1.
United Kingdom
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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.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
3.
Turbinlite
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The Havoc was guided to enemy aircraft by ground radar and its own radar. The searchlight would then be used to illuminate attacking enemy bombers for defending fighters accompanying the Havoc to shoot down, in practice the Turbinlite was not a success and the introduction of higher performance night fighters with their own radar meant they were withdrawn from service in early 1943. Non-RDF equipped single-engined fighters, whilst being fast enough to catch the bombers, in addition, there was some doubt as to the best way to find, intercept and shoot down attacking bombers at night. In September 1940, Sidney Cotton pursued the idea of a searchlight for night-fighters. He enlisted the help of William Helmore, and they took out patents on the techniques. Helmore, a serving RAF officer, then sponsored the development of what became known as Turbinlite, battery power for the 135 kW searchlight was sufficient for about two minutes of operation. The Havocs own armament was removed from the nose, the radar fitted was the AI Mk. IV, with broad arrow head aerials protruding from the both sides of the aircraft nose with additional side-mounted, and upper- and lower-wing mounted, dipoles. The modifications were carried out at Burtonwood Aircraft Repair Depot and the aircraft was known as the Havoc I Turbinlite. The unarmed Havoc Turbinlite was intended to find the bomber using its RDF equipment and then use the Turbinlite to illuminate the target for the accompanying Hurricanes to find. The Turbinlite was later considered in the search for a method of illuminating surfaced enemy U-boats at night, Leigh light List of aircraft of the RAF Cotton, Sidney as told to Ralph Barker. Aviator Extraordinary, The Sidney Cotton Story, chatto & Windus ISBN 0-7011-1334-0 Green, William. Famous Bombers of the Second World War, 2nd Edition, macDonald & Janes ISBN 0-356-08333-0 Thompson, Scott. Douglas Havoc and Boston, The DB-7/ A-20 Series
4.
No. 11 Group RAF
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No.11 Group was a group in the Royal Air Force for various periods in the 20th century, finally disbanding in 1996. Its most famous service was during 1940 when it defended London, No.11 Group was first formed on 1 April 1918 in No.2 Area as No.11 Group, and was transferred to South-Western Area the next month on 8 May. 11 Groups short first existence came to an end on 17 May 1918, the next incarnation of the Group was later the same year when it was formed in North-Western Area on 22 August. On 6 February 1920 Group Captain I M Bonham-Carter took command, three months later, in May 1920, No.11 Group was reduced to No.11 Wing. It was reformed on 1 May 1936 as No.11 Group by renaming Fighting Area, on 14 July 1936,11 Group became the first RAF Fighter Command group formed, with the responsibility for the air defence of southern England, including London. 11 Group was organised using the Dowding System of fighter control, Group Headquarters was at Hillingdon House within RAF Uxbridge. The Group operations room was underground in what is now known as the Battle of Britain Bunker, commands were passed to the sector airfields, each of which was in charge of several airfields and fighter squadrons. The sector airfields were,11 Groups most famous period was during the Battle of Britain when, due to its position,11 Group bore the brunt of the German aerial assault. Pilots posted to squadrons in 11 Group knew that they would be sent into action while pilots. During the Battle of Britain,11 Group was commanded by New Zealander Air Vice Marshal Keith Park, leigh-Mallorys lack of support compromised Britains defenses at a critical time and the following controversy caused problems for Park. When the Battle of Britain was finally over, Leigh-Mallory, acting with Air Marshal Sholto Douglas, Leigh-Mallory then took over 11 Group. Following the war,11 Group continued to be a key formation within Fighter Command, in December 1951 it consisted of two sectors, the Southern and Metropolitan. The Southern Sector had Nos 1 and 29/22 Squadrons at RAF Tangmere and 54 and 247 Squadrons at RAF Odiham, however, in 1960 there was a rationalisation of Fighter Command, and 11 Group was disbanded on 31 December 1960. However, it reformed one day later when No.13 Group was renamed to No.11 Group, on 1 April 1963 the Group was renamed No.11 Sector. This incarnation lasted until Fighter Command was absorbed into the new Strike Command on 1 April 1968. The day Fighter Command merged into RAF Strike Command,30 April 1968, Group Headquarters shifted to RAF Bentley Priory in northwest London, and took responsibility for the UK Air Defence Region. In aircraft terms, the English Electric Lightning entered service in 1960, the group was renamed No.11 Group in January 1986. No.8 Squadron RAF flew E-3 Sentry AEW aircraft from RAF Waddington, Nos 5 and 11 Squadrons had been the last units flying the English Electric Lightning from RAF Binbrook until 1988
5.
RAF Fighter Command
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RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft and it served throughout the Second World War. It earned great fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940, the Command continued until 17 November 1943, when it was disbanded and the RAF fighter force was split into two categories, defence and attack. The defensive force became Air Defence of Great Britain and the force became the RAF Second Tactical Air Force. Air Defence of Great Britain was later renamed Fighter Command and it was finally disbanded in 1968. On 20 May 1926, Fighter Commands precursor organisation was established as a group within Inland Area, on 1 June 1926, Fighting Area was transferred to the Air Defence of Great Britain. Fighting Area was raised to Command status in 1932 and renamed Fighter Command on 1 May 1936. Fighter Command was divided into a number of Groups, each controlling a different part of the UK.11 Group took the brunt of the German attack, as it controlled southeast England and London. It was reinforced by 10 Group, which covered southwest England,12 Group, in the end, the Germans failed to attain air superiority, although the RAF had been eating into its reserves during the battle, as had the Luftwaffe. As 1941 began, Fighter Command began the task of winning air superiority over North Western France from the Germans. Large numbers of Spitfires were sent out small groups of medium bombers in often vain attempts to lure the German fighters into combat. Most of the factors that had allowed Fighter Command to win the Battle of Britain were now reversed, for example, British pilots who were shot down in 1940 and survived would be patched up and sent back to their units as quickly as possible. In 1941, over France, a shot down pilot would, as likely as not, the year saw RAF Fighter Command claim some 711 Luftwaffe fighters shot down for losses of approximately 400 RAF fighters lost. As 1941 ended, the appearance of the new Fw 190, with its obvious technical superiority over the current Spitfire Mark V, parallel to the day offensive in 1941 was the ongoing night bomber attacks against the United Kingdom in January to May. By this time, until May 1941, the Luftwaffe effort was aimed against both civilian and industrial targets, Fighter Commands defences, however improved almost daily during the first six months of 1941. An increasing number of guns and searchlights were also radar-controlled. From the start of 1941, the Luftwaffes losses mounted, with the impending invasion of Russia requiring the movement of air power to the East, the Blitz ended in May 1941 with Fighter Command in complete control of the night sky over the UK. The difficult task of slowly grinding down the Germans continued into 1942 and 1943, squadrons also found themselves on tiring defensive patrols as small formations of FW-190s started to fly hit and run nuisance raids all along the South Coast
6.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
7.
RAF Tangmere
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RAF Tangmere which was in Tangmere,3 miles east of Chichester, West Sussex, England, was a Royal Air Force station famous for its role in the Battle of Britain. Famous Second World War aces wing commander Douglas Bader, and the then inexperienced Johnnie Johnson were at Tangmere in 1941, the aerodrome was founded in 1917 for use by the Royal Flying Corps as a training base. In 1918 it was turned over to the American Air Force as a training ground, in 1925 the station re-opened to serve the RAFs Fleet Air Arm, and went operational in 1926 with No.43 Squadron equipped with biplane Gloster Gamecocks. As war threatened in the thirties, the fighters became faster, with Hawker Furies, Gloster Gladiators. In 1939 the airfield was enlarged to defend the south coast against attack by the Luftwaffe, with Tangmeres only hotel, the RAF commandeered the majority of houses in the centre of the village, with only six to eight families being allowed to stay. It was only in 1966 that the village resumed its status as a civilian community, in August 1940 the first squadron of Supermarine Spitfires was based at the satellite airfield at nearby Westhampnett, as the Battle of Britain began. By now the villagers had mainly been evacuated, and extensive ranges of RAF buildings had sprung up, the first and worst enemy raid on the station came on 16 August 1940 when hundreds of Stuka dive bombers and fighters crossed the English coast and attacked Tangmere. There was extensive damage to buildings and aircraft on the ground and 14 ground staff and six civilians were killed, but the station was kept in service and brought back into full operation. Throughout the war, the station was also a base for the Special Operations Executive who used the Westland Lysander to fly agents in. The SOE used Tangmere Cottage, opposite the entrance to the base. Today the cottage sports a commemorative plaque to its former secret life, later in the war, as the RAF turned from defence to attack, the legendary Group Captain Douglas Bader, the legless fighter ace, commanded the Tangmere wing of Fighter Command. Today he is commemorated in the Bader Arms public house in the village,616 Squadron which included Johnnie Johnson and Hugh Dundas arrived at Tangmere in late February 1941. Johnson went on to become the highest scoring Western Allied fighter ace against the Luftwaffe, many of those killed at the base, from both sides in conflict, are buried in the cemetery at St Andrews Church, Tangmere, today tended by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. American RAF pilot Billy Fiske who died at Tangmere in 1941 was one of the first American aviators to die during the Second World War, after the war, the RAF High Speed Flight was based at Tangmere as part of Central Fighter Establishment. In September 1946, an air speed record of 616 mph was set by Group Captain Edward Teddy Mortlock Donaldson in a Gloster Meteor, after his death in 1992. In September 1953, Squadron Leader Neville Duke became holder of the air speed record when he flew a Hawker Hunter at 727 mph – the 50th anniversary of this event was commemorated in 2003. No 38 Group Tactical Communications Wing RAF and 244 Signal Squadron were the last units to leave the base, in the late 1950s the flying was restricted to ground radar calibration and the Joint Services Language School moved there. Amongst those taking a course was Richard Marquand, better known as being the director of the Star Wars film The Return of the Jedi
8.
Sussex
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Sussex, from the Old English Sūþsēaxe, is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Brighton and Hove was created as an authority in 1997. Until then, Chichester was Sussexs only city, Sussex has three main geographic sub-regions, each oriented approximately east to west. In the south-west is the fertile and densely populated coastal plain, North of this are the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs, beyond which is the well-wooded Sussex Weald. The name derives from the Kingdom of Sussex, which was founded, according to legend, in 825, it was absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex and subsequently into the kingdom of England. It was the home of some of Europes earliest hominids, whose remains have been found at Boxgrove, in 1974, the Lord-Lieutenant of Sussex was replaced with one each for East and West Sussex, which became separate ceremonial counties. Sussex continues to be recognised as a territory and cultural region. It has had a police force since 1968 and its name is in common use in the media. In 2007, Sussex Day was created to celebrate the rich culture. Based on the emblem of Sussex, a blue shield with six gold martlets. In 2013, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles formally recognised and acknowledged the existence of Englands 39 historic counties. The name Sussex is derived from the Middle English Suth-sæxe, which is in turn derived from the Old English Suth-Seaxe which means of the South Saxons, the South Saxons were a Germanic tribe that settled in the region from the North German Plain during the 5th and 6th centuries. The earliest known usage of the term South Saxons is in a charter of 689 which names them and their king, Noðhelm. The monastic chronicler who wrote up the entry classifying the invasion seems to have got his dates wrong, the New Latin word Suthsexia was used for Sussex by Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu in his 1645 map. Three United States counties, and a former division of Western Australia, are named after Sussex. The flag of Sussex consists of six gold martlets, or heraldic swallows, on a background, blazoned as Azure. Officially recognised by the Flag Institute on 20 May 2011, its design is based on the shield of Sussex. The first known recording of this emblem being used to represent the county was in 1611 when cartographer John Speed deployed it to represent the Kingdom of the South Saxons
9.
No. 1455 Flight RAF
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No.1455 Flight was formed at RAF Tangmere, West Sussex on 7 July 1941, equipped with Turbinlite Douglas Boston and Douglas Havoc aircraft. On operations they co-operated with the Hawker Hurricanes of 1 Squadron and 3 Squadron, the flight was replaced with 534 Squadron on 2 September 1942. Notes Bibliography Aircraft and Markings of no, 511-598 sqn, amongst them 534 sqn, the successor of 1455 flt
10.
History of radar
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The history of radar starts with experiments by Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century that showed that radio waves were reflected by metallic objects. This possibility was suggested in James Clerk Maxwells seminal work on electromagnetism, numerous similar systems, which provided directional information to objects over short ranges, were developed over the next two decades. The development of systems able to produce pulses of radio energy was the key advance that allowed modern radar systems to come into existence. By timing the pulses on an oscilloscope, the range could be determined, the two, combined, produced a fix, locating the target relative to the antenna. During the war, Hungary was added to this list, the term RADAR was coined in 1939 by the United States Signal Corps as it worked on these systems for the Navy. Progress during the war was rapid and of importance, probably one of the decisive factors for the victory of the Allies. A key development was the magnetron in the UK, which allowed the creation of small systems with sub-meter resolution. By the end of hostilities, Britain, Germany, the United States, the USSR, after the war, radar use was widened to numerous fields including, civil aviation, marine navigation, radar guns for police, meteorology and even medicine. Increases in signal processing capability due to the introduction of solid state computers has also had a impact on radar use. The place of radar in the story of science and technology is argued differently by different authors. On the one hand, radar contributed very little to theory, therefore, radar did not advance science, but was simply a matter of technology and engineering. But others point out the practical consequences of the development of radar. Far more than the bomb, radar contributed to the Allied victory in World War II. Robert Buderi states that it was also the precursor of modern technology. From a review of his book, Radar has been the root of a wide range of achievements since the war, producing a veritable family tree of modern technologies. In later years radar was used in instruments, such as weather radar and radar astronomy. In Hertzs 1887 experiment he found that these waves would transmit through different types of materials and also would reflect off surfaces in his lab as well as conductors. The nature of these waves being similar to light in their ability to be reflected, refracted
United Kingdom
Royal Air Force
