1.
North American P-51 Mustang
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The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission, the Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force. Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design, the prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940,102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October. The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine and it was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustangs performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, the P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian and Pacific theaters. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft, despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbird and air racing aircraft, in April 1940 the British government established a purchasing commission in the United States, headed by Sir Henry Self. Self was given responsibility for Royal Air Force production and research and development, and also served with Sir Wilfrid Freeman. Self also sat on the British Air Council Sub-committee on Supply and one of his tasks was to organize the manufacturing and supply of American fighter aircraft for the RAF. At the time, the choice was limited, as no U. S. aircraft then in production or flying met European standards. The Curtiss-Wright plant was running at capacity, so P-40s were in short supply, North American Aviation was already supplying its Harvard trainer to the RAF, but was otherwise underutilized. NAA President Dutch Kindelberger approached Self to sell a new medium bomber, instead, Self asked if NAA could manufacture the Tomahawk under license from Curtiss. Kindelberger said NAA could have an aircraft with the same engine in the air sooner than establishing a production line for the P-40. In March 1940,320 aircraft were ordered by Sir Wilfred Freeman who had become the head of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The NA-73X, which was designed by a led by lead engineer Edgar Schmued, followed the best conventional practice of the era. One was a wing designed using laminar flow airfoils which were developed co-operatively by North American Aviation and these airfoils generated very low drag at high speeds. The results of this test showed the superiority of the wing designed with the NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils, the other feature was a new cooling arrangement that reduced the cooling drag. It was later discovered that, after lot of development, the assembly could take advantage of the Meredith Effect
2.
Korean War
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The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S
3.
South Africa
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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind
4.
South African Air Force
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The South African Air Force is the air force of South Africa, with headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920, the Air Force has seen service in World War II and the Korean War. From 1966 the SAAF was involved in providing support in a low intensity war in Angola, South-West Africa. On conclusion of the Border War in 1990, aircraft numbers were reduced due to economic pressures as well as the cessation of hostilities with neighboring states. Today the SAAF has an air combat capability and has been structured towards regional peace-keeping, disaster relief. After a visit to observe the 1912 military manoeuvres in Europe, beyers gave an extremely positive report on the future use of aircraft for military purposes to General Smuts. Flying training commenced in 1913 with students who excelled on the course being sent to the Central Flying School at Upavon in Great Britain for further training, the first South African military pilot qualified on 2 June 1914. At the outbreak of World War I, the Union Defence Force had realised the urgent need for air support which brought about the establishment of the South African Aviation Corps on 29 January 1915. Aircraft were purchased from France while the building of an airfield at Walvis Bay commenced in earnest in order to support operations against German forces in German South West Africa. By June 1915 the SAAC was deployed to its first operational airfield at Karibib in German South West Africa in support of Gen. Bothas South African ground forces. On 9 July 1915, the German forces capitulated and most of the pilots,26 Squadron RFC and later becoming an independent squadron on 8 October 1915. No.26 Squadron was equipped with Henri Farman F-27s and B. E. 2cs and was shipped to Kenya in support of the war effort in German East Africa, landing in Mombasa on 31 January 1916. While the SAAC were engaged in German South West Africa and 26 Sqdn RFC in East Africa, the number of South Africans in the RFC eventually reached approximately 3,000 men and suffered 260 active-duty fatalities over the Somme during the war. Forty six pilots became fighter aces, on conclusion of the First World War, the British Government donated surplus aircraft plus spares and sufficient equipment to provide the nucleus of a fledgling air force to each of its Dominions. In December 1920 the South African National insignia was added to aircraft for the first time and these colours remained until 1927 when they were replaced with the Orange, White and Blue roundels. 1 Squadron was called to fly reconnaissance missions and to bombard the strikers’ positions, the SAAF was again deployed to suppress the Bondelzwart Rebellion at Kalkfontein between 29 May and 3 July 1922. For maritime patrol operations, the SAAF took over all 29 passenger aircraft of South African Airways,18 Junkers Ju 86Z-ls for maritime patrols, SAAF maritime patrols commenced on 21 September 1939 with 16 Squadron flying three JU-86Zs from Walvis Bay. By 1940, the Ju 86s were replaced by Ansons and Coastal Command SAAF had been established, in December 1939 the Duke of Aosta had sent a report to Mussolini recording the state of chronic unpreparedness of the Allied Forces in East Africa
5.
Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
6.
Cheetah
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The cheetah /ˈtʃiːtə/ is a large felid of the subfamily Felinae that occurs mainly in eastern and southern Africa and a few parts of Iran. The only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, the cheetah was first described by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1775. The cheetah is characterised by a body, deep chest, spotted coat, a small rounded head, black tear-like streaks on the face, long thin legs. Its lightly built, slender form is in sharp contrast with the robust build of the big cats, the cheetah reaches nearly 70 to 90 cm at the shoulder, and weighs 21–72 kg. Though taller than the leopard, it is smaller than the lion. Basically yellowish tan or rufous to white, the coat is uniformly covered with nearly 2,000 solid black spots. Cheetahs are active mainly during the day, with hunting their major activity, adult males are sociable despite their territoriality, forming groups called coalitions. Females are not territorial, they may be solitary or live with their offspring in home ranges, carnivores, cheetah mainly prey upon antelopes and gazelles. They will stalk their prey to within 100–300 metres, charge towards it and kill it by tripping it during the chase, the cheetahs body is specialised for speed, it is the fastest land animal. Cheetahs are induced ovulators, breeding throughout the year, gestation is nearly three months long, resulting in a litter of typically three to five cubs. Weaning occurs at six months, siblings tend to stay together for some time, Cheetah cubs face higher mortality than most other mammals, especially in the Serengeti region. Cheetahs inhabit a variety of habitats – dry forests, scrub forests, thanks to its prowess at hunting, the cheetah was tamed and used to kill game at hunts in the past. The animal has been depicted in art, literature, advertising. Classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, several African countries have taken steps to improve the standards of cheetah conservation. The vernacular name cheetah is derived from the Hindi word चीता, the first recorded use of this word has been dated back to 1610. An alternative name for the cheetah is hunting leopard, the scientific name of the cheetah is Acinonyx jubatus. The generic name Acinonyx could have originated from the combination of two Greek words, akinetos means motionless, and onyx means claw, a rough translation of the word would be non-moving claws, a reference to the limited retractability of the claws of the cheetah relative to other cats. The specific name jubatus means maned in Latin, referring to the dorsal crest of this animal, the cheetah is the only extant species of the genus Acinonyx
7.
Saab JAS 39 Gripen
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The Saab JAS39 Gripen is a light single-engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace company Saab. It was designed to replace the Saab 35 Draken and 37 Viggen in the Swedish Air Force, the Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with relaxed stability design and fly-by-wire flight controls. It is powered by the Volvo RM12, and has a top speed of Mach 2, later aircraft are modified for NATO interoperability standards and to undertake in-flight refuelling. In 1979, the Swedish government began development studies for a capable of fighter, attack. A new design from Saab was selected and developed as the JAS39, following two crashes during flight development and subsequent alterations to the aircrafts flight control software, the Gripen entered service with the Swedish Air Force in 1997. Upgraded variants, featuring more advanced avionics and adaptations for longer mission times, in order to market the aircraft to export customers, Saab has formed several partnerships and collaborative efforts with multiple overseas aerospace companies. One example of efforts was Gripen International, a joint partnership between Saab and BAE Systems formed in 2001. A further version, designated Gripen JAS 39E/F, is under development as of 2014, the changes include the adoption of a new powerplant, the General Electric F414G, an active electronically scanned array radar, and significantly increased internal fuel capacity. Saab has proposed other derivatives, including a navalised Sea Gripen for carrier operations, Sweden and Brazil have ordered the Gripen E/F and Switzerland initially selected it for procurement. As of 2013, more than 247 Gripens have been built, in the late 1970s, Sweden sought to replace its ageing Saab 35 Draken and Saab 37 Viggen. One goal was for the aircraft to be smaller than the Viggen while equalling or improving on its payload-range characteristics, several foreign designs were also studied, including the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, the Northrop F-20 Tigershark and the Dassault Mirage 2000. Ultimately, the Swedish government opted for a new fighter to be developed by Saab, several Saab designs were reviewed, the most promising being Project 2105, recommended to the government by the Defence Materiel Administration. The preferred aircraft was a single-engine, lightweight single-seater, embracing fly-by-wire technology, canards, the powerplant selected was the Volvo-Flygmotor RM12, a license-built derivative of the General Electric F404−400, engine development priorities were weight reduction and lowering component count. On 30 June 1982, with approval from the Riksdag, the FMV issued contracts worth SEK 25.7 billion to Saab, covering five prototypes and an initial batch of 30 production aircraft. By January 1983, a Viggen was converted to a flying test aircraft for the JAS 39s intended avionics, the JAS39 received the name Gripen via a public competition, which is the heraldry on Saabs logo. The first Gripen was rolled out on 26 April 1987, marking Saabs 50th anniversary, originally planned to fly in 1987, the first flight was delayed by 18 months due to issues with the flight control system. On 9 December 1988, the first prototype took its 51-minute maiden flight with pilot Stig Holmström at the controls, during the test programme, concern surfaced about the aircrafts avionics, specifically the fly-by-wire flight control system, and the relaxed stability design. On 2 February 1989, this led to the crash of the prototype during an attempted landing at Linköping
8.
Presidential Unit Citation (United States)
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The unit with the most Presidential Unit Citations is the USS Parche with 9 citations. The Army citation was established by Executive Order 9075 on 26 February 1942, superseded by Executive Order 9396 on Dec.2,1943, as with other Army unit citations, the PUC is in a larger frame than other ribbons, and is worn above the right pocket. All members of the unit may wear the decoration, whether or not they participated in the acts for which the unit was cited. Only those assigned to the unit at the time of the action cited may wear the decoration as a permanent award, for both the Army and Air Force, the emblem is a solid blue ribbon enclosed in a gold frame. The Air Force PUC was adopted from the Army Distinguished Unit Citation after the Air Force became a military branch in 1947. By Executive Order 10694, dated Jan,10,1957 the Air Force redesignated the Distinguished Unit Citation as the Presidential Unit Citation. The Air Force PUC is the color and design as the Army PUC but slightly smaller. The Citation is carried on the units colors in the form of a blue streamer,4 ft long and 2.75 in wide. For the Army, only on rare occasions will a larger than battalion qualify for award of this decoration. The Navy citation was established by Executive Order 9050 on 6 February 1942, the Navy version has blue, yellow, and red horizontal stripes, and is the only Navy ribbon having horizontal stripes. These are only worn by persons who meet the criteria at the time it is awarded to the unit, unlike the Army, those who later join the unit do not wear it on a temporary basis. The current decoration is known as the Department of Homeland Security Presidential Unit Citation. A Coast Guard version of the award was awarded to all U. S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary personnel responding to Hurricane Katrina by President George W. Bush for rescue, the United States Public Health Service Presidential Citation was established in 2015. The design was finalized by the Army Institute of Heraldry on 17 August 2015, two units of the Free French Forces were awarded Presidential Unit Citations during World War II. On April 22,1986, the 1st Fighter Group Força Aérea Brasileira was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in the Po Valley region of Italy in World War II. The Brazilians, operating in Italy in support of Allied forces, destroyed in one day over 45 vehicles, strafed pontoon bridges on the River Po, eleven missions of 44 sorties were flown destroying nine motor transports and damaging 17. One Belgian-Luxembourgian battalion of the Belgian United Nations Command was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation once for actions during the Battle of the Imjin River, the Colombia Battalion received the citation while attached to the American 21st Infantry Regiment in 1951. One Dutch unit, the Netherlands Detachment United Nations, part of the Regiment Van Heutsz, was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation twice for actions during the Korean War, the first citation was awarded after the battle near Wonju and Hoengson in February 1951
9.
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
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In recognition of allied military service to South Korea during the Korean War, all United States military departments were authorized the unit award for that period. When the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation is worn on the South Korea military uniform it is as a ribbon 1 3⁄8 inches wide surrounded by a gold frame, the ribbon is white, with a 15⁄64 inch red above blue Taeguk in the center. No ribbon devices are authorized for wear with this award, U. S. Marine Corps for service in South Korea between 9 December 1999 to 24 April 2002. 2nd Infantry Division was recognized in 2011, for their support of South Korea over the preceding 60 years, seventh Air Force was recognized in October 2013, for longstanding achievements in operational readiness and force employment in South Korea. Eighth Army was recognized on October 1,2014, for outstanding performance in defense of the Republic of Korea, first Marine Division, Reinforced for operations from 15 September to 11 October 1950, including the Inchon landing and the battle for Seoul. 58th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company for their bridge building efforts with the X Corps at the Chosin Reservoir, the first was for service at Inchon, the second for service during the period of 1950-1953, and finally for deployment to the Korean Peninsula from 1945-1948 and 1953-1971. One Italian unit, the Ospedale da Campo n°68 of Corpo Militare della Croce Rossa Italiana, was awarded battle honour twelve, October 6,1952. One unit of the U. S. Armys 3rd Infantry Division, the first was for service in the Uijongbu Corridor in June 1951. The second was for service in the Iron Triangle at Hill 717 in July 1951, one South African unit, the 2 Squadron SAAF was also awarded this battle honour. It was presented on November 1,1951 and it reads This unit was dispatched from South Africa in support of the United Nations Forces in Korea. It was equipped with P-51 aircraft and has functioned continually in support of operations of the Eighth Army, through all gallantry and devotion to duty of its personnel it has earned high praise and its losses in pilots have been heavy. It continued to meet cheerfully all tasks allotted to it,16 Field Regiment of the Royal New Zealand Artillery. A Dutch battalion embedded into the US 2nd Infantry Division was awarded the U. S, Presidential Unit Citation in February 1951, for the capture of Hill 325, north of Manjong Station. The under-strength A Company, reinforced by personnel from B and heavy weapons companies, was ordered to recapture Hill 325 on the 15th of February 1951. At 0230 hrs the next morning, the Dutch were beaten back by heavy fire, at 0345 hrs they tried again. Just before dawn the exhausted Dutch, their ammunition almost expended, fixed bayonets and, shouting their battle cry, for these actions the Van Heutsz received its first U. S. This came at a cost, however, as the battalion had suffered over a hundred casualties. watv. org
10.
Battle honour
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In European military tradition, military units may be acknowledged for their achievements in specific wars or operations of a military campaign. These honours usually take the form of a place and a date, theatre honours could be listed and displayed on regimental property but not emblazoned on the colours. Since battle honours are emblazoned on colours, artillery units. These honour titles were permitted to be used as part of their official nomenclature, similar honours in the same tenor include unit citations. Battle honours, theatre honours, honour titles and their ilk form a part of the variety of distinctions which serve to distinguish military units from each other. For the British Army, the need to adopt a system to recognise military units battlefield accomplishments was apparent since its formation as an army in the later part of the 17th century. Although the granting of battle honours had already been in place at the time, before then, a regiments colours were practical tools for rallying troops in the battlefield and not quite something for displaying the units past distinctions. The first battle honour to be awarded in the British Army was granted to the 15th Hussars for the Battle of Emsdorf in 1760, thereafter, other regiments received battle honours for some of their previous engagements. The battle honour is held by the successor regiment, the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment. During these early years of the British standing army, a regiment needed only to engage the enemy with musketry before it was eligible for a battle honour, thus in 1882, a committee was formed to adjudicate applications of battle honour claims. This committee, later called the Battles Nomenclature Committee, still maintains its function in the British Army today. A battle honour may be granted to infantry/cavalry regiments or battalions, as well as ships and squadrons, they are granted to sub-units such as companies. Battle honours are presented in the form of a name of a country, region, or city where the units distinguished act took place. Not every battle fought will automatically result in the granting of a battle honour, conversely, a regiment or a battalion might obtain more than one battle honour over the course of a larger operation. Similarly, while in Korea, Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry earned both Kapyong and Korea 1951–1953, supporting corps/branches such as medical, service, ordnance, or transport do not currently receive battle honours. However and uniquely the Royal Logistic Corps has five battle honours inherited from its previous transport elements, Commonwealth artillery does not maintain battle honours as they carry neither colours nor guidons—though their guns by tradition are afforded many of the same respects and courtesies. However, both the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers were in 1832 granted by King William IV the right to use the Latin Ubique, meaning everywhere and this is worn on the cap badge of both the Corps of Royal Engineers and the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The practice was extended to these same regiments and corps in the successor Commonwealth armed forces
11.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
12.
Desert Air Force
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In October 1941, the Western Desert Air Forces had 16 squadrons of aircraft and fielded approximately 1,000 combat aircraft by late 1941. There were over 1,500 combat aircraft, more than double the number of aircraft the Axis could field, prior to the establishment of the Desert Air Force, several RAF formations operated in North Africa. Mitchell handed over to Air Vice Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore in early May 1940, when Italy declared war in June 1940, Longmore had just 29 squadrons numbering less than 300 aircraft – dispersed across the four commands detailed above. On 10 June 1940, RAF bomber squadrons in AHQ Egypt—under the direction of No.202 Group RAF—totalled five squadrons of Bristol Blenheims, one of Vickers Valentias, the Valentia and Bombay could either be used as troop transports or medium bombers. 223, and No.47 squadrons, AHQ Aden had No,11, and No.39 squadrons, and No.84 Squadron RAF was at Shaibah in Iraq with Blenheims. The force at Collishaws disposal consisted of No,80, and No.112 Squadrons with Gloster Gladiators, No.208 Squadron RAF with Westland Lysanders, four Blenheim squadrons and No.216 Squadron RAF with Bombays. With this small force, the RAF had to equate its attempt to dominate the front line with avoidance of unnecessary losses, there were occasional signal successes as well, on 17 August 1940, Gladiators covering the Mediterranean Fleet shot down eight Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers without loss. During Compass, the squadrons of Hurricanes, Lysanders, and Blenheims, strove hard to keep pace, often landing after a combat sortie at a more advanced strip than from which they had set out. On 30 July 1941, Collishaw handed over No.204 Group to Coningham, later that year, the RAFs whole Middle East Command came under the command of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder. On 21 October 1941, Air Headquarters Western Desert was created by upgrading 204 Group to command status, three wings operated in North Africa at first,258 and 269 Wings operated over the front line and 262 Wing defended the Nile Delta. On 20 January 1942, the command was renamed Air Headquarters Libya, however, early in 1943 that squadron was renamed RAAF462 despite mainly British personnel. The squadron was disbanded in June 1943 but a new Australian 462 squadron was formed late in 1943 with mainly Australian personnel, 12th Bombardment Group USAAF 82nd, 83rd, and 434th Bombardment Squadrons with B-25C Mitchells detached to RAF. 81st Bombardment Squadron not detached to RAF, when the Allied forces invaded Sicily on 10 July 1943, Desert Air Force was created by simply renaming Western Desert Air Force. For Operation Husky, DAF contained Advanced and Rear elements,211 Group with Spitfires, Other Advanced units included,40 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, SAAF 1/2 No.600 Squadron operating on Malta under A. O. C. Malta No.325 Wing RAF 1/2 No.600 Squadron No.153 Squadron operating from North Africa, MAC was disbanded in December 1943 and reorganised into the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces which absorbed NAAF, RAFM, and possibly some units of RAFME. DAF, still under Broadhurst, became a component of the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force under Major General John K. Cannon, DAF existed until 30 June 1946, when it was renamed the Advanced AHQ Italy. The air defence of Britain always received priority, so the DAF was generally equipped with aircraft types. Initially equipped with obsolete types like the Gloster Gladiator biplane fighter and the Bristol Blenheim light bomber, after the direct threat to Britain receded, newer types were assigned to the DAF, such as the Hawker Hurricane and Douglas Boston medium bomber in 1941
13.
East African Campaign (World War II)
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Ethiopian irregulars, the Free French and Belgian troops of the Force Publique also participated. The East African Campaign was the first Allied strategic victory in the war but was overshadowed by the British defeats in Greece and Crete. Italian belligerence also closed the Mediterranean to Allied merchant ships and endangered British supply routes along the coast of East Africa, the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Egypt, the Suez Canal, French Somaliland and British Somaliland were also vulnerable to invasion, in the summer of 1940 Italy was far from ready for a long war or for the occupation large areas of Africa. Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, was appointed Viceroy and Governor-General of the AOI in November 1937, with a headquarters in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. On 1 June 1940, as the commander in chief of Comando Forze Armate dellAfrica Orientale Italiana and Generale dArmata Aerea, Aosta had about 290,476 local, by 1 August, mobilisation had increased the number to 371,053 troops. About 70 percent of Italian troops were locally recruited Askari, the regular Eritrean battalions and the Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali were among the best Italian units in the AOI and included Eritrean cavalry Penne di Falco. Most colonial troops were recruited, trained and equipped for colonial repression, although the Somali Dubats from the borderlands were useful light infantry and skirmishers. Irregular bandes were hardy and mobile, knew the country and were effective scouts and saboteurs, although confused with Shifta. Due to the isolation of the AOI from the Mediterranean, the Italians had very little opportunity for reinforcements or supply, leading to severe shortages, especially of ammunition. On occasion, foreign merchant vessels captured by German merchant raiders in the Indian Ocean were brought to Somali ports, there were 183 first line aircraft and another 140 in reserve, of which 59 were operational and 81 were unserviceable. On the outbreak of war, the CAAOI had 10,700 t of fuel,5,300 t of bombs and 8,620,000 rounds of ammunition. The Italians had reserves for 75% of their strength, but lacked spare parts. The quality of the units varied, the SM.79 was the only modern bomber and the CR.32 fighter was obsolete, but the Regia Aeronautica in East Africa had a cadre of highly experienced Spanish Civil War veterans. The Regia Marina maintained the Red Sea Flotilla at Massawa in Eritrea on the Red Sea, the port was a link between Axis-occupied Europe and the naval facilities in the Italian concession zone in Tientsin in China. There were also limited port facilities at Assab, in Eritrea, the flotilla also had two local defence destroyers, the Orsini and Acerbi, a squadron of five Motoscafo Armato Silurante and eight submarines. When the Mediterranean route was closed to Allied merchant ships in April 1940, Allied convoys had to sail via the Cape and up the east coast of Africa, as Italian fuel supplies in Massawa dwindled, opportunities for the Red Sea Flotilla to attack Allied shipping declined. The British had based forces in Egypt since 1882 but these were reduced by the terms of the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936
14.
North African Campaign
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The North African Campaign of the Second World War took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco, the campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had colonial interests in Africa dating from the late 19th century. The Allied war effort was dominated by the British Commonwealth and exiles from German-occupied Europe, the United States entered the war in December 1941 and began direct military assistance in North Africa on 11 May 1942. Fighting in North Africa started with the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940, on 14 June, the British Armys 11th Hussars crossed the border from Egypt into Libya and captured the Italian Fort Capuzzo. Information gleaned via British Ultra code-breaking intelligence proved critical to Allied success in North Africa, victory for the Allies in this campaign immediately led to the Italian Campaign, which culminated in the downfall of the fascist government in Italy and the elimination of a German ally. On 10 May 1940, the Wehrmacht had started the Battle of France, one month later, it was plain to see that France would have to surrender within two weeks. On 10 June 1940, the Kingdom of Italy aligned itself with Nazi Germany and declared war upon France, British forces based in Egypt were ordered to undertake defensive measures, but to act as non-provocatively as possible. However, on 11 June they began a series of raids against Italian positions in Libya, following the defeat of France on 25 June, Italian forces in Tripolitania—facing French troops based in Tunisia—redeployed to Cyrenaica to reinforce the Italian Tenth Army. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered the Tenth Army to invade Egypt by 8 August, two days later, no invasion having been launched, Mussolini ordered Marshal Graziani that, the moment German forces launched Operation Sea Lion, he was to attack. The battle plan was to advance along the road, while limited armoured forces operated on the desert flank. To counter the Italian advance, Wavell ordered his forces to harass the advancing Italians, falling back towards Mersa Matruh. Positioned on the flank was the 7th Armoured Division, which would strike the flank of the Italian force. By 16 September, the Italian force had advanced to Maktila, around 80 mi west of Mersa Matruh, in response to the dispersed Italian camps, the British planned a limited five-day attack, Operation Compass, to strike at these fortified camps one by one. The British Commonwealth force, totalling 36,000 men, attacked the forward elements of the 10-division-strong Italian army on 9 December, following their initial success, the forces of Operation Compass pursued the retreating Italian forces. In January, the port at Bardia was taken, soon followed by the seizure of the fortified port of Tobruk. Some 40,000 Italians were captured in and around the two ports, with the remainder of the Tenth Army retreating along the coast road back to El Agheila. Richard OConnor sent the 7th Armoured Division across the desert, with a reconnaissance group reaching Beda Fomm some ninety minutes before the Italians. Although desperate attempts were made to overcome the British force at the Battle of Beda Fomm, the Italians were unable to break through, and the remnants of the retreating army surrendered
15.
Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
16.
Yugoslavia
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Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe during most of the 20th century. The Serbian royal House of Karađorđević became the Yugoslav royal dynasty, Yugoslavia gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. The country was named after the South Slavic peoples and constituted their first union, following centuries in which the territories had been part of the Ottoman Empire, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929, it was invaded by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941. In 1943, a Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was proclaimed by the Partisan resistance, in 1944, the king recognised it as the legitimate government, but in November 1945 the monarchy was abolished. Yugoslavia was renamed the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946 and it acquired the territories of Istria, Rijeka, and Zadar from Italy. Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito ruled the country as president until his death in 1980, in 1963, the country was renamed again as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The constituent six socialist republics that made up the country were the SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Croatia, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Serbia, and SR Slovenia. Serbia contained two Socialist Autonomous Provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo, which after 1974 were largely equal to the members of the federation. After an economic and political crisis in the 1980s and the rise of nationalism, Yugoslavia broke up along its republics borders, at first into five countries, eventually, Serbia and Montenegro accepted the opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Committee about shared succession. Serbia and Montenegro themselves broke up in 2006 and became independent states, the concept of Yugoslavia, as a single state for all South Slavic peoples, emerged in the late 17th century and gained prominence through the Illyrian Movement of the 19th century. The name was created by the combination of the Slavic words jug, Yugoslavia was the result of the Corfu Declaration, as a project of the Serbian Parliament in exile and the Serbian royal Karađorđević dynasty, who became the Yugoslav royal dynasty. The country was formed in 1918 immediately after World War I as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by union of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and it was commonly referred to at the time as the Versailles state. Later, the government renamed the country leading to the first official use of Yugoslavia in 1929, on 6 January 1929 King Alexander I suspended the constitution, banned national political parties, assumed executive power and renamed the country Yugoslavia. He hoped to curb separatist tendencies and mitigate nationalist passions and he imposed a new constitution and relinquished his dictatorship in 1931. None of these three regimes favored the policy pursued by Alexander I, Alexander attempted to create a centralised Yugoslavia. He decided to abolish Yugoslavias historic regions, and new internal boundaries were drawn for provinces or banovinas, the banovinas were named after rivers. Many politicians were jailed or kept under police surveillance, the effect of Alexanders dictatorship was to further alienate the non-Serbs from the idea of unity. During his reign the flags of Yugoslav nations were banned, Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Peter II and a regency council headed by his cousin, Prince Paul
17.
Hawker Hart
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The Hawker Hart was a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft of the Royal Air Force. It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft, Several major variants of the Hart were developed, including a navalised version for the Royal Navys aircraft carriers. Beyond Britain, the Hart would be operated by a number of nations, including Sweden, Yugoslavia, Estonia, South Africa. In 1926, the Air Ministry stated a requirement for a two-seat high-performance light day-bomber, to be of all-metal construction, designs were tendered by Hawker, Avro and de Havilland. Hawkers design was a biplane powered by a Rolls-Royce F. XI water-cooled V12 engine. The crew of two sat in tandem cockpits, with the pilot sitting under the wing trailing edge. The observer sat behind the pilot, and was armed with a single Lewis gun on a mount, while for bomb-aiming. Up to 520 pounds of bombs could be carried under the aircrafts wings, j9052, the prototype Hart, first flew in June 1928, being delivered to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Martlesham Heath on 8 September. It demonstrated good performance and handling, reaching 176 mph in flight and 282 miles per hour in a vertical dive. The competition culminated in the choice of the Hawker Hart in April 1929, the de Havilland Hound was rejected due to handling problems during landing and because of its part-wooden primary structure. The Fairey Fox IIM, delayed by Faireys late start on the design compared to the competitors, only flew for the first time on 25 October 1929. A total of 992 aircraft were built as Harts and it became the most widely used light bomber of its time and the design would prove to be a successful one with a number of derivatives, including the Hawker Hind and Hector, being made. There were a number of Hart variants made, though only slight alterations were made, Vickers built 114 of the latter model at Weybridge between 1931 and June 1936. The production Hart day bomber had a single 525 hp Rolls-Royce Kestrel IB 12-cylinder V-type engine, a speed of 184 mph, in particular, it was faster than the Bristol Bulldog, which had recently entered service as the RAFs front line fighter. This disparity in performance led the RAF to gradually replace the Bulldog with the Hawker Fury, demand was such that production was spread out among a wide selection of aircraft companies. The Hart entered service with No.33 Squadron RAF in February 1930, No.12 Squadron replaced its Foxes with Harts in January 1931, with a further two British-based Hart light bomber squadrons forming during 1931. Harts were deployed to the Middle East during the Abyssinia Crisis of 1935–1936, the Hart saw extensive and successful service on the North-West Frontier, British India during the inter-war period. Four Hawker Harts from the Swedish Air Force saw action as dive bombers during the 1939–1940 Winter War as part of a Swedish volunteer squadron, designated F19, the Rhodesian Hardys saw service on the Allied side during the opening moves of the East African theatre of World War II
18.
Hawker Fury
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The Hawker Fury was a British biplane fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the 1930s. It was a fast, agile aircraft, and holds the distinction of being the first interceptor in RAF service to be capable of more than 200 MPH, the Fury is the fighter counterpart to the Hawker Hart light bomber. The new fighter prototype, known as the Hawker Hornet, first flew at Brooklands, Surrey, the Hornet was purchased by the Air Ministry at the start of 1930, and was subject to further evaluation, with a small initial production order for 21 aircraft placed during 1930. The Fury I made its flight at Brooklands with chief test pilot George Bulman at the controls on 25 March 1931. The Fury was the RAFs first operational aircraft to be able to exceed 200 mph in level flight. It had highly sensitive controls which gave it superb aerobatic performance and it was designed partly for the fast interception of bombers and to that end it had a climb rate of almost 2,400 ft/min. An experimental prototype, the High Speed Fury, was built to test design features for Hawkers planned competitor for the F. 7/30 fighter competition as well as for general development. These improvements gave improved speed and rate of climb, sidney Camm designed a monoplane version of the Fury in 1933. It was not developed until Rolls-Royce developed what was to become their famous Merlin engine, the design was then revised according to Air Ministry specification F5/34 to become the prototype Hawker Hurricane. The Fury I entered squadron service with the RAF in May 1931, owing to finance cuts in the Great Depression, only relatively small numbers of Fury Is were ordered, the type equipping 1 and 25 squadrons. At the same time, the slower Bristol Bulldog equipped ten fighter squadrons, the Fury II entered service in 1936–1937, increasing total number of squadrons to six. Furies remained with RAF Fighter Command until January 1939, replaced primarily with Gloster Gladiators and other types, after their front line service ended, they continued to be used for training. Three Furies were ordered by Spain in 1935, it being intended to produce another 50 under licence, the three Furies were delivered without armament on 11 July 1936, just before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. They were taken into service by the Spanish Republican Air Force, although phased out from RAF squadrons, the Fury was still used by some foreign air forces in the early 1940s, Yugoslav Furies saw action against Axis forces in the German invasion of 1941. On 6 April 1941, a squadron of Furies took off to defend their country against the invading German Messerschmitt Bf 109Es, in the resulting air battle 10 Furies were destroyed, almost the entire squadron. The commanding officer of the 36 LG was Major Franjo Džal, in an unequal battle against superior adversaries, five aircraft were destroyed while taking off and eight pilots killed. Two more Furies and Bücker Bü131 were destroyed on the ground, but of the attacking German aircraft, five Bf-109s and two Bf-110s failed to return, though most were non-combat losses, at least one was lost when rammed by a Fury. The other squadron of Yugoslav Furies active at the time of the invasion strafed enemy tanks and ground forces, some being lost to ground fire, the rest of the Yugoslav Furies were destroyed when they became unserviceable or at the time of Armistice on the 15th
19.
Gloster Gauntlet
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The Gloster Gauntlet was a British single-seat biplane fighter of the RAF, designed and built by Gloster Aircraft in the 1930s. It was the last RAF fighter to have an open cockpit, the Gloster S. S.18 first flew in January 1929. On testing the S. S.19, the Air Ministry placed an order for 24 aircraft in September 1933, the order was followed up with more for the revised Gauntlet Mk. This new model used a construction method based on that used by Hawker following Hawkers takeover of Gloster, as this was much easier to build. A total of 204 Mk IIs were produced in the UK, I first entered service with No 19 Squadron at RAF Duxford in May 1935. The Gauntlet proved successful and popular in service, being 56 mph faster than the aircraft it replaced. The Gauntlet was the fastest aircraft in the RAF from 1935 to 1937, the Gauntlet Mk II entered service with 56 Squadron and 111 Squadron in May 1936, a further six squadrons being re-equipped with the Gauntlet by the end of the year. At the height of its career, the Gauntlet equipped a total of 14 Squadrons of RAF Fighter Command, No.32 Squadron RAF Gauntlets were used in early trials of ground direction of fighters by radar. Gauntlets were also shipped to the Middle East, equipping three RAF squadrons.3 Sqn RAAF in the Middle East when Italy declared war in 1940 and these were briefly used for ground-attack operations against the Italians before being retired from operations owing to maintenance problems. Gauntlets continued in use for meteorological flights until 1943, seventeen Gauntlets IIs were licence-produced in Denmark, while 25 ex-RAF machines were supplied by South Africa as support to Finland in 1940 as a result of the Winter War. Already obsolete, they were used as advanced trainers by the Finns, the Finnish nickname for the Gauntlet was Kotletti. The aircraft was fitted with a 450-hp Bristol Mercury IIA radial piston engine, SS. 18A, The SS.18 was fitted with a 480 hp Bristol Jupiter VIIF radial piston engine. SS. 18B, The SS.18 was later fitted with a 560 hp Armstrong Siddeley Panther III radial piston engine, SS.19, Single-seat prototype, fitted with a Bristol Jupiter radial piston engine. SS. 19A, The SS.19 was later fitted with two wheel spats and a single spatted tailwheel, SS. 19B, Single-seat prototype, fitted with a 536 hp Bristol Jupiter VIS radial piston engine. Gauntlet Mk I, Single-seat fighter aircraft for the RAF,24 built, Gauntlet Mk II, Single-seat fighter aircraft, modified version of the Gauntlet Mk I,221 built
20.
Gloster Gladiator
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The Gloster Gladiator is a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm and was exported to a number of air forces during the late 1930s. It was the RAFs last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced, though often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second World War, it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat. The Gladiator saw action in almost all theatres during the Second World War, with a number of air forces. The RAF used it in France, Norway, Greece, the defence of Malta, the Middle East, the South African pilot Marmaduke Pat Pattle was the top Gladiator ace with 15 victories. However, the Goshawk engine proved to be unreliable and unsuited to use on fighter aircraft, a further stumbling point for many of the submitted designs was the placement of the machine gun breeches in arms reach of the pilot. At the same time, the development of fighters such as the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire cast doubt over the future viability of the requirement altogether. Gloster recognised that, instead of developing a design from scratch. Development of what would become the Gladiator began as a venture, internally designated as the SS.37. Folland soon identified various changes to increase the aircrafts suitability to conform with the demands of the specification. The Bristol Mercury M. E.30 radial engine, capable of generating 700 hp of thrust, was selected to power the SS.37, another design choice was the fitting of a cantilever main undercarriage which incorporated Dowty internally-sprung wheel struts. In Spring 1934, Gloster embarked on the construction of a single SS.37 prototype, on 12 September 1934, the SS.37 prototype conducted its maiden flight, piloted by Gloster chief test pilot Gerry Sayer. Initially powered by a 530 hp Mercury IV engine, the prototype was quickly reequipped with a more powerful 645 hp Mercury VIS engine, during flight tests, the prototype attained a top speed of 242 mph while carrying the required four.303 in machine guns. On 3 April 1935, the prototype was transferred to the Royal Air Force, receiving the designation K5200, K5200 was later used to trial modifications for production aircraft, such as the addition of a sliding hood for the pilot. In June 1935, production plans for the aircraft were proposed and this culminated in an initial order for 23 aircraft. On 1 July 1935, the aircraft received the name Gladiator. Manufacturing of the Gladiator was started at Glosters Hucclecote facility, production of the initial batch was performed simultaneously, leading to many aircraft being completed around the same time. On 16 February 1937, K6129, the first production Gladiator, was accepted by the RAF, on 4 March 1937, K6151
21.
Hawker Hurricane
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The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–1940s that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force. In late 1934, the Air Ministry placed an order for Hawkers Interceptor Monoplane, on 6 November 1935, the prototype Hurricane, K5083, performed its maiden flight. In June 1936, the Hurricane was ordered into production by the Air Ministry, the Hurricane was rapidly procured prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, by which point, the RAF operated a total of 18 Hurricane-equipped squadrons. It is perhaps best known for its contribution to Britains home defences during the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane evolved through several versions and adaptations, resulting in a series of aircraft which acted as fighters, bomber-interceptors, fighter-bombers and ground support aircraft. By the end of production in 1944, in excess of 14,583 Hurricanes had been completed, at the time, there was an institutional reluctance towards change within the Air Staff, according to aviation author Francis K. In 1934, the British Air Ministry issued Specification F. 7/30 in response to demands within the Royal Air Force for a new generation of fighter aircraft. Earlier, during 1933, British aircraft designer Sydney Camm had conducted discussions with Major John Buchanan of the Directorate of Technical Development on a monoplane based on the existing Fury. Camms initial submission in response to F. 7/30, the Hawker P. V.3, was essentially a version of the Fury biplane. However, the P. V.3 was not among the proposals which the Air Ministry had selected to be constructed as a government-sponsored prototype, after the rejection of the P. V. By January 1934, the detail drawings had been finished. In August 1934, a scale model of the design was produced and dispatched to the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. A series of wind tunnel tests confirmed the aerodynamic qualities of the aircraft were in order and this time, the Ministrys response was favourable, and a prototype of the Interceptor Monoplane was promptly ordered. In November 1934, the Air Ministry issued Specification F. 5/34 which, drawing on the work of Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley, however, by this time, work had progressed too far to immediately modify the planned four-gun installation. In July 1935, this specification was amended to include installation of eight guns, ground testing and taxi trials took place over the following two weeks. On 6 November 1935, the prototype K5083 took to the air for the first time at the hands of Hawkers chief test pilot, Flight Lieutenant George Bulman. Bulman was assisted by two pilots in subsequent flight testing, Philip Lucas flew some of the experimental test flights. As completed, the prototype had been fitted with ballast to represent the aircrafts armament prior to the acceptance of the final multi-gun wing armament. In early 1936, the prototype was transferred to RAF Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, in the course of further testing, it was found that the Hurricane had poor spin recovery characteristics, in which all rudder authority could be lost due to shielding of the rudder
22.
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
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The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production, the Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. P-40 Warhawk was the name the United States Army Air Corps and after June 1941, USAAF-adopted name for all models, making it the official name in the U. S. for all P-40s. The British Commonwealth and Soviet air forces used the name Tomahawk for models equivalent to the P-40B and P-40C, P-40s first saw combat with the British Commonwealth squadrons of the Desert Air Force in the Middle East and North African campaigns, during June 1941. However, between 1941 and 1944, the P-40 played a role with Allied air forces in three major theaters, North Africa, the Southwest Pacific, and China. It also had a significant role in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Alaska, the P-40s performance at high altitudes was not as important in those theaters, where it served as an air superiority fighter, bomber escort and fighter-bomber. The P-40 offered the advantage of low cost, which kept it in production as a ground-attack aircraft long after it was obsolete as a fighter. On 14 October 1938, Curtiss test pilot Edward Elliott flew the prototype XP-40 on its first flight in Buffalo, the first prototype placed the glycol coolant radiator in an underbelly position on the fighter, just aft of the wings trailing edge. USAAC Fighter Projects Officer Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey flew this prototype some 300 miles in 57 minutes, hiding his disappointment, he told reporters that future versions would likely go 100 miles per hour faster. Kelsey was interested in the Allison engine because it was sturdy and dependable, Curtiss engineers worked to improve the XP-40s speed by moving the radiator forward in steps. Seeing little gain, Kelsey ordered the aircraft to be evaluated in a NACA wind tunnel to identify solutions for better aerodynamic qualities, from 28 March to 11 April 1939, the prototype was studied by NACA. Based on the data obtained, Curtiss moved the glycol coolant radiator forward to the chin, other improvements to the landing gear doors and the exhaust manifold combined to give performance that was satisfactory to the USAAC. Without beneficial tail winds, Kelsey flew the XP-40 from Wright Field back to Curtisss plant in Buffalo at an speed of 354 mph. Further tests in December 1939 proved the fighter could reach 366 mph, an unusual production feature was a special truck rig to speed delivery at the main Curtiss plant in Buffalo, New York. The rig moved the newly built P-40s in two components, the main wing and the fuselage, the eight miles from the plant to the airport where the two units were mated for flight and delivery. The P-40 was conceived as an aircraft and was agile at low and medium altitudes. At medium and high speeds it was one of the tightest-turning early monoplane designs of the war, and it could out turn most opponents it faced in North Africa and the Russian Front. In the Pacific Theater it was out-turned at lower speeds by the lightweight fighters A6M Zero, the American Volunteer Group Commander Claire Chennault advised against prolonged dog-fighting with the Japanese fighters due to speed reduction favouring the Japanese
23.
Supermarine Spitfire
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The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries before, during and after World War II. The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations and it was also the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war. The Spitfire continues to be popular among enthusiasts, about 54 remain airworthy, Spitfire units, however, had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes because of its higher performance. Spitfires in general were tasked with engaging Luftwaffe fighters during the Battle, much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber and trainer, and it continued to serve in these roles until the 1950s. The Seafire was an adaptation of the Spitfire which served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 through to the mid-1950s. As a consequence of this, the Spitfires performance and capabilities improved over the course of its service life and this made its first flight in February 1934. Of the seven designs tendered to F7/30, the Gloster Gladiator biplane was accepted for service and this led to the Type 300, with retractable undercarriage and the wingspan reduced by 6 ft. This was submitted to the Air Ministry in July 1934, but was not accepted, on 3 January 1935, they formalised the contract with a new specification, F10/35, written around the aircraft. On 5 March 1936, the prototype took off on its first flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome, at the controls was Captain Joseph Mutt Summers, chief test pilot for Vickers, who is quoted as saying Dont touch anything on landing. This eight-minute flight came four months after the flight of the contemporary Hurricane. K5054 was fitted with a new propeller, and Summers flew the aircraft on 10 March 1936, after the fourth flight, a new engine was fitted, and Summers left the test-flying to his assistants, Jeffrey Quill and George Pickering. They soon discovered that the Spitfire was a good aircraft. The rudder was over-sensitive and the top speed was just 330 mph, here, Flight Lieutenant Humphrey Edwardes-Jones took over the prototype for the RAF. He had been orders to fly the aircraft and then to make his report to the Air Ministry on landing. Edwardes-Joness report was positive, his only request was that the Spitfire be equipped with a position indicator. A week later, on 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 Spitfires, before any formal report had been issued by the A&AEE, the British public first saw the Spitfire at the RAF Hendon air-display on Saturday 27 June 1936. The first and most immediate problem was that the main Supermarine factory at Woolston was already working at full capacity fulfilling orders for Walrus and Stranraer flying boats. In February 1936 the director of Vickers-Armstrongs, Sir Robert MacLean, guaranteed production of five aircraft a week, on 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 aircraft, for a price of £1,395,000
24.
18th Fighter-Bomber Wing
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The United States Air Forces 18th Wing is the host wing for Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan and is the Air Force’s largest combat wing. It is the largest and principal organization in the Pacific Air Forces Fifth Air Force, the Wings 18th Operations Group is a successor organization of the 18th Pursuit Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II. The 18th Wings mission is to defend U. S. and Japanese mutual interests by providing a staging and operational airbase with integrated, deployable. The focus of the operations is directed to accomplishing this mission. The 18th Wing is composed of five groups each with specific functions, the Operations Group controls all flying and airfield operations. The Maintenance Group performs Aircraft and Aircraft support equipment maintenance, the Mission Support Group has a wide range of responsibilities but a few of its functions are Security, Communications, Personnel Management, Logistics, Services and Contracting support. The Civil Engineer Group provides facilities management, while the Medical Group provides medical and dental care, in addition to the 61 aircraft of the 18th Wing, associate units operate more than 20 permanently assigned, forward-based or deployed aircraft from the base on a daily basis. The fighting cock emblem, approved in 1931, symbolizes the courage, for additional history and lineage, see 18th Operations Group The 18th Fighter Wing was established on 10 August 1948, and activated four days later at Clark Air Force Base. On January 20,1950, the wing was re-designated the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing, the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to Korea in July 1950 and entered combat. In late July, the headquarters with two of its squadrons deployed with F-80s from the Philippines to Taegu AB, South Korea. From July 28 to August 3, the 18th Group operated directly under Fifth Air Force then passed to the control of the 6002nd Fighter Wing, pilots exchanged their F-80s for F-51 Mustangs. Combat targets included tanks and armored vehicles, locomotives and trucks, artillery and antiaircraft guns, fuel and ammunition dumps, warehouses and factories, and troop concentrations. Because the front advanced so rapidly, operations from Pusan East Air Base soon became impractical, the 2nd SAAF Squadron joined the 18th in mid-November. The Chinese Communist caused the group to move twice in as many weeks, first to Suwon AB, South Korea, from there the 18th FBG continued to support ground forces and carry out armed reconnaissance and interdiction missions. From November 1950 through January 1951, it earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for destroying roughly 2,400 enemy vehicles and severely damaging almost 500 more. From early 1951 until January 1953, the group and its squadrons, moving from base to base in South Korea. When in January 1953 the group rejoined the wing at Osan-ni AB and it flew its first F-86 counter air mission on February 26,1953. In the final days of the war, the 18th FBG attacked dispersed enemy aircraft at Sinuiju and Uiju Airfields, the group remained in Korea for some time after the armistice
25.
North American F-86 Sabre
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The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war and its success led to an extended production run of more than 7,800 aircraft between 1949 and 1956, in the United States, Japan and Italy. Variants were built in Canada and Australia, the Canadair Sabre added another 1,815 airframes, and the significantly redesigned CAC Sabre, had a production run of 112. The Sabre was by far the most-produced Western jet fighter, with production of all variants at 9,860 units. North American Aviation had produced the propeller-powered P-51 Mustang in World War II, by late 1944, North American proposed its first jet fighter to the U. S. Navy, which became the FJ-1 Fury. It was an unexceptional transitional jet fighter that had a wing derived from the P-51. Initial proposals to meet a United States Army Air Forces requirement for a medium-range, single-seat, in early 1945, North American Aviation submitted four designs. The USAAF selected one design over the others, and granted North American a contract to build three examples of the XP-86, despite the gain in speed, early studies revealed the XP-86 would have the same performance as its rivals, the XP-80 and XP-84. It was also feared that, because these designs were advanced in their development stages. Crucially, the XP-86 would not be able to meet the top speed of 600 mph. The North American F-86 Sabre was the first American aircraft to take advantage of research data seized from the German aerodynamicists at the end of World War II. By 1944, German engineers and designers had established the benefits of swept wings based on designs dating back to 1940. Study of the data showed that a wing would solve their speed problem. Because development of the XP-86 had reached a stage, the idea of changing the sweep of the wing was met with resistance from some senior North American staff. Despite stiff opposition, after results were obtained in wind tunnel tests. Many Sabres had the 6–3 wing retrofitted after combat experience was gained in Korea and this modification changed the wing airfoils to the NACA 0009-64 mod at the root and the NACA0008. 1–64 mod at the tip. Delays caused by the major redesign meant that manufacturing did not begin until after World War II, the XP-86 prototype, which would lead to the F-86 Sabre, was rolled out on 8 August 1947. The maiden flight occurred on 1 October 1947 with George Welch at the controls, flying from Muroc Dry Lake, the United States Air Forces Strategic Air Command had F-86 Sabres in service from 1949 through 1950
26.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
27.
Union Buildings
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The Union Buildings form the official seat of the South African government and also house the offices of the president of South Africa. The imposing buildings are located in Pretoria, atop Meintjieskop at the end of Arcadia, close to historic Church Square. The large gardens of the Buildings are nestled between Government Avenue, Vermeulen Street East, Church Street, the R104 and Blackwood Street, fairview Avenue is a closed road where only officials can enter to the Union Buildings. Though not in the center of Pretoria the Union Buildings occupy the highest point of Pretoria, the Buildings are one of the centres of political life in South Africa, The Buildings and Arcadia have become metonyms for the South African government. It has become a landmark of Pretoria and South Africa in general, and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city. The Buildings are the location of presidential inaugurations and these buildings, built from light sandstone, were designed by the architect Sir Herbert Baker in the English monumental style and are 285 m long. They have a shape, with the two wings at the sides, this serves to represent the union of a formerly divided people. The clock chimes are identical to those of Big Ben in London, the east and west wings, as well as the twin-domed towers, represent two languages, English and Afrikaans, and the inner court symbolises the Union of South Africa. These buildings are considered by many to be the architects greatest achievement, the Nelson Mandela statue in Sandton Citys Nelson Mandela Square was commissioned originally to stand on the spot where Nelson Mandela gave his inaugural address. The building was sited on a quarry, which now makes up the amphitheatre. The matching statues on top of the towers are Atlas, holding up the world. The statue on the rostrum in the amphitheatre between the wings is Mercury, a mythic Roman messenger and a god of trade, sculpted by George Ness. The closest suburb to the Union Buildings is Arcadia, which means Playground of Gods, Pretoria has the second largest number of embassies in the world, after Washington, D. C. most of which are located in or near Arcadia. The design of each level differs, and therefore each stone had to be individually cut, the Architectural styles of the building ranges from the lower levels Edwardian style to the top levels Cape Dutch design with shutters on the windows. The windows from bottom to top are elongated and become shorter towards the top floor and this is to give the illusion of height. The Union Buildings are the site of presidential inaugurations, the official offices of the president are on the left-hand side of the Union Buildings, and the South African national flag is flown on the left-hand side if the president is in office. The Buildings are divided into three sections, the offices, amphitheatre, and right offices. All are 95 metres in length, each offices block contains three inner courtyards providing light and air to the offices
28.
Commanding officer
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The commanding officer or, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general, is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the officer has ultimate authority over the unit. In this respect, commanding officers have significant responsibilities, duties, in some countries, commanding officers may be of any commissioned rank. The commanding officer is assisted by an executive officer or second-in-command, who handles personnel and day-to-day matters. Larger units may also have staff officers responsible for various responsibilities, in the British Army, Royal Marines, and many other Commonwealth military and paramilitary organisations, the commanding officer of a unit is appointed. Thus the office of CO is an appointment, the appointment commanding officer is exclusive to commanders of major units. It is customary for an officer to hold the rank of lieutenant colonel, and he or she is usually referred to within the unit simply as the Colonel or, more commonly. The Colonel is usually an appointment of a senior officer who oversees the non-operational affairs of a regiment. However, the rank of the appointment holder and the appointment are separate. That is, not all lieutenant colonels are COs, and although most COs are lieutenant colonels, sub-units, that is, company, squadron and battery, and formations do not have a commanding officer. The officer in command of a sub unit holds the appointment officer commanding or OC, higher formations have commanders or a General Officer Commanding. In some cases, independent units smaller than a sub-unit, e. g. a platoon of Military Police that reports directly to a such as a brigade. In these cases, the officer commanding can be a captain or even a lieutenant, appointments such as CO and OC may have specific powers associated with them. For example, they may have powers to promote soldiers or to deal with certain disciplinary offences. The CO of a unit may have the power to sentence an offender to 28 days detention, units smaller than sub-units, i. e. platoons, troops and sections are not specific appointments and officers or NCOs who fill those positions are simply referred to as the commanders/leader. E. g. Platoon Commander, Troop Leader, Section Commander/Leader, in the Royal Air Force, the title of commanding officer is reserved for Station Commanders or commanders of independent units. As with the British Army, the post of a commander of a unit such as an administrative wing. In the Royal Navy, commanding officer is the title of the commander of any ship
29.
United Nations Memorial Cemetery
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The United Nations Memorial Cemetery, located at Tanggok in the Nam District, City of Busan, Republic of Korea, is a burial ground for United Nations Command casualties of the Korean War. It contains 2,300 graves and is the only United Nations cemetery in the world, laid out over 14 hectares, the graves are set out in 22 sites designated by the nationalities of the buried servicemembers. The Korean War began when North Korean Peoples Army forces attacked south in June 1950, as the fighting progressed, temporary military cemeteries for battle casualties were established by United Nations forces near the towns of Taejon, Kwan-ui, Kum-chon, and Sindong. When the North Korean forces pushed towards Pusan, these cemeteries had to be abandoned, later, as the Battle of Pusan Perimeter developed, temporary cemeteries were established at Masan, Miryang, and Taegu, with a Pusan cemetery being established on July 11,1950. As the fighting pushed into North Korea, temporary cemeteries were established in or near the towns of Kaesong, Sukehon, Wonsan, Pupchong, Yudarn-ni and Koto-ri. Some 11 division-level cemeteries were established in the first two months of fighting and later 5 UN military cemeteries were established in North Korea. The 108th was reconfigured as the 114th Graves Registration Company and deployed to establish temporary cemeteries at Hungnam, Pyongyang, when UN forces launched the Inchon Invasion in September 1950, a platoon from the 565th Graves Registration Company accompanied them. Other mortuary affairs units included the 293rd Graves Registration Company, activated in April 1951 and it was difficult to recover remains and conduct burials in Korea, due to the rugged geography and harsh climate, and the threat of unexploded ordnance and booby-traps. Construction of the United Nations Military Cemetery at Tanggok began on January 18,1951 and was carried out by hand-labor over a 28.2 hectares site and it was dedicated by General Matthew Ridgeway on April 6,1951. Graves Registration units then concentrated American and allied remains at Tanggok before they were buried or repatriated. Besides burial services, refrigeration units to store remains were added, today the 2,300 graves in the cemetery are set out in 22 sites designated by the nationalities of the buried service members. Following the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement in July 1953, cemeteries for POWs in North Korea were established at 16 POW camps. From 1950 to 1954, approximately 11,000 casualties were interred at UNMC and it was officially established as the United Nations Memorial Cemetery on December 15,1955 with the passage of UN General Assembly Resolution 977. Following the war, the cemetery was funded from the United Nations budget, the cemetery is designated as Site 359 in the listing of Registered Cultural Heritage Sites in Korea by the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea. Also, it is an attraction for Pacific Rim tourists. In 2011, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon described it as the only United Nations cemetery in the world, an Honour Guard from the Republic of Korea 53rd Division carries out flag ceremonies daily. The UN Sculpture Park was established in October 2001 and twenty-nine permanent memorials are in the cemetery, the UNMCK maintains a website in Korean, English, and Turkish, which allows website visitors to post online flowers and tributary messages. The cemetery contains the graves of 2,289 military personnel and 11 non-combatants, amongst those are the graves of Bill Madden GC, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Kenneth Muir VC, and Philip Curtis VC
30.
Busan
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Busan, officially Busan Metropolitan City, romanized as Pusan before 2000, is South Koreas second most-populous city after Seoul, with a population of approximately 3.6 million. The population of the area, including the adjacent cities of Gimhae. The city is located on the southeastern-most tip of the Korean peninsula, located within South Koreas largest industrial area, The Southeast Economic Zone, the city is the cultural, educational and economic center of the region. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth busiest seaport by cargo tonnage. The most densely built up areas of the city are situated in a number of narrow valleys between the Nakdong River and the Suyeong River, with mountains separating most of the districts, administratively, it is designated as a Metropolitan City. The Busan metropolitan area is divided into 15 major administrative districts, Busan was the host city of the 2002 Asian Games and the APEC2005 Korea. It was also one of the host cities for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, on November 14,2005, the city authorities officially announced its bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics Games. After Pyeongchangs successful bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, Busan is considering bidding to host the 2028 or 2032 Summer Olympics, Busan has Koreas largest beach and longest river, and is home to the worlds largest department store, the Shinsegae Centum City. Geochilsan-guk existed in the second and 3rd and 4th centuries as a chiefdom of Jinhan and it was absorbed by Silla and renamed Geochilsan-gun. The word Geochilsan means rough mountain, probably referring to Hwangbyeongsan, the mounded burials of Bokcheon-dong were built along the top of a ridge that overlooks a wide area that makes up parts of modern-day Dongnae-gu and Yeonje-gu. Archaeologists excavated more than 250 iron weapons and ingots from Burial No,38, a wooden chamber tomb at Bokcheon-dong. In 757, Geochilsan-gun was again renamed Dongnae, which it is still called, from the beginning of the 15th century, the Korean government designated Busan as a trading port with the Japanese and allowed their settlement. Other Japanese settlements in Ulsan and Jinhae diminished later, but the Busan settlement, called Waegwan at the time, after the war, diplomatic relations with the new shogunate in Japan were established in 1607, and Busan Waegwan was permitted to be reconstructed. The Japanese settlement, though relocated into Choryang later, continued to exist until Korea was exposed to modern diplomacy in 1876, in 1876, Busan became the first international port in Korea. During the Japanese rule, Busan developed into a hub trading port with Japan, Busan was the only city in Korea to adopt the steam tramway before electrification was introduced in 1924. During the Korean War, Busan was one of two cities in South Korea not captured by the North Korean army within the first three months of the War. As a result, the city became a camp site for Koreans during the war. As Busan was one of the few areas in Korea that remained under the control of South Korea throughout the Korean War, UN troops established a defensive perimeter around the city known as the Pusan Perimeter in the summer and autumn of 1950
31.
Dassault Mirage III
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The Dassault Mirage III is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft produced by Dassault Aviation for the French Air Force and widely exported. Prominent operators included Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and Israel, though an older design, the second-generation fighter is a fairly maneuverable aircraft and an effective opponent in close-range dogfighting. In French service it was armed with air-to-ground ordnance or R.550 Magic air-to-air missiles, the versatility of the design enabled production of trainer, reconnaissance and ground-attack versions, as well as the Dassault Mirage 5, Dassault Mirage IIIV and Atlas Cheetah variants. A Mirage III was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizontal flight.3 in level flight, the aircraft had a tailless delta configuration, with 5% thickness and 60° sweep. The tailless delta configuration has a number of limitations, the lack of a horizontal stabilizer meant that flaps cannot be used, resulting in a long takeoff run and a high landing speed. The delta wing itself limits maneuverability and suffers from buffeting at low altitude due to the wing area. However, the delta is a simple and pleasing design, easily built and robust, capable of speed in a straight line. The first prototype of the Mystère-Delta, without afterburning engines or rocket motor and with a large vertical stabilizer. After a redesign, the stabilizer was reduced in size, afterburners. In late 1955, the prototype attained Mach 1.3 in level flight without rocket assist, the small size of the Mirage I restricted its armament to a single air-to-air missile, and it was decided during flight trials that it was too small for a useful armament load. After trials, the Mirage I prototype was eventually scrapped.2 kN, the Atar was an axial-flow turbojet, derived from the German World War II BMW003 design. The new fighter was named the Mirage III, like the Mirage I, the Mirage III had provision for a booster rocket engine. The success of the Mirage III prototype resulted in an order for 10 pre-production Mirage IIIA fighters. These were almost 2 meters longer than the Mirage III prototype, had a wing with 17. 3% more area, a chord reduced to 4. 5%, and an Atar 09B turbojet with afterburning thrust of 58.9 kN. The SEPR841 rocket engine was retained, it was fitted with Thomson-CSF Cyrano Ibis air intercept radar, operational avionics. The first Mirage IIIA flew in May 1958 and eventually was clocked at Mach 2.2, the tenth IIIA was rolled out in December 1959. One was fitted with a Rolls-Royce Avon 67 engine with thrust of 71.1 kN as a test model for Australian evaluation and this variant flew in February 1961, but the Avon powerplant was not adopted. The first major production model, the Mirage IIIC, first flew in October 1960, the IIIC was largely similar to the IIIA, being less than a half meter longer and having a full operational fit
32.
South West Africa
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South West Africa was the name for modern-day Namibia when it was ruled by the German Empire and later South Africa. As a German colony from 1884, it was known as German South West Africa, germany had a difficult time administering the territory, which experienced many insurrections, especially those led by guerilla leader Jacob Morenga. The main port, Walvis Bay, and the Penguin Islands were annexed by Britain in 1878, following the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, Walvis Bay became part of the Cape Province. As part of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty in 1890, a corridor of land taken from the border of Bechuanaland. It was named the Caprivi Strip after the German Chancellor Leo von Caprivi, in 1915, during South West Africa Campaign of the First World War, South Africa captured the German colony. After the war, it was declared a League of Nations Class C Mandate territory under the Treaty of Versailles, from 1922, this included Walvis Bay, which, under the South West Africa Affairs Act, was governed if it were part of the mandated territory. South West Africa remained a League of Nations Mandate until World War II, the Mandate was supposed to become a United Nations Trust Territory when League of Nations Mandates were transferred to the United Nations following the Second World War. This was to the advantage of the National Party, which enjoyed support from the predominantly Afrikaners. Between 1950 and 1977, all of South West Africas parliamentary seats were held by the Nationalists, an additional consequence of this was the extension of apartheid laws to the territory. The ICJ also clarified that the General Assembly was empowered to receive petitions from the inhabitants of South West Africa and to call for reports from the mandatory nation, the General Assembly constituted the Committee on South West Africa to perform the supervisory functions. In 1956, the Court further ruled that the Committee had the power to grant hearings to petitioners from the mandated territory, in 1960, Ethiopia and Liberia filed a case in the International Court of Justice against South Africa alleging that South Africa had not fulfilled its mandatory duties. This case did not succeed, with the Court ruling in 1966 that they were not the parties to bring the case. There was a struggle between South Africa and forces fighting for independence, particularly after the formation of the South West Africa Peoples Organisation in 1960. In 1966, the General Assembly passed resolution 2145 which declared the Mandate terminated and it also ruled that all member states of the United Nations were under an obligation not to recognise as valid any act performed by South Africa on behalf of Namibia. South West Africa became known as Namibia by the UN when the General Assembly changed the name by Resolution 2372 of 12 June 1968. In 1977, South Africa transferred control of Walvis Bay back to the Cape Province, the territory became the independent Republic of Namibia on 21 March 1990, although Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands were only incorporated into Namibia in 1994. The South African authorities established 10 bantustans in South West Africa in the late 1960s and early 1970s in accordance with the Odendaal Commission and these bantustans were replaced with separate ethnicity based governments in 1980
33.
Angola
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Angola /æŋˈɡoʊlə/, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country in Southern Africa. It is the seventh-largest country in Africa and is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to west. The exclave province of Cabinda has borders with the Republic of the Congo, the capital and largest city of Angola is Luanda. In the 19th century, European settlers slowly and hesitantly began to themselves in the interior. As a Portuguese colony, Angola did not encompass its present borders until the early 20th century, following resistance by groups such as the Cuamato, the Kwanyama and the Mbunda. Independence was achieved in 1975 under a communist one-party state backed by the Soviet Union, however, the country soon descended into an even lengthier civil war that lasted until 2002. It has since become a relatively stable presidential republic. Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and its economy is among the fastest growing in the world, Angolas economic growth is highly uneven, with the majority of the nations wealth concentrated in a disproportionately small sector of the population. Angola is a state of the United Nations, OPEC, African Union, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the Latin Union. A highly multiethnic country, Angolas 25.8 million people span various tribal groups, customs, Angolan culture reflects centuries of Portuguese rule, namely in the predominance of the Portuguese language and the Catholic Church, combined with diverse indigenous influences. The name Angola comes from the Portuguese colonial name Reino de Angola, the toponym was derived by the Portuguese from the title ngola held by the kings of Ndongo. Ndongo was a kingdom in the highlands, between the Kwanza and Lukala Rivers, nominally tributary to the king of Kongo but which was seeking greater independence during the 16th century, modern Angola was populated predominantly by nomadic Khoi and San prior to the first Bantu migrations. The Khoi and San peoples were neither pastoralists nor cultivators, following a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and they were displaced by Bantu peoples arriving from the north, some of whom likely originated in northwestern Nigeria. Bantu speakers introduced the cultivation of bananas and taro, as well as large herds, to Angolas central highlands. During this time, the Bantu established a number of entities in most of what today comprises Angola. To its south lay the Kingdom of Ndongo, from which the area of the later Portuguese colony was known as Dongo. The region now known as Angola was reached by the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão in 1484, the year before, the Portuguese had established relations with the Kongo, which stretched at the time from modern Gabon in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. The Portuguese established their primary trading post at Soyo, which is now the northernmost city in Angola apart from the Cabinda exclave
34.
South African Border War
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It was fought between the South African Defence Force and the Peoples Liberation Army of Namibia, an armed wing of the South West African Peoples Organisation. The South African Border War resulted in some of the largest battles on the African continent since World War II and was intertwined with the Angolan Civil War. Fighting broke out between PLAN and the South African authorities in August 1966, between 1975 and 1988 the SADF staged massive conventional raids into Angola and Zambia to eliminate PLANs forward operating bases. It also deployed specialist counter-insurgency units such as Koevoet and 32 Battalion trained to carry out external reconnaissance, South African tactics became increasingly aggressive as the conflict progressed. The SADFs incursions produced Angolan casualties and occasionally resulted in collateral damage to economic installations regarded as vital to the Angolan economy. Beginning in 1984, regular Angolan units under Soviet command were confident enough to confront the SADF and their positions were also bolstered by thousands of Cuban troops. PLAN launched its final campaign in late March 1989. South West Africa received formal independence as the Republic of Namibia a year later, despite being largely fought in neighbouring states, the South African Border War had a phenomenal cultural and political impact on South African society. It remains an integral theme in contemporary South African literature at large and Afrikaans-language works in particular, various names have been applied to the undeclared conflict waged by South Africa in Angola and Namibia from the mid 1960s to the late 1980s. Border War entered public discourse in South Africa during the late 1970s, due to the covert nature of most South African Defence Force operations inside Angola, the term was favoured as a means of omitting any reference to clashes on foreign soil. Where tactical aspects of various engagements were discussed, military historians simply identified the conflict as the bush war, the South West African Peoples Organisation has described the South African Border War as the Namibian War of National Liberation and the Namibian Liberation Struggle. In the Namibian context it is commonly referred to as the Namibian War of Independence. However, these terms have been criticised for ignoring the wider implications of the war and the fact that PLAN was based in. Namibia was governed as German South West Africa, a colony of the German Empire, until World War I, when it was invaded and occupied by Allied forces under General Louis Botha. Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918, a system was imposed by the League of Nations to govern African and Asian territories held by Germany. Nevertheless, the bestowal of a mandate by the League of Nations did not confer full sovereignty, in principle mandating countries were only supposed to hold these former colonies in trust for their inhabitants, until they were sufficiently prepared for their own self-determination. Under these terms, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand were granted the German Pacific islands, and it soon became apparent the South African government had interpreted the mandate as a veiled annexation. According to Smuts, this annexation in all but in name
35.
Atlas Cheetah
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The Atlas Cheetah is a South African fighter aircraft developed for the South African Air Force, and currently operated by the Ecuadorian Air Force. It was developed as an upgrade of the Dassault Mirage III by the Atlas Aircraft Corporation in South Africa and is based on the IAI Kfir. Three different variants were created,16 dual-seat Cheetah D,16 single-seat Cheetah E and 38 single-seat Cheetah C, the Cheetah Es were retired in 1992, and the Cheetah Cs and Cheetah Ds in April 2008, being replaced by the Saab Gripen. A limited number are still operated in South Africa as flight test aircraft, the Atlas Cheetah programme grew out of South Africas requirement for a modern fighter and strike aircraft in the 1980s. Furthermore, the increasing cost of maintenance due to sanctions and the age of the used by the SAAF had to be addressed. At the time the SAAFs fast jet fleet consisted of Dassault Mirage III, the work was carried out by Atlas Aviation, using expertise partly gained by recruiting technicians from Israels aborted IAI Lavi fighter project. The aerodynamic refinements alone increased the rate by 15%, increased the AoA, reduced the minimum airspeed to 100 kt. However, it resulted in a 5% decrease in maximum level speed. In addition, a highly sophisticated avionics, radar, EW and self-protection suite was installed and this entailed the fitting of an EW suite which included missile and radar warning sensors. At least five IAI Nesher fighters may have acquired from the Israeli Air Force for Cheetah trials. First to roll off the line were the Cheetah Ds and Cheetah Es. The first aircraft to be converted was a Mirage IIID2Z, no.845, the second and third aircraft to be delivered to Atlas were both Mirage IIIEZs, and the resulting Cheetah Es went into service with 5 Squadron at AFB Louis Trichardt. All the Cheetah Cs entered service with 2 Squadron, also at AFB Louis Trichardt, none of the Cheetah variants ever saw combat in the Border War, so their performance was never tested against the dominant fighter in the conflict, the MiG-23. The Cheetah Es were used as permanent interceptor aircraft, with a minimum of two aircraft on alert status, until the end of the Border War in 1989. With the entering into service of the Cheetah C, the Cheetah Es were withdrawn from service and 5 Squadron was disbanded in 1992. Soon afterwards,89 Combat Flying School was also disbanded, and all the Cheetah Ds were transferred to 2 Squadron, two Cheetah Ds are still operated in South Africa by the SAAF on behalf of Denel Aviation at the Overberg Test Flight and Development Centre as systems test aircraft. The Cheetah C was the development in the Cheetah series and was the only fighter aircraft in service with the SAAF until replaced by the Saab JAS39 Gripen in 2008. In addition to the described above, the Cheetah C incorporated more sophisticated avionics and navigation suite
36.
Boeing 707
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The Boeing 707 is a mid-sized, long-range, narrow-body, four-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes from 1958 to 1979. Its name is pronounced as seven oh seven. Versions of the aircraft have a capacity from 140 to 219 passengers, developed as Boeings first jet airliner, the 707 is a swept-wing design with podded engines. Although it was not the first jetliner in service, the 707 was the first to be commercially successful, dominating passenger air transport in the 1960s and remaining common through the 1970s, the 707 is generally credited with ushering in the Jet Age. It established Boeing as one of the largest manufacturers of passenger aircraft, the later 720,727,737, and 757 share elements of the 707s fuselage design. The 707 was developed from the Boeing 367-80, a prototype jet first flown in 1954, a larger fuselage cross-section and other modifications resulted in the initial-production 707-120, powered by Pratt & Whitney JT3C turbojet engines, which first flew on December 20,1957. Pan American World Airways began regular 707 service on October 26,1958, later derivatives included the shortened long-range 707-138 and the stretched 707-320, both of which entered service in 1959. A smaller short-range variant, the 720, was introduced in 1960, the 707 has been used on domestic, transcontinental, and transatlantic flights, and for cargo and military applications. A convertible passenger-freighter model, the 707-320C, entered service in 1963, military derivatives include the E-3 Sentry airborne reconnaissance aircraft and the C-137 Stratoliner VIP transports. Boeing produced and delivered 1,011 airliners including the smaller 720 series, ten Boeing 707s were in commercial service in July 2013. During and after World War II, Boeing was known for its military aircraft, the company had produced innovative and important bombers, from the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-29 Superfortress, to the jet-powered B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress. The companys civil aviation department lagged far behind Douglas and other competitors, during 1949–1950, Boeing embarked on studies for a new jet transport, realizing that any design must be aimed at both the military and civilian markets. At the time, aerial refueling was becoming a standard technique for military aircraft, with the advent of the Jet Age, a new tanker was required to meet the USAFs fleet of jet-powered bombers, this was where Boeings new design would potentially win military orders. Boeing studied numerous wing and engine layouts for its new transport/tanker, some of which were based on the B-47 and C-97, before settling on 367–80. The Dash 80 took less than two years from launch in 1952 to rollout on May 14,1954, then first flew on July 15,1954. The prototype was an aircraft for both military and civilian use. The United States Air Force was the first customer, using it as the basis for the KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling platform, whether the passenger 707 would be profitable was far from certain. In a demonstration flight over Lake Washington outside Seattle, on August 7,1955, the 132-inch wide fuselage of the Dash 80 was large enough for four-abreast seating like the Stratocruiser
37.
60 Squadron SAAF
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60 Squadron SAAF is a squadron of the South African Air Force. It is a transport, aerial refuelling and EW/ELINT squadron and it was first formed at Nairobi in December 1940. During its first years the squadron flew the British Aircraft Double Eagle, Martin Maryland, de Havilland Mosquito, the squadron was reequipped with Boeing 707s in 1986. Operations wound down with the last operational Boeing 707 flight flown on 10 July 2007 to Bujumbura, Kinshasa, the squadron appears to be in limbo, with conversion to the Airbus A400M cancelled
38.
Luftwaffe
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The Luftwaffe was the aerial warfare branch of the combined German Wehrmacht military forces during World War II. During the interwar period, German pilots were trained secretly in violation of the treaty at Lipetsk Air Base, with the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Versailles Treaty, the Luftwaffe was officially established on 26 February 1935. The Condor Legion, a Luftwaffe detachment sent to aid Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, provided the force with a testing ground for new doctrines. By the summer of 1939, the Luftwaffe had twenty-eight Geschwaders, during World War II, German pilots claimed roughly 70,000 aerial victories, while over 75,000 Luftwaffe aircraft were destroyed or significantly damaged. Of these, nearly 40,000 were lost entirely, the Luftwaffe proved instrumental in the German victories across Poland and Western Europe in 1939 and 1940. From 1942, Allied bombing campaigns gradually destroyed the Luftwaffes fighter arm, in addition to its service in the West, the Luftwaffe operated over the Soviet Union, North Africa and Southern Europe. In January 1945, during the stages of the Battle of the Bulge, the Luftwaffe made a last-ditch effort to win air superiority. After the defeat of Germany, the Luftwaffe was disbanded in 1946, the Luftwaffe had only two commanders-in-chief throughout its history, Hermann Göring and later Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim. Throughout the war, the force was responsible for war crimes, one of the forerunners of the Luftwaffe, the Imperial German Army Air Service, was founded in 1910 with the name Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches, most often shortened to Fliegertruppe. It was renamed Luftstreitkräfte on 8 October 1916, after the defeat of Germany, the service was dissolved on 8 May 1920 under the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, which also mandated the destruction of all German military aircraft. Since the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to have an air force, to train its pilots on the latest combat aircraft, Germany solicited the help of its future enemy, the Soviet Union, which was also isolated in Europe. This base was known as 4th squadron of the 40th wing of the Red Army. Hundreds of Luftwaffe pilots and technical personnel visited, studied and were trained at Soviet air force schools in locations in Central Russia. The first steps towards the Luftwaffes formation were undertaken just months after Adolf Hitler came to power, in April 1933 the Reichsluftfahrtministerium was established. Görings control over all aspects of aviation became absolute, on 25 March 1933 the Deutschen Luftsportverband absorbed all private and national organizations, while retaining its sports title. On 15 May 1933, all military organizations in the RLM were merged, forming the Luftwaffe. The |Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps was formed in 1937 to give pre-military flying training to male youths, military-age members of the NSFK were drafted to the Luftwaffe. As all such prior NSFK members were also Nazi Party members, the absence of Göring in planning and production matters was fortunate
39.
Test Flight and Development Centre SAAF
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The Test Flight and Development Centre is a unit of the South African Air Force. It is a test flight and evaluation organisation, due to South Africas apartheid policies of the 1960s, a number of countries instituted an arms boycott against it. In 1974 another ETPS graduate took over, and was tasked with creating a specialised test flying, the end result was that the Test Flight and Development Centre was officially established on 10 August 1975 at AFB Waterkloof. Once the Denel Overberg Test Range near Bredasdorp on the southern Cape coast had been completed, the TFDCs largest running project was the operational evaluation of the BAe Hawk Mk.120 and certification of its Adour 951 turbofan engine. Weapons integration was performed, with the SAAFs series of pre-fragmented bombs. The programme is now complete, with one Hawk airframe remaining on strength with TFDC. Hawk has entered SAAF service as of 2006, in 2009 the Spanish Air Force performed integration tests of the Taurus missile on their F-18 Hornet fighters at TFDC. The TFDC received the SAAFs first JAS39 Gripen in 2006, the aircraft is flown through an extensive test programme, integrating weapons and SAAF specific avionics etc. During November 2007, the Gripen was shown taking off loaded with eight dumb bombs during weapons integration trials. During 2006 the German Air Force deployed six Panavia Tornado aircraft to TFDC for live Kormoran anti ship missile firings with a German Navy task group in joint exercises with South African forces
40.
De Havilland Vampire
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The de Havilland Vampire was a British jet fighter developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.1 turbojet engine. Originally ordered as an experimental aircraft only, the decision to mass-produce the aircraft as an interceptor for the Royal Air Force was finalised in May 1944, in 1946, the first production aircraft entered service with the RAF, only months after the conflict had come to a close. The Vampire was the jet fighter, after the Gloster Meteor, operated by the RAF. Aside from its system and twin-boom configuration, it was a relatively conventional aircraft. In 1966, the type was retired by the RAF, after being replaced by more capable jet-powered fighters such as the Hawker Hunter and Gloster Javelin. During its service, the Vampire had achieved several firsts and records. It had been sold to nations and operated in a wide range of environments around the world. Vampires participated in conflicts, including the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Malayan emergency. Almost 3,300 Vampires were manufactured, a quarter of them built under licence in other countries, the first jet fighter Royal Navy was the Sea Vampire, a naval variant which was operated from its aircraft carriers. The Vampire was developed into the DH.115 dual-seat trainer, halfords engine was developed, and emerged as the Halford H.1. By April 1941, design work on the engine had completed, a prototype H.1 engine performed its first test run one year later.1. Their first design, designated as the DH.99, was an all-metal, twin-boom and it also put the rudder empennage clear of interference from the exhaust. Performance was estimated at 455 miles per hour at sea level, the Ministry of Aircraft Production expressed doubts regarding the estimations for the aircrafts performance and weight, however, the project received permission to proceed in July 1941. The DH.99 design was modified to incorporate a combined wood-and-metal construction in light of recommendations from the MAP. In February 1942, the MAP suggested dropping the project for a bomber but de Havilland stated that the twin-boom was, despite Ministry doubts, only an engineering problem to be overcome. On 22 April 1942, the construction of two prototypes was authorized by the Ministry while Specification E. 6/41 was produced and issued to cover the work, accordingly, the company proceeded with the detailed design work phase of the DH.100 in early 1942. The layout of the DH.100 used a jet engine installed in an egg-shaped fuselage which was primarily composed of plywood for the forward section. A total of three prototypes, LZ548/G, LZ551/G, and MP838/G were produced in order to support the types development, on 13 May 1944, an initial production order for 120 Vampire Mk I aircraft was received, it was quickly increased to 300 aircraft soon thereafter
41.
Canadair Sabre
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The Canadair Sabre was a jet fighter aircraft built by Canadair under licence from North American Aviation. A variant of the North American F-86 Sabre, it was produced until 1958, several other air forces also operated the aircraft. In 1948, the Canadian government decided to re-equip the RCAF with the F-86 Sabre with Canadair contracted to them in Montreal, Quebec. An initial batch of 10 aircraft was ordered for tool verification, the Korean War changed this to a production batch of 100 aircraft. Canadair slowly built up its production facility to all components with related equipment obtained from other Canadian suppliers. Canadair gave the Sabre the project number CL-13, Canadair produced six versions of the CL-13 Sabre. The sole Sabre Mk.1 was essentially the same as the North American Sabre F-86A and it had a General Electric J47-GE-13 turbojet of 5,200 lbf thrust. The sole Sabre Mk 3 was the first of the Canadian Sabres to use the Avro Canada Orenda turbojet, the Sabre Mk.4 retained the General Electric engine and was destined for the RAF and was later passed on to other overseas air forces. The Sabre Mk.5 was the production version, equipped with an Orenda 10 with 6,500 lbf thrust. A change to the Orenda 14 with 7,440 lbf powered the Sabre Mk.6, the designation Sabre Mk.7 was mainly experimental. The last Sabre to be manufactured by Canadair, after being donated by the Pakistan Air Force, is now part of the permanent collection in the Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba. From 1950 to 1958, a total of 1,815 CL-13 Sabres were built at the Canadair plant in Montreal, the second generation of Canadair Sabre aircraft, and first to be built in quantity, was the Mk 2, with 350 produced from 1952–1953. The RCAF received 290 of these improved aircraft, during the first half of 1952, the remaining 60 Mk. 2s were supplied to the U. S. Air Force for use in the Korean War. Most RCAF Mk.2 Sabres were utilized in the air defence role with NATOs No.1 Air Division in Europe, others were assigned to the training role at bases in Canada. In mid-1952, the Sabre Mk.4 went into production with the first one flown on 28 August 1952, apart from some minor structural and systems changes, including improved air-conditioning and gun sight, the Mk 2 and the Mk 4 were identical. Of 438 Mk 4s built, approximately 70 were used temporarily by the RCAF, the other Sabre 4s went directly to the RAF under a mutual aid program, equipping 11 RAF squadrons. The majority served in West Germany with NATO, with two squadrons being based in the UK as part of RAF Fighter Command, the Sabre Mk.4 served with the RAF until mid-1956 when they were replaced by Hawker Hunters. The survivors were overhauled in the UK, fitted with 6-3 wing modifications and handed to the USAF which in turn passed them on to other NATO members, with the majority going to Italy and Yugoslavia
42.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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International Standard Serial Number
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An International Standard Serial Number is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title, ISSN are used in ordering, cataloging, interlibrary loans, and other practices in connection with serial literature. The ISSN system was first drafted as an International Organization for Standardization international standard in 1971, ISO subcommittee TC 46/SC9 is responsible for maintaining the standard. When a serial with the content is published in more than one media type. For example, many serials are published both in print and electronic media, the ISSN system refers to these types as print ISSN and electronic ISSN, respectively. The format of the ISSN is an eight digit code, divided by a hyphen into two four-digit numbers, as an integer number, it can be represented by the first seven digits. The last code digit, which may be 0-9 or an X, is a check digit. Formally, the form of the ISSN code can be expressed as follows, NNNN-NNNC where N is in the set, a digit character. The ISSN of the journal Hearing Research, for example, is 0378-5955, where the final 5 is the check digit, for calculations, an upper case X in the check digit position indicates a check digit of 10. To confirm the check digit, calculate the sum of all eight digits of the ISSN multiplied by its position in the number, the modulus 11 of the sum must be 0. There is an online ISSN checker that can validate an ISSN, ISSN codes are assigned by a network of ISSN National Centres, usually located at national libraries and coordinated by the ISSN International Centre based in Paris. The International Centre is an organization created in 1974 through an agreement between UNESCO and the French government. The International Centre maintains a database of all ISSNs assigned worldwide, at the end of 2016, the ISSN Register contained records for 1,943,572 items. ISSN and ISBN codes are similar in concept, where ISBNs are assigned to individual books, an ISBN might be assigned for particular issues of a serial, in addition to the ISSN code for the serial as a whole. An ISSN, unlike the ISBN code, is an identifier associated with a serial title. For this reason a new ISSN is assigned to a serial each time it undergoes a major title change, separate ISSNs are needed for serials in different media. Thus, the print and electronic versions of a serial need separate ISSNs. Also, a CD-ROM version and a web version of a serial require different ISSNs since two different media are involved, however, the same ISSN can be used for different file formats of the same online serial
44.
Sergeant Major of the Air Force
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The Sergeant Major of the South African Air Force is the most senior Warrant Officer in the South African Air Force. The post was created in 1979 and it is a singular appointment – it is only held by one person at any time. The Sergeant Major of the Air Force reports to the Chief of the Air Force and is responsible for maintaining discipline in the Air Force. Before 2008 all Sergeant Majors of the Air Force were Warrant Officer Class 1, in 2008 the SANDF expanded the Warrant Officer ranks and the Sergeant Major of the Air Force now holds the rank of Senior Chief Warrant Officer. Prior to 2002 the Sergeant Major of the Air Force had a rank insignia. Following the Warrant Officer rank redesign the Sergeant Major of the Air Force does not have a rank insignia South African Air Force South African military ranks
45.
15 Squadron SAAF
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15 Squadron SAAF is a squadron of the South African Air Force. It is currently a transport/utility helicopter squadron, the squadron was formed on 18 September 1939 as a SAAF Coastal Command squadron based at Cape Town. During the war it flew Junkers Ju-86, Bristol Blenheim and Martin Maryland aircraft, the squadron suffered a tragedy in May 1942, when eleven out of twelve personnel perished when three Blenheims became lost during a training flight and had to make an emergency landing in the desert. The Squadron flew Baltimore 5 Light Bombers in May 1945 as part of 253 Wing of the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force, other aircraft flown during and after the war included Bristol Blenheims, and Martin Baltimores. Notable Second World War members include Harry Schwarz, who in 1984 was made Honorary Colonel of the Squadron, aircraft flown after the war included the Aérospatiale Super Frelon and the Aérospatiale Puma. The current base is AFB Durban in Durban, it operates Atlas Oryx and their primary role is maritime and landward search and rescue. Two flights of Oryx, A and B Flights, are based in Durban and C Flight, two of the aircraft have already been mothballed at AFB Bloemspruit. Four remain in service with 15 Squadron, C Flights conversion to AgustaWestland AW109 helicopters has been postponed due to delays in developing emergency flotation equipment for the type, thus precluding its use in a maritime environment. The Nkwe ya Selefera was awarded to Flight Sergeant V. Selvan for conspicuous bravery during military operations, note 1, † denotes a posthumous award. List of Officers to have served as Commanding Officers at 15 Squadron, media related to 15 Squadron SAAF at Wikimedia Commons
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