Operation Orator
Operation Orator was the code name for the defence of the Allied Arctic convoy Convoy PQ 18, PQ 18 by United Kingdom, British and Australian air force units, based temporarily in North-West Russia, against attack by the German battleship and other surface vessels. The wing, known as the Search & Strike Force, was commanded by Group Captain Frank Hopps and its maritime strike element was the Leuchars Wing, comprising No. 144 Squadron RAF, No. 144 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF) and No. 455 Squadron RAAF, No. 455 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) equipped with Handley-Page Hampden TB 1 torpedo bombers. The Hampden crews made a long and dangerous flight from bases in Scotland (4–5 September) and assembled at Vaenga airfield on the Kola Inlet, north of Murmansk. The two squadrons lost nine aircraft shot down or crashed in transit but the remainder joined a detachment of No. 210 Squadron RAF, 210 Squadron Consolidated PBY Catalina, Catalina flying boats and a s ...
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Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvat ...
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