Thompson, Bulgaria
Thompson ( bg, Томпсън ; also transliterated ''Tompsan'', ''Tompsun'', ''Tompsǎn'' or ''Tompson'') is a village in central western Bulgaria, part of Svoge municipality, Sofia Province. As of 2008, it has a population of 838 and the mayor is Kiril Tsvetanov. Thompson lies at , 729 metres above mean sea level. The village lies in the scenic Iskar Gorge of the western Balkan Mountains. It is a railway station on the Bulgarian State Railways' Sofia-Mezdra railway line. It was founded shortly after World War II through the merger of the neighbouring villages of Livage, Lipata, Tsarevi Stragi, Malak Babul, Babul and Zavoya. The village was named for a British officer William Frank Thompson (1920–1944), who served as liaison officer between the British Army and the Bulgarian communist partisans during the war, who was captured by the Bulgarian Gendarmerie and executed in nearby Litakovo on 10 June 1944. The village has two monuments to Major Thompson, one unveiled on 13 May 200 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Desiro On The Sofia-Lakatnik Line, 14 February 2012
The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, Desiro ML, Desiro UK and the later Desiro City, Desiro HC and Desiro RUS. The trains are mostly used for commuter and regional services, and their rapid acceleration makes them suitable for services with short distances between stations. The design is flexible, and has become common in many European countries. Desiro Classic Austria Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) is using 60 diesel-powered Desiro trains designated as ÖBB 5022. These are based on the Class 642 used by Deutsche Bahn, but have some additional safety equipment. Bulgaria In 2005 and 2006, the Bulgarian State Railways began operating Desiro trains as part of a 67 million Euro deal with Siemens AG for a total of 25 Diesel multiple units. As of 22 March 2006, 16 trains had been delivered, with many of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mezdra
Mezdra ( bg, Мездра ) is a town in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Vratsa Province. It is located on the left bank of the Iskar River just north of its gorge through the Balkan Mountains. History Although the area around it has been inhabited continuously since prehistoric times, Mezdra remained a small village of 86 residents (1881 census) and continued to decline (76 residents in 1888) until 1893, when the construction of the Sofia- Varna railway began, with workers from all around the country arriving to update the infrastructure. As the village became an important railway junction with the opening of the railway on 20 February 1897, its population grew substantially. Mezdra had a population of 311 in 1900 and 1,015 in 1920. Although it formally remained a village until proclaimed a town on 31 August 1950, Mezdra acquired the appearance of a small town through the work of architects who studied in Western Europe and established the Western European style in the village. T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bulgarian Gendarmerie
The Bulgarian Gendarmerie' (Жандармерия – ''Zhandarmeriya'') is part of the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs or "MIA". (Bulgarian: ''"Министерство на вътрешните работи"'' or "МВР", pronounced ''evere'). It forms part of the country's National Police Service. The Genderarmerie originated from the Interior Troops of the MIA after the transition period from a socialist regime to democracy between 1989 and 1991. It was organised as a National Service "Gendarmerie", equal in status and independent from the National Service "Police". It was a militarized special police force, deployed to secure important facilities and buildings, to respond to riots, and to counter militant threats. Its agents are trained to operate in both urban and wilderness environments so as to be able to carry out a wide range of duties. For riot duty the commandos are equipped with Makarov 9x18 pistols, protective gear, gas grenades, police sticks and non-le ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange which allocates products to everyone in the society.: "One widespread distinction was that socialism socialised production only while communism socialised production and consumption." Communist society also involves the absence of private property, social classes, money, and the state. Communists often seek a voluntary state of self-governance, but disagree on the means to this end. This reflects a distinction between a more libertarian approach of communization, revolutionary spontaneity, and workers' self-management, and a more vanguardist or communist party-driven approach through the development of a constitutional socialist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 British ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Liaison Officer
A Liaison officer is a person who liaises between two or more organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities on a matter of mutual concern. Generally, liaison officers are used for achieving the best utilization of resources, or employment of services of one organization by another. Liaison officers often provide technical or subject matter expertise of their parent organization. Usually, an organization embeds or attaches a liaison officer into another organization to provide face-to-face coordination. Military Liaison Officers (MLO) In the military, liaison officers may coordinate activities to protect units from collateral damage Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts. Since the development of precision guided .... They also work to achieve mutual understanding or unity of effort among disparate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Frank Thompson
Major William Frank Thompson (17 August 1920 – 10 June 1944) was a British officer who acted as a liaison between the British Army and the Bulgarian communist partisans during the Second World War. Early life, family, and education Thompson was born in Darjeeling, Bengal Presidency, British India to a British missionary family. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. Freeman Dyson, a fellow pupil at Winchester, has described Thompson's extraordinary facility with diverse languages and that "Frank was the largest, the loudest, the most uninhibited and the most brilliant." Dyson "learned from him more than I learned from anybody else at the school". His younger brother, E.P. Thompson, was an English historian, socialist and peace campaigner. Second World War In 1939, while studying at the University of Oxford, he became a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain under the influence of his close friend Iris Murdoch. Despite his affiliation, he did ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 European mainland, 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 List of islands of the United Kingdom, smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, 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 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War II
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million Military personnel, 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. Air warfare of World War II, Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in hu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Railway Line
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United States) is the most significant difference in rail terminology. These and other terms have often originated from the parallel development of rail transport systems in different parts of the world. In English-speaking countries outside the United Kingdom, a mixture of US and UK terms may exist. Various global terms are presented here. Where a term has multiple names, this is indicated. The abbreviation "UIC" refers to standard terms adopted by the International Union of Railways in its official publications and thesaurus. 0–9 A B ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar (river), Iskar river, and has many mineral springs, such as the Sofia Central Mineral Baths. It has a humid continental climate. Being in the centre of the Balkans, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, and closest to the Aegean Sea. Known as Serdica in Late antiquity, Antiquity and Sredets in the Middle Ages, Sofia has been an area of List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, human habitation since at least 7000 BC. The recorded history of the city begins with the attestation of the conquest of Serdica by the Roman Republic in 29 BC from the Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe, Celtic tribe Serdi. During the decline of the Roman Empire, the city was raided by Huns, Visigoths, P ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. Bulgaria covers a territory of , and is the sixteenth-largest country in Europe. Sofia is the nation's capital and largest city; other major cities are Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. One of the earliest societies in the lands of modern-day Bulgaria was the Neolithic Karanovo culture, which dates back to 6,500 BC. In the 6th to 3rd century BC the region was a battleground for ancient Thracians, Persians, Celts and Macedonians; stability came when the Roman Empire conquered the region in AD 45. After the Roman state splintered, tribal invasions in the region resumed. Around the 6th century, these territories were settled by the early Slavs. The Bulg ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |