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William Hodgson (RAF Officer)
William Henry Hodgson (30 September 1920 – 13 March 1941) was a New Zealand fighter pilot and flying ace who flew in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He was officially credited with the destruction of five enemy aircraft. Born in Frankton Junction, he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in May 1939. After completing flight training, he went to the United Kingdom, arriving in April 1940. Shortly afterwards, he transferred to the RAF and was posted to No. 85 Squadron. He flew extensively during the Battle of Britain, shooting down a number of German aircraft. He was taken off flying duties in February 1941 due to a medical issue with his eyes, which had been injured the previous year. He was killed the following month when the Douglas A-20 Havoc, flown by another Battle of Britain flying ace, Geoffrey Allard, on which he was a passenger crashed shortly after takeoff. Early life Born on 30 September 1920 in Frankton Junction near Hamilton, William Hen ...
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Frankton, Hamilton
Frankton is a central suburb of the city of Hamilton, New Zealand. It is the site of the city's passenger railway station, a major industrial-commercial stretch of State Highway 1, and a commercial shopping area. Frankton Borough Council was formed in 1913, but merged with Hamilton in 1917, after a poll in 1916. Demographics Frankton covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Frankton had a population of 6,504 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 1,335 people (25.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,716 people (35.8%) since the 2006 census. There were 2,319 households, comprising 3,207 males and 3,312 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female, with 1,473 people (22.6%) aged under 15 years, 1,902 (29.2%) aged 15 to 29, 2,628 (40.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 507 (7.8%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 54.1% European/Pākehā, 35.7% Māori, 9.9% Pacific peoples, 17.7% Asian, and 3.0% other ethni ...
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Avro Tutor
The Avro Type 621 Tutor is a two-seat British radial-engined biplane from the interwar period. It was a simple but rugged basic trainer (aircraft), trainer that was used by the Royal Air Force as well as many other air arms worldwide. Design and development The Avro Model 621 was designed by Roy Chadwick as an Avro private venture metal replacement for the Avro 504. Conceived as a light initial pilot trainer, the biplane design featured heavily staggered equal-span, single-bay wings; the construction was based on steel tubing (with some wooden components in the wing ribs) with aircraft dope, doped linen covering. A conventional, fixed divided main undercarriage with tailskid was used in all but the latest aircraft, which had a tailwheel. The Model 621 was powered either by a 155 hp (116 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose or Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV (180 hp/130 kW) or IVC (240 hp/179 kW) engine; later Lynx-powered models had the engine enclosed in a ...
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Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate (bishop), primate of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion owing to the importance of Augustine of Canterbury, St Augustine, who served as the apostle to the Anglo-Saxon paganism, pagan Kingdom of Kent around the turn of the 7th century. The city's Canterbury Cathedral, cathedral became a major focus of Christian pilgrimage, pilgrimage following the 1170 Martyr of the Faith, martyrdom of Thomas Becket, although it had already been a well-trodden pilgrim destination since the murder of Ælfheah of Canterbury, St Alphege by the men of cnut, King Canute in 1012. A journey of pilgrims to Becket's shrine served as the narrative frame, frame for Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century Wes ...
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Hawker Hurricanes Of 85 Sqn RAF In Flight 1940
Hawker or Hawkers may refer to: Places *Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra *Hawker, South Australia, a town *Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia *Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica *Hawker Creek, Missouri, United States In business * Hawker (trade), a vendor of food or merchandise * Hawker Aircraft, a British aircraft manufacturer * Hawkers (company), a Spanish sunglasses company Other uses * Hawker (surname) * One who practices falconry, hunting with hawks * Hawker College, a senior secondary college in the Australian Capital Territory * Hawker (dragonfly) The Aeshnidae, also called aeshnids, hawkers, or darners, is a family of dragonflies. The family includes the largest dragonflies found in North America and Europe and among the largest dragonflies on the planet. Description Common worldwide or ...
, a family of dragonflies in North America and Europe {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawker ...
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RAF Martlesham Heath
Royal Air Force Martlesham Heath or more simply RAF Martlesham Heath is a former Royal Air Force station located southwest of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. It was active between 1917 and 1963, and played an important role in the development of Airborne Interception radar. History RFC/RAF prewar use Martlesham Heath was first used as a Royal Flying Corps airfield during the First World War. In 1917 it became home to the Aeroplane Experimental Unit, RFC which moved from Upavon with the site named as the Aeroplane Experimental Station which became the Aeroplane Experimental Establishment (Home) in 1920 which became the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) in 1924. The A&AEE carried the evaluation and testing of many of the aircraft types and much of the armament and other equipment that would later be used during the Second World War. No. 22 Squadron RAF and No. 15 Squadron RAF were present during the 1920s. No. 64 arrived in the 1930s. RAF Fighter Command ...
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Peter Townsend (RAF Officer)
Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, (22 November 1914 – 19 June 1995) was a British Royal Air Force officer, flying ace, courtier and author. He was equerry to King George VI from 1944 to 1952 and held the same position for Queen Elizabeth II from 1952 to 1953. Townsend notably had a romance with Princess Margaret, Elizabeth's younger sister. Early life Townsend was born in Rangoon, Burma, to doctor's son Lieutenant Colonel Edward Copleston Townsend, of the Indian Army,Barrymaine, Norman (1958). ''The Peter Townsend Story''. E. P. Dutton Ltd., p. 19. and his wife, Gladys, daughter of H. Hatt-Cook, of Hartford Hall, Cheshire; his father had married aged 42, 20 years older than his bride. The Townsend family, of Devon, tended to send its sons into the church or the armed forces. From 1928 to 1932, Townsend was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, then an all-boys independent school. RAF career Townsend joined the Royal Air Force in 1930 and trained at ...
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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 ...
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Battle Of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Republic, France during the Second World War. On 3 September 1939, France French declaration of war on Germany (1939), declared war on Germany following the German invasion of Poland. In early September 1939, France began the limited Saar Offensive and by mid-October had withdrawn to their start lines. German armies German invasion of Belgium (1940), invaded Belgium, German invasion of Luxembourg, Luxembourg and German invasion of the Netherlands, the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Fascist Italy (1922-1943), Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940 and attempted an Italian invasion of France, invasion of France. France and the Low Countries were conquered, ending land operations on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front until the Normandy l ...
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Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by the Supermarine Spitfire during the Battle of Britain in 1940, but the Hurricane inflicted 60 percent of the losses sustained by the Luftwaffe in the campaign, and fought in all the major theatres of the Second World War. The Hurricane originated from discussions between RAF officials and aircraft designer Sir Sydney Camm about a proposed monoplane derivative of the Hawker Fury biplane in the early 1930s. Despite an institutional preference for biplanes and lack of interest by the Air Ministry, Hawker refined their monoplane proposal, incorporating several innovations which became critical to wartime fighter aircraft, including retractable landing gear and the more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The Air Ministry ordered Hawker's ''Int ...
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RAF Sutton Bridge
Royal Air Force Sutton Bridge or more simply RAF Sutton Bridge is a former Royal Air Force station found next to the village of Sutton Bridge in the south-east of Lincolnshire. The airfield was to the south of the current A17, and east of the River Nene, next to Walpole in Norfolk. History On 1 September 1926 the Air Ministry established R.A.F. Practice Camp Sutton BridgeThe official naming used and found in official Air Ministry notices, the London Gazette and other publications is "R.A.F. Practice Camp Sutton Bridge". One example publication: FLIGHT, 24 May 1928, Air Ministry Announcements, Page 394: The Royal Air Force, Royal Air Force Intelligence, Appointments, I.W.C. Mackenzie to "R.A.F. Practice Camp, Sutton Bridge", 14.4.2/ref> The National Archives (United Kingdom), The National Archives, Kew, United Kingdom, Reference: AIR 28/788 on 289 acres of acquired agricultural land next to Sutton Bridge village from Guy's Hospital Agricultural Estates.Combat Ready!, Author: Al ...
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RAF Meir
Royal Air Force Meir or more simply RAF Meir is a former Royal Air Force station located in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The following units were here at some point: * No. 1 Practice Flying Unit was formed here on 4 March 1940 and operated Hawker Hectors and Hawker Hinds until it was disbanded on 16 June 1940 * No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School RAF * No. 16 Elementary Flying Training School RAF * No. 28 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF * No. 45 Gliding School RAF * No. 632 Gliding School RAF References Citations Bibliography * {{Royal Air Force Meir Meir ( he, מֵאִיר) is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicized as Mayer, Meyer, or Myer.Alfred J. ...
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RAF Uxbridge
RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three years before the founding of the RAF. Until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the station was open to the public. The station is best known as the headquarters of No. 11 Group RAF, which was responsible for the aerial defence of London and the south-east of England during the Battle of Britain. Hillingdon House served as the group's headquarters. A bunker, subsequently known as the Battle of Britain Bunker, was built nearby to house the Operations Room, which controlled fighter squadrons operating within the group. The Operations Room was also responsible for providing air support during the evacuation of Dunkirk in May 1940 ( Operation Dynamo) and the D-Day landings (Operation Overlord). It was here that Winston Churchill fi ...
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