1.
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
2.
World War I
–
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
3.
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
4.
Operation Granby
–
Operation Granby was the name given to the British military operations during the 1991 Gulf War. 53,462 troops were deployed during the conflict, the total cost of operations was £2.434 billion, of which at least £2.049 billion was paid for by other nations such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, £200 million of equipment was lost or written off. Operation Granby took its name from John Manners, Marquess of Granby, the Joint Commander Gulf Forces was Air Chief Marshal Sir Patrick Hine 1 October 1990 –31 March 1991, and Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon from 31 March 1991. His political adviser was Andrew Palmer, the Air Commander British Forces Middle East was Air Vice Marshal Andrew Wilson from August to 17 November 1990, then Air Vice Marshal William Wratten from 17 November 1990. The Senior British Naval Officer Middle East was Captain Anthony McEwen, Royal Navy until September 1990, finally Commodore Christopher Craig, on HMS Brave and HMS London, was in command from 3 December 1990 to March 1991. Within 9 days of the invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990,12 Panavia Tornado F3 interceptors from 5 Sqn and 29 Sqn from RAF Coningsby had arrived in Saudi Arabia, alongside aircraft of the USAF. Later, Jaguar aircraft from RAF Coltishall and Tornado GR1s, redeployed from service in Germany deployed to the theatre, buccaneer aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth were also deployed in order to laser designate ground targets for the Tornado. This action had the effect of maintaining the confidence of friendly nations, when an economic embargo was placed on Iraq, these aircraft also helped maintain it. The force of F3s was expanded to 18 drawn from the three British bases then housing F3s, with 27 air crew and 350 ground personnel. They were based at the Royal Saudi Air Force base at Dhahran, before the launch of the operation to liberate Kuwait they flew over 2000 sorties. Hercules, VC10 and TriStar aircraft supplied both the air force and other endeavours, Nimrod MR. 2P aircraft assisted naval operations. At bases in Tabuk, Dhahran and Muharraq, the RAF deployed Rapier missiles as part of surface-to-air defences, in total, around 6,000 RAF personnel were deployed to the Gulf. RAF commanders, along with the partners in the coalition. Because of the level of supplies coming from Iraq to forces in Kuwait, it would have been impossible to separate targets merely in Kuwait from an offensive into Iraq, coalition forces outnumbered the IrAF 3-to-1. The first part of the Gulf War air campaign was directed against the IrAF, early on 17 January, the RAFs Tornado GR1s flew into Iraq, with tanker support. The first targets were Iraqi airbases, which housed a variety of defence systems and these attacks were co-ordinated in Riyadh by the Joint Allied Headquarters, with Wratten now leading the British command, aircraft were almost totally integrated into a single coalition force. Support aircraft in raids, therefore, could be from any coalition power, within 24 hours, a hundred sorties had been run. After seven days, the RAFs focus, like the rest of air forces, was moved to targets related to the support of Iraqi forces in Kuwait
5.
Anne, Princess Royal
–
Anne, Princess Royal, KG KT GCVO GCStJ QSO GCL CD is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. At the time of her birth, she was third in the line of succession, behind her mother – then Princess Elizabeth – and elder brother and she rose to second after her mothers accession, but is currently 12th in line. Anne is known for her work, and is patron of over 200 organisations. Princess Anne has held the title of Princess Royal since 1987 and is its seventh holder, Anne was married to Captain Mark Phillips in 1973, they divorced in 1992. They have two children and three grandchildren, in 1992, within months of her divorce, Anne married Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, whom she had met while he served as her mothers equerry between 1986 and 1989. Anne was born at Clarence House on 15 August 1950 at 11,50 am, as the child and only daughter of Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh. She was the grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Anne was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 21 October 1950, by Archbishop of York, after the death of George VI, Annes mother ascended the throne as Queen Elizabeth II. Given her young age at the time, she did not attend the coronation, the Company was active until 1963, when Anne went to boarding school. Anne enrolled at Benenden School in 1963, in 1968 she left school with six GCE O-Levels and two A-Levels. In the next couple of years, Anne started dating, in 1970 her first boyfriend was Andrew Parker Bowles, who later became the first husband of Camilla Shand. Following the wedding, Anne and her husband lived at Gatcombe Park and he was made acting captain by the start of 1974 when he was appointed a personal aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II. By 1989, however, Princess Anne and Mark Phillips announced their intention to separate, the couple divorced on 23 April 1992. The Queen had offered Phillips an earldom on his wedding day, the couple had two children, Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips. As female-line descendants of royalty, the children have no title despite being the grandchildren of a monarch, Anne became a grandmother on 29 December 2010 when Peter and his wife Autumn had a daughter, Savannah. On 29 March 2012, the couple had daughter, Isla. Annes third granddaughter, Mia Grace, was born on 17 January 2014 to Zara and her husband Mike Tindall. As Princess Anne and Mark Phillips were returning to Buckingham Palace on 20 March 1974, from a charity event on Pall Mall, the driver of the Escort, Ian Ball, jumped out and began firing a pistol
6.
Charitable organization
–
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization. It differs from types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals as well as social well-being. The legal definition of charitable organization varies according to the country, the regulation, tax treatment, and the way in which charity law affects charitable organizations also varies. Financial figures are important indicators to assess the sustainability of a charity. This information can impact a charitys reputation with donors and societies, and thus, Charitable organizations often depend partly on donations from for-profit-organizations. Such donations to charitable organizations represent a form of corporate philanthropy. Until the mid-18th century, charity was mainly distributed through parish relief, churches, almshouses, Charities were also responsible for education, health, housing and even prisons. It was in the Enlightenment era that charitable and philanthropic activity among voluntary associations, societies, gentlemans clubs, and mutual associations began to flourish in England and the upper-classes increasingly adopted a philanthropic attitude toward the disadvantaged. This new social activism was channeled into the establishment of charitable organizations and this emerging upper-class fashion for benevolence resulted in the incorporation of the first charitable organizations. This was the first such charity in the world and served as the precedent for incorporated associational charities everywhere. Jonas Hanway, another notable philanthropist of the era established The Marine Society in 1756 as the first seafarers charity, by 1763, the Society had recruited over 10,000 men and it was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1772. Hanway was also instrumental in establishing the Magdalen Hospital to rehabilitate prostitutes and these organizations were funded by subscription and run as voluntary associations. Charities also began to adopt campaigning roles, where they would champion a cause, the process was however a lengthy one being finally concluded when Saudi Arabia abolished slavery in 1962. This period also saw growing philosophical debate between those who championed state intervention and those who believed that private charities should provide welfare, thomas Malthus, the political economist, criticized poor relief for paupers on economic and moral grounds and proposed leaving charity entirely to the private sector. His views were influential and informed the Victorian laissez-faire attitude toward state intervention for the poor. During the 19th century, a profusion of charitable organizations were set up to alleviate the conditions of the working class in the slums. The Labourers Friend Society, chaired by Lord Shaftesbury in the United Kingdom in 1830, was set up to working class conditions. This included the promotion of allotment of land to labourers for cottage husbandry that later became the allotment movement and this was one of the first housing associations, a philanthropic endeavour that flourished in the second half of the nineteenth century brought about by the growth of the middle class
7.
Army Reserve (United Kingdom)
–
The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force and integrated element of the British Army. Most Volunteer infantry units had unique identities, but lost these in the reorganisation, only one infantry unit, the London Regiment, has maintained a separate identity. Reservists in the past also served as constables or bailiffs, even holding positions of civic duty as overseer of their parish, the more modern Yeomen of the 18th century were cavalry-based units, which were often used to suppress riots. Several units that are now part of the Army Reserve bear the title militia, after the Second World War, for example, the Army Reserve - or Territorial Army as it was known then - was not demobilised until 1947. All Army Reserve personnel have their jobs protected to a limited extent by law should they be compulsorily mobilised. There is, however, no protection against discrimination in employment for membership of the Army Reserve in the normal course of events. As part of the process, remaining units of militia were converted to the Special Reserve. The TF was formed on 1 April 1908 and contained fourteen infantry divisions and it had an overall strength of approximately 269,000. The individual units that made up each division or brigade were administered by County Associations, the other members of the association consisted of military members, representative members and co-opted members. Associations took over any property vested in the volunteers or yeomanry under their administration, each regiment or battalion had a Regular Army officer attached as full-time adjutant. In August 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War, territorial units were given the option of serving in France and, by 25 August, in excess of seventy battalions had volunteered. This question over the availability of territorial divisions for service was one of Lord Kitcheners motivations for raising the New Army separately. The first fully Territorial division to join the fighting on the Western Front was the 46th Division in March 1915, with divisions later serving in Gallipoli and elsewhere. As the war progressed, and casualties mounted, the character of territorial units was diluted by the inclusion of conscript. Following the Armistice all units of the Territorial Force were gradually disbanded, New recruiting started in early 1920, and the Territorial Force was reconstituted on 7 February 1920. On 1 October 1920, the Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army, the 1st Line divisions were reconstituted in that year. However, the composition of the divisions was altered, with a reduction in the number of infantry battalions required, there was also a reduced need for cavalry, and of the 55 yeomanry regiments, only the 14 most senior retained their horses. The remaining yeomanry were converted to artillery or armoured car units or disbanded, the amalgamation of 40 pairs of infantry battalions was announced in October 1921
8.
First aid
–
First aid is the assistance given to any person suffering a sudden illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, and/or promote recovery. First aid is generally performed by the layperson, with many people trained in providing basic levels of first aid, mental health first aid is an extension of the concept of first aid to cover mental health. There are many situations which may require first aid, and many countries have legislation, regulation and this can include specific training or equipment to be available in the workplace, the provision of specialist first aid cover at public gatherings, or mandatory first aid training within schools. First aid, however, does not necessarily any particular equipment or prior knowledge. First aid can be performed on all mammals, although this article relates to the care of human patients, the ancient Egyptians were the first to use bandages including the high genius doctor Imhotep. They not only used them o to create mummies but also as part of the treatments for surgical patients, most ancient Greek doctors, philosophers, etc studied in ancient Egypt and then returned to Greece. The bandaging of battle wounds is shown on Classical Greek pottery from circa 500 BCE, there are numerous references to first aid performed within the Roman army, with a system of first aid supported by surgeons, field ambulances, and hospitals. Roman legions had the role of capsarii, who were responsible for first aid such as bandaging. Further examples occur through history, still mostly related to battle, with such as the Knights Hospitaller in the 11th century CE, providing care to pilgrims. During the late 18th century, drowning as a cause of death was a concern amongst the population. This led to the formation, in 1774, of the Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned, later the Royal Humane Society, who did much to promote resuscitation. Napoleons surgeon, Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, is credited with creating an ambulance corps, the Red Cross and Red Crescent are still the largest provider of first aid worldwide. The bandage was issued as standard to the Prussian combatants, and this was followed by creating its own wheeled transport litter in 1875, and in 1877 established the St John Ambulance Association to train men and women for the benefit of the sick and wounded. Following this, in 1878, Shepherd and Colonel Francis Duncan took advantage of the newly charitable focus of St John, the first classes were conducted in the hall of the Presbyterian school in Woolwich using a comprehensive first aid curriculum. First aid training began to spread through the British Empire through organisations such as St John, often starting, as in the UK, with high risk activities such as ports, certain skills are considered essential to the provision of first aid and are taught ubiquitously. Particularly the ABCs of first aid, which focus on critical life-saving intervention, ABC stands for Airway, Breathing, and Circulation. The same mnemonic is used by all emergency health professionals, attention must first be brought to the airway to ensure it is clear. Following evaluation of the airway, a first aid attendant would determine adequacy of breathing, some organizations add a fourth step of D for Deadly bleeding or Defibrillation, while others consider this as part of the Circulation step
9.
Field hospital
–
A field hospital is a small mobile medical unit, or mini hospital, that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities. This term is used overwhelmingly with reference to situations. The concept was inherited from the battlefield, and is now applied in case of disasters or major accidents, as well as with traditional Military medicine. A field hospital is a staff with a mobile medical kit and, often. In an urban environment, the hospital is often established in an easily accessible. In case of a structure, the mobile medical kit is often placed in normalized container. A field hospital is generally larger than an aid station. Field hospitals were originally called ambulances, the surgical, evacuation, or field hospitals would remain many miles in the rear, and the divisional clearing stations were never intended to provide emergency life-saving surgery. With the Army’s larger mobile hospitals unable to assume their role in support of the front line combat units. Some sort of interim solution had to be found quickly to provide the necessary surgical services, a team of Medical Corps officers modified the basic War Department for a standard 25-bed station hospital into a new theater and table of basic for a portable hospital of 25-beds. The new unit was capable of supporting units in its camp-type version or battalion. Commanded by a Medical Corps captain or major, the new 29-man portable hospital had 4 medical officers 3 general surgeons and 25 enlisted men, including 2 surgical and 11 medical technicians. What really marked a departure was that all of the units equipment, medical and surgical supplies. Because the surgical demands on the hospitals were then only minimal. The surgeons in many of the portable hospitals would set standards of excellence in surgery. Hastily assembled and trained, the portable hospitals suffered from many shortcomings in personnel and equipment, probably the single most critical problem was the severe limitation placed on the total weight to assure the unit’s portability. From the start, this meant that to be portable the unit had to give up medical and surgical equipment, with no actual operational experience as a basis, that doctrine was much more conjectural than concrete. The Surgeon Generals Office and the War Department enthusiastically adopted SWPAs new hospital as a unit before the first portable hospitals proved their value in the Buna campaign
10.
Yeomanry
–
Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles, in the 1790s, the threat of invasion of the Kingdom of Great Britain was high, after the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. To improve the defences, volunteer regiments were raised in many counties from yeomen. These regiments became known collectively as the Yeomanry, members of the yeomanry were not obliged to serve overseas without their individual consent. In 1827 it was decided for reasons to reduce the number of yeomanry regiments. A number of independent troops were also dissolved, following these reductions the yeomanry establishment was fixed at 22 corps receiving allowances and a further 16 serving without pay. During the 1830s the number of yeomanry units fluctuated, reflecting the level of civil unrest in any region at any particular time. The Irish Yeomanry, which had played a role in suppressing the rebellion of 1798, was completely disbanded in 1838. For the next thirty years the Yeomanry Force was retained as a line of support for the regular cavalry within Britain. Recruiting difficulties led to serious consideration being given to the disbandment of the force in 1870. These included requirements that individual yeomanry troopers attend a number of drills per year in return for a permanent duty allowance. While these reforms improved the professionalism of the Yeomanry Force, numbers remained low, in 1876 the role of the Yeomanry Force was fixed as that of light cavalry. These supernumerary units were now abolished, during the Second Boer War companies of Imperial Yeomanry were formed to serve overseas from volunteers from the Yeomanry. In 1901 all yeomanry regiments were redesignated as Imperial Yeomanry, in 1908 the Imperial Yeomanry was merged with the Volunteer Force to form the Territorial Force, of which it became the cavalry arm. The Imperial title was dropped at the same time, on the eve of World War I in 1914 there were 55 Yeomanry regiments, each of four squadrons instead of the three of the regular cavalry. Upon embodiment these regiments were brought together to form mounted brigades or allocated as divisional cavalry. For purposes of recruitment and administration the Yeomanry were linked to counties or regions. Some of the still in existence in 1914 dated back to those created in the 1790s while others had been created during a period of expansion following on the Boer War
11.
Combat medic
–
Combat medics or Field medics are military personnel who have been trained to at least an EMT level, and are responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease, combat medics are normally co-located with the combat troops they serve in order to easily move with the troops and monitor ongoing health. In 1864, sixteen European states adopted the first-ever Geneva Convention to save lives and alleviate the suffering of wounded, as well as to protect trained medical personnel as non-combatants, in the act of rendering aid. According to the Geneva Convention, knowingly firing at a medic wearing clear insignia is a war crime, in modern times, most combat medics carry a personal weapon, to be used to protect themselves and the wounded or sick in their care. When and if they use their arms offensively, they sacrifice their protection under the Geneva Conventions. Before Larreys initiative in the 1790s, wounded soldiers were either left amid the fighting until the combat ended or their comrades would carry them to the rear line. It was during the American Civil War that Surgeon Jonathan Letterman, Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac, realized a need for a medical treatment. He saw the need to equip this system with its own dedicated vehicles, organizations, facilities, the Letterman plan was first implemented in September 1862 at the Battle of Antietam, Maryland. They were dedicated members of the team that enabled American generals to concentrate on enemy threats rather than epidemic threats. On August 4,1947, Congress created the Navy Medical Service Corps, in the United States, a report entitled Accidental Death and Disability, The Neglected Disease of Modern Society, was published by National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council. The International Committee of the Red Cross, a humanitarian institution based in Switzerland. This symbol was meant to signify to enemy combatants that the medic qualifies as a non-combatant, islamic countries use a Red Crescent instead. Although these symbols were officially sponsored by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, israeli medics still wear the Magen David. To enable MDA to become a recognized and participating member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. For indicative use on foreign territory, any national society can incorporate its unique symbol into the Red Crystal, under Protocol III, the MDA will continue to employ the red Magen David for domestic use, and will employ the red crystal on international relief missions. Medical personnel from most western nations carry weapons for protection of themselves and their patients but remain designated non combatants, wearing the red cross, traditionally, most United States medical personnel also wore a distinguishing red cross, to denote their protection as non-combatants under the Geneva Convention. This practice continued into World War II, as their non combatant status is not respected, many US medics no longer wear non combatant markings. This can enable medics to be used as medically trained soldiers, combat Medics in the United States Army and United States Navy Hospital Corpsmen are virtually indistinguishable from regular combat troops, except for the extra medical equipment they carry
12.
Mahdist War
–
Eighteen years of war resulted in the joint-rule state of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, a condominium of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Egypt. Following the invasion by Muhammad Ali in 1819, Sudan was governed by an Egyptian administration, because of the heavy taxes it imposed and because of the bloody start of the Turkish-Egyptian rule in Sudan, this colonial system was resented by the Sudanese people. Throughout the period of Turco-Egyptian rule, many segments of the Sudanese population suffered extreme hardship because of the system of taxation imposed by the central government. Under this system, a tax was imposed on farmers and small traders. In bad years, and especially during times of drought and famine, fearing the brutal and unjust methods of the Shaiqiyya, many farmers fled their villages in the fertile Nile Valley to the remote areas of Kordofan and Darfur. The jallaba were also known to be slave trading tribes, by the middle 19th century the Ottoman Imperial subject administration in Egypt was in the hands of Khedive Ismail. Thus an ever increasing British role in Egyptian affairs seemed necessary and this commission eventually forced Khedive Ismail to abdicate in favor of his son Tawfiq in 1877, leading to a period of political turmoil. Also in 1873, Ismail had appointed General Charles Chinese Gordon Governor of the Equatorial Provinces of Sudan, for the next three years, General Gordon fought against a native chieftain of Darfur, Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur. Upon Ismails abdication in 1877, Gordon found himself with dramatically decreased support, exhausted by years of work, he resigned his post in 1880 and left early the next year. His policies were soon abandoned by the new governors, but the anger, another widely reported potential source of frustration was the Turco-Egyptian abolition of the slave trade, one of the main sources of income in Sudan at the time. In the 1870s, a Muslim cleric named Muhammad Ahmad preached renewal of the faith and liberation of the land, soon in open revolt against the Egyptians, Muhammad Ahmad proclaimed himself the Mahdi, the promised redeemer of the Islamic world. In August 1881 the then-governor of the Sudan, Raouf Pasha, the captains of the two companies were each promised promotion if their soldiers were the ones to return the Mahdi to the governor. Both companies disembarked from the steamer that had brought them up the Nile to Aba Island, arriving simultaneously, each force began to fire blindly on the other, allowing the Mahdis scant followers to attack and destroy each force in turn at the Battle of Aba. The Mahdi then began a retreat to Kordofan, where he was at a distance from the seat of government in Khartoum. This movement, couched as a progress, incited many of the Arab tribes to rise in support of the Jihad the Mahdi had declared against the Turkish oppressors. Another Egyptian expedition dispatched from Fashoda was ambushed and slaughtered on the night of 9 December 1881, the Mahdi also legitimized his movement by drawing deliberate parallels to the life of the Prophet Muhammad. He called his followers Ansar, after the people who greeted the Prophet in Medina, and he called his flight from the British, the hijrah, after the Prophets flight from the Quraysh. The Egyptian administration in the Sudan, now thoroughly concerned by the scale of the uprising and this force approached the Mahdist gathering, whose members were poorly clothed, half starving, and armed only with sticks and stones
13.
Second Boer War
–
The Second Boer War, usually known as the Boer War and also at the time as the South African War, started on 11 October 1899 and ended on 31 May 1902. Great Britain defeated two Boer states in South Africa, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, Britain was aided by its Cape Colony, Colony of Natal and some native African allies. The British war effort was supported by volunteers from the British Empire, including Southern Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, India. All other nations were neutral, but public opinion in them was largely hostile to Britain, inside Britain and its Empire there also was significant opposition to the Second Boer War. The British were overconfident and under-prepared, the Boers were very well armed and struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking in early 1900, and winning important battles at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg. Staggered, the British brought in numbers of soldiers and fought back. General Redvers Buller was replaced by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener and they relieved the three besieged cities, and invaded the two Boer republics in late 1900. The onward marches of the British Army were so overwhelming that the Boers did not fight staged battles in defense of their homeland, the British quickly seized control of all of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, as the civilian leadership went into hiding or exile. In conventional terms, the war was over, Britain officially annexed the two countries in 1900, and called a khaki election to give the government another six years of power in London. However, the Boers refused to surrender and they reverted to guerrilla warfare under new generals Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey. Two more years of attacks and quick escapes followed. As guerrillas without uniforms, the Boer fighters easily blended into the farmlands, which provided hiding places, supplies, the British solution was to set up complex nets of block houses, strong points, and barbed wire fences, partitioning off the entire conquered territory. The civilian farmers were relocated into concentration camps, where very large proportions died of disease, especially the children, then the British mounted infantry units systematically tracked down the highly mobile Boer guerrilla units. The battles at this stage were small operations with few combat casualties The war ended in surrender, the British successfully won over the Boer leaders, who now gave full support to the new political system. Both former republics were incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910, the conflict is commonly referred to as simply the Boer War, since the First Boer War is much less well known. Boer was the term for Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans descended from the Dutch East India Companys original settlers at the Cape of Good Hope. It is officially called the South African War and it is known as the Anglo-Boer War among some South Africans. In Afrikaans it may be called the Anglo-Boereoorlog, Tweede Boereoorlog, in South Africa it is officially called the South African War
14.
Culottes
–
Culottes are an item of clothing worn on the lower half of the body. The French word culotte is panties, pants, knickers, trousers, shorts, or breeches, derived from the French word culot, meaning the lower half of a thing, the lower garment in this case. The style of tight trousers ending just below the knee was popularized in France during the reign of Henry III, culottes were normally closed and fastened about the leg, to the knee, by buttons, a strap and buckle, or a draw-string. During the French Revolution of 1789–1799, working-class revolutionaries were known as the sans-culottes – literally, in the United States, only the first five Presidents, from George Washington through James Monroe, wore culottes according to the style of the late 18th century. European Military uniforms incorporated culottes as a standard uniform article, the leg being covered by either stockings, leggings. Culottes were a part of military uniforms during the European wars of the eighteenth-century. Historical Japanese field workers and military Samurai wore hakama that were tight at the bottom as French military culottes. Wider bifurcated wrap-skirt hakama were for horse-back riding, eighteenth and nineteenth-century European women introduced culottes cut with a pattern looking like long hakama, hiding their legs while riding horses. Today Aikido and Kendo masters wear long hakama, to hide their feet from opponents, modern English use of the word culottes describes a split or bifurcated skirt or any garment which hangs like a skirt, but is actually pants. During the Victorian Era long split skirts were developed for horseback riding so that women could sit astride a horse with a mans saddle rather than riding side-saddle. Horse-riding culottes for women were controversial because they were used to break a sexual-taboo against women riding horses when they were expected to hide their lower limbs at all times. Later, split skirts were developed to provide more freedom to do other activities as well, such as gardening, cleaning, bike riding, etc. Culottes are used in uniforms for girls. They can be used along with skirts, or they may be used as a replacement for skirts, culottes are worn as part of a uniform mainly to primary and middle schools. Culottes were also part of the uniform of UK Brownie Guides up until recently, when the uniform was modernised, in place of the term culotte, the term skort is more widely used in some areas. While some garments sold as culottes resemble short trousers, to truly be a skort it needs to look like a skirt, some culottes have a part sewn over only the front, some are shorts with a skirt sewn over them. While these may not be completely the same as skorts, they are called by either name
15.
Calais
–
Calais is a town and major ferry port in northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. The population of the area at the 2010 census was 126,395. Calais overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel, which is only 34 km wide here, the White Cliffs of Dover can easily be seen on a clear day from Calais. Calais is a port for ferries between France and England, and since 1994, the Channel Tunnel has linked nearby Coquelles to Folkestone by rail. Due to its position, Calais since the Middle Ages has been a major port and it was annexed by Edward III of England in 1347 and grew into a thriving centre for wool production. The town came to be called the brightest jewel in the English crown owing to its importance as the gateway for the tin, lead, lace. Calais was a possession of England until its capture by France in 1558. In 1805 it was an area for Napoleons troops for several months during his planned invasion of the United Kingdom. The town was razed to the ground during World War II. During World War II, the Germans built massive bunkers along the coast in preparation for launching missiles on England, the old part of the town, Calais proper, is situated on an artificial island surrounded by canals and harbours. The modern part of the town, St-Pierre, lies to the south, south east of the Place is the church of Notre-Dame, built during the English occupancy of Calais. It is arguably the only built in the English perpendicular style in all of France. In this church former French President Charles de Gaulle married his wife Yvonne Vendroux, south of the Place and opposite the Parc St Pierre is the Hôtel-de-ville, and the belfry from the 16th and early 17th centuries. Today, Calais is visited by more than 10 million annually, although the early history of habitation in the area is limited, the Romans called the settlement Caletum. Julius Caesar mustered 800 to 1,000 sailing boats, five legions, as the pebble and sand ridge extended eastward from Calais, the haven behind it developed into fen, as the estuary progressively filled with silt and peat. Calais was improved by the Count of Flanders in 997 and fortified by the Count of Boulogne in 1224, in 1189, Richard the Lionheart is documented to have landed at Calais on his journey to the Third Crusade. Angered, the English king demanded reprisals against the citizens for holding out for so long
16.
Armistice of 11 November 1918
–
It went into effect at 11 a. m. Paris time on 11 November 1918, and marked a victory for the Allies, the Germans were responding to the policies proposed by U. S. President Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Points of January 1918. Although the armistice ended the fighting, it took six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. In addition, he recommended the acceptance of the demands of US president Woodrow Wilson including putting the Imperial Government on a democratic footing, hoping for more favorable peace terms. As he said to officers of his staff on 1 October, on 3 October, the liberal Prince Maximilian of Baden was appointed Chancellor of Germany, replacing Georg von Hertling in order to negotiate an armistice. In the subsequent two exchanges, Wilsons allusions failed to convey the idea that the Kaisers abdication was a condition for peace. The leading statesmen of the Reich were not yet ready to contemplate such a monstrous possibility, in late October, Ludendorff, in a sudden change of mind, declared the conditions of the Allies unacceptable. He now demanded to resume the war which he himself had declared lost only one month earlier, however the German soldiers were pressing to get home. It was scarcely possible to arouse their readiness for battle anew, the Imperial Government stayed on course and Ludendorff was replaced by Wilhelm Groener. On 5 November, the Allies agreed to take up negotiations for a truce, the latest note from Wilson was received in Berlin on 6 November. That same day, the led by Matthias Erzberger departed for France. For example, they assumed that the de-militarization suggested by Wilson would be limited to the Central Powers, there were also contradictions with their post-War plans that did not include a consistent implementation of the ideal of national self-determination. Also on 9 November, Max von Baden handed over the office of Chancellor to Friedrich Ebert, eberts SPD and Erzbergers Catholic Centre Party had enjoyed an uneasy relationship with the Imperial government since Bismarcks era in the 1870s and 1880s. They were well represented in the Imperial Reichstag, which had power over the government. Their prominence in the negotiations would cause the new Weimar Republic to lack legitimacy in right-wing. The Armistice was the result of a hurried and desperate process and they were then entrained and taken to the secret destination, aboard Ferdinand Fochs private train parked in a railway siding in the forest of Compiègne. Foch appeared only twice in the three days of negotiations, on the first day, to ask the German delegation what they wanted, the Germans were handed the list of Allied demands and given 72 hours to agree. The German delegation discussed the Allied terms not with Foch, but with other French, the Armistice amounted to complete German demilitarization, with few promises made by the Allies in return
17.
Military Medal
–
The medal was established on 25 March 1916. It was the other ranks equivalent to the Military Cross, which was awarded to commissioned officers and, rarely, to warrant officers, the MM ranked below the Distinguished Conduct Medal, which was also awarded to non-commissioned members of the Army. According to Frank Richards, when the medal was first introduced, Richards writes, There were no grants or allowances with the Military Medal, which without a shadow of a doubt had been introduced to save awarding too many DCMs. With the DCM went a money-grant of twenty pounds, and a man in receipt of a life pension who had won the DCM was entitled to an extra sixpence a day on to his pension. After the new decoration was introduced, for every DCM awarded there were fifty Military Medals, the old regular soldiers thought very little of the new decoration. Recipients of the Military Medal are entitled to use the post-nominal letters MM, over 115,000 awards were made for actions during the First World War. Additionally, over 5,700 bars were awarded, as well as 180 second bars, during the Second World War, over 15,000 awards of the MM were made. In 1993, the Military Medal was discontinued, since then, the Military Cross has been awarded to personnel of all ranks within the British honours system. Several Commonwealth nations, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, have established their own systems in the post Second World War era. The medal and ribbon had the features, A circular silver medal of 36 mm diameter. The obverse bears the effigy of the reigning monarch, the reverse has the inscription FOR BRAVERY IN THE FIELD in four lines, surrounded by a laurel wreath, surmounted by the Royal Cypher and Imperial Crown. The suspender is of a scroll type. The ribbon is blue,1.25 inches wide, with five equal centre stripes of white, red, white, red. Silver, laurelled bars are authorised for subsequent awards, over 135,000 people have been awarded the Military Medal. Among the more notable recipients are, Walter Bingham, Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany who served in Normandy, ian Bailey, who was awarded the medal as a Corporal in The Parachute Regiment during the Falklands War, and went on to become a Captain. Geoffrey Bingham, Australian theologian and author, mairi Chisholm, British volunteer ambulance driver. Douglas Clark, British rugby league footballer and wrestler, william Coltman, who was also awarded the Victoria Cross, and was the most highly decorated NCO of the First World War. Robert Gaspare Consiglio, Special Air Service member killed during Bravo Two Zero patrol, ernest Albert Corey, the only person to be awarded the MM four times
18.
Legion of Honour
–
The Legion of Honour, full name National Order of the Legion of Honour, is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte. The order is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction, Chevalier, Officier, Commandeur, Grand Officier and Grand-Croix. The orders motto is Honneur et Patrie and its seat is the Palais de la Légion dHonneur next to the Musée dOrsay, in the French Revolution, all French orders of chivalry were abolished, and replaced with Weapons of Honour. The Légion however did use the organization of old French orders of chivalry, the badges of the legion also bear a resemblance to the Ordre de Saint-Louis, which also used a red ribbon. Napoleon originally created this to ensure political loyalty, the organization would be used as a facade to give political favours, gifts, and concessions. The Légion was loosely patterned after a Roman legion, with legionaries, officers, commanders, regional cohorts, the highest rank was not a grand cross but a Grand Aigle, a rank that wore all the insignia common to grand crosses. The members were paid, the highest of them extremely generously,5,000 francs to an officier,2,000 francs to a commandeur,1,000 francs to an officier,250 francs to a légionnaire. Napoleon famously declared, You call these baubles, well, it is with baubles that men are led, do you think that you would be able to make men fight by reasoning. That is good only for the scholar in his study, the soldier needs glory, distinctions, rewards. This has been quoted as It is with such baubles that men are led. The order was the first modern order of merit, under the monarchy, such orders were often limited to Roman Catholics, and all knights had to be noblemen. The military decorations were the perks of the officers, the Légion, however, was open to men of all ranks and professions—only merit or bravery counted. The new legionnaire had to be sworn in the Légion and it is noteworthy that all previous orders were crosses or shared a clear Christian background, whereas the Légion is a secular institution. The jewel of the Légion has five arms, in a decree issued on the 10 Pluviôse XIII, a grand decoration was instituted. This decoration, a cross on a sash and a silver star with an eagle, symbol of the Napoleonic Empire, became known as the Grand Aigle. After Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French in 1804 and established the Napoleonic nobility in 1808, the title was made hereditary after three generations of grantees. Napoleon had dispensed 15 golden collars of the legion among his family and this collar was abolished in 1815. The Légion dhonneur was prominent and visible in the French Empire, the Emperor always wore it and the fashion of the time allowed for decorations to be worn most of the time
19.
Auxiliary Territorial Service
–
The Auxiliary Territorial Service was the womens branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a voluntary service, and existed until 1 February 1949. The ATS had its roots in the Womens Auxiliary Army Corps, during the First World War its members served in a number of jobs including clerks, cooks, telephonists and waitresses. The WAAC was disbanded four years in 1921. The council decided that the ATS would be attached to the Territorial Army, the first recruits to the ATS were employed as cooks, clerks and storekeepers. At the outbreak of the Second World War,300 ATS members were billeted to France, as the German Army advanced through France, the British Expeditionary Force was driven back towards the English Channel. This led to the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk in May 1940, as more men joined the war effort, it was decided to increase the size of the ATS, with numbers reaching 65,000 by September 1941. Women between the ages of 17 and 43 were allowed to join, although these rules were relaxed in order to allow WAAC veterans to join up to the age of 50. The duties of members were expanded, seeing ATS orderlies, drivers, postal workers. By comparing the location of the shells detonation and the target. In December 1941, Parliament passed the National Service Act, which called up unmarried women between 20 and 30 years old to join one of the auxiliary services and these were the ATS, the Womens Royal Naval Service, the Womens Auxiliary Air Force and the Womens Transport Service. Married women were later called up, although pregnant women. Other options under the Act included joining the Womens Voluntary Service, there was also provision made in the act for objection to service on moral grounds, as about a third of those on the conscientious objectors list were women. A number of women were prosecuted as a result of the act, despite this, by 1943 about 9 out of 10 women were taking an active part in the war effort. However, these roles were not without risk, and there were, many other searchlight and anti-aircraft regiments on Home Defence followed, freeing men aged under 30 of medical category A1 for transfer to the infantry. Several Heavy Anti-Aircraft regiments deployed to North West Europe with 21st Army Group in 1944–45 were Mixed regiments, by VE Day and before demobilization, there were over 190,000 members of the womens Auxiliary Territorial Service. Famous members of the ATS included Mary Churchill, youngest daughter of the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and Princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the King, after the cessation of hostilities women continued to serve in the ATS, as well as in the WRNS and WAAF. It was succeeded by the Womens Royal Army Corps, which formed on 1 February 1949 under Army Order 6, initially ranks were completely different from those of the army, but used the same rank insignia, although the crown was replaced by a laurel wreath
20.
Special Operations Executive
–
The Special Operations Executive was a British World War II organisation. Few people were aware of SOEs existence, to those who were part of it or liaised with it, it was sometimes referred to as the Baker Street Irregulars, after the location of its London headquarters. It was also known as Churchills Secret Army or the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, SOE operated in all countries or former countries occupied by or attacked by the Axis forces, except where demarcation lines were agreed with Britains principal Allies. It also made use of territory on occasion, or made plans and preparations in case neutral countries were attacked by the Axis. The organisation directly employed or controlled just over 13,000 people, after the war, the organisation was officially dissolved on 15 January 1946. A memorial to SOEs agents was unveiled on the Albert Embankment by Lambeth Palace in London in October 2009, the organisation was formed from the merger of three existing secret departments, which had been formed shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Immediately after Germany annexed Austria in March 1938, the Foreign Office created an organisation known as Department EH. In the autumn of the year, the War Office expanded an existing research department known as GS. GS was renamed MI in early 1939 and these three departments worked with few resources until the outbreak of war. There was much overlap between their activities and Section D and EH duplicated much of each others work, on the other hand, the heads of Section D and MI knew each other and shared information. They agreed a rough division of their activities, MI researched irregular operations which could be undertaken by regular uniformed troops, during the early months of the war, Section D was based first at St Ermins Hotel in Westminster and then the Metropole Hotel near Trafalgar Square. The Section attempted unsuccessfully to sabotage deliveries of vital materials to Germany from neutral countries by mining the Iron Gate on the River Danube. MI meanwhile produced pamphlets and technical handbooks for guerrilla leaders, on 13 June 1940, at the instigation of newly appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Lord Hankey persuaded Section D and MI that their operations should be coordinated. On 1 July, a Cabinet level meeting arranged the formation of a single sabotage organisation, on 16 July, Hugh Dalton, the Minister of Economic Warfare, was appointed to take political responsibility for the new organisation. As Dalton was leaving Churchills study after being given his new task, the new organisation was formally created on 22 July. Dalton used the Irish Republican Army during the Irish war of Independence as a model for the organisation, Campbell Stuart left the organisation, and the flamboyant Major Grand was returned to the regular army. At his own request, Major Holland also left to take up an appointment in the Royal Engineers. However, Hollands former deputy at MI, Brigadier Colin Gubbins, one department of MI, MI R, which was involved in the development of weapons for irregular warfare, was not formally integrated into SOE but became an independent body codenamed MD1
21.
George Cross
–
The George Cross is the second highest award of the United Kingdom honours system. It is awarded for not in the face of the enemy to members of the British armed forces. It has always been able to be awarded posthumously and it was previously awarded to Commonwealth countries, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. Many of the awards have been presented by the British monarch to both recipients and in the case of posthumous awards to next of kin. These investitures are held at Buckingham Palace. The George Cross was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI, at this time, during the height of the Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage. I propose to give my name to this new distinction, which will consist of the George Cross, which will rank next to the Victoria Cross, the medal was designed by Percy Metcalfe. The Warrant for the GC, dated 24 September 1940, was published in The London Gazette on 31 January 1941. The GC replaced the Empire Gallantry Medal, all holders of the EGM were instructed to exchange their medals for a GC and this substitution policy ignored holders of the Albert Medal and the Edward Medal, awards which both took precedence over the EGM. The anomaly was rectified in 1971, when the recipients of the AM. Of the 64 holders of the Albert Medal and 68 holders of the Edward Medal eligible to exchange,49 and 59 respectively took up the option. The GC, which may be awarded posthumously, is granted in recognition of, the award is for civilians but also for military personnel whose actions would not normally be eligible to receive military awards, such as gallantry not in the face of the enemy. The Warrant states, The Cross is intended primarily for civilians, bars are awarded to the GC in recognition of the performance of further acts of bravery meriting the award, although none has yet been awarded. Recipients are entitled to the postnominal letters GC, All GC awards are published in The London Gazette with the exception of the two collective bestowals. Since its inception in 1940, the GC has been awarded 407 times,401 to men,4 to women, of the 159 individuals who received original awards,86 have been posthumous. In addition there were four recipients of the Empire Gallantry Medal whose awards were gazetted after the start of the Second World War. All the other recipients were living as of the date of the decisions for the exchanges. The George Cross has, on the instruction of the Sovereign, been awarded twice on a collective basis, to the island of Malta
22.
Odette Hallowes
–
Odette Sansom Hallowes GC, MBE, also known as Odette Sansom and Odette Churchill, was an Allied intelligence officer during the Second World War. She was the first woman to be awarded both the George Cross, and to be appointed a Chevalier de la Légion dhonneur. As a child she contracted serious illnesses one of which blinded her for three and a half years, as well as polio, which resulted in her bedridden for months. She had a convent education and was considered difficult, perhaps because of her illnesses and she met an Englishman, Roy Sansom, in Boulogne and married him in 1931, moving with him to Britain. The couple had three daughters, Françoise, Lily and Marianne, Roy Sansom joined the army at the beginning of the Second World War, and Odette Samson and the children moved to Somerset for their safety. In the spring of 1942, the Admiralty appealed for postcards or family photographs taken on the French coastline for possible war use and that brought her to the attention of Colonel Maurice Buckmasters Special Operations Executive. She initially resisted because of her children and out of her belief that she was not qualified to do secret work, but she was overwhelmed by guilt, as both her brother and mother were still in France while she was in the relative safety of Britain. As cover for her work, she was enrolled in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. She left her three daughters in a convent school, and was trained to be sent into Nazi-occupied France to work with the French Resistance and she seems to have little experience of the outside world. She is excitable and temperamental, although she has a certain determination, however, the evaluation noted her patriotism and keenness to do something for France. Buckmaster allowed her training to continue regardless, a bad fall during training ruled out parachute entry into France. Sansoms initial objective was to contact the French Resistance on the French Riviera, at the time of her arrival in France, the SPINDLE network was beset by internal strife. Churchills principal agent, André Girard, quarrelled with his assistant and with the radio operator. A list of 200 potential supporters, lost by a Girard courier, was obtained by the Germans and he refused to help Odette reach Auxerre. With Sansom stranded in Cannes, Churchill obtained Buckmasters permission to scrap her original mission and her work brought her initially to Marseilles, then considered a dangerous town because of its infiltration by German agents. Sansom was shocked by the lax attitude toward security by her French supporters, Sansom grew close to Churchill and to Rabinovitch, whom she liked and trusted. She later recalled that she had suspicions concerning members of the SPINDLE network, in 1943, Churchills operation in France was infiltrated by Hugo Bleicher, an Abwehr counterintelligence officer, using the list of names lost by Girards courier. Bleicher posed as Colonel Henri, a German officer who opposed Hitler, Bleicher arrested Sansom and Churchill at the Hôtel de la Poste in Saint-Jorioz on 16 April 1943, they were then sent to Fresnes Prison
23.
Violette Szabo
–
Violette Reine Elizabeth Szabo GC was a French-born British Special Operations Executive agent during the Second World War and a posthumous recipient of the George Cross. On her second mission into occupied France, Szabo was captured by the German army, interrogated, tortured and deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany, Violette Szabo was born Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell in Paris on 26 June 1921. She was the child of five and the only daughter of Charles George Bushell. He was a taxi-driver, car salesman, and, during the Second World War and her mother, Reine Blanche Leroy, was a dressmaker originally from Pont-Remy, Somme. She was an active and lively girl, enjoying gymnastics, long-distance bicycling and she was regarded as a tomboy, especially as she was taught by her father to be a good shot. Violette attended school in Brixton, quickly relearning the English she had lost, at the age of fourteen, she went to work at a French corsetière in South Kensington and then at Woolworths in Oxford Street. Her home life was loving, though she often clashed with her strict father, the family, except her monolingual father, would often converse in French. At the outbreak of the Second World War, she was working at Le Bon Marché, a Brixton department store. In early 1940 Szabo joined the Womens Land Army and was sent to carry out strawberry picking in Fareham, Hampshire and they married at Aldershot Registry Office in Manor Park on 21 August 1940 after a whirlwind 42-day romance. Violette was 19, Étienne was 31 and they enjoyed a weeks honeymoon before Étienne set off from Liverpool to fight in the abortive Free French attack on Dakar, Senegal. From there, Étienne returned to South Africa before seeing action, again against the Vichy French, in the successful Anglo-Free French campaigns in Eritrea, after her marriage Violette became a switchboard operator for the General Post Office in central London, working throughout the Blitz. Bored by the job, she enlisted in the Auxiliary Territorial Service on 11 September 1941, after further training in Anglesey, Gunner Szabo and her unit were posted to Frodsham, Cheshire near Warrington, from December 1941 to February 1942. Violette found within weeks that she was pregnant, so she left the ATS to return to London for the birth, Szabo took a flat in Notting Hill, which was to be her home until she left for her second mission to France in June 1944. On 8 June 1942, she gave birth to Tania Damaris Desiree Szabo at St Marys Hospital, the following day, he took part in a valiant defence against the Afrika Korps, escaping with his battalion from the assault of the 15th Panzer Division on 10 June. Violette sent her baby to childminders while she worked at the South Morden aircraft factory where her father was stationed, during this period, she was informed of her husbands death in action. It was Étiennes death that made Violette accept an offer to train as an agent by the British Special Operations Executive as her best way of fighting the enemy that killed her husband. She would have invited to an interview regarding war work with a Mr. E. Potter, the alias of Selwyn Jepson, a detective novelist. Szabo was given security clearance on 1 July 1943 and selected for training as an agent on 10 July
24.
Noor Inayat Khan
–
Also known as Nora Baker, Madeleine, and Jeanne-Marie Rennier, she was of Indian and American origin. As an SOE agent, she became the first female radio operator to be sent from Britain into occupied France to aid the French Resistance, Inayat Khan, the eldest of four children, was born on 2 January 1914 in Moscow. Her siblings were Vilayat, Hidayat, and Khair-un-Nisa and her father, Hazrat Inayat Khan, came from a noble Indian Muslim family—his mother was a descendant of the uncle of Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He lived in Europe as a musician and a teacher of Sufism and her mother, Pirani Ameena Begum, was an American from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who met Hazrat Inayat Khan during his travels in the United States. Ora Baker was the half-sister of American yogi and scholar Pierre Bernard, Vilayat later became head of the Sufi Order International. In 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, the family left Russia for London, Inayat Khan attended nursery at Notting Hill. In 1920 they moved to France, settling in Suresnes near Paris, after the death of her father in 1927, Inayat Khan took on the responsibility for her grief-stricken mother and her younger siblings. As a young girl, she was described as quiet, shy, sensitive and she studied child psychology at the Sorbonne and music at the Paris Conservatory under Nadia Boulanger, composing for harp and piano. She began a career writing poetry and childrens stories, and became a contributor to childrens magazines. In 1939 her book, Twenty Jataka Tales, inspired by the Jataka tales of Buddhist tradition, was published in London. After the outbreak of the Second World War, when France was overrun by German troops, if one or two could do something in the Allied service which was very brave and which everybody admired it would help to make a bridge between the English people and the Indians. On 19 November 1940, she joined the Womens Auxiliary Air Force and, upon assignment to a bomber training school in June 1941, she applied for a commission in an effort to relieve herself of the boring work there, subsequently being promoted assistant section officer. During her training she adopted the name Nora Baker and her superiors held mixed opinions on her suitability for secret warfare, and her training was incomplete. Nevertheless, her fluent French and her competency in wireless operation—coupled with a shortage of experienced agents—made her a candidate for service in Nazi-occupied France. She was met by Henri Déricourt and she travelled to Paris, and with two other women, Diana Rowden, and Cecily Lefort, joined the Physician network led by Francis Suttill. Over the next month and a half, all the other Physician network radio operators were arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst, along with hundreds of Resistance personnel associated with Prosper. She was now the most wanted British agent in Paris with SD officers sent out to look for her at subway stations, Inayat Khan was betrayed to the Germans, either by Henri Déricourt or Renée Garry. Déricourt was an SOE officer and former French Air Force pilot who had suspected of working as a double agent for the Sicherheitsdienst
25.
Nancy Wake
–
Nancy Grace Augusta Wake AC, GM served as a British Special Operations Executive agent during the later part of World War II. She became a figure in the maquis groups of the French Resistance and was one of the most decorated servicewomen of the war by the Allies. After the fall of France in 1940, she became a courier for the French Resistance, by 1943, Wake was the Gestapos most wanted person, with a 5-million-franc price on her head. After reaching Britain, Wake joined the Special Operations Executive, from April 1944 until the liberation of France, her 7, 000+ maquisards fought 22,000 German soldiers, causing 1,400 casualties, while suffering only 100 among themselves. Born in Roseneath, Wellington, New Zealand, on 30 August 1912, in 1914, her family moved to Australia and settled at North Sydney. Shortly thereafter, her father, Charles Augustus Wake, returned to New Zealand, in Sydney, Wake attended the North Sydney Household Arts School. At the age of 16, she ran away from home, with £200 that she had inherited from an aunt, she journeyed to New York City, then London where she trained herself as a journalist. In the 1930s, she worked in Paris and later for Hearst newspapers as a European correspondent and she witnessed the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement and saw roving Nazi gangs randomly beating Jewish men and women in the streets of Vienna. In 1937, Wake met wealthy French industrialist Henri Edmond Fiocca and she was living in Marseille, France when Germany invaded. After the fall of France in 1940, she became a courier for the French Resistance and later, in reference to Wakes ability to elude capture, the Gestapo called her the White Mouse. The Resistance exercised caution with her missions, her life was in constant danger, with the Gestapo tapping her telephone, in November 1942, Wehrmacht troops occupied the southern part of France after the Allies Operation Torch had started. This gave the Gestapo unrestricted access to all papers of the Vichy régime, by 1943, Wake was the Gestapos most wanted person, with a price of 5 million francs on her head. When the network was betrayed that same year, she decided to flee Marseille and her husband, Henri Fiocca, stayed behind. He later was captured, tortured, and executed by the Gestapo, Wake described her tactics, A little powder and a little drink on the way, and Id pass their posts and wink and say, Do you want to search me. God, what a little bastard I was. Wake had been arrested in Toulouse, but was released four days later, an acquaintance, managed to have her let out by making up stories about her supposed infidelity to her husband. On her sixth attempt, she succeeded in crossing the Pyrenees to Spain, until the war ended, she was unaware of her husbands death and subsequently, blamed herself for it. After reaching Britain, Wake joined the Special Operations Executive, vera Atkins, who also worked in the SOE, recalls her as a real Australian bombshell
26.
George Medal
–
The George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI, the medal is presented to those performing acts of bravery in, or meriting recognition by, the United Kingdom. In 1940, during the height of The Blitz, there was a desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage. I propose to give my name to this new distinction, which will consist of the George Cross, which will rank next to the Victoria Cross, the Warrant for the GM, dated 24 January 1941, was published in the London Gazette on 31 January 1941. The medal is granted in recognition of acts of great bravery, the original Warrant for the George Medal did not permit it to be awarded posthumously. This was changed in December 1977 to allow posthumous awards, several of which have subsequently made. The medal is primarily a civilian award, but it may be awarded to personnel for gallant conduct that is not in the face of the enemy. As the Warrant states, The Medal is intended primarily for civilians, bars are awarded to the GM in recognition of the performance of further acts of bravery meriting the award. In undress uniform or on occasions when the ribbon alone is worn. Recipients are entitled to the post-nominal letters GM, the details of all awards to British and Commonwealth recipients are published in the London Gazette. Approximately 2,122 medals have been awarded since its inception in 1940, the GM is a circular silver medal. The obverse depicts the effigy of the reigning monarch. The reverse shows St. George on horseback slaying the dragon on the coast of England, the ribbon is 32 mm wide, crimson with five narrow blue stripes. The blue colour is taken from the George Cross ribbon, the first recipient chronologically was Coxswain Robert Cross, commander of the RNLI lifeboat City of Bradford, based at Spurn Point, whose award was gazetted on 7 February 1941. It was awarded for an incident on 2 February 1940 when Cross took the lifeboat out in gale force winds, snowsqualls, having been one of the first recipients in September 1940, his bar to the George Medal was gazetted on 4 July 1941. 2015 represented the 75th anniversary of the creation of the award and was marked with a ceremony, orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms Abbott, P. E. Tamplin, J. M. A. Mackay, James A. Mussell, John W. eds, acts of Courage, Register of The George Medal 1940-2015
27.
St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge
–
St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge is a Grade II* listed Anglican church at 32a Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London. The church dates from 1843, during the incumbency of the Reverend W. J. E. Bennett, the architect was Thomas Cundy the younger. It includes three holders of the George Cross, St Pauls sister-parish is the Church of St. Pauls, K street, in Washington DC in the United States. American heiress Jennie Churchill married British aristocrat George Cornwallis-West in this church, the elaborate and highly decorated building was the first church in London to manifest the principles and ideals of the Oxford Movement. Media related to St Pauls Knightsbridge at Wikimedia Commons
28.
M25 motorway
–
The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a 117-mile motorway that encircles almost all of Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. An ambitious concept to build four concentric ring roads around London was first mooted in the 1960s, further widening is in progress of minor sections with plans for managed motorways in many others. To the east of London the two ends of the M25 are joined to complete a loop by the non-motorway A282 Dartford Crossing of the River Thames between Thurrock and Dartford and this crossing, which consists of twin two-lane tunnels and the four-lane QE2 bridge, is named Canterbury Way. Passage across the bridge or through the tunnels is subject to a toll, in the opposite direction, to the east of the point where the M25 diverges from the main east–west carriageway, that carriageway become the M26 motorway. The radial distance from London varies from 12.5 miles in Potters Bar to 19.5 miles in Byfleet.8 miles, major towns listed as destinations, in various counties, adjoin the M25. North Ockendon is the settlement of Greater London situated outside the M25. In 2004, following a poll, the London Assembly mooted for consultation alignment of the Greater London boundary with the M25. Inside the M25 and outside/beyond the M25 are colloquial, looser alternatives to Greater London sometimes used in haulage, the Communications Act 2003 explicitly uses the M25 as the boundary in requiring a proportion of television programmes to be made outside the London area. Two motorway service areas are on the M25, and two others are accessible from it. Those on the M25 are Clacket Lane between junctions 5 and 6 and Cobham between junctions 9 and 10 and those directly accessible from it are South Mimms off junction 23 and Thurrock off junction 31. Cobham services opened on 13 September 2012, originally, the M25 was unlit except for sections around Heathrow, major interchanges and Junctions 23–30. By 2014 only one significant stretch was still SOX-lit and the units were removed the same year, the motorway passes through five counties. Junctions 1A–5 are in Kent, 6–14 are in Surrey, 15–16 are in Buckinghamshire, 17–25 are in Hertfordshire, policing of the road is carried out by an integrated policing group made up of the Metropolitan, Thames Valley, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey forces. The M25 is one of Europes busiest motorways, in 2003, a maximum of 196,000 vehicles a day were recorded on the motorway just south of London Heathrow Airport between junctions 13 and 14. A precursor of the M25 was the North Orbital Road, the idea of an orbital road around London was first proposed early in the 20th century and then re-examined in Sir Charles Bresseys and Sir Edwin Lutyens The Highway Development Survey,1937. Sir Patrick Abercrombies County of London Plan,1943 and Greater London Plan,1944 proposed a series of five roads encircling the capital, the northern sections of the M25 follow a similar route to the World War II Outer London Defence Ring. Little was done to progress these plans until the 1960s when the Greater London Council developed its London Ringways plan consisting of four rings around the capital. Sections of the two outer rings – Ringway 3 and Ringway 4 – were constructed in the early 1970s and were integrated into the single M25 orbital motorway, but the Ringways plan was hugely controversial owing to the destruction required for the inner two ring roads
29.
British Army
–
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
30.
Olive Mudie-Cooke
–
Olive Mudie-Cooke was a British artist who is best known for the paintings she created during the First World War. Mudie-Cooke served as a driver in both France and Italy during the conflict and these experiences were reflected in her artwork. Mudie-Cooke was born in west London, the younger of two daughters to Henry Cooke, a merchant, and Beatrice Mudie. She studied art at St Johns Wood Art School and at Goldsmiths College and she also worked in Venice for a brief period. In January 1916 Mudie-Cooke and her elder sister Phyllis, who had studied Archaeology, went to France as volunteer members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, FANY. In particular her watercolours and chalk drawings often focused on wounded troops being evacuated, as well as the Western Front Mudie-Cooke also served as an ambulance driver in Italy during the war. Mudie-Cooke was fluent in French, Italian and German and so worked as an interpreter for the Red Cross. In 1919 Mudie-Cooke came to the attention of the Womens Work Sub-Committee of the newly formed Imperial War Museum which acquired a number of her paintings for its fledgling collection and this purchase included her most famous picture, In an Ambulance, a VAD lighting a cigarette for a patient. In 1920 the British Red Cross commissioned her to return to France to record the activities of the Voluntary Aid Detachment units who were still providing care and relief there. Her paintings from this visit include examples of war damage, the landscapes of the former battlefields. Mudie-Cooke returned to Newlyn in Cornwall and continued working as an artist, from 1920 onwards, Mudie-Cooke travelled extensively throughout Europe and Africa, most notably to South Africa where she held an exhibition of her work in 1923. She returned to England for a period before going to France in 1925 where she took her life. An exhibition of her work was held at the Beaux-Arts Gallery the next year, works by Mudie-Cooke in the Imperial War Museum collection
31.
Charity Commission for England and Wales
–
The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the non-ministerial government department that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities. The Charity Commission answers directly to the UK Parliament rather than to Government ministers and it is governed by a board, which is assisted by the Chief Executive and an executive team. The current Chair is William Shawcross, geraldine Peacock, CBE, was Chief Charity Commissioner from 2003 to 2006, and Chair-designate from 8 July 2004 to 2006. It has four sites in London, Taunton, Liverpool and Newport, the commissions website lists the latest accounts submitted by charities in England and Wales. Some charities are not subject to regulation by or registration with the Charity Commission, because they are regulated by another body. Most exempt charities are listed in Schedule 3 to the Charities Act 2011, however exempt charities must still comply with charity law and may approach the Charity Commission for advice. Some charities are excepted from charity registration and this just means they dont have to register or submit annual returns, but are in all other respects subject to regulation by the Charity Commission. In addition, if an income is below the normal threshold for registration. Nevertheless, it subject to regulation by the Charity Commission in all other respects. Registration of a charity in England and Wales does not endow that status elsewhere thus further registration has to be made before operating in Scotland or Northern Ireland, Charities in Scotland are regulated by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. The Commission carries out monitoring of charities as part of its regular casework. It also has set out in the Charities Acts to conduct statutory investigations. However, opening a full inquiry into a charity has a detrimental effect on the relationship with the regulator. The Commission therefore began around 2007 to carry out a form of action described as regulatory compliance investigations. In 2010 it opened over 140 of these cases, compared to just three full statutory investigations, however, the legality of these actions was debatable as they lacked a statutory basis. A high-profile example was the Commissions report into The Atlantic Bridge, the Commission announced in October 2011, in the context of cost-cutting and a re-focussing of its activities, that it would no longer carry out regulatory compliance investigations. Some of the activities of the Commission have been questioned by the Public Administration Select Committee, prior to the 1840s, a body of Commissioners had been established by the Statue of Charitable Uses 1601, but these proved ineffective. The Charity Commission was first established by the Charitable Trusts Act 1853, there had been several attempts at reforming charities before that which had been opposed by various interest groups including the church, the courts, the companies, and the universities
32.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
33.
Dictionary of National Biography
–
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and he approached Leslie Stephen, then editor of the Cornhill Magazine, owned by Smith, to become editor. Stephen persuaded Smith that the work should focus on subjects from the UK and its present, an early working title was the Biographia Britannica, the name of an earlier eighteenth-century reference work. The first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography appeared on 1 January 1885, in May 1891 Leslie Stephen resigned and Sidney Lee, Stephens assistant editor from the beginning of the project, succeeded him as editor. While much of the dictionary was written in-house, the DNB also relied on external contributors, by 1900, more than 700 individuals had contributed to the work. Successive volumes appeared quarterly with complete punctuality until midsummer 1900, when the series closed with volume 63, the year of publication, the editor and the range of names in each volume is given below. The supplements brought the work up to the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901. The dictionary was transferred from its original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co. to Oxford University Press in 1917, until 1996, Oxford University Press continued to add further supplements featuring articles on subjects who had died during the twentieth century. The supplements published between 1912 and 1996 added about 6,000 lives of people who died in the century to the 29,120 in the 63 volumes of the original DNB. In 1993 a volume containing missing biographies was published and this had an additional 1,000 lives, selected from over 100,000 suggestions. Consequently, the dictionary was becoming less and less useful as a reference work, in 1966, the University of London published a volume of corrections, cumulated from the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. There were various versions of the Concise Dictionary of National Biography, the last edition, in three volumes, covered everyone who died before 1986. In the early 1990s Oxford University Press committed itself to overhauling the DNB, the new dictionary would cover British history, broadly defined, up to 31 December 2000. The research project was conceived as a one, with in-house staff co-ordinating the work of nearly 10,000 contributors internationally. Following Matthews death in October 1999, he was succeeded as editor by another Oxford historian, Professor Brian Harrison, in January 2000. The new dictionary, now known as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes in print at a price of £7500, most UK holders of a current library card can access it online free of charge. In subsequent years, the print edition has been able to be obtained new for a lower price. At publication, the 2004 edition had 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives, a small permanent staff remain in Oxford to update and extend the coverage of the online edition
