|
Social Impact Of Friendly American Forces On Rural England
Since 1942 the United States has maintained air bases in the United Kingdom. Major Commands of the USAF having bases in the United Kingdom were the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Strategic Air Command (SAC), and Air Mobility Command (AMC). Origins The origins of the United States Air Force in the UK can be traced to a series of agreements made between 27 January and 27 March 1941 which provided for American naval, ground and air support for campaigns against Nazi Germany. As a result, a special U.S. Army Observer Group was activated in London on 19 May 1941. One of the first tasks of that unit was to reconnoitre areas regarded as potential sites for United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) installations. On 2 January 1942 the order activating the Eighth Air Force was signed and the headquarters was formed at Savannah, Georgia on 28 January. On 8 January the activation of U.S. Forces in the British Isles (USAFBI) was announced, and VIII Bomber Command (VIII BC) was e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roundel Of The USAF
A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of different colours. Other symbols also often use round shapes. Heraldry In heraldry, a ''roundel'' is a circular charge. ''Roundels'' are among the oldest charges used in coats of arms, dating from at least the twelfth century. Roundels in British heraldry have different names depending on their tincture. Thus, while a roundel may be blazoned by its tincture, e.g., ''a roundel vert'' (literally "a roundel green"), it is more often described by a single word, in this case ''pomme'' (literally "apple", from the French) or, from the same origins, ''pomeis''—as in "Vert; on a cross Or five pomeis". One special example of a named roundel is the fountain, depicted as ''a roundel barry wavy argent and azure'', that is, containing alternating horizo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Daws Hill
RAF Daws Hill was a Ministry of Defence site, located near High Wycombe and Flackwell Heath, in Buckinghamshire, England, close to the M40 motorway. The station was established in 1942 on land owned by Wycombe Abbey School, for use by the United States military. Initially used by the United States Army Air Forces, RAF Daws Hill was used in its later years by the United States Navy. It became an important part of US defence in the United Kingdom during the 1980s, housing a nuclear bunker with a control centre for the direction of nuclear bombers and cruise missiles. As a result of this and the wider presence of US nuclear weapons on British soil during the 1980s and 1990s, the site became home to a peace camp between 1982 and 1985. Following a review of Ministry of Defence properties in the south-east of England, the station closed in 2007 and the site was sold to a property developer in 2011. The station's nuclear bunker received Grade II* listed status from English Heritage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Wethersfield
MDP Wethersfield is a Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence facility in Essex, England, located north of the village of Wethersfield, Essex, Wethersfield, about north-west of the town of Braintree, Essex, Braintree. Originally an RAF station, the original accommodation areas have now been converted to become the headquarters and training centre of the Ministry of Defence Police. It started as RAF Station Wethersfield opening in 1944 and during World War II it was used by the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. It was closed in 1946, and was reopened in 1951 as a result of the Cold War. Used until 1970 as a United States Air Force fighter airfield, it was held as a reserve airfield until 1993, when it came under control of the Ministry of Defence Police. History Use by the USAAF RAF Wethersfield was allocated by the RAF to the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force in August 1942. For security reasons, it was known as USAAF Station ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles De Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 in order to restore democracy in France. In 1958, he came out of retirement when appointed President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position to which he was reelected in 1965 and held until his resignation in 1969. Born in Lille, he graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1912. He was a decorated officer of the First World War, wounded several times and later taken prisoner at Verdun. During the interwar period, he advocated mobile armoured divisions. During the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armoured divisio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Alconbury
Royal Air Force Alconbury or more simply RAF Alconbury is an active Royal Air Force station near Huntingdon, England. The airfield is in the civil parish of The Stukeleys, close to the villages of Great Stukeley, Little Stukeley, and Alconbury. Flying operations are no longer based at the site, with most of the land, including the runway, having been sold in 2009 to become the new settlement of Alconbury Weald. History Opened in 1938 for use by RAF Bomber Command, the station has been used from 1942 by the United States Army Air Force. It was occupied by the 93d Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force: visitors included King George VI who visited the site and saw the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses there on 13 November 1942. It was announced by The Pentagon on 8 January 2015 that RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth would be closing by 2020. Most of the units at Alconbury and Molesworth will be moved to RAF Croughton, along with the personnel. However, changing security conditions in Eu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p. 301. Proving highly adaptable, it entered service with the Navy in 1961 before it was adopted by the United States Marine Corps and the United States Air Force, and by the mid-1960s it had become a major part of their air arms. Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981 with a total of 5,195 aircraft built, making it the most produced American supersonic military aircraft in history, and cementing its position as an iconic combat aircraft of the Cold War."F-4 Phantoms Phabulous 40th" Boeing. Retrieved : 27 November 2012. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boeing B-47 Stratojet
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. The primary mission of the B-47 was as a nuclear bomber capable of striking targets within the Soviet Union. Development of the B-47 can be traced back to a requirement expressed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in 1943 for a reconnaissance bomber that harnessed newly developed jet propulsion. Another key innovation adopted during the development process was the swept wing, drawing upon captured German research. With its engines carried in nacelles underneath the wing, the B-47 represented a major innovation in post-World War II combat jet design, and contributed to the development of modern jet airliners. Suitably impressed, in April 1946, the USAAF ordered two prototypes, designated "XB-47"; on 17 December 1947, the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carswell Air Force Base
Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings. Carswell was a major Strategic Air Command (SAC) base during the Cold War. It was the headquarters of several SAC intercontinental bombardment wings, equipped with the latest heavy bombers from B-29 Superfortresses; B-36 Peacemakers and B-52 Stratofortresses. The west side of the airfield was home to United States Air Force Plant 4, a industrial complex occupied over the decades by Convair, General Dynamics, and now by Lockheed Martin. The bulk of the Air Force Convair B-36, B-58 Hustler, F-111 Aardvark, EF-111 Raven and F-16 Fighting Falcon fleets were built there. With the end of the Cold War and the subsequent downsizing of the American military, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission of 1991 recommended that Carswell AFB be c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convair B-36
The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" is a strategic bomber that was built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built, at . The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal from inside its four bomb bays without aircraft modifications. With a range of and a maximum payload of , the B-36 was capable of intercontinental flight without refuelling. Entering service in 1948, the B-36 was the primary nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was replaced by the jet-powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress beginning in 1955. All but four aircraft have been scrapped. Development The genesis of the B-36 can be traced to early 1941, prior to the entry of the United States into World War II. At the time, the threat existed that Britain might fall to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Lakenheath
Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, north-east of Mildenhall and west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon. Despite being an RAF station, Lakenheath currently only hosts United States Air Force (USAF) units and personnel. The host wing is the 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW), also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). The wing operates the F-15E Strike Eagle and the F-35A Lightning II. History First World War The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was during the First World War, when the area was made into a bombing and ground-attack range for aircraft flying from RFC Feltwell and RFC Thetford. Second World War In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for nearby RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield. Surfaced runways were constructed in 1941 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Waddington
Royal Air Force Waddington otherwise known as RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located beside the village of Waddington, south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire in England. The station is the RAF's Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) hub and is home to a fleet of aircraft composed of the Shadow R1, RC-135W Rivet Joint and operating base for the RAF's MQ-9 Reaper. Since October 2022, it has also been home to the RAF's Aerobatic Team the Red Arrows. History First World War RAF Waddington opened as a Royal Flying Corps flying training station in 1916. Student pilots, including members of the US Army, were taught to fly a variety of aircraft. The station came under the control of the Royal Air Force when it was created on 1 April 1918. It operated until 1920, when the station went into care and maintenance. During and after the First World War, the following squadrons operated from Waddington. * No. 82 Squadron RFC between 30 Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Scampton
Royal Air Force Scampton or RAF Scampton is a Royal Air Force station located adjacent to the A15 road near to the village of Scampton, Lincolnshire, and north-west of the city of Lincoln, England. RAF Scampton stands on the site of a First World War Royal Flying Corps landing field, which had been called Brattleby. The station was closed and returned to agriculture following the First World War, and reactivated in the 1930s. It has provided an airfield for fighters in the First World War, bombers during the Second World War and V-force Avro Vulcans during the Cold War. Since the temporary closure of RAF Scampton in 1996, and subsequent reactivation, the station has provided a home for the RAF Aerobatic Team the Red Arrows, and to private companies, temporarily, such as Hawker Hunter Aviation, for the maintenance and storage of aircraft. In July 2018, the Ministry of Defence announced that Scampton would close by 2022 and be sold, with all units relocated elsewhere. Histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
