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RAF Riccall
RAF Riccall is a former Royal Air Force airfield located north east of Selby, North Yorkshire and south west of Elvington, North Yorkshire, England. History The airfield was opened in September 1942 as a satellite to RAF Marston Moor. It had three runways of the A-style airfield; the longest was long, the second was long and the third was long. All were wide. The technical site consisted of six T2 hangars and one B1 hangar. The first runways built on the site sank into the soft earth of the low-lying ground, and had to be built back up again. During October 1942, No. 76 and No. 80 Conversion Flights (along with No. 10 Conversion Flight from another airfield) joined together to make No. 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF. The following units were based at the airfield: * No. 35 Maintenance Unit RAF. * No. 91 Maintenance Unit RAF. * No. 261 Maintenance Unit RAF. * No. 268 Maintenance Unit RAF. * No. 939 (West Riding) Balloon Squadron AAF. * No. 1332 (Transport) Heavy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ensign Of The Royal Air Force
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be different from the civil ensign (merchant ships) or the yacht ensign (recreational boats). Large versions of naval ensigns called battle ensigns are used when a warship goes into battle. The ensign differs from the jack (flag), jack, which is flown from a jackstaff at the bow of a vessel. In its widest sense, an ensign is just a flag or other standard. The European military rank of Ensign (rank), ensign, once responsible for bearing a unit's standard (whether national or regimental), derives from it (in the cavalry, the equivalent rank was Cornet (rank), cornet, named after a type of flag). Ensigns, such as the ancient Roman ensigns in the Arch of Constantine, are not always flags. National ensigns In nautical use, the ensign is flown on a shi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Marston Moor
RAF Marston Moor was a Royal Air Force airfield at Tockwith, North Yorkshire, during the Second World War. It was originally called RAF Tockwith, but confusion with RAF Topcliffe led to the name change. RAF Marston Moor was opened on 11 November 1941, the airfield and RAF Church Fenton were the closest airfields to West Yorkshire and would act as a defence should Leeds be attacked. As it happens Leeds was seldom bombed. In 1943, Group Captain Leonard Cheshire was made the station commander. He requested to be transferred to the command of 617 Squadron in November 1943, a vacancy created by the loss of George Holden in July of that year. The move required him to voluntarily step down in rank from group captain to wing commander, which he did. Marston Moor was also in control of RAF Rufforth and RAF Riccall. During the war, American actor Clark Gable was stationed at the airfield before being relocated to RAF Polebrook. Based units During the Second World War the airfield was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selby Coalfield
Selby coalfield (also known as the Selby complex, or Selby 'superpit') was a large-scale deep underground mine complex based around Selby, North Yorkshire, England, with pitheads at ''Wistow Mine'', ''Stillingfleet Mine'', ''Riccall Mine'', ''North Selby Mine'', ''Whitemoor Mine'' and at ''Gascoigne Wood Mine''; all coal was brought to the surface and treated at Gascoigne Wood, being distributed onwards by rail. The primary purpose of the pit was to supply coal for electrical power generation; much of it was used in the nearby Aire valley power stations. Mining peaked in 1993–4 at 12 million tonnes a year. The mines were acquired by RJB Mining in 1997 after the privatisation of the coal industry; loss of financial subsidy, geological problems, and low UK coal prices made the pits unprofitable by the 21st century. Closure was announced in 2002, and mining completely ceased by 2004. History In 1974, the Labour Government and National Coal Board (NCB), backed by the Nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skipwith Common
Skipwith Common is a national nature reserve south of Skipwith, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only three areas within the Vale of York that represent what the area was like before intensive agriculture took over. Natural England have described the reserve as having "international importance" on account of "its wet and dry heathland". The site used to be common land, and has seen use in the Bronze Age, during the Early modern European period, when it was harvested for peat, and during the 20th century when it was partly incorporated into an airfield during the Second World War. The site was given the designation of SSSI in 1958, SAC in 2004 and NNR in 2010. History In the 18th century, Skipwith Common covered an area of and curved eastwards around the village. The modern-day site, which covers , was formerly part of RAF Riccall, and is above sea level, sandwiched between the Rivers Ouse and Derwent, forming part of the watershed between the two. It can be defin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
York & District Flying Group
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a minster, castle, and city walls. It is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the wider City of York district. The city was founded under the name of Eboracum in 71 AD. It then became the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and later of the kingdoms of Deira, Northumbria, and Scandinavian York. In the Middle Ages, it became the northern England ecclesiastical province's centre, and grew as a wool-trading centre. In the 19th century, it became a major railway network hub and confectionery manufacturing centre. During the Second World War, part of the Baedeker Blitz bombed the city; it was less affected by the war than other northern cities, with several historic buildings being gutted and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment
The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AFEE) was a branch of the British Air Ministry, that researched and developed non-traditional airborne applications, such as gliders, rotary wing aircraft, and dropping of personnel and equipment by parachute, in the period 1942–1950. Formation (1942) On 15 February 1942, the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment was formed as a reorganisation of the Airborne Forces Establishment, that itself was a September 1941 renaming of the Central Landing Establishment. The AFEE was initially based at RAF Ringway as part of No. 70 Group RAF, with two flying units, A Flight and B Flight. At Ringway, one of the existing projects was the Hafner Rotachute, a rotor kite (unpowered autogiro) that was planned to deliver an armed soldier to a battlefield more accurately and reliably than conventional parachute methods. During 1941, unmanned models had already completed ground-based tests plus some releases from aircraft in flight.Sturtivant 200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Class A Airfield
Class A airfields were World War II military installations constructed to specifications laid down by the British Air Ministry Directorate-General of Works (AMDGW). Intended for use by heavy bombers and transports, they were the standard air base design for the Royal Air Force as well as U.S. Army Air Forces units operating from the UK. Upon the entry of the US into the war a number of RAF Class A bases were transferred to the U.S. Eighth Air Force for use as heavy bomber bases with the RAF units formerly occupying them being redeployed to other RAF bomber airfields, and U.S. Army Engineer Units constructed more airfields to this standard or brought earlier airfields up to this specification by lengthening runways, etc. Many units of the U.S. Ninth Air Force also flew from Class A airfields. The term Class 'A' came about because, quite often, the resultant aerial shot of the crossed runways would look like the letter A. Design The specifications set by the British Air Ministr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The English language, the Anglican Church, and Engli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State for Air. Organisations before the Air Ministry The Air Committee On 13 April 1912, less than two weeks after the creation of the Royal Flying Corps (which initially consisted of both a naval and a military wing), an Air Committee was established to act as an intermediary between the Admiralty and the War Office in matters relating to aviation. The new Air Committee was composed of representatives of the two war ministries, and although it could make recommendations, it lacked executive authority. The recommendations of the Air Committee had to be ratified by the Admiralty Board and the Imperial General Staff and, in consequence, the Committee was not particularly effective. The increasing separation of army and naval aviation from 191 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elvington, City Of York
Elvington is a village and civil parish approximately south-east of York, England, on the B1228 York-Howden road. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,212, it increased to 1,239 at the 2011 Census. The River Derwent forms part of the parish boundary and the historic Sutton Bridge connects Elvington with Sutton upon Derwent. The village has three separate large industrial estates including a site for Yara International, a Norwegian chemical company. Elvington was in the East Riding of Yorkshire until local government boundary changes in 1974, when it became part of the Selby District in North Yorkshire. In 1996 it became part of the City of York unitary authority. History The village is mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', which states that in 1086 Ulfketill had six carucates of land taxable, where three ploughs were possible. There is a mention of the church, which is Norman in origin and exists in part today. Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selby
Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. Selby once had a large shipbuilding industry, and was an important port on the Selby Canal which brought trade from Leeds. History The town's origins date from the establishment of a Viking settlement on the banks of the River Ouse. Archaeological investigations in Selby have revealed extensive remains, including waterlogged deposits in the core of the town dating from the Roman period onwards. It is believed that Selby originated as a settlement called Seletun which was referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of AD 779. The place-name 'Selby' is first attested in a Yorkshire charter , where it appears as ''Seleby''. It appears as ''Selbi'' . The name is thought to be a Scandinavian form of Seletun, meaning ' sallow tree settlemen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
