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Richard Lonsdale
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Thomas Henry Lonsdale, (27 December 1913 – 23 November 1988) was an officer of the British Army who served with the Parachute Regiment throughout much of the Second World War. Born in 1913, Lonsdale initially entered the British Army in the 1930s as a private before attending Royal Military College, Sandhurst and being commissioned as an officer in the Leicestershire Regiment. In 1938, while serving with his regiment in Waziristan, he was awarded the Military Cross. After the outbreak of the Second World War he was a founding member of the 151st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment in India. By 1943 he had been promoted to lead A Company of the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment and served with distinction in the Allied invasion of Sicily. After returning to England he was made second in command of the 11th Battalion, Parachute Regiment in 1944, shortly before flying to Arnhem with the rest of the 4th Parachute Brigade and 1st Airborne Divisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aldershot Military Cemetery
Aldershot Military Cemetery is a burial ground for military personnel, or ex-military personnel and their families, located in Aldershot#Aldershot Military Town, Aldershot Military Town, Hampshire. The cemetery was created in 1850s by the Royal Engineers during the building of Aldershot military camp. Nearly 17,000 service personnel of nine nations are laid to rest in the cemetery. There are 692 First World War graves; the earliest bears the date 5 August 1914, and the last 11 August 1921 (many of these graves are in plot AF). The 129 Second World War graves are in groups in various plots, the largest group in plot A containing 86 graves. The cemetery remains in active use as a military cemetery run by Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence, with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintaining the graves of the fallen for the First and Second World Wars. As of 2003 it is a Grade II* listed building. History In the early 1850s the British Army chose Aldersh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas, and 28,330 volunteer reserve personnel. The modern British Army traces back to 1707, with antecedents in the English Army and Scots Army that were created during the Restoration in 1660. The term ''British Army'' was adopted in 1707 after the Acts of Union between England and Scotland. Members of the British Army swear allegiance to the monarch as their commander-in-chief, but the Bill of Rights of 1689 and Claim of Right Act 1689 require parliamentary consent for the Crown to maintain a peacetime standing army. Therefore, Parliament approves the army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years. The army is administered by the Ministry of Defence and commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. The Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King's African Rifles
The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions within the colonial territories, and served outside these territories during the World Wars. The rank and file ( askaris) were drawn from native inhabitants, while most of the officers were seconded from the British Army. When the KAR was first raised there were some Sudanese officers in the battalions raised in Uganda, and native officers were commissioned towards the end of British colonial rule. Uniforms Until independence, the parade uniform of the KAR comprised khaki drill, with tall fezzes and cummerbunds. Both of the latter items were normally red, although there were some battalion distinctions with Nyasaland units, for example, wearing black fezzes. Prior to 1914, the regiment's field service uniforms consisted of a dark blue j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Arnhem
The Battle of Arnhem was a battle of the Second World War at the vanguard of the Allied Operation Market Garden. It was fought in and around the Dutch city of Arnhem, the town of Oosterbeek, the villages Wolfheze and Driel and the vicinity from 17 to 26 September 1944. The Allies were poised to enter the Netherlands after sweeping through France and Belgium in the summer of 1944, after the Battle of Normandy. Operation Market Garden was proposed by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, who favoured a single push northwards over the branches of the Lower Rhine River, allowing the British Second Army to bypass the Siegfried Line and attack the Ruhr. US Airborne troops were dropped in the Netherlands to secure bridges and towns along the line of the Allied advance. Farthest north, the British 1st Airborne Division landed at Arnhem to capture bridges across the Nederrijn (Lower Rhine), supported by men of the Glider Pilot Regiment and the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade. The Briti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)
The 1st Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was formed in late 1941 during the Second World War, after the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, demanded an airborne force, and was initially under command of Major-General Frederick A. M. Browning. The division was one of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, with the other being the 6th Airborne Division, created in May 1943, using former units of the 1st Airborne Division. The division's first two missions—Operation Biting, a parachute landing in France, and Operation Freshman, a glider mission in Norway—were both raids. Part of the division was sent to North Africa at the end of 1942, where it fought in the Tunisian Campaign, and when the Allies invaded Sicily in July 1943, the division undertook two brigade sized landings. The first, Operation Ladbroke, carried out by glider infantry of the 1st Airlanding Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)
The 4th Parachute Brigade was an airborne, specifically a parachute infantry, brigade formation of the British Army during the Second World War. Formed in late 1942 in the Mediterranean and Middle East, the brigade was composed of three parachute infantry units, the 10th, 11th and 156th Parachute Battalions. The brigade was assigned to the 1st Airborne Division, just prior to the Allied invasion of Sicily, but played no part in the invasion. Instead the brigade first saw action in September 1943, during Operation Slapstick, an amphibious landing at the port of Taranto, as part of the early stages of the Allied invasion of Italy. Largely unopposed, the brigade captured the ports of Brindisi and Bari before being withdrawn. By the end of the year, the 4th Parachute Brigade was in England, preparing for the Allied invasion of North-West Europe. The brigade did not see action in France, being instead placed on standby for an emergency during the Normandy landings. Between June a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of the rivers Nederrijn and Sint-Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem had a population of 163.972 on 1 December 2021, which made it one of the larger cities of the Netherlands. The municipality is part of the Arnhem–Nijmegen metropolitan area, which has a combined number of 774,506 inhabitants on 31 January 2022. Arnhem is home to the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Netherlands Open Air Museum, Airborne Museum 'Hartenstein', Royal Burgers' Zoo, NOC*NSF and National Sports Centre Papendal. The north corner of the municipality is part of the Hoge Veluwe National Park. It is approximately in area, consisting of heathlands, sand dunes, and woodlands. History Early history T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
11th Parachute Battalion (United Kingdom)
The 11th Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, raised by the British Army in World War II. The battalion was formed in the Middle East and was assigned to the 4th Parachute Brigade, 1st Airborne Division. As it was still training it was left behind when the rest of the brigade took part in the invasion of Italy. One company later parachuted onto the island of Kos taking prisoner the large Italian garrison. The battalion rejoined the rest of the 1st Airborne Division, then in England. The only battle in which the battalion participated was the Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden, in September 1944. The battalion sustained very heavy casualties and was disbanded following the battle and the men were used as replacements elsewhere. After the Second World War a reserve 11th Battalion was formed by the Territorial Army (TA) in 1947, but it was disbanded nine years later. Formation Impressed by the success of German airbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allied Invasion Of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It began with a large amphibious and airborne operation, followed by a six-week land campaign, and initiated the Italian campaign. To divert some of the Axis forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in several deception operations, the most famous and successful of which was Operation Mincemeat. Husky began on the night of 9–10 July 1943 and ended on 17 August. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners; the Allies drove Axis air, land and naval forces from the island and the Mediterranean sea lanes were opened for Allied merchant ships for the first time since 1941. These events led to the Italian leader, Benito Mussolini, being toppled from power in Italy on 25 July, and to the Allied invasion of Italy on 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment
The Second Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 PARA), is a battalion-sized formation of the Parachute Regiment, part of the British Army, and subordinate unit within 16th Air Assault Brigade whose Commanding Officer for the period 2013-2016 was Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Kingsbury OBE. 2 PARA is an airborne light infantry unit capable of a wide range of operational tasks, based at Merville Barracks, Colchester Garrison, England. Personnel regularly deploy outside the United Kingdom on operations and training. History The 2nd Battalion was formed on 30 September 1941, as the 2nd Parachute Battalion, and later became part of the Army Air Corps. The battalion took part in its first active operation over the night of 27–28 February 1942, Operation Biting, the raid on Bruneval in France.see In honour of the operation, C Company of the battalion took the nickname 'C (Bruneval) Company'. On 1 August of the same year, the battalion was renamed the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himself employed by the British East India company from the age of seventeen until the British government assumed direct rule over India in 1858." * * and lasted from 1858 to 1947. * * The region under British control was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and areas ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British paramountcy, called the princely states. The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire, though not officially. As ''India'', it was a founding member of the League of Nations, a participating nation in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936, and a founding member of the United Nations in San F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
156th Parachute Battalion (United Kingdom)
The 156th Parachute Battalion was a battalion of the Parachute Regiment raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was formed in 1941 from volunteers serving in India initially numbered the 151st Parachute Battalion and assigned to the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade. It was then decided they were no longer required in India, so the battalion was renumbered the 156th Parachute Battalion and moved to the Middle East to join the 4th Parachute Brigade, 1st Airborne Division. The battalion fought briefly in the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943 and a year later in the Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden, where heavy casualties resulted in the disbanding of the battalion, the few surviving men being distributed amongst the battalions of the 1st Parachute Brigade. Formation Impressed by the success of German airborne operations, during the Battle of France, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, directed the War Office to inve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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