1.
Air commodore
–
Air commodore is a one-star rank and the most junior general rank of the air-officer which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The name of the rank is always the full phrase and is never shortened to Commodore, Air commodore is a one-star rank and the most junior air officer rank, being immediately senior to group captain and immediately subordinate to air vice-marshal. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6 and is equivalent to a commodore in the Royal Navy or a brigadier in the British Army or the Royal Marines, unlike these two ranks, however, it has always been a substantive rank. In other NATO forces, such as the United States Armed Forces and the Canadian Armed Forces, the equivalent rank in the Womens Auxiliary Air Force, Womens Royal Air Force and Princess Marys Royal Air Force Nursing Service was air commandant. In the present-day RAF, air commodores typically hold senior appointments within groups, however, during the inter-war period, and in the case of the contemporary No.83 Expeditionary Air Group, the air officer commanding held or holds air commodore rank. In the Air Training Corps, an air commodore holds ultimate authority over the cadet organisation as the Commandant Air Cadets. On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army, with officers at what is now air commodore holding the rank of brigadier-general. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navys officer ranks. However, the title based on the Navy rank was preferred. The rank insignia is a band on a broad black band worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. On the mess uniform, air commodores wear a gold ring on both lower sleeves. The command flag of an air commodore has one narrow red band running through the centre and is rectangular with a section giving it two tails. It is the only RAF command flag of this shape and it is similar in shape to that of a Royal Navy commodores broad pennant, the vehicle star plate for an air commodore depicts a single white star on an air force blue background. RAF air commodores are classed as air officers and as such have two rows of oak leaves on the peak of their service dress hats. The reigning monarch may appoint honorary air commodores for RAF flying squadrons and stations, for example, Prince Charles is RAF Valleys honorary air commodore and Winston Churchill was 615 Squadrons honorary air commodore. As the title suggests, this is a position bestowed by the reigning monarch. It is designed to strengthen the bond between the unit and the individual and promote the role of the air force amongst the public. Serving officers, such as Prince Harry, may be granted an equivalent appointment to the honorary rank, in such cases the individual is made an honorary air commandant and they retain their regular rank
2.
Order of the Thistle
–
The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order, the Order consists of the Sovereign and sixteen Knights and Ladies, as well as certain extra knights. The Sovereign alone grants membership of the Order, he or she is not advised by the Government, the Orders primary emblem is the thistle, the national flower of Scotland. The motto is Nemo me impune lacessit, the patron saint of the Order is St Andrew. Most British orders of chivalry cover the whole United Kingdom, the Order of the Thistle, which pertains to Scotland, is the second-most senior in precedence. Its equivalent in England, The Most Noble Order of the Garter, is the oldest documented order of chivalry in the United Kingdom, in 1783 an Irish equivalent, The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, was founded, but has now fallen dormant. James VII claimed that he was reviving an earlier Order, according to legend, Achaius, King of Scots, while engaged in battle at Athelstaneford with the Saxon King Æthelstan of East Anglia, saw in the heavens the cross of St Andrew. After he won the battle, Achaius is said to have established the Order of the Thistle, dedicating it to the saint, the tale is not credible, because the two individuals purported to have fought each other did not even live in the same century. Another story states that Achaius founded the Order in 809 to commemorate an alliance with the Emperor Charlemagne, there is some credibility to this story given the fact that Charlemagne did employ Scottish bodyguards. There is, in addition, a tradition that the order was instituted, or re-instituted and he allegedly conferred membership of the Order of the Burr or Thissil on King Francis I of France. However, there is no evidence for a fifteenth-century order. A French commentator writing in 1558 described the use of the thistle and the cross of St Andrew on Scottish coins and war banners. Similarly, John Lesley writing around 1578, refers to the three orders of chivalry carved on the gate of James Vs Linlithgow Palace with his ornaments of St Andrew. Some Scottish order of chivalry may have existed during the century, possibly founded by James V and called the Order of St. Andrew. James VII issued letters patent reviving and restoring the Order of the Thistle to its glory, lustre. Eight knights, out of a maximum of twelve, were appointed and his successors, the joint monarchs William and Mary, did not make any further appointments to the Order, which consequently fell into desuetude. In 1703, however, Anne once again revived the Order of the Thistle, in 1827, George IV augmented the Order to sixteen members. From time to time, individuals may be admitted to the Order by special statutes, such members are known as Extra Knights and do not count towards the sixteen-member limit
3.
Royal Victorian Order
–
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch of the Commonwealth realms, members of the monarchs family, the present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Sovereign of the order, its motto is Victoria, and its official day is 20 June. The orders chapel is the Savoy Chapel in London, the organisation was founded a year preceding Victorias Diamond Jubilee, so as to give the Queen time to complete a list of first inductees. The orders official day was made 20 June of each year, in 1902, King Edward VII created the Royal Victorian Chain as a personal decoration for royal personages and a few eminent British subjects and it was the highest class of the Royal Victorian Order. It is today distinct from the order, though it is issued by the chancery of the Royal Victorian Order. The order was open to foreigners from its inception, the Prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, Queen Elizabeth II then appointed her daughter, Anne, Princess Royal, to the position in 2007. Foreigners may be admitted as members, there are no limits to the number of any grade. Retiring Deans of the Royal Peculiars of St, prior to 1984, the grades of Lieutenant and Member were classified as Members and Members, respectively, but both with the post-nominals MVO. On 31 December of that year, Queen Elizabeth II declared that those in the grade of Member would henceforth be Lieutenants with the post-nominals LVO. Upon admission into the Royal Victorian Order, members are given various insignia of the organisation, each grade being represented by different emblems and robes. For Knights and Dames Grand Cross, Commanders, and Lieutenants, the orders ribbon is blue with red-white-red stripe edging, the only difference being that for foreigners appointed into the society, their ribbon bearing an additional central white stripe. For Knights Grand Cross, the ribbon is 82.5 millimetres wide, for Dames Grand Cross 57.1 millimetres, for Knights and Dames Commander 44.4 millimetres, and for all other members 31.7 millimetres. Though after the death of a Knight or Dame Grand Cross their insignia may be retained by their family, the collar must be returned. Knights and Dames Grand Cross also wear a mantle of blue satin edged with red satin and lined with white satin. Since 1938, the chapel of the Royal Victorian Order has been the Queens Chapel of the Savoy, in central London, upon the occupants death, the plate is retained, leaving the stalls festooned with a record of the orders Knights and Dames Grand Cross since 1938. There is insufficient space in the chapel for the display of knights and dames banners, founded by Michael Jackson, the group has, since 2008, gathered biennially. The practice of notifying the Prime Minister of Canada of nominees ended in 1982, in Canada, the order has come to be colloquially dubbed as the Royal Visit Order, as the majority of appointments are made by the sovereign during her tours of the country. Persons have been removed from the order at the monarchs command, anthony Blunt, a former surveyor of the Queens Pictures, was in 1979 stripped of his knighthood, after it was revealed that he had been a spy
4.
Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
–
A bar is added to the ribbon for holders who are awarded a second AFC. The award was established on 3 June 1918, during the First World War, approximately 680 were awarded. During the Second World War,2,001 decorations were awarded,58 honorary awards were made to aircrew from other non-Commonwealth countries. Recipients of the Air Force Cross are entitled to use the post-nominal letters AFC, a bar is added to the ribbon of holders of the AFC for each additional award. The medal is a cross,60 mm high and 54 mm wide, representing aircraft propeller blades. The obverse depicts Hermes, riding on the wings of a holding a laurel wreath. At the top of the arm is the royal crown. The suspender is straight and decorated with laurel wreaths, the ribbon was originally white with red broad horizontal stripes, but changed in 1919 to the current white with red broad diagonal stripes at a 45-degree angle. George Bulman, awarded the AFC three times for services as a test pilot, geoffrey Dhenin, awarded the AFC twice for his role in the British nuclear weapons tests in Australia. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Andrew Humphrey, awarded the AFC three times, Willie Read, awarded the AFC three times, H. P. Ruffell Smith, awarded the AFC three times. Peter Thorne, awarded the AFC three times, British and Commonwealth orders and decorations Page including text from the London Gazette dated 5 December 1919, establishing DFC, AFC, DFM and AFM
5.
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
–
Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians, who are present or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, the Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the issuing of Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, otherwise, the Privy Councils powers have now been largely replaced by the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The Judicial Committee consists of judges appointed as Privy Counsellors, predominantly Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom was preceded by the Privy Council of Scotland, the key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below, Witenagemot was an early equivalent to the Privy Council of England. During the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the English Crown was advised by a court or curia regis. The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration, later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice, nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. During Henry VIIIs reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation, the legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIIIs death. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became an administrative body. The Council consisted of forty members in 1553, but the sovereign relied on a smaller committee, by the end of the English Civil War, the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber, the House of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws, the forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons, the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs, the Council became known as the Protectors Privy Council, its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliaments approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy, the Protectors Council was abolished, Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. Under George I even more power transferred to this committee and it now began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the British Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the sovereign and it is closely related to the word private, and derives from the French word privé
6.
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
–
The College is located in Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, within the William Henry Playfair designed Surgeons Hall and adjoining buildings. The Barber-Surgeons of Dublin was the first medical corporation in Ireland or Britain, today the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is an international network with a membership of almost 20,000, in almost 100 countries. Though Edinburgh based, only 10% of the Colleges membership is based in Scotland, with around 40% based in England, with a history stretching back five centuries, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is one of the oldest surgical corporations in the world. In 1647 the Incorporation acquired a permanent meeting place for the first time in rented rooms of a tenement in Dicksons Close. At the end of the century however, work on what is now known as Old Surgeons Hall, in High School Yards, was started and by 1697 was completed and occupied. The University of Edinburgh Medical School and The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh were responsible for the development in Edinburgh of systematic medical teaching on a sound scientific basis. In 1778, King George III granted a new charter giving the surgeons corporation the title The Royal College of Surgeons of the City of Edinburgh, a site for this was acquired by the purchase of a Riding School in Nicolson Street. Surgeons Hall was completed in May 1832 and formally opened two months later, in July 1905, the College celebrated the fourth centenary of its Incorporation and as part of the celebrations conferred Honorary Fellowship upon 36 of the worlds most distinguished surgeons. These included Lord Lister, the acknowledged Father of Modern Surgery who had become a Fellow in 1855, the College celebrated its Quincentenary in 2005 with the opening of a new skills laboratory and conference venue, and of its Ten Hill Place Hotel. Today the College continues to serve its role, to continue education, assessment. In April 2014 the college opened a centre in Birmingham to cater for the 80% of its UK membership based in England. In 1879 the Diploma of Licentiate in Dental Surgery was introduced and recognised for admission to the Dentists Register, in 1921, the Dentists Act raised standards, and only dentists who had been trained in a dental school could be admitted to the Register and allowed to practice dentistry. The Edinburgh Dental School became part of the University of Edinburgh in 1948, the same year, the College introduced the diploma of Fellowship in Dental Surgery. In 1982, Dental Surgery became a faculty within the College and continues to concentrate on the education, training and maintenance of standards of professional competence. Since September 2008, the MRCS has become an Intercollegiate Examination, with a syllabus, format, the College conducts a number of other examinations, including dental examinations, immediate medical care examinations and sport and exercise medicine. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh runs a range of educational events and courses for medical students interested in surgery, through to surgical trainees. Many of these courses are held in the Surgical Skills Laboratory on site in Edinburgh and they offer distance learning courses through their Department of eLearning. The Post-Graduate Certificate in Remote and Offshore Medicine is an example of a course consists entirely of online modules
7.
East Renfrewshire (UK Parliament constituency)
–
East Renfrewshire is a constituency of the House of Commons, to the south of Glasgow, Scotland. It elects one Member of Parliament using the first-past-the-post system of voting, known as Eastwood until 2005, before 1997 it was the safest Conservative seat in Scotland. In the 1997 Labour landslide, it was won by Jim Murphy who held the seat until 2015, kirsten Oswald of the Scottish National Party won the seat in the 2015 SNP landslide with a notably high turnout of 81% in this particular constituency. The constituency has a mostly middle-class electorate and includes affluent areas such as Clarkston, Giffnock, despite this, the constituency does contain some deprived areas such as Barrhead and Neilston which are found along the west of the constituency. The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election and it was abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was partially replaced by the new Eastwood constituency. The East Renfrewshire constituency was re-established for the 2005 general election, despite the change of name, it is the only constituency in mainland Scotland whose boundaries were unchanged by the 2005 revision of Scottish constituencies. Clarkston used to be a dry area until planning permission for the first pub in the area was given in 2006, East Renfrewshire has the largest Jewish population of any seat in Scotland, with almost half of Scotlands Jewish population living in the area. At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum East Renfrewshire returned a significant majority against the proposal for Scotland to become an independent state, with a voter turnout of 90. 4%,41,690 votes were cast for No and 24,287 were cast for Yes. As created in 1885 the constituency was one of four covering the area of the county of Renfrewshire, the four constituencies were, East Renfrewshire, West Renfrewshire, Paisley and Greenock. Greenock was enlarged and renamed Greenock and Port Glasgow in 1974, from 1885 the constituency consisted of the parishes of Eastwood, Cathcart, Mearns and Eaglesham, and part of the parish of Govan. The constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election, eight years after the creation of local government regions, the new constituency, with revised boundaries, was called Eastwood. In 1996 the area of the Eastwood constituency became, also, in 1999 a Scottish Parliament constituency was created with the name and boundaries of the Eastwood Westminster constituency. In the widespread redistribution of Scottish seats for the 2005 general election, the constituency is on the borders of Glasgow, and is mostly middle-class residential territory for Glasgow. The area was looked on as safely Conservative before Labour gained the seat in 1997, East Renfrewshire was subsequently viewed as a relatively safe Labour seat until the SNP gained the seat in 2015. In 2015 East Renfrewshire became the second most marginal Labour-SNP constituency in Scotland behind Edinburgh South, alexander Munro MacRobert was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland on 31 December 1925. Endorsed by Coalition Government East Renfrewshire by-election,1926 East Renfrewshire by-election,1930 East Renfrewshire by-election,1940 Eastwood
8.
Alexander Munro MacRobert
–
Alexander Munro MacRobert KC was a Scottish lawyer and Unionist politician. Educated at Paisley Grammar School, Edinburgh University and the University of Glasgow he became an advocate in 1897 and he worked with the Admiralty in 1917–18 and as an Advocate Depute from 1919 to 1923. He was appointed Kings Counsel in 1919 and he was Sheriff of Forfar from 1923–24. He was unsuccessful candidate for Edinburgh Leith in 1922 and was elected for East Renfrewshire in October 1924. He was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in December 1925, and was promoted to serve as Lord Advocate briefly from May 1929 to June 1929. He is buried in a line of law lords against the wall of the 20th century extension to Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by Alexander Munro MacRobert
9.
London
–
London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
10.
Edinburgh
–
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 local government council areas. Located in Lothian on the Firth of Forths southern shore, it is Scotlands second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The 2014 official population estimates are 464,990 for the city of Edinburgh,492,680 for the authority area. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and it is the largest financial centre in the UK after London. Historically part of Midlothian, the city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of four in the city, was placed 17th in the QS World University Rankings in 2013 and 2014. The city is famous for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe. The citys historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdoms second most popular tourist destination after London, attracting over one million overseas visitors each year. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, Edinburghs Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. It appears to derive from the place name Eidyn mentioned in the Old Welsh epic poem Y Gododdin, the poem names Din Eidyn as a hill fort in the territory of the Gododdin. The Celtic element din was dropped and replaced by the Old English burh, the first documentary evidence of the medieval burgh is a royal charter, c. 1124–1127, by King David I granting a toft in burgo meo de Edenesburg to the Priory of Dunfermline. In modern Gaelic, the city is called Dùn Èideann, the earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area was at Cramond, where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp site dated to c.8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have found on Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat, Craiglockhart Hill. When the Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, at some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin. Although its location has not been identified, it likely they would have chosen a commanding position like the Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat. In 638, the Gododdin stronghold was besieged by forces loyal to King Oswald of Northumbria and it thenceforth remained under their jurisdiction. The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, in 1638, King Charles Is attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In the 17th century, Edinburghs boundaries were defined by the citys defensive town walls
11.
Scotland
–
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
12.
Unionist Party (Scotland)
–
The Unionist Party, referred to as the Scottish Unionist Party outside Scotland, was the main centre-right political party in Scotland between 1912 and 1965. Use of the terms Unionist and Tory, as opposed to Conservative, is a consequence of the Scottish Unionists eschewing the name Conservative until 1965 and those who successfully became Members of Parliament would then take the Conservative Whip at Westminster just as the Ulster Unionists did until 1973. The party traditionally did not stand at local government level but instead supported and assisted the Progressive Party in its campaigns against the British Labour Party and this relationship ended when the Conservatives started fielding their own candidates, who stood against both Labour and the Progressives. The origins of the Scottish Unionist Party lie in the 1886 split of the British Liberal Party with the emergence of the Liberal Unionists under Joseph Chamberlain, the Union in question was the 1800 Irish Union, not that of 1707. The new Liberal Unionists quickly agreed to a pact with the Conservative Party in Britain. Popular imperial unity was the thread of the Scottish Unionist Partys belief system. This was demonstrated by their acceptance and support of Dominion status for such as Australia, Canada. It also explains what may at first seem a paradoxical statement by John Buchan, the party built up significant working-class support by emphasising the connection between Union, the Empire, and the fate of local industry. Unity across the classes was often cited as one of the planks of Unionism. Along with this protectionism, Protestantism also played an important part in the partys working-class appeal, prominent Orangemen included Sir John Gilmour, the intermittent Secretary for Scotland in the 1920s and Home Secretary in the 1930s. Being an independent Scottish party also drew electoral appeal when set against the threat of a London-based centralising British Labour party. A crucial aspect to this, particularly in the 1940s and 1950s, was the ability to place an alien identity upon Labour by successfully using the term Socialist to describe the Labour Party. The partys campaigning reflected their desire to reconcile the two themes of individualism and collectivism in their appeal to potential Labour voters, the creation of the National Liberals also assisted the Unionist vote. Suffering a setback in 1929, they reasserted themselves in the 1931 election during an electoral backlash against the Labour Party that resulted in the creation of the National Government, the Scottish Unionist Party won 79% of the Scottish seats that year,58 out of 73. The following election of 1935 returned a majority of 45 MPs. This remained the situation until Labours landslide victory in the 1945 election, the Unionists won only 30 of the 71 constituencies. In the 1950 election, a majority of Labour MPs was returned again, in the subsequent Conservative election victory of 1951, an equal number of Labour and Unionist MPs were returned from Scotland,35, with one solitary Liberal taking the remaining seat. Often cited as the party to achieve a majority of the Scottish vote,6 of the Conservative
13.
Angus Douglas-Hamilton, 15th Duke of Hamilton
–
The son of the 14th Duke of Hamilton and Lady Elizabeth Percy, daughter of the 8th Duke of Northumberland, he was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford. One of his brothers is the Scottish Conservative and Unionist politician James Douglas-Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas. He followed his fathers interest in flying, becoming a lieutenant with the Royal Air Force until he was invalided out in 1967. He gained a pilots licence the same year and was a test pilot for Scottish Aviation Ltd. He was a member of the Air Squadron and he was a member of the Queens Bodyguard for Scotland, an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Pipers Society and Patron of the British Airways Pipe Band. He was a Knight of St John and he was Hereditary Keeper of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. By right of his title of Lord Abernethy, he was hereditary bearer of the Crown of Scotland to the Parliament of Scotland. The Duke of Hamilton fulfilled that duty by carrying the Crown in front of Her Majesty The Queen at the ceremony of the Scottish Parliament. He was a campaigner for animal welfare, together with his third wife Kay, the 15th Duke married three times, He married firstly Sarah Jane Scott, daughter of Major Sir Walter Scott, 4th Bt, on 23 June 1972. She was previously married to Edward A. S. Hulton and he married thirdly Kay Carmichael, now the Dowager Duchess of Hamilton, in 1998. A qualified nurse, she serves as Chairperson of Scottish Staffordshire Bull Terrier Rescue and as a patron of OneKind, the 15th Duke died on 5 June 2010 at the age of 71. He was succeeded in the dukedom and his titles and privileges by his elder son, Alexander Douglas-Hamilton. Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Hamilton
14.
James Douglas-Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas
–
Since 1997 he has been a member of the House of Lords as a life peer. He was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford where he was president of the Oxford Union and he served as an advocate and an interim Procurator Fiscal Depute from 1968 to 1972. During this time he served in the Scottish Office, in the years between 1987 and 1995 he served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, and thereafter as Minister of State between 1995 and 1997. He had previously been a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury between 1979 and 1981 and he was appointed a Privy Counsellor and Queens Counsel in 1996. Due to the terms of the Peerage Act 1963, Selkirk was considered to be unable to vote in the House of Commons until he had disclaimed the title, as the Conservative government of the day had a small majority, he felt obliged to disclaim immediately. In 1997, he was elevated to the House of Lords as a peer, being created Baron Selkirk of Douglas. From 1999 to 2007 he was a member of the Scottish Parliament and was deputy Convener of its Education Committee, in November 2005, Lord Selkirk of Douglas announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2003-2007 session of the Scottish Parliament. He continues to sit in the House of Lords, taking a particular interest in British legislation as it affects Scotland, 1942–1974, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton 1974–1996, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton MP1994, The Rt Hon. The Earl of Selkirk 1994–1996, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton MP 1996–1997, The Rt Hon. Lord James Douglas-Hamilton QC MP1997, The Rt Hon. Lord James Douglas-Hamilton QC 1997–1999, the Lord Selkirk of Douglas PC QC 1999–2007, The Rt Hon. The Lord Selkirk of Douglas PC QC MSP 2007–, The Rt Hon, the Lord Selkirk of Douglas PC QC In 1974 he married the Hon. Susan Buchan, a granddaughter of the politician and novelist John Buchan, and daughter of Johnnie Buchan, the 2nd Baron Tweedsmuir, and his wife, a life peeress in her own right, Lady Tweedsmuir. They have four sons of whom the eldest, John Andrew Douglas-Hamilton, Lord Selkirk of Douglas is also fifth in line to the Dukedom of Hamilton, after the sons and the brother of the present duke. Hamilton House Commission on Scottish Devolution Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by Lord Selkirk of Douglas Scottish Parliament biography
15.
Nina Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton
–
Nina Mary Benita Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton, was a British peeress and animal activist. Douglas-Hamilton was born on 13 May 1878 in Nether Wallop, the daughter of Major Robert Poore, one gift was sufficient to completely equip and furnish a home for nurses. In 1912 she became a founder of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Vivisection and she also established Ferne Animal Sanctuary, at Ferne House in Dorset, the estate she and her husband owned. She compiled a book related to the sanctuary called Chronicles of Ferne. Douglas-Hamilton refused to be operated on for a condition due to her opinions on medical research. The condition led to her death on 12 January 1951
16.
Mentioned in dispatches
–
In a number of countries, a servicemembers name must be mentioned in dispatches as a condition for receiving certain decorations. In the British Armed Forces, the despatch is published in the London Gazette, for 1914–1918 and up to 10 August 1920, the decoration consisted of a spray of oak leaves in bronze. This decoration was established in 1919, but it had retroactive effect. From 1920 to 1993, the decoration consisted of a bronze oak leaf. In a change introduced in 2014 to the British Armed Forces, prior to this change, even if the soldier was mentioned in dispatches more than once, only a single such decoration was worn. In Britain, since 1993, the decoration is a silver oak leaf. In each case the decoration is pinned or sewn diagonally on to the campaign medal ribbon. If no campaign medal is awarded, the oak leaf is worn on the left breast of the dress uniform, prior to 1979, a mention in dispatches was one of the three awards that could be made posthumously, the others being the Victoria Cross and George Cross. The 1979 reform removed the all or nothing lottery, soldiers can be mentioned multiple times. The British First World War Victoria Cross recipient John Vereker, later Field Marshal Viscount Gort, was mentioned in dispatches nine times, the Australian general Gordon Bennett was mentioned in dispatches a total of eight times during the First World War, as was Field Marshal Sir John Dill. Similarly, the equivalents of the MiD for acts of bravery by civilians, the reformed and comprehensive system is now as follows, The Commendation for Gallantry is now the fourth level decoration for gallantry. The Commendation for Brave Conduct recognises acts of bravery carried by soldiers not directly fighting the enemy, a mention in dispatches – in French, Citation à lordre du jour – gives recognition from a senior commander for acts of brave or meritorious service, normally in the field. The Mention in dispatches is among the list of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, personnel can be mentioned in dispatches posthumously and multiple awards are also possible. A recipient of a mention in a dispatch is entitled to wear an emblem and they are also issued with an official certificate from the Ministry of Defence. The emblem, which was regarded as a decoration, was worn on the ribbon of the Victory Medal, only one emblem was worn, irrespective of the number of times a recipient had been mentioned. The Afrikaans rendition of mentioned in dispatches is Eervolle Vermelding in Berigte, the mention in dispatches was one of only four awards which could be made posthumously. The others were the Victoria Cross, the George Cross, the oak leaf emblem was worn on the ribbon of the War Medal 1939–1945. The Kings Commendation was denoted by a bronze King Protea flower emblem worn on the ribbon of the Africa Service Medal and it could be awarded posthumously and was the equivalent of a mention in dispatches for services rendered away from the battlefield
17.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
18.
Royal Air Force
–
The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
19.
Royal Auxiliary Air Force
–
The Royal Auxiliary Air Force, formerly the Auxiliary Air Force, together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of Her Majestys Reserve Air Forces. Its current mission is to trained personnel in support of the regular RAF. Queen Elizabeth II is Air Commodore-in-Chief of the RAuxAF, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force owes its origin to Lord Trenchards vision of an elite corps of civilians who would serve their country in flying squadrons in their spare time. Instituted by Order in Council on 9 October 1924, the first Auxiliary Air Force squadrons were formed the following year, unlike members of the Royal Air Force Reserve which had been trained in the RAF and left, but were obliged to return to service if required. Pilots of the AAF were expected to join for a period of no less than five years, each squadron was provided with a town base for training, and facilities at an aerodrome. All serving members were required to wear the letter A on their uniforms, by March 1939,21 flying squadrons had been formed, the 20 surviving units being embodied with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of war. Notably, all enlisted men continued to serve under their conditions of service until they expired when they were required to transfer to the RAFVR. The squadrons were equipped with a variety of aircraft which included Hurricanes and Spitfires. In the Battle of Britain, the AAF provided 14 of the 62 Squadrons in RAF Fighter Commands Order of Battle and accounted for approximately 30% of the accredited enemy kills. Indeed, in 11 Group Fighter Command, that saw the heaviest fighting over South East England in 1940, of the 15 top scoring squadrons, the losses sustained during the Battle of Britain, as with all other squadrons, were replaced by drafting in regular and RAFVR pilots. The Tactical Air Force squadrons were chosen to carry out several successful ultra low-level raids on key pin-point targets in occupied Europe, the Balloon Squadrons also played their part, downing and deterring many hostile aircraft and were accredited with the destruction of 279 V1 flying bombs. The Auxiliary Air Force was also responsible for the anti-aircraft balloon defences of the UK, at the outbreak of war in 1939 there were about 42 Squadrons operating barrage balloons, with the number of squadrons peaking at about 102 in 1944. These achievements were honoured by the prefix Royal conferred by King George VI in 1947, twenty of the pre-war squadrons were reformed postwar as fighter units. Events after the Second World War heralded a time of danger for the UK. The onset of the Cold War with the Communist Bloc leading to the Berlin Air Lift, in 1951, at the height of the Korean War, all 20 RAuxAF fighter squadrons were called up for three months full-time service. They were required for defence in place of regular squadrons earmarked for deployment to Korea. In the event RAF fighter squadrons were not needed in Korea, in the following two years or so, the Auxiliary Fighter Control Units associated with them were also disbanded. All were given the letter from the Air Commodore-in-Chief, The renaissance of the RAuxAF began in 1959 with the formation of three Maritime Headquarters Units and one Maritime Support Unit
20.
No. 602 Squadron RAF
–
602 Squadron is a Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron. Originally formed in 1925 as a bomber squadron, its role changed in 1938 to army co-operation. During the Second World War, the squadron flew Spitfires and took part in the Battle of Britain, after the war, the squadron was reinstated as a fighter squadron within the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, until all these units disbanded in March 1957. Reformed on 1 July 2006, the squadron presently assumes the ISTAR mission support role formerly held by the Mission Support Element of 603 Squadron, the role provides flight operations and intelligence support to the RAF at home and overseas. The squadron was formed at RAF Renfrew on 15 September 1925 as a bomber squadron in the Auxiliary Air Force. These were replaced by Fairey Fawns in 1927, Westland Wapitis in 1929, Hawker Harts in 1934, the squadron continued in the light bomber role until 1 November 1938 when it was redesignated as an Army Co-operation unit. This did not last long, and on 14 January 1939 the squadron became a fighter squadron and it received Hawker Hectors in November, but was re-equipped with Gloster Gauntlets on conversion to a fighter role. These were short-lived, as Spitfires arrived in May 1939, like 603 Squadron,602 Squadron spent the early part of the war and Battle of Britain on defensive duties in Scotland. In August 1940, it moved south to join the battle and it moved south again in July 1941, remaining for a year before returning north. Another move came in January 1943, this time to the southwest and it briefly returned to Scotland from January to March 1944, when it returned south prior to taking part in the invasion of Europe. From the end of June 1944, it operated from airfields in Normandy following the Armys advance into Belgium until September. From RAF Coltishall flying Spitfire XVIs it carried out operations against V2 sites in the Netherlands over an area ranging from The Hook to Den Helder, 602s pilots was Raymond Baxter, later to become well known on television as a presenter of the BBC TV series Tomorrows World. With the reactivation of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, No 602 was reformed on 10 May 1946 at RAF Abbotsinch as a day fighter squadron. It was initially equipped with Spitfire F. 14s and later with F. 21s and F. 22s and it also acquired some F. 3s in August 1953, which it flew alongside the FB. 5s until February 1954. FB. 9s arrived in November 1954 and the continued to fly both types until, along with all the flying units of the RAuxAF, it was disbanded on 10 March 1957. Its current role is to provide support to the RAF Air Traffic Management Force. The Squadron trains Flight Operations and Intelligence Officers, Flight Operations Managers, Flight Operations Assistants and Intelligence Analysts to supplement regular RAF personnel in this task
21.
Air Training Corps
–
The Air Training Corps is a British youth organisation sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. A Full Time Reserve Service RAF officer serves as Commandant Air Cadets at the rank of Air Commodore, the majority of staff are volunteers although some are paid for full-time work. Although many ATC cadets go on to join the RAF or other services, Cadet membership can begin from the start of School Year 8, or equivalent in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Service as a cadet ends at the age of 20, as of 2014, the ATC numbered 33,590 cadets and 10,430 Cadet Force Adult Volunteers. In addition, there are approximately 5,000 civilian committee members, together with the RAF contingents of the Combined Cadet Force, the ATC form the Air Cadet Organisation. The ATC is part of the Community Cadet Forces, Air Commodore Sir John Chamier is affectionately known as the father of the air cadet movement. The purpose of the Air Defence Cadet Corps, set up in 1938 by Air Commodore Chamier, was to young men in various aviation-related skills. The ADCC proved popular, with thousands joining up, on 5 February 1941 the Air Training Corps was officially established, with King George VI agreeing to be the Air Commodore-in-Chief, and issuing a Royal Warrant setting out the Corps aims. Within the first month of its existence, the size of the old ADCC, now the ATC, virtually doubled to more than 400 squadrons, a new badge was designed for the ATC and, once approved by the King, was distributed in August 1941. The motto Venture Adventure, devised by Air Commodore Chamier, was adopted by the ATC, the new ATC squadrons adopted training programmes to prepare young men for entry to the Royal Air Force. Squadrons arranged visits to RAF and Fleet Air Arm stations as part of the cadets training, such opportunities were not widely available, however, and many cadets were disappointed. One solution was to introduce opportunities for gliding, as a way to allow a cadet to get the feel of an aircraft in flight, after the end of the Second World War, gliding lessons became available. As of 2013, the GVCAC still exists, although in reduced numbers due to competition from the ATC. After a number of lectures and when the cadet felt ready, they would take a multiple choice examination, some wings ran courses that would involve the cadet spending a few solid days learning and then awarded the appropriate classification if successful in their exams. In May 2008, HQAC decided to change the programme for junior and second class cadets. Advertising material such as leaflets and official websites brand the Air Training Corps, members of the ATC may refer to themselves as Royal Air Force Air Cadets, although to the general population they are more commonly known as Air Cadets. The Air Training Corps is formed of six Regions across the United Kingdom, as of 2015 there are 1009 ATC squadrons and detached flights, each assigned to a wing. The ATC is the largest part of the Air Cadet Organisation, a FTRS RAF Air Commodore serves as Commandant Air Cadets
22.
Mount Everest
–
Mount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in China as Chomolungma/珠穆朗玛峰, is Earths highest mountain. Its peak is 8,848 metres above sea level, Mount Everest is in the Mahalangur Range. The international border between China and Nepal runs across Everests summit point and its massif includes neighbouring peaks Lhotse,8,516 m, Nuptse,7,855 m, and Changtse,7,580 m. In 1856, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established the first published height of Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 8,840 m. The current official height of 8,848 m as recognised by China and Nepal was established by a 1955 Indian survey, in 2005, China remeasured the height of the mountain and got a result of 8844.43 m. An argument regarding the height between China and Nepal lasted five years from 2005 to 2010, China argued it should be measured by its rock height which is 8,844 m but Nepal said it should be measured by its snow height 8,848 m. In 2010, an agreement was reached by both sides that the height of Everest is 8,848 m and Nepal recognises Chinas claim that the rock height of Everest is 8,844 m. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India. As there appeared to be several different local names, Waugh chose to name the mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest, Mount Everest attracts many climbers, some of them highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes, one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal and the other from the north in Tibet, as of 2016 there are well over 200 corpses on the mountain, with some of them even serving as landmarks. The first recorded efforts to reach Everests summit were made by British mountaineers, with Nepal not allowing foreigners into the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. Tragedy struck on the descent from the North Col when seven porters were killed in an avalanche. They had been spotted high on the mountain that day but disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in 1953 using the southeast ridge route. Tenzing had reached 8,595 m the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition, the Chinese mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo, and Qu Yinhua made the first reported ascent of the peak from the north ridge on 25 May 1960. In 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometric Survey of India to fix the locations, heights, starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using giant theodolites, each weighing 500 kg and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached the Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country due to suspicions of political aggression, several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were turned down. The British were forced to continue their observations from Terai, a region south of Nepal which is parallel to the Himalayas, conditions in Terai were difficult because of torrential rains and malaria. Three survey officers died from malaria while two others had to retire because of failing health, nonetheless, in 1847, the British continued the survey and began detailed observations of the Himalayan peaks from observation stations up to 240 km distant
23.
Squadron leader
–
Squadron leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. An air force squadron leader ranks above lieutenant and immediately below wing commander. The air force rank of squadron leader has a NATO ranking code of OF-3, the equivalent rank in the Womens Auxiliary Air Force, Womens Royal Air Force and Princess Marys Royal Air Force Nursing Service was squadron officer. Squadron leader has also used as a cavalry command appointment. In Argentina it is used as an appointment by both the armys cavalry and by the air forces flying units. The cavalry rank of squadron leader in France is also an OF-4 equivalent to a major, the rank originated in the British Royal Air Force and was adopted by several other air forces which use, or used, the RAF rank system. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navys officer ranks. For example, the rank that later became squadron leader would have been air lieutenant commander, however, the Admiralty objected to this modification of their rank titles. The rank title squadron leader was chosen as squadrons were typically led by RAF majors, the rank of squadron leader has been used continuously since 1 August 1919. From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the RAF used major as the equivalent rank to squadron leader, Royal Naval Air Service lieutenant-commanders and Royal Flying Corps majors on 31 March 1918 became RAF majors on 1 April 1918. On 31 August 1919, the RAF rank of major was superseded by squadron leader which has remained in continuous usage ever since. Promotion to squadron leader is strictly on merit, and requires the individual to be appointed to a Career Commission, before the Second World War, a squadron leader commanded a squadron of aircraft. Today, however, a squadron is usually commanded by a wing commander. However, ground-operating squadrons which are sub-divisions of a wing are ordinarily commanded by a squadron leader and this includes squadrons of the RAF Regiment and University Air Squadrons. The rank insignia consists of a blue band on a slightly wider black band between two narrow blue bands on slightly wider black bands. This is worn on both the sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. Squadron leaders are the lowest ranking officers that may fly a command flag, the flag may be depicted on the officers aircraft or, should the squadron leader be in command, the flag may be flown from a flagpole or displayed on an official car as a car flag
24.
World War II
–
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
25.
Pimlico
–
Pimlico /ˈpɪmlᵻkoʊ/ is a small area within central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as an extension, Pimlico is known for its garden squares. At Pimlicos heart is a grid of streets laid down by the planner Thomas Cubitt beginning in 1825. The area has over 350 Grade II listed buildings and several Grade II* listed churches, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Manor of Ebury was divided up and leased by the Crown to servants or favourites. In 1623, James I sold the freehold of Ebury for £1,151 and 15 shillings, the land was sold on several more times, until it came into the hands of heiress Mary Davies in 1666. Marys dowry not only included The Five Fields of modern-day Pimlico and Belgravia, understandably, she was much pursued but in 1677, at the age of twelve, married Sir Thomas Grosvenor. The Grosvenors were a family of Norman descent long seated at Eaton Hall in Cheshire who until this auspicious marriage were, through the development and good management of this land the Grosvenors acquired enormous wealth. At some point in the seventeenth or early eighteenth century. While its origins are disputed, it is clearly of foreign derivation, supporting this etymology, Rev. Brewer describes the area as a district of public gardens much frequented on holidays. According to tradition, it received its name from Ben Pimlico and his tea-gardens, however, were near Hoxton, and the road to them was termed Pimlico Path, so that what is now called Pimlico was so named from the popularity of the Hoxton resort. In 1825, Thomas Cubitt was contracted by Lord Grosvenor to develop Pimlico, the land up to this time had been marshy but was reclaimed using soil excavated during the construction of St Katharine Docks. Cubitt developed Pimlico as a grid of white stucco terraces. The largest and most opulent houses were built along St Georges Drive and Belgrave Road, lupus Street contained similarly grand houses, as well as shops and, until the early twentieth century, a hospital for women and children. Smaller-scale properties, typically of three storeys, line the side streets, an 1877 newspaper article described Pimlico as genteel, sacred to professional men… not rich enough to luxuriate in Belgravia proper, but rich enough to live in private houses. Its inhabitants were more lively than in Kensington… and yet a cut above Chelsea, although the area was dominated by the well-to-do middle and upper-middle classes as late as Booths 1889 Map of London Poverty, parts of Pimlico are said to have declined significantly by the 1890s. Through the late century, Pimlico saw the construction of several Peabody Estates, charitable housing projects designed to provide affordable. Proximity to the Houses of Parliament made Pimlico a centre of political activity, prior to 1928, the Labour Party and Trades Union Congress shared offices on Eccleston Square, and it was here in 1926 that the general strike was organised. Completed in 1937, it became popular with MPs and public servants
26.
Eton College
–
Eton College /iːtən/ is an English independent boarding school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor. It educates more than 1,300 pupils, aged 13 to 18 years and it was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor, making it the 18th oldest Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference school. Eton is one of the seven public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. Eton has educated 19 British prime ministers and generations of the aristocracy and has referred to as the chief nurse of Englands statesmen. The school is headed by a Provost and Fellows, who appoint the Head Master and it contains 25 boys houses, each headed by a housemaster, selected from the more senior members of the teaching staff, which numbers some 155. Almost all of the pupils go on to universities, about a third of them to Oxford or Cambridge. The Head Master is a member of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference, Eton has a long list of distinguished former pupils. David Cameron was the 19th British prime minister to have attended the school, about 20% of pupils at Eton receive financial support, through a range of bursaries and scholarships. In early 2014, this figure had risen to 263 pupils receiving the equivalent of around 60% of school fee assistance, Eton has been described as the most famous public school in the world, and been referred to as the chief nurse of Englands statesmen. The Good Schools Guide called the school the number one public school, adding that The teaching. The school is a member of the G20 Schools Group, Eton today is a larger school than it has been for much of its history. In 1678, there were 207 boys, in the late 18th century, there were about 300, while today, the total has risen to over 1,300. Eton College was founded by King Henry VI as a charity school to free education to 70 poor boys who would then go on to Kings College, Cambridge. Henry took Winchester College as his model, visiting on many occasions, borrowing its Statutes and removing its Headmaster, when Henry VI founded the school, he granted it a large number of endowments, including much valuable land. He persuaded the then Pope, Eugene IV, to grant him a privilege unparalleled anywhere in England, the school also came into possession of one of Englands Apocalypse manuscripts. Legend has it that Edwards mistress, Jane Shore, intervened on the schools behalf and she was able to save a good part of the school, although the royal bequest and the number of staff were much reduced. Construction of the chapel, originally intended to be slightly over twice as long, only the Quire of the intended building was completed. Etons first Headmaster, William Waynflete, founder of Magdalen College, Oxford and previously Head Master of Winchester College, as the school suffered reduced income while still under construction, the completion and further development of the school has since depended to some extent on wealthy benefactors
27.
Balliol College, Oxford
–
Balliol College /ˈbeɪliəl/, founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Among the colleges alumni are three former ministers, five Nobel laureates, and numerous literary and philosophical figures, including Adam Smith, Gerard Manley Hopkins. In 2012 Balliol had an endowment of £62. 5m, Balliol College was founded in about 1263 by John I de Balliol under the guidance of the Bishop of Durham. Under a statute of 1881, New Inn Hall was merged into Balliol College in 1887, Balliol acquired New Inn Halls admissions and other records for 1831–1887 as well as the library of New Inn Hall, which largely contained 18th-century law books. Along with many of the ancient colleges, Balliol has evolved its own traditions and customs over the centuries, the patron saint of the College is Saint Catherine of Alexandria. On her feast day, a dinner is held for all final year students within Balliol. This festival was established by 1550. Another important feast is the Snell Dinner and this dinner is held in memory of John Snell, whose benefaction established exhibitions for students from the University of Glasgow to study at Balliol one of whom was Adam Smith. The feast is attended by fellows of Balliol College, the current Snell Exhibitioners, by far the most eccentric event is The Nepotists carol-singing event organised by the Colleges Arnold and Brackenbury Society. This event happens on the last Friday of Michaelmas term each year, on this occasion, Balliol students congregate in the college hall to enjoy mulled wine and the singing of carols. The evening historically ended with a rendition of The Gordouli on Broad Street, outside the gates of Trinity College, verses of this form are now known as Balliol rhymes. The best known of these rhymes is the one on Benjamin Jowett and this has been widely quoted and reprinted in virtually every book about Jowett and about Balliol ever since. This and 18 others are attributed to Henry Charles Beeching, the other quatrains are much less well known. For many years, there has been a traditional and fierce rivalry shown between the students of Balliol and those of its neighbour to the east, Trinity College. It has manifested itself on the field and the river, in the form of songs sung over the dividing walls. The rivalry reflects that which exists between Trinity College, Cambridge and Balliols sister college, St Johns College, Cambridge. In college folklore, the rivalry back to the late 17th century. In fact, in its form, the rivalry appears to date from the late 1890s
28.
Blue (university sport)
–
A blue is an award earned by athletes at a university and some schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England and it is awarded at British, Australian and New Zealand universities. There is no record of any university colours being worn during the game, at the first Boat Race in 1829, the Oxford crew was dominated by students of Christ Church, whose college colours were dark blue. They wore white shirts with blue stripes, while Cambridge wore white with a pink or scarlet sash. At the second race, in 1836, a blue ribbon was attached to the front of the Cambridge boat. A Full Blue is the highest honour that may be bestowed on a Cambridge athlete, in the 1860s the three senior sports — rowing, cricket and athletics — were awarding Blues, and the presidents of each formed an informal Blues Committee to oversee such awards. By 1880 a number of clubs involved in Varsity matches had successfully requested the right to award Half Blues. The criteria for awarding blues are different for men and women, Awards are made at the discretion of the mens and womens Blues Committees. The Mens Blues Committee is formed from one representative of each of the Full Blue sports, each committee meets to discuss issues relating to Cambridge sport. In some sports with Full Blue status, the varsity match second team is awarded Second Team Colours, the awarding of a Full Blue often requires a person to fulfill a number of requirements in the same academic year, particularly in sports with Discretionary Full Blue status. The individuals case must be presented to the Blues Committee in person and must be backed up by substantial evidence, the award is unlikely to be made unless the person is of world-class or at least international standard. Each sport has specific criteria for award, the general categorisation of mens and womens sports is laid out below. The winner of a Blue or Half Blue is entitled to wear a blues blazer, Full Blue blazers are completely coloured Cambridge Blue. Half Blue blazers have a number of different designs, depending on the wearers sport, there is a variety of other Blue and Half Blue paraphernalia, including scarves, ties, pullovers, bow ties, caps and squares. Such items are worn with pride, as of May 2011, the colour recognised officially by the University as Cambridge Blue actually has a slight green tint. In 2008 in Cambridge an alumna launched Oxbridge Blues Jewellery specifically for womens Blues and these are the only blues item to have been licensed by the University of Cambridge. Men holding Blues, Half Blues or Second Team Colours in a Full Blue sport are eligible to join the Hawks Club, women holding any of these awards are eligible to join The Ospreys, which was founded in 1985. At the University of Oxford, the committees for awarding Blues and Half-Blues work on much the same principles as the Cambridge committees
29.
Boxing
–
Boxing is a combat sport in which two people wearing protective gloves throw punches at each other for a predetermined set of time in a boxing ring. Amateur boxing is both an Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport and is a fixture in most international games—it also has its own World Championships. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds, in the event that both fighters gain equal scores from the judges, the fight is considered a draw. In Olympic boxing, due to the fact that a winner must be declared, in the case of a draw - the judges use technical criteria to choose the most deserving winner of the bout. While people have fought in combat since before the dawn of history. The earliest evidence for fist fighting with any kind of gloves can be found on Minoan Crete, in Ancient Greece boxing was a well developed sport and enjoyed consistent popularity. In Olympic terms, it was first introduced in the 23rd Olympiad,688 B. C, the boxers would wind leather thongs around their hands in order to protect them. There were no rounds and boxers fought until one of them acknowledged defeat or could not continue, weight categories were not used, which meant heavyweights had a tendency to dominate. It was the head of the opponent which was primarily targeted, Boxing was a popular spectator sport in Ancient Rome. In order for the fighters to protect themselves against their opponents they wrapped leather thongs around their fists, eventually harder leather was used and the thong soon became a weapon. The Romans even introduced metal studs to the thongs to make the cestus which then led to a more sinister weapon called the myrmex, Fighting events were held at Roman Amphitheatres. The Roman form of boxing was often a fight until death to please the spectators who gathered at such events, however, especially in later times, purchased slaves and trained combat performers were valuable commodities, and their lives were not given up without due consideration. Often slaves were used against one another in a circle marked on the floor and this is where the term ring came from. In AD393, during the Roman gladiator period, boxing was abolished due to excessive brutality and it was not until the late 17th century that boxing re-surfaced in London. Records of Classical boxing activity disappeared after the fall of the Western Roman Empire when the wearing of weapons became common once again, however, there are detailed records of various fist-fighting sports that were maintained in different cities and provinces of Italy between the 12th and 17th centuries. There was also a sport in ancient Rus called Kulachniy Boy or Fist Fighting, as the wearing of swords became less common, there was renewed interest in fencing with the fists. The sport would later resurface in England during the early 16th century in the form of bare-knuckle boxing sometimes referred to as prizefighting. The first documented account of a fight in England appeared in 1681 in the London Protestant Mercury
30.
Duke of Hamilton
–
Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that Peerage, and as such its holder is the Premier Peer of Scotland, the title, the town of Hamilton in Lanarkshire, and many places around the world are named after members of the Hamilton family. The Ducal familys surname, originally Hamilton, is now Douglas-Hamilton, traditionally, the Duke of Hamilton enjoys the exclusive right to remove the Scottish Crown Jewels from the City of Edinburgh. He also regularly attends sittings in the Court of Lord Lyon as an hereditary assessor, the courtesy titles used by heirs apparent are Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale and Earl of Angus. No Duke has had a great-grandson in direct line to the titles, before the Dukes succeeded to the Marquessate of Douglas and its subsidiary titles, the heirs apparent were styled initially Earl of Arran and later Marquess of Clydesdale. The heir apparent to the Earldom of Lanark was styled Lord Polmont, Gilbert de Hameldun is recorded as witnessing a charter confirming the gift of the church at Cragyn to the Abbey of Paisley in 1271. His ancestry is uncertain but he may have been the son of William de Hamilton, Gilbert de Hameldun married Isabella Randolph, daughter of Thomas Randolph of Strathdon, Chamberlain of Scotland. His heir was Walter fitz Gilbert and he was governor of Bothwell Castle for the English Crown during the First War of Scottish Independence. Following the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, he gave refuge to the Earl of Hertford and other escapees, only to deliver them and he then became a Bruce partisan. Sometime between 1315 and 1329, Robert the Bruce knighted him and granted him lands in Renfrewshire, the lands had previously belonged to John Comyn, who was murdered by Robert the Bruce. The 1st laird of Cadzow was succeeded as 2nd laird by his son Sir David fitz Walter and he was a supporter of King David II and fought at the Battle of Nevilles Cross where he was captured along with the King. His son David Hamilton, the 3rd laird, was the first to establish Hamilton as the family name, David Hamiltons son Sir John Hamilton became the 4th laird and was in turn succeeded as 5th laird by his son James Hamilton. The 5th laird was succeeded as 6th laird by his son, Sir James Hamilton, in early 1474, he married Princess Mary, Countess of Arran, daughter of King James II and widow of Thomas Boyd, 1st Earl of Arran. He was succeeded by his legitimate son, James, 2nd Lord Hamilton. However, it was discovered that Sir Thomas Hay was still alive. The 2nd Lord married secondly Janet, Lady Livingstone, daughter of Sir David Beaton of Creich and widow of Sir Robert Livingstone of Easter Wemyss and Drumry. He became a Privy Counsellor to King James IV, and helped to arrange his marriage to Princess Margaret, as a reward he was created Earl of Arran on 8 August 1503. He was succeeded by his son from his second marriage, James
31.
Holyrood Palace
–
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Queen Elizabeth spends one week in residence at Holyrood Palace at the beginning of each summer, Sir William Bruce designed the 3-storey plus attic Baroque palace for Charles II upon the restoration of the monarchy. The entry gateway is framed by massive coupled Roman Doric columns, with the carved Royal Arms of Scotland, the north and south fronts have symmetrical 3-storey facades that rise behind to far left and right of 2-storey range with regular arrangement of bays. The east front has 17 pilastered bays with superimposed columns at each floor, the ruins of the abbey church connect to the palace on the north-east corner. Architectural historian Dan Cruickshank selected the palace as one of his eight choices for the 2002 BBC book The Story of Britains Best Buildings, the rooms open to the public include the 17th-century former Kings apartments and Great Gallery, and the 16th-century apartments in the north-west tower. The Great Stair in the south-west corner of the quadrangle has a 17th-century Baroque ceiling featuring plaster angels holding the Honours of Scotland, the Italian paintings on the walls are fragments of frescoes painted circa 1550 by Lattanzio Gambara, illustrating scenes from Ovids Metamorphoses. They were bought by Prince Albert in 1856, and placed here in 1881, at the top of the stair is the Royal Dining Room, formerly part of the Queens apartments. The Adam style decoration dates from around 1800, when this was part of the Duke of Hamiltons apartment, the Kings apartments occupied the whole of the south and east sides of the quadrangle. Accessed from the Great Stair, the suite of rooms comprising a hall, presence chamber, privy chamber, antechamber, bedchamber. The level of privacy, as well as the richness of decoration, from the visit of George IV in 1822, the guard hall has been used as a throne room, and the order of rooms reversed. The Evening Drawing Room and Morning Drawing Room occupy the former presence chamber and privy chamber, the Morning Drawing Room is hung with French tapestries bought by Charles II, and is used for private ceremonies. The Kings Antechamber, Bedchamber and Closet are laid out along the east side of the palace, the Kings Bedchamber, at the centre of the east façade, has the finest of the 17th-century plaster ceilings, augmented by paintings of Hercules by Jacob de Wet II. The 17th-century bed was made for the Duke of Hamilton, although it was referred to as Queen Marys Bed when it occupied the older Queens rooms. The Great Gallery, the largest room in the palace, links the Kings Closet with the former Queens apartments in the west range, the gallery is decorated with 110 portraits of the Scottish monarchs, beginning with the legendary Fergus I, who supposedly ruled from 330 BC. The portraits were all completed between 1684 and 1686 by Jacob de Wet II and this collection celebrated the royal bloodline of Scotland which the Scots upheld for its continuity and antiquity as an important part of their national identity in the seventeenth century. After 1707, Scotlands representative peers were elected here to be sent to Westminster, bonnie Prince Charlie held evening balls in the gallery during his brief occupation, and it later became a Catholic chapel for the Comte dArtois. Today it is used for functions including investitures and banquets. These rooms were occupied by Lord Darnley in the 17th century, Queen Mary occupied an identical suite of rooms on the second floor of the tower, the bedchambers are linked by a private spiral stair
32.
Highland Light Infantry
–
The Highland Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. Its exact status was ambiguous, although the regiment insisted on being classified as a non-kilted Highland regiment it recruited mainly from Glasgow in Lowland Scotland, the battalion was stationed in England from 1883, but moved to India the following year. In February 1900 it departed from Colombo to return home and it then moved to Mesopotamia in December 1915 and saw action at the Siege of Kut in Spring 1916 and the Battle of Sharqat in October 1918. The 2nd Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 5th Brigade in the 2nd Division in August 1914 for service on the Western Front, the 1/9th Battalion landed in France as part of the 5th Brigade in the 2nd Division in November 1914 for service on the Western Front. The 10th and 11th Battalions landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 28th Brigade in the 9th Division in May 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 12th Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 46th Brigade in the 15th Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front, the 14th Battalion landed in France as part of the 120th Brigade in the 40th Division in June 1916 for service on the Western Front. The 15th Battalion, the 16th Battalion and the 17th Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 97th Brigade in the 32nd Division in November 1915 for service on the Western Front, relief attempts failed, but the men of the Frankfurt trench refused to surrender. After refusing to surrender, the Germans stormed the trench and found only 15 wounded men alive, general Sir Hubert Gough praised their stand under Army Order 193. Members of the 17th Battalion were painted by the war artist Frederick Farrell in Flanders in 1917, the 18th Battalion landed in France as part of the 106th Brigade in the 35th Division in February 1916 for service on the Western Front. In 1923, the title was expanded to the Highland Light Infantry. David Niven was commissioned into the regiment in 1930 and served with the 2nd Battalion, the 2nd Battalion moved to Egypt early in the war and saw action at the Battle of Keren in March 1941. It then transferred to the Western Desert and saw combat at the Battle of Knightsbridge in June 1942 and the Battle of Fuka in July 1942. It took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and, after a period in Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece, the Highland Light Infantry was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers. The regular 1st battalions of the two Regiments combined at Redford Barracks, Edinburgh to form the 1st Battalion of the new regiment, the HLI was the only regular Highland regiment to wear trews for full dress, until 1947 when kilts were authorised. An earlier exception was the Glasgow Highlanders who wore kilts and were a battalion within the HLI. The HLIs full dress in 1914 was a one, comprising a dark green shako with diced border and green cords, scarlet doublet with buff facings. Officers wore plaids of the tartan, while in drill order all ranks wore white shell jackets with trews. Second World War, Odon, Scheldt, Walcheren Causeway, Rhine, Reichswald, North-West Europe 1940, 44-45, Keren Cauldron, Landing in Sicily, Greece 1944–45 1901–, John Hamilton Elphinstone Dalrymple, CB 1881–1901, Gen. Walter Douglas Phillips Patton-Bethune 1901–1903, Lt-Gen
33.
Coal mines
–
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its content, and, since the 1880s, has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore, in the United Kingdom and South Africa a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine a pit, the above-ground structures the pit head. In Australia, colliery generally refers to a coal mine. In the United States colliery has been used to describe a coal mine operation, Coal mining has had many developments over the recent years, from the early days of men tunnelling, digging and manually extracting the coal on carts, to large open cut and long wall mines. Mining at this scale requires the use of draglines, trucks, conveyors, hydraulic jacks, small-scale mining of surface deposits dates back thousands of years. For example, in Roman Britain, the Romans were exploiting most of the major coalfields by the late 2nd century AD. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain in the 18th century and later spread to continental Europe, international trade expanded rapidly when coal-fed steam engines were built for the railways and steamships. Until the late nineteenth century coal was mined using a pick and shovel. Coal-cutting machines were introduced in the 1880s, by 1912, surface mining was conducted with steam shovels designed for coal mining. The most economical method of extraction from coal seams depends on the depth and quality of the seams. Coal mining processes are differentiated by whether they operate on the surface or underground, many coals extracted from both surface and underground mines require washing in a coal preparation plant. Surface mining and deep underground mining are the two methods of mining. Coal that occurs at depths of 180 to 300 ft are usually deep mined, for example, some western U. S. coal that occur at depths in excess of 200 ft are mined by the open pit methods, due to thickness of the seam 60–90 feet. Coals occurring below 300 ft are usually deep mined, However, there are open pit mining operations working on coal seams up to 1000–1500 feet below ground level, for instance Tagebau Hambach in Germany. When coal seams are near the surface, it may be economical to extract the coal using open cut mining methods, open cast coal mining recovers a greater proportion of the coal deposit than underground methods, as more of the coal seams in the strata may be exploited. In this mining method, explosives are first used in order to break through the surface or overburden, the overburden is then removed by draglines or by shovel and truck. Once the coal seam is exposed, it is drilled, fractured, the coal is then loaded onto large trucks or conveyors for transport to either the coal preparation plant or directly to where it will be used
34.
Trade union
–
The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment and this may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. Unions may organize a section of skilled workers, a cross-section of workers from various trades. The agreements negotiated by a union are binding on the rank and file members, originating in Great Britain, trade unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution. Trade unions may be composed of workers, professionals, past workers, students. Trade union density, or the percentage of workers belonging to a union, is highest in the Nordic countries. The trade unions aim at nothing less than to prevent the reduction of wages below the level that is maintained in the various branches of industry. That is to say, they wish to prevent the price of labour-power from falling below its value, yet historian R. A. the other the aggressive-expansionist drive to unite all labouring men and women for a different order of things. The 18th century economist Adam Smith noted the imbalance in the rights of workers in regards to owners. In The Wealth of Nations, Book I, chapter 8, Smith wrote, We rarely hear, it has said, of the combination of masters. But whoever imagines, upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant of the world as of the subject. Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination, not to raise the wages of labor above their actual rate When workers combine, masters. As Smith noted, unions were illegal for many years in most countries, there were severe penalties for attempting to organize unions, up to and including execution. This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings, Trade unions and collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than the middle of the 14th century when the Ordinance of Labourers was enacted in the Kingdom of England. In 1799, the Combination Act was passed, which banned trade unions, although the unions were subject to often severe repression until 1824, they were already widespread in cities such as London. Sympathy for the plight of the workers brought repeal of the acts in 1824, by the 1810s, the first labour organizations to bring together workers of divergent occupations were formed. Possibly the first such union was the General Union of Trades, also known as the Philanthropic Society, the latter name was to hide the organizations real purpose in a time when trade unions were still illegal. The Association quickly enrolled approximately 150 unions, consisting mostly of textile related unions, but also including mechanics, blacksmiths, and various others
35.
Pilot officer
–
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer, some newly commissioned officers hold the lower grade of acting pilot officer. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and is equivalent to a lieutenant in the British Army or the Royal Marines. The Royal Navy has no equivalent rank, and a pilot officer is senior to a Royal Navy midshipman. In the Australian Armed Forces, the rank of officer is equivalent to acting sub lieutenant in the Royal Australian Navy. The equivalent rank in the Womens Auxiliary Air Force was assistant section officer, in the Royal Flying Corps, officers were designated pilot officers at the end of pilot training. As they retained their commissions in their ranks, and many of them had been seconded from their ground units. On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army, consideration was given to renaming second lieutenants as ensigns. Those who were not qualified pilots were redesignated observer officers, but this was phased out. The rank of pilot officer does not imply that the officer is aircrew, aircrew and engineers receive their commissions as flying officers and skip the rank altogether. A ground branch officer will remain in the officer rank for six months following commissioning. Because of the nature of Phase II training, an officer will generally spend time in rank on a further training course. Some students in the University Air Squadrons are promoted to the rank of acting pilot officer as part of the element of their squadron. UAS students wear pilot officer rank insignia with Officers headdress and are commissioned into the Volunteer Reserve. Pilot officers are likely to be found in the CCF and Air Training Corps organisations of the VR branch. The rank insignia consists of a blue band on slightly wider black band. This is worn on both the sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. Although no Royal Navy rank has an insignia of a half width ring
36.
Flying officer
–
Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these cases a Flying Officer usually ranks above pilot officer and it has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and is equivalent to a lieutenant in the British Army or the Royal Marines. However, it is superior to the nearest equivalent rank of sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy, the equivalent rank in the Womens Auxiliary Air Force was section officer. The term flying officer was used in the Royal Flying Corps as a flying appointment for junior officers. However, with the creation of the RAFs own rank structure on 1 August 1919, RAF lieutenants were re-titled flying officers, the rank title does not imply that an officer in the rank of flying officer flies an aircraft. Some flying officers are aircrew, but many are ground branch officers, amongst the ground branches some flying officers have command of flights. In the RAF, aircrew and engineer officers are commissioned directly into the rank of flying officer, the starting salary for a flying officer is £30,616.80 per year. In many cases the rank of flying officer is the first rank an air force officer holds after successful completion of his professional training. A flying officer might serve as a pilot in training, an adjutant, by the time aviators have completed their training, they will have served their 2½ years and typically join their frontline squadrons as flight lieutenants. The rank insignia consists of one narrow blue band on slightly wider black band and this is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. The rank insignia on the uniform is similar to the naval pattern, being one band of gold running around each cuff. The Royal Canadian Air Force used the rank until unification of the three armed services into the Canadian Forces in 1968 and army-type ranks were adopted, RCAF personnel holding this rank then switched to the rank of lieutenant. In official French Canadian usage, an officers rank title was lieutenant daviation. The rank of warrant flying officer was used by the air service of the Imperial Japanese military. This rank is an equivalent for lieutenant in the Royal Malaysian Air Force RAF officer ranks Comparative military ranks
37.
Flight lieutenant
–
It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in non-English-speaking countries, especially those with an air force-specific rank structure. Flight lieutenant ranks above flying officer and below squadron leader, the name of the rank is the complete phrase, it is never shortened to lieutenant. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-3, and is equivalent to a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and a captain in the British Army and the Royal Marines. The equivalent rank in the Womens Auxiliary Air Force, Womens Royal Air Force, on 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army, with Royal Naval Air Service lieutenants and Royal Flying Corps captains becoming captains in the RAF. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navys officer ranks. For example, the current rank of lieutenant would have been air lieutenant. It was also suggested that RAF captains might be entitled flight-leaders, however, the rank title flight lieutenant was chosen as flights were typically commanded by RAF captains and the term flight lieutenant had been used in the Royal Naval Air Service. The rank of lieutenant has been used continuously since 1 August 1919. The RAFs promotion system is automatic up until Flight Lieutenant, every officer will attain the rank provided they complete their professional training and do not leave early. For Aircrew, Flight Lieutenant is reached 2.5 years after commissioning, BEng/MEng qualified engineers 2.5 and 1.5 years respectively, and for all ground branch officers,3.5 years. Aircrew are appointed to an Early Departure Payment Commission upon reaching their Operational Conversion Unit, promotion to Squadron Leader thereafter is strictly upon merit, officers promoted beyond Flight Lieutenant are appointed to a Career Commission, or service to age 60. Resigning a commission is generally dependent on the needs of the Service, most aircrew reach their squadrons as Flight Lieutenants due to the length of training time required. The majority of squadron line pilots are flight lieutenants, with some squadron executives or Career Commission aircrew reaching Squadron Leader, the role of a Flight Lieutenant generally involves management of a team of specialists Non-Commissioned Officers and airmen, within their specific branch. Flight Lieutenant is the most common rank in the RAF, in April 2013, for example, there were 8,230 RAF officers, in RAF informal usage, a flight lieutenant is sometimes referred to as a flight lieuy. A Flight Lieutenants starting salary is £39,236.40 as of 2015, in the Air Training Corps, a flight lieutenant is usually the officer commanding of a squadron. Retired flight lieutenants are the first rank that may continue to use their rank after they have active service. The rank insignia consists of two narrow blue bands on slightly wider black bands and this is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flight suit or the casual uniform. The rank insignia on the uniform is similar to the naval pattern
38.
Westland PV-3
–
The Westland PV-3 was a British two-seat torpedo bomber of the 1930s built by Westland Aircraft Works. The aircraft was a venture development and based on the Westland Wapiti. The aircraft is best known as one of the first two to fly over Everest as part of the Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition, as such, it was a development of the Wapiti, with an all-metal structure and folding two-bay wings. It was powered by a 575 hp Bristol Jupiter XFA radial engine, having an armament of one forward-firing Vickers machine gun. It could carry either the planned 1,000 lb torpedo under the fuselage or an equivalent weight of bombs under the wings and it first flew in February 1931, showing good performance and handling when tested by the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Martlesham Heath. Despite this, no orders resulted, and the torpedo was cancelled. In November 1932, the PV-3 was chosen, together with the Westland PV-6 for the Houston Mount Everest Flying Expedition to fly over, the aircraft, now registered G-ACAZ, was remodelled with a rear cabin and a 630 hp Bristol Pegasus engine driving a large diameter propeller. It was test flown from Yeovil in the new configuration, the PV-3 was later exhibited at Selfridges department store in London in July 1933. In December 1933 the aircraft, given the military serial K4048, was issued to Bristol Aircraft as an engine testbed, james, Derek N. Westland Aircraft since 1915. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 3, Westland Data Sheet British Aircraft Directory entry
39.
Biplane
–
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, while a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage over a monoplane, it produces more drag than a similar unbraced or cantilever monoplane wing. Improved structural techniques, better materials and the quest for greater speed made the biplane configuration obsolete for most purposes by the late 1930s. Biplanes offer several advantages over conventional cantilever monoplane designs, they permit lighter wing structures, low wing loading, however, interference between the airflow over each wing increases drag substantially, and biplanes generally need extensive bracing, which causes additional drag. Biplanes are distinguished from tandem wing arrangements, where the wings are placed forward and aft, instead of above, the term is also occasionally used in biology, to describe the wings of some flying animals. In a biplane aircraft, two wings are placed one above the other, either or both of the main wings can support ailerons, while flaps are more usually positioned on the lower wing. Bracing is nearly always added between the upper and lower wings, in the form of wires and/or slender interplane struts positioned symmetrically on either side of the fuselage. The primary advantage of the biplane over the traditional single plane or monoplane is to combine great stiffness with light weight. A braced monoplane wing must support itself fully, while the two wings of a help to stiffen each other. The biplane is therefore inherently stiffer than the monoplane, also, the structural forces in the spars of a biplane wing tend to be lower, so the wing can use less material to obtain the same overall strength and is therefore much lighter. A disadvantage of the biplane was the need for extra struts to space the wings apart, the low power supplied by the engines available in the first years of aviation meant that aeroplanes could only fly slowly. This required an even lower stalling speed, which in turn required a low wing loading, combining both large wing area with light weight. A biplane wing of a span and chord has twice the area of a monoplane the same size and so can fly more slowly. Alternatively, a wing of the same area as a monoplane has lower span and chord, reducing the structural forces. Biplanes suffer aerodynamic interference between the two planes and this means that a biplane does not in practice obtain twice the lift of the similarly-sized monoplane. The farther apart the wings are spaced the less the interference, given the slow speed and low power of early aircraft, the drag penalty of the wires and struts and the mutual interference of airflows were relatively minor and acceptable factors. The smaller biplane wing also allows greater maneuverability, during World War One, this further enhanced the dominance of the biplane and, despite the need for speed, military aircraft were among the last to abandon the biplane form. Specialist sports Aerobatic biplanes are still occasionally made, biplanes were originally designed with the wings positioned directly one above the other
40.
Cabin pressurization
–
For aircraft, this air is usually bled off from the gas turbine engines at the compressor stage, and for spacecraft, it is carried in high-pressure, often cryogenic tanks. The air is cooled, humidified, and mixed with recirculated air if necessary, the cabin pressure is regulated by the outflow valve. It also serves to increase passenger comfort and is a regulatory requirement above 15,000 feet in the U. S. A. The principal physiological problems are listed below, Pressurization of the cargo hold is also required to prevent damage to pressure-sensitive goods that might leak, expand, burst or be crushed on re-pressurization. In some individuals, particularly those with heart or lung disease, symptoms may begin as low as 5,000 feet, at this altitude, there is about 25% less oxygen than there is at sea level. Hypoxia may be addressed by the administration of oxygen, either through an oxygen mask or through a nasal cannula. Without pressurization, sufficient oxygen can be delivered up to an altitude of about 40,000 feet. At 40,000 feet, the ambient air pressure falls to about 0.2 bar, emergency oxygen supply masks in the passenger compartment of airliners do not need to be pressure-demand masks because most flights stay below 40,000 feet. Above that altitude the pressure of oxygen will fall below 0.2 bar even at 100% oxygen. Passengers may experience fatigue, nausea, headaches, sleeplessness, and these are the same symptoms that mountain climbers experience, but the limited duration of powered flight makes the development of pulmonary oedema unlikely. The mechanism is the same as that of compressed-air divers on ascent from depth, symptoms may include the early symptoms of the bends—tiredness, forgetfulness, headache, stroke, thrombosis, and subcutaneous itching—but rarely the full symptoms thereof. Decompression sickness may also be controlled by a suit as for altitude sickness. Barotrauma As the aircraft climbs or descends, passengers may experience discomfort or acute pain as gases trapped within their bodies expand or contract, the most common problems occur with air trapped in the middle ear or paranasal sinuses by a blocked Eustachian tube or sinuses. Pain may also be experienced in the tract or even the teeth. The pressure inside the cabin is technically referred to as the equivalent effective cabin altitude or more commonly as the cabin altitude and this is defined as the equivalent altitude above mean sea level having the same atmospheric pressure according to a standard atmospheric model such as the International Standard Atmosphere. Thus a cabin altitude of zero would have the pressure found at sea level. Federal Aviation Administration regulations in the U. S. mandate that under normal operating conditions, the rate of change of cabin altitude strongly affects comfort as humans are sensitive to pressure changes in the inner ear and sinuses and this has to be managed carefully. The cabin altitude of the Boeing 767 is typically about 6,900 feet when cruising at 39,000 feet and this is typical for older jet airliners
41.
Himalayas
–
The Himalayas, or Himalaya, form a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The Himalayan range has the Earths highest peaks, including the highest, the Himalayas include over a hundred mountains exceeding 7,200 metres in elevation. By contrast, the highest peak outside Asia – Aconcagua, in the Andes – is 6,961 metres tall. The Himalayas are spread across five countries, Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, the Himalayan range is bordered on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Some of the major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, rise in the Himalayas. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia, many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism. Lifted by the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate under the Eurasian Plate and its western anchor, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river. Its eastern anchor, Namcha Barwa, is just west of the bend of the Tsangpo river. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres in the west to 150 kilometres in the east, the name of the range derives from the Sanskrit Himā-laya, from himá and ā-laya. They are now known as the Himalaya Mountains, usually shortened to the Himalayas, formerly, they were described in the singular as the Himalaya. This was also previously transcribed Himmaleh, as in Emily Dickinsons poetry and Henry David Thoreaus essays. The mountains are known as the Himālaya in Nepali and Hindi, the Himalaya or The Land of Snow in Tibetan, the Hamaleh Mountain Range in Urdu, the flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice, the amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall and soil conditions combined with the high snow line supports a variety of distinct plant. The extremes of high altitude combined with extreme cold favor extremophile organisms, the unique floral and faunal wealth of the Himalayas is undergoing structural and compositional changes due to climate change. The increase in temperature is shifting various species to higher elevations, the oak forest is being invaded by pine forests in the Garhwal Himalayan region. There are reports of early flowering and fruiting in some species, especially rhododendron, apple. The highest known tree species in the Himalayas is Juniperus tibetica located at 4,900 metres in Southeastern Tibet, the Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock
United Kingdom
Royal Air Force