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John René Whitley
Air Marshal Sir John Rene Whitley, (7 September 1905 – 26 December 1997) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and also in the post-war years. RAF career Whitley joined the Royal Air Force in 1926. While serving in India, he was awarded the Air Force Cross for relief flights after the 1935 Quetta earthquake. He served in the Second World War as Officer Commanding No. 149 Squadron and then as Station Commander at RAF Linton-on-Ouse. In April 1943, he was shot down in a Halifax bomber over Belgium. Landing by parachute in Northern France, with the help of the French Resistance he escaped through the Basque country to Spain. Returning to England, he continued his war service as Station Commander ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allies of World War I, Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has played History of the Royal Air Force, a significant role in Military history of the United Kingdom, British military history. In particular, during the Second World War, the RAF established Air supremacy, air superiority over Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, and led the Allied strategic bombing effort. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities nee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Handley-Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine ''H.P.56'' proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's List of Air Ministry specifications, Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." The H.P.56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered to use four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines while the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax emerged as capable four-engine strategic bombers, thousands of which were used during the War. The Hali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knights Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or a dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with the order, but are not members of it. The order was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V, who created the order to recognise 'such persons, male or female, as may have rendered or shall hereafter render important services to Our Empire'. Equal recognition was to be given for services rendered in the UK and overseas. Today, the majority of recipients are UK citizens, though a number of Commonwealth realms outside the UK continue to make appointments to the order. Honorary awards may be made to citizens of other nations of which the order's sovereign is not the head of state. Cu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Companions Of The Distinguished Service Order
Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregiver, such as a nurse assistant, paid to give a patient one-on-one attention Historically * A concubine, a long-term sexual partner not accorded the status of marriage * Lady's companion, a historic term for a genteel woman who was paid to live with a woman of rank or wealth * Companion cavalry, the elite cavalry of Alexander the Great * Foot Companion, the primary type of soldier in the army of Alexander the Great * Companions of William the Conqueror, those who took part in the Norman conquest of England * Muhammad's companions, the Sahaba, the friends who surrounded the prophet of Islam Film and television * ''Companion'' (film), a 2025 American film * Companion (''Doctor Who''), a character who travels with the Doctor in the TV ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Companions Of The Order Of The Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His Majesty's Government. The name derives from an elaborate medieval ceremony for preparing a candidate to receive his knighthood, of which ritual bathing (as a symbol of Ritual purification, purification) was an element. While not all knights went through such an elaborate ceremony, knights so created were known as "knights of the Bath". George I constituted the Knights of the Bath as a regular Order (honour), military order. He did not revive the order, which did not previously exist, in the sense of a body of knights governed by a set of statutes and whose numbers were replenished when vacancies occurred. The Order consists of the Sovereign of the United King ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 Deaths
This is a list of lists of deaths of notable people, organized by year. New deaths articles are added to their respective month (e.g., Deaths in ) and then linked below. 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 Earlier years ''Deaths in years earlier than this can usually be found in the main articles of the years.'' See also * Lists of deaths by day * Deaths by year (category) {{DEFAULTSORT:deaths by year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1905 Births
As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Dmitri Shostakovich, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 (Shostakovich), 11th Symphony is subtitled ''The Year 1905'' to commemorate this) and the start of Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905–07), Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland. Canada and the U.S. expand west, with the Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces and the founding of Las Vegas. 1905 is also the year in which Albert Einstein, at this time resident in Bern, publishes his four Annus Mirabilis papers, ''Annus Mirabilis'' papers in ''Annalen der Physik'' (Leipzig) (March 18, May 11, June 30 and September 27), laying the foundations for more than a century's study of theoretical physics. Events January * January 1 – In a major defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Russian General Anatoly Stessel su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paterson Fraser
Air Marshal Sir Henry Paterson Fraser, (15 July 1907 – 4 August 2001) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and in the post-war years. RAF career Educated at St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, South Africa, and Pembroke College, Cambridge, Fraser joined the Royal Air Force in 1927. He became a test pilot in 1934. Daily Telegraph, 15 August 2001 He served in the as Officer Commanding the Experimental Flying Section at and then as deputy director of War Org ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilbert Nicholetts
Air Marshal Sir Gilbert Edward Nicholetts, (9 November 1902 – 7 September 1983) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the 1950s. RAF career Educated at Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Nicholetts joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1921. He developed a career in flying boat units and with the Fleet Air Arm, then under RAF control. In the late 1920s he was based in the Far East, flying the Short Singapore. In 1933 Nicholetts established a long-distance flight record from Cranwell, England to Walvis Bay, South West Africa as navigator on the Fairey Long-range Monoplane, continuing on to Cape Town. He was awarded the Air Force Cross. Nicholetts was appointed Officer Commanding No. 228 Squadron, just after the outbreak of the Second World War. Based at Alexandria, Egypt, flying a Short Sunderland, Nicholetts personally commanded the RAF reconnaissance flight preceding the November 1940 Fleet Air Arm Taranto raid. He went on to be Station Commander at RAF Haif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hubert Patch
Air Chief Marshal Sir Hubert Leonard Patch, (16 December 1904 – 18 November 1987) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. RAF career Patch joined the Royal Air Force as a flight cadet in 1923 and served in the Second World War. After the war he became Director of Armament Requirements and then Air Officer Commanding No. 44 Group in 1946. He went on to be Commandant of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment in 1948, Air Officer for Administration at Headquarters Far East Air Force in 1951 and Senior Air Staff Officer, Far East Air Force in 1952. After that he was made Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group in 1953, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Fighter Command in January 1956 and Commander-in-Chief of the RAF Middle East Air Force in September 1956. His final appointments were as Air Member for Personnel in April 1959 and as Commander, British Forces Arabian Peninsula in September 1959, where he established a unified tri-service command in Aden Aden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Fogarty
Air Chief Marshal Sir Francis Joseph Fogarty, (16 January 1899 – 12 January 1973) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War and also in the post-war years. During the First World War he served as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. He was transferred to the RAF on its creation in 1918 and remained in the service during the inter-war years. Early life and career Francis Fogarty was born in Cork, Ireland, on 16 January 1899 and educated at Farranferris College. In 1917 he joined the Royal Flying Corps as an air mechanic. However, he was soon selected for training as a pilot and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. In 1918, Fogarty served as a pilot on No. 98 Squadron, participating in the Battle of Amiens but having to land with engine trouble before he could bomb German airfields or rail lines. Remaining in the RAF after the war, Fogarty was soon to see active service again, this time in Iraq. He was posted to No. 84 Squadron, wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Tactical Air Force
The Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, and exiles from German-occupied Europe. Renamed as British Air Forces of Occupation in 1945, 2TAF was recreated in 1951 and became Royal Air Force Germany in 1959. Formation 2TAF was formed on 1 June 1943 as HQ Tactical Air Force from Army Co-operation Command, in connection with preparations then in train to invade Europe a year later. It took units from both Fighter Command and Bomber Command in order to form a force capable of supporting the British Army in the field. Bomber Command provided No. 2 Group with light bombers; Fighter Command was split into the Air Defence of Great Britain, retaining fighter units for home defence, and No. 83 Group and No. 84 Group operating aircraft, and No. 85 Group controlling ground-based units, for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
