seventeenth century. * The Cap d'Antifer Lighthouse. See also *Communes of the Seine-Maritime department *Shipping Forecast The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts ...
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Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service. From the middle decades of the 17th century, and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century, it was the world's most powerful navy until the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire, and four Imperial fortress colonies and a string of imperial bases and coaling stations secured the Royal Navy's ability to assert naval superiority globally. Owing to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, to ref ...
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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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Hildesheim
Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Leine River. The Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious founded the Bishopric of Hildesheim in 815 and created the first settlement with a chapel on the so called ''Domhügel''. Hildesheim is situated on autobahn route 7, and hence is at the connection point of the North (Hamburg and beyond) with the South of Europe. With the Hildesheim Cathedral and the St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. In 2015 the city and the diocese celebrated their 1200th anniversary. History Early years According to tradition, the city was named after its notorious founder ''Hildwin.'' The city is one of the oldest cities in Northern Germany, became the seat of the Bishopric of Hildesheim in 815 and may have been f ...
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Hawker Typhoon
The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and it never completely satisfied this requirement.Thomas and Shores 1988, p. 16. The Typhoon was originally designed to mount twelve .303 inch (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns and be powered by the latest engines. Its service introduction in mid-1941 was plagued with problems and for several months the aircraft faced a doubtful future. When the ''Luftwaffe'' brought the new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 into service in 1941, the Typhoon was the only RAF fighter capable of catching it at low altitudes; as a result it secured a new role as a low-altitude interceptor. The Typhoon became established in roles such as night-time intruder and long-range fighter. From late 1942 the Typhoon was equipped with bombs and from late 1943 RP-3 rockets were added to i ...
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RAF Duxford
Duxford Aerodrome is located south of Cambridge, within the civil parish of Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England and nearly west of the village. The airfield is owned by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and is the site of the Imperial War Museum Duxford and the American Air Museum. Duxford Aerodrome has a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Ordinary Licence (Number P678) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Cambridgeshire County Council). The aerodrome is not licensed for night use. History Early Use The area around Duxford was first used for military purposes as part of the Army Manoeuvres of 1912. It was not until October 1917 that construction was started on a more formal airfield. The new aerodrome was built as part of a pair with a sister station at Fowlmere. The hangars built in the period correspond to a Directorate of Fortifications and Works drawing number 332/17. The drawing was signed by L ...
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RAF Wittering
Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford, Lincolnshire, Stamford in Lincolnshire is the nearest town, the runways of RAF Wittering cross the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. History First World War Wittering's use as a military airfield dates back to 5 May 1916 when it began as Royal Flying Corps, RFC Stamford. The aerodrome was initially created for A Flight of No. 38 Squadron RAF, No. 38 (Home Defence) Squadron. In common with other Home Defence squadrons at the time it was used for training during the day and for air defence at night. From the flight's operational declaration in December 1916 until it deployed to France in November 1917, its Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2, BE2cs, Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.7, RE7s, and Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2, FE2bs were involved in an ...
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