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Thomas Kirby-Green
Thomas Gresham Kirby-Green (27 February 1918 – 29 March 1944) was a British Royal Air Force officer, the pilot of a Vickers Wellington bomber, who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. He took part in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, but was one of the men recaptured and subsequently executed by the Gestapo. Pre-war life Kirby-Green was born in Dowa, Nyasaland where his father Sir William Kirby-Green was the British District Governor. His father was upcountry at the time of his birth and found a baby abandoned in the bush at the same time as his son was born. He rescued the child, named him "Putti" and brought him up as a second son. After growing up in Africa, Kirby-Green was sent to boarding school in England at Dover College where he became a house prefect and a member of the rugby team. On leaving school in 1935 he lived with his parents in Tangier and gained a private pilot's licence prior to joining the Royal Air Force. Kirby-Green was comm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dowa, Malawi
Dowa is a town located in the Central Region of Malawi. It is the administrative capital of Dowa District. William Kamkwamba, author of ''The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope'', was born and raised in Dowa. Climate Dowa has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...: ''Cwb''). Demographics References Populated places in Central Region, Malawi {{malawi-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vickers Wellington Mk2
Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 1867, acquired more businesses, and began branching out into military hardware and shipbuilding. In 1911, the company expanded into aircraft manufacture and opened a flying school. They expanded even further into electrical and railway manufacturing, and in 1928 acquired an interest in the Supermarine. Beginning in the 1960s, various parts of the company were nationalised, and in 1999 the rest of the company was acquired by Rolls-Royce plc, who sold the defence arm to Alvis plc. The Vickers name lived on in Alvis Vickers, until the latter was acquired by BAE Systems in 2004 to form BAE Systems Land Systems. History Early history Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mention In Despatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy is described. In some countries, a service member's name must be mentioned in dispatches as a condition for receiving certain decorations. United Kingdom, British Empire, and Commonwealth of Nations Servicemen and women of the British Empire or the Commonwealth who are mentioned in despatches (MiD) are not awarded a medal for their actions, but receive a certificate and wear an oak leaf device on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal. A smaller version of the oak leaf device is attached to the ribbon when worn alone. Prior to 2014, only one device could be worn on a ribbon, irrespective of the number of times the recipient was mentioned in despatches. Where no campaign medal is awarded, the oak leaf is worn direct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Squadron Leader
Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. An air force squadron leader ranks above flight lieutenant and immediately below wing commander and it is the most junior of the senior officer ranks. The air force rank of squadron leader has a NATO ranking code of OF-3, equivalent to a lieutenant-commander in the Royal Navy or a major in the British Army or the Royal Marines. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980) was "squadron officer". Squadron leader has also been used as a cavalry command appointment (UK) and rank (France) since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is mainly on the western bank of the Po (river), Po River, below its Susa Valley, and is surrounded by the western Alps, Alpine arch and Superga Hill. The population of the city proper is 847,287 (31 January 2022) while the population of the urban area is estimated by Larger Urban Zones, Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD to have a population of 2.2 million. The city used to be a major European political centre. From 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the House of Savoy, and the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1865. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percy Pickard
Group Captain Percy Charles "Pick" Pickard, (16 May 1915 – 18 February 1944) was an officer in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He served as a pilot and commander, and was the first officer of the RAF to be awarded the DSO three times during the war. He flew over a hundred sorties and distinguished himself in a variety of operations requiring coolness under fire. In 1941 he was asked to participate in the making of the Crown film '' Target for To-night''. Attention from the film made him a public figure in England. Later that year he led the squadron of Whitley bombers that carried paratroopers to their drop for the Bruneval raid. Through most of 1943 he commanded 161 Squadron, the secretive unit that flew SOE agents in and out of occupied France. He was a very active commanding officer, and flew many of the missions himself. In late 1943 Pickard was made the commander of a new unit, 140 Wing, a ground attack formation whose three squadrons had converted t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there in 1599 and became one of its Members of Parliament (MP) in 1628. The former Conservative Prime Minister (1990–1997) John Major served as its MP from 1979 until his retirement in 2001. History Huntingdon was founded by the Anglo-Saxons and Danes. It is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 921, where it appears as ''Huntandun''. It appears as ''Huntedun'' in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means "The huntsman's hill" or possibly "Hunta's hill". Huntingdon seems to have been a staging post for Danish raids outside East Anglia until 917, when the Danes moved to Tempsford, now in Bedfordshire, before they were crushed by Edward the Elder. It prospered successively as a bridging point of the River Great Ouse, a market tow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamerton
Hamerton is a village in and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hamerton and Steeple Gidding, in Cambridgeshire, England. Hamerton lies approximately north-west of Huntingdon. Hamerton is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England. Hamerton Zoo is on the north side of the village. The village has a church dedicated to All Saints. In 2001 the parish had a population of 87. The civil parish of ''Hamerton and Steeple Gidding'' incorporates the nearby hamlet of Steeple Gidding, which has a 14th-century church St Andrew's that is now redundant and preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust. Along with its nearby neighbour Great Gidding, Steeple Gidding forms part of a cluster of villages known as The Giddings. History Hamerton was listed in the Domesday Book in the Hundred of Leightonstone in Huntingdonshire; the name of the settlement was written as ''Hambertune'' in the Domesd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and RAF, and as FLTLT in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and has sometimes also been abbreviated as F/L in many services; it has never been correctly abbreviated as "lieutenant". A flight lieutenant ranks above flying officer and below a squadron leader and is sometimes used as an English language translation of a similar rank in non-English-speaking countries. The rank originated in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) in 1914. It fell into abeyance when the RNAS merged with the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War but was revived in 1919 in the post-war RAF. An RAF flight lieutenant is the equivalent of a lieutenant in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Honington
Royal Air Force Honington or more simply RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. Although used as a bomber station during the Second World War, RAF Honington is now the RAF Regiment depot. History Royal Air Force use Construction of Honington airfield, which was undertaken by John Laing & Son, began in 1935, and the facility was opened on 3 May 1937. Squadrons of RAF Bomber Command using the airfield prior to the Second World War were: * No. 77 Squadron RAF (Hawker Harts and Vickers Wellesleys) (July 1937 – July 1938)Jefford 1988, p. 48 * No. 102 Squadron RAF (Handley Page Heyford) (July 1937 – July 1938) – Moved to RAF Driffield * No. 75 Squadron RAF ( Handley Page Harrow and Vickers Wellington) (July 1938 – July 1939) – Moved to RAF Stradishall. * No. 215 Squadron RAF (Harrow and Wellington) (July 1938 – July 1938) – Moved to RAF Bassingbourn. * IX Squadron (Wellington Mk Is, later changing to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Czech Wellington Crew WWII IWM CH 2187
Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland *Czechville, Wisconsin, unincorporated community, United States People * Bronisław Czech (1908–1944), Polish sportsman and artist * Danuta Czech (1922–2004), Polish Holocaust historian * Hermann Czech (born 1936), Austrian architect * Mirosław Czech (born 1968), Polish politician and journalist of Ukrainian origin * Zbigniew Czech (born 1970), Polish diplomat See also * Čech, a surname * Czech lands * Czechoslovakia * List of Czechs * * * Czechoslovak (other) * Czech Republic (other) * Czechia (other) Czechia is the official short form name of the Czech Republic. Czechia may also refer to: * Historical Czech lands *Czechoslovakia (1918–1993) *Czech Soci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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