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Popski's Private Army
Popski's Private Army, officially No. 1 Demolition Squadron, PPA, was a unit of British Special Forces set up in Cairo in October 1942 by Major Vladimir Peniakoff. Popski's Private Army was one of several raiding units formed in the Western Desert during the Second World War. The squadron also served in Italy, and was disbanded in September 1945. No. 1 Demolition Squadron was formed specifically to attack Field Marshal Rommel's fuel supplies, in support of General Montgomery’s offensive at El Alamein,Peniakoff, 1950. p. 204. at the suggestion of Lieutenant-Colonel John Hackett. The unit became operational on 10 December 1942 as an 8th Army Special Forces unit. After the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and the Special Air Service (SAS), PPA was the last and smallest of the three main irregular raiding, reconnaissance, and intelligence units formed during the North African Campaign. Actor Christopher Lee, who served as an RAF intelligence officer during the Second World War, stat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Hackett (British Army Officer)
General Sir John Winthrop Hackett, (5 November 1910 – 9 September 1997) was an Australian-born British soldier, painter, university administrator, author and in later life, a commentator. Early life Hackett, nicknamed "Shan", was born in Perth, Western Australia. His Irish Australian father, also named Sir John Winthrop Hackett (1848–1916), originally from Tipperary, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin (B.A., 1871; M.A., 1874), and he emigrated to Australia in 1875, eventually settling in Western Australia in 1882, where he became a newspaper proprietor and editor and a politician.Lyall Hunt (1983'Hackett, Sir John Winthrop (1848–1916)' Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, (MUP). His mother was Deborah Drake-Brockman whose parents were prominent members of Western Australian society. Her six siblings included Grace Bussell, famous for rescuing shipwreck survivors as a teenager and Frederick Slade Drake-Brockman, a prominent surveyor and explorer. On 3 Au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pip, Squeak And Wilfred
''Pip, Squeak and Wilfred'' was a British strip cartoon published in the ''Daily Mirror'' from 1919 to 1956 (with a break c. 1940–1950), as well as the '' Sunday Pictorial'' in the early years. It was conceived by Bertram Lamb, who took the role of Uncle Dick, signing himself (B.J.L.) in an early book, and was drawn until c. 1939 by Austin Bowen Payne, who always signed as A. B. Payne. It concerned the adventures of an orphaned family of animals. Pip, who assumed the "father" role, was a dog, while the "mother", Squeak, was a penguin. Wilfred was the "young son" and was a rabbit with very long ears. Character beginnings The characters Pip, Squeak and Wilfred were created by Bertram Lamb, a journalist on the ''Daily Mirror'', who was born in Islington, London, on 14 May 1887 and died in Switzerland in 1938. He never drew the cartoons, but thought up the idea of the characters. The origins of the characters are mentioned in the cartoon strips. Squeak was found in the London Zo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is distinct from both pseudonym and stage name, and also from a title (for example, City of Fountains), although there may be overlap in these concepts. Etymology The compound word ''ekename'', literally meaning "additional name", was attested as early as 1303. This word was derived from the Old English phrase ''eac'' "also", related to ''eacian'' "to increase". By the 15th century, the misdivision of the syllables of the phrase "an ekename" led to its rephrasing as "a nekename". Though the spelling has changed, the pronunciation and meaning of the word have remained relatively stable ever since. Conventions in various languages English nicknames are generally represented in quotes between the bearer's first and last names (e.g., '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC is granted in recognition of "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land" to all members of the British Armed Forces of any rank. In 1979, the Queen approved a proposal that a number of awards, including the Military Cross, could be recommended posthumously. History The award was created on 28 December 1914 for commissioned officers of the substantive rank of captain or below and for warrant officers. The first 98 awards were gazetted on 1 January 1915, to 71 officers, and 27 warrant officers. Although posthumous recommendations for the Military Cross were unavailable until 1979, the first awards included seven posthumous awards, with the word 'deceased' after the name of the recipient, from rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between longitudes E16 and E25, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, also known as '' Pentapolis'' ("Five Cities") in antiquity, was part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica, later divided into ''Libya Pentapolis'' and ''Libya Sicca''. During the Islamic period, the area came to be known as ''Barqa'', after the city of Barca. Cyrenaica became an Italian colony in 1911. After the 1934 formation of Libya, the Cyrenaica province was designated as one of the three primary provinces of the country. During World War II, it fell under British military and civil administration from 1943 until 1951, and finally in the Kingdom of Libya from 1951 until 1963. The region that used to be Cyrenaica officially until 1963 has formed seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jebel Akhdar, Libya
The Jebel Akhdar ( ar, الجبل الأخضر , en, The Green Mountain) is a heavily forested, fertile upland area in northeastern Libya. It is located in the modern ''shabiyahs'' or districts of Derna, Jabal al Akhdar, and Marj. Geography The Jebel Akhdar consists of a mountainous plateau rising to an altitude of , cut by several valleys and wadis. It forms the north-western part of the peninsula that sticks north into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Gulf of Sidra on the west, and the Levantine Basin on the east. It runs from Bengazi eastward to just east of Derna, fronting the coast for about . Due to erosion and deposition the plateau is sometimes as much as from the shore, but it forms cliffs on the headlands. The final uplift and arching of the plateau was completed in the Miocene. The region is one of the very few forested areas of Libya, which taken as a whole is one of the least forested countries on Earth. It is the wettest part of Libya, receiving some of pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libyan Arab Force Commando
Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The Libyan population resides in the country of Libya, a territory located on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, to the west of and adjacent to Egypt. Libyans live in Tripoli. It is the capital of the country and first in terms of urban population, as well as Benghazi, Libya's second largest city. History Historically Berber, over the centuries, Libya has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Italians. The Phoenicians had a big impact on Libya. Many of the coastal towns and cities of Libya were founded by the Phoenicians as trade outposts within the southern Mediterranean coast in order to facilitate the Phoenician business activities in the area. Starting in the 8th century BC, Libya was under the rule of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libyan Arab Force
The Libyan Arab Force, also known as the known as the Sanusi Army, consisting of five infantry battalions made up of volunteers, was established to aid the British war effort. With the exception of one military engagement near to Benghazi, this force's role did not extend beyond support and gendarmerie duties. It was initially known as the British Arab Force and was renamed the Cyrenaica Defence Force in March 1943. Following the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Idris of Libya supported the United Kingdom—which was now at war with Italy—in the hope of ridding his country of Italian occupation. He argued that even if the Italians were victorious, the situation for the Libyan people would be no different than it had been before the war. Delegates from both the Cyrenaicans and Tripolitanians agreed that Idris should conclude agreements with the British that they would gain independence in return for support during the war. Vladimir Peniakoff was commissioned as a second lieut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government's foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security". The R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intelligence Officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a "police officer" can also be a sergeant, or in the military, in which non-commissioned personnel may serve as intelligence officers. Organizations which employ intelligence officers include armed forces, police, and customs agencies. Sources of intelligence Intelligence officers make use of a variety of sources of information, including ; Communications intelligence (COMINT): Eavesdropping and interception of communications (e.g., by wiretapping) including signals intelligence (SIGINT) and electronic intelligence (ELINT). ; Financial intelligence (FININT): The gathering of information about the financial affairs of entities of interest. ; Human intelligence (HUMINT): Derived from covert human intelligence sources ( Covert Human Intellige ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimately playing the role nine times. His other film roles include Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film '' The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974), Count Dooku in several ''Star Wars'' films (2002–2008), and Saruman in both the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' film trilogy (2012–2014). Lee was knighted for services to drama and charity in 2009, received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011, and received the BFI Fellowship in 2013. He credited three films for making his name as an actor, ''A Tale of Two Cities'' (1958), in which he played the villainous marquis, and two horror films, ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957), and '' Dracula'' (1958). He considered his best performance to be that of Pakistan' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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