Operation Alacrity
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Operation Alacrity
Operation Alacrity was the code name for a possible Allied seizure of Azores during World War II. It never took place because Portugal agreed to an Allied request for use of air bases. The islands were of enormous strategic value in the defeat of the German U-boats. Portugal, too weak to defend the Azores, or its large colonial empire, or even its homeland, tried to stay neutral in the war. Dictator Salazar was especially worried about a possible German invasion through Spain and did not want to provoke Hitler nor did he want to give Spain an excuse to side with the Axis and invade Portugal due to the strategic importance of the Canary Islands. Great Britain and the United States devised plans to set up air bases regardless of Portugal's disapproval. The plans were never put into operation. Instead in 1943 Britain requested, and Portugal agreed, to allow Britain to set up bases there. Operation Alacrity was preceded by War Plan Gray. Overview Since their colonization in ...
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Azores
) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores within the European Union , subdivision_type=Sovereign state , subdivision_name=Portugal , established_title=Settlement , established_date=1432 , established_title3=Autonomous status , established_date3=30 April 1976 , official_languages=Portuguese , demonym= ( en, Azorean) , capital_type= Capitals , capital = Ponta Delgada (executive) Angra do Heroísmo (judicial) Horta (legislative) , largest_city = Ponta Delgada , government_type=Autonomous Region , leader_title1=Representative of the Republic , leader_name1=Pedro Manuel dos Reis Alves Catarino , leader_title2= President of the Legislative Assembly , leader_name2= Luís Garcia , leader_title3= President of the Regional Government , leader_name3=José Manuel Bolieiro , le ...
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Portuguese Timor
Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the region were the Portuguese in 1515.West, p. 198. Dominican friars established a presence on the island in 1556, and the territory was declared a Portuguese colony in 1702. Following the beginning of the Carnation Revolution (a Lisbon-instigated decolonisation process) in 1975, East Timor was invaded by Indonesia. However, the invasion was not recognized as legal by the United Nations (UN), which continued to regard Portugal as the legal Administering Power of East Timor. The independence of East Timor was finally achieved in 2002 following a UN-administered transition period. History Early colonialists Prior to the arrival of European colonial powers, the island of Timor was part of the trading networks that stretched between India and ...
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Portugal In World War II
At the start of World War II in 1939, the Portuguese Government announced on 1 September that the 550-year-old Anglo-Portuguese Alliance remained intact, but since the British did not seek Portuguese assistance, Portugal was free to remain neutral in the war and would do so. In an aide-mémoire of 5 September 1939, the British Government confirmed the understanding. As Adolf Hitler's occupation swept across Europe, neutral Portugal became one of Europe's last escape routes. Portugal was able to maintain its neutrality until 1944, when a military agreement was signed to give the United States permission to establish a military base in Santa Maria in the Azores and thus its status changed to non-belligerent in favour of the Allies. Overview At the outbreak of World War II, Portugal was ruled by António de Oliveira Salazar, the man who in 1933 had founded the ''Estado Novo'' ("New State"), the corporatist authoritarian government that ruled Portugal until 1974. He had favou ...
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Portugal During World War II
At the start of World War II in 1939, the Portuguese Government announced on 1 September that the 550-year-old Anglo-Portuguese Alliance remained intact, but since the British did not seek Portuguese assistance, Portugal was free to remain neutral in the war and would do so. In an aide-mémoire of 5 September 1939, the British Government confirmed the understanding. As Adolf Hitler's occupation swept across Europe, neutral Portugal became one of Europe's last escape routes. Portugal was able to maintain its neutrality until 1944, when a military agreement was signed to give the United States permission to establish a military base in Santa Maria in the Azores and thus its status changed to non-belligerent in favour of the Allies. Overview At the outbreak of World War II, Portugal was ruled by António de Oliveira Salazar, the man who in 1933 had founded the Estado Novo (Portugal), ''Estado Novo'' ("New State"), the Corporatism, corporatist authoritarianism, authoritarian go ...
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Lajes Field
Lajes Field or Lajes Air Base (; pt, Base Aérea das Lajes), officially designated Air Base No. 4 (''Base Aérea Nº 4'', BA4) , is a multi-use airfield near Lajes and northeast of Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira Island in the Azores, Portugal. It is home to the Portuguese Air Force ''Base Aérea N º4'' and Azores Air Zone Command ( pt, Comando da Zona Aérea dos Açores), a United States Air Force detachment unit (operated by the 65th Air Base Group of United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa), and a regional air passenger terminal. Located about east of New York City and about west of Lisbon, Portugal; the base sits in a strategic location midway between North America and Europe in the north Atlantic Ocean. History The origin of the Lajes Field dates back to 1928, when Portuguese Army Lieutenant colonel Eduardo Gomes da Silva wrote a report on the possible construction of an airfield in the plainland of Lajes, for that branch's aviation service ( pt, Aeron ...
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Aviation In The Azores
Aviation in the Azores is part of the greater history of aviation in Portugal, and involves the historical use of the archipelago of the Azores by North American, South American and European pioneers of aviation. The Azores is strategically located in the centre of the North Atlantic Ocean between the continents of North America and Europe, and has played a historical role in trans-Atlantic navigation. The three primary airfields of the Azores are: * Santa Maria Airport, the historical hub of commercial air transport. * Lajes Field, the primary military services field, also serving civilian aviation. * Ponta Delgada (Nordela) João Paulo II Airport, the current hub of commercial air transport. Due to the relative distance between the islands of the archipelago, aviation is in many instances more viable than boat transportation, with inter-island flights being a crucial part of the Azorean infrastructure. History First World War The city of Horta was bombarded in December 1916, ...
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Raymond Henry Norweb
Raymond Henry Norweb (May 31, 1895 – October 4, 1983) was a United States diplomat with posts in various countries, including France, Bolivia, The Dominican Republic, Peru, Portugal and Cuba. In 1943 he was sent to Portugal, with the personal rank of Ambassador, to close the negotiations for the agreement between the United States and Portugal that allowed the United States to obtain a military base in the Azores, the Lajes Field, in time for the Azores to play a substantial role in the Far Eastern campaign. Biography Raymond Henry Norweb was born in England and moved to Elyria, Ohio with his family in 1907. He graduated from Harvard in 1916. He was a career diplomat, starting in 1917, in Paris, as second secretary to Ambassador William Graves Sharp. He was assigned to diplomatic posts in various countries, including France, Japan, the Netherlands, the Dutch East Indies, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Portugal and Bolivia. His last assignment was as ambassador to Cuba, 19 ...
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George F
George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States * George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States * George V, King of Great Britain, Ireland, the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 1910-1936 * George VI, King of Great Britain, Ireland, the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 1936-1952 * Prince George of Wales * George Papagheorghe also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorgio Moroder * George Harrison, an English musician and singer-songwriter Places South Africa * George, Western Cape ** George Airport United States * George, Iowa * George, Missouri * George, Washington * George County, Mississippi * George Air Force Base, a former U.S. Air Force base located in California Characters * George (Peppa Pig), a 2-year-old pig ...
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Submarine Communications Cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried telegraphy traffic, establishing the first instant telecommunications links between continents, such as the first transatlantic telegraph cable which became operational on 16 August 1858. Subsequent generations of cables carried telephone traffic, then data communications traffic. Modern cables use optical fibre technology to carry digital data, which includes telephone, Internet and private data traffic. Modern cables are typically about in diameter and weigh around for the deep-sea sections which comprise the majority of the run, although larger and heavier cables are used for shallow-water sections near shore. Submarine cables first connected all the world's continents (except Antarctica) when Java was connected to Darwin, Northern Terr ...
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Charles Medhurst
Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Edward Hastings Medhurst, (12 December 1896 – 18 October 1954) was a First World War Royal Flying Corps pilot on the Western Front and later a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. RAF career Medhurst was awarded Royal Aero Club pilot certificate No. 1437 on 13 July 1913. He was commissioned into The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on 16 June 1915 and in a few months was training to be a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps. He was soon operational on the Western Front flying the Nieuport Scout with No. 13 Squadron. In 1917 he became the officer commanding No. 14 Squadron operating in Palestine. On 1 August 1919 he was awarded a permanent commission as a captain in the Royal Air Force and by 1925 had attended the RAF Staff College. He became Officer Commanding No. 4 Squadron in 1930 and he joined the Directing Staff at the RAF Staff College in 1931 before becoming deputy director of Intelligence at the Air Ministry in 1935. He then went to Rome as ...
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São Miguel Island
São Miguel Island (; Portuguese language, Portuguese for "Saint Michael"), nicknamed "The Green Island" (''Ilha Verde''), is the largest and most populous island in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers and has around 140,000 inhabitants, with 45,000 people residing in Ponta Delgada, the archipelago's largest city. History In 1427, São Miguel became the second of the islands discovered by Gonçalo Velho Cabral to be settled by colonists from continental Portugal. This date is uncertain, as it is believed that the island was discovered between 1426 and 1437 and inscribed in portolans from the middle of the 15th century. Its discovery was later recorded by Priesthood (Catholic Church), Father Gaspar Frutuoso in the seminal history of the Azores, ''Saudades da Terra'', as he began: "This island of São Miguel where...we are, is mountainous and covered in ravines, and it was, when we discovered it, covered in trees...due to its humidity, with its ...
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Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promotion as a young Conservative member of Parliament, he became foreign secretary aged 38, before resigning in protest at Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy towards Mussolini's Fascist regime in Italy. He again held that position for most of the Second World War, and a third time in the early 1950s. Having been deputy to Winston Churchill for almost 15 years, Eden succeeded him as the leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister in 1955, and a month later won a general election. Eden's reputation as a skilled diplomat was overshadowed in 1956 when the United States refused to support the Anglo-French military response to the Suez Crisis, which critics across party lines regarded as a historic setback for British foreign poli ...
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