1.
Ruislip
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Ruislip is a town in West London, England, which is part of the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was formerly a parish in the county of Middlesex covering the areas of Eastcote, Northwood, Ruislip Manor. The parish appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the earliest settlements still exist today, the parish church, St Martins, dates back to the 13th century and remains in use. The buildings at the end of Ruislip High Street form the core of the original village square and are now Grade II listed. It originally featured a water pump which was moved out of the road in the 1970s as a result of increased traffic. The expansion of the Metropolitan Railway in the early 20th century acted as a catalyst for development in the area, a station was opened in Ruislip in 1904 and the parish council created a new urban district to address the forthcoming population growth. The Ruislip-Northwood Urban District continued until 1965 when Ruislip became part of the newly established London Borough of Hillingdon, between 1911 and 1961, Ruislip-Northwood experienced a significant rise in population, from 6,217 to 72,791, largely attributed to the extension of the railway. Ruislip is included within the Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner Parliament constituency and is covered by three electoral wards within the local council. At the time of Edward the Confessor, the parishes of Ruislip and Ickenham belonged to a Saxon named Wlward Wit, Ruislip parish included what is now the modern Ruislip, Northwood, Eastcote, Ruislip Manor and South Ruislip. Wit lost much of his land during the Norman conquest of England, Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book as Rislepe, thought to mean leaping place on the river where rushes grow, in reference to the River Pinn. It is formed from the Old English rysc and hlȳp, translated from Latin, an entry reads, M. Arnulf of Hesdin holds Rislepe. It is assessed for 30 hides, in lordship 11 hides,3 ploughs there. There are 12 ploughs between the Frenchmen and the villagers, a further 5 possible. A priest, ½ hide,2 villagers with 1 hide,17 villagers,1 virgate each,10 villagers, pasture for the village livestock, a park for woodland beasts, woodland,1500 pigs, and 20d too. Total value £20, when acquired £12, before 1066 £30, wulfward Wight, a thane of King Edwards, held this manor, he could sell it to whom he would. This led to the construction of buildings at Manor Farm to protect produce, before leaving England to fight in the Holy Lands, Ernulf de Hesdin gave ownership of Ruislip to the Benedictine Bec Abbey in 1087. He died fighting and is commemorated in annual masses held in June at Sacred Heart Church, the parish church, St Martins, has been dated to the mid-13th century. An earlier church is believed to have built during the Norman period
2.
Greater London
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London, or Greater London, is a region of England which forms the administrative boundaries of London. It is organised into 33 local government districts, the 32 London boroughs, the Greater London Authority, based in Southwark, is responsible for strategic local government across the region and consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The county of Greater London was created on 1 April 1965 through the London Government Act 1963, administratively, Greater London was first established as a sui generis council area under the Greater London Council between 1963 and 1986. The area was re-established as a region in 1994, and the Greater London Authority formed in 2000, the region covers 1,572 km2 and had a population of 8,174,000 at the 2011 census. In 2012, it had the highest GVA per capita in the United Kingdom at £37,232, the Greater London Built-up Area—used in some national statistics—is a measure of the continuous urban area of London, and therefore includes areas outside of the administrative region. The term Greater London has been and still is used to different areas in governance, statistics, history. In terms of ceremonial counties, London is divided into the small City of London, outside the limited boundaries of the City, a variety of arrangements has governed the wider area since 1855, culminating in the creation of the Greater London administrative area in 1965. The Greater London Arterial Road Programme was devised between 1913 and 1916, one of the larger early forms was the Greater London Planning Region, devised in 1927, which occupied 1,856 square miles and included 9 million people. The LCC pressed for an alteration in its boundaries soon after the end of the First World War, noting that within the Metropolitan, a Royal Commission on London Government was set up to consider the issue. The LCC proposed a vast new area for Greater London, with a boundary somewhere between the Metropolitan Police District and the home counties, protests were made at the possibility of including Windsor, Slough and Eton in the authority. The Commission made its report in 1923, rejecting the LCCs scheme, two minority reports favoured change beyond the amalgamation of smaller urban districts, including both smaller borough councils and a central authority for strategic functions. The London Traffic Act 1924 was a result of the Commission, Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local government, with the Greater London Council sharing power with the City of London Corporation and the 32 London Borough councils. The GLC was abolished in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its functions were devolved to the City Corporation and the London Boroughs, with some functions transferred to central government and joint boards. Greater London was used to form the London region of England in 1994, a referendum held in 1998 established a public will to recreate an upper tier of government to cover the region. The Greater London Authority, London Assembly and the directly elected Mayor of London were created in 2000 by the Greater London Authority Act 1999, in 2000, the outer boundary of the Metropolitan Police District was re-aligned to the Greater London boundary. The 2000 and 2004 mayoral elections were won by Ken Livingstone, the 2008 and 2012 elections were won by Boris Johnson. The 2016 election was won by Sadiq Khan, Greater London continues to include the most closely associated parts of the Greater London Urban Area and their historic buffers. Thus it includes, in five boroughs, significant parts of the Metropolitan Green Belt which protects designated greenfield land in a way to the citys parks
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Royal Air Force station
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A Royal Air Force station is a permanent Royal Air Force operations location. Most RAF stations are aerodromes, or airfields, being the home to one or more flying squadrons, other RAF stations are training units, administrative units, headquarters, or carry out ground-based operational tasks. Although many RAF units are called stations, they can only be properly classified as an RAF station if they are self-accounting with their own station commander. Units without a commander or headquarters staff will ordinarily be a satellite of an RAF station proper. In the early years of the RAF, very few of its bases were classified as stations, some bases which were locally known as RAF location name were officially listed under the units title. For example, No.1 Stores Depot was at RAF Kidbrooke which was described as No.1 Stores Depot in the official lists, in the years before World War II the RAF went through a period of rapid expansion. One means of achieving this expansion was to several units together at one location. This resulted in a growth in the number of stations. The commanding officer in charge of an RAF station is titled as the station commander, on flying units the station commander normally holds the rank of group captain. Most RAF stations are administratively sub-divided into wings, and are controlled by a station headquarters, on a flying station the subordinate wings have usually been called Operations Wing, Engineering Wing, and Administration Wing. Engineering wings are being split into Forward Support Wing and Depth Support Wings, while many Administration, flying stations are typically in remote or rural areas, and are geographically quite large in area. Non-flying RAF stations are much smaller in area than flying stations. They may be close to urban conurbations, and may sometimes be situated in historic mansions, manor houses, or other notable buildings of fine architectural quality. Current RAF stations are mainly in the United Kingdom, overseas RAF stations include RAF Akrotiri in Akrotiri and Dhekelia, RAF Gibraltar in Gibraltar, naval air station Royal Air Force official site
5.
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
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The Ministry of Defence is the British government department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by Her Majestys Government and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MoD states that its objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests and to strengthen international peace. The MoD also manages day-to-day running of the forces, contingency planning. As rearmament became a concern during the 1930s, Stanley Baldwin created the position of Minister for Coordination of Defence. Winston Churchill, on forming his government in 1940, created the office of Minister of Defence to exercise control over the Chiefs of Staff Committee. The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlees government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946, the new ministry was headed by a Minister of Defence who possessed a seat in the Cabinet. These departments merged in 1964, the functions of the Ministry of Aviation Supply merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1971. The Ministers in the Ministry of Defence are as follows, The Ministers and Chiefs of the Defence Staff are supported by a number of civilian, scientific, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence is the senior civil servant at the MoD. His or her role is to ensure the MoD operates effectively as a department of the government, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Stephen Lovegrove—commencing April 2016 Defence Equipment & Support CEO - Tony Douglas — commencing 2016 Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Vernon C. He is supported by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Gordon Messenger, Royal Marines. First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sir Philip Jones, Royal Navy Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, the Surgeon General, represents the Defence Medical Services on the Defence Staff, and is the clinical head of that service. These forces must be capable of representing Britain as lead nation in any coalition operations, the ability, at longer notice, to deploy forces in a large-scale operation while running a concurrent small-scale operation. The MoD has since been regarded as a leader in elaborating the post-Cold War organising concept of defence diplomacy, the UK is establishing air and naval bases in the Persian Gulf, located in the UAE and Bahrain. A presence in Oman is also being considered, the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 included £178 billion investment in new equipment and capabilities. The review set a policy with four primary missions for the Armed Forces, Defend and contribute to the security and resilience of the UK. Contribute to improved understanding of the world through strategic intelligence and the defence network. Reinforce international security and the capacity of our allies, partners. Conduct operations to restore peace and stability, conduct major combat operations if required, including under NATO Article 5
6.
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
7.
No. 2 Group RAF
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The group is currently referred to as the Air Combat Support Group, as it controls the aircraft used to support the Royal Navy and RAFs front line combat force. Assets under command includes the Strategic and Tactical Air Transport aircraft, the RAF Police, field squadrons of the RAF Regiment, as from 1 April 2006, with the disbandment of No. The group is based alongside Air Command at RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, as of 1 April 2006, the following stations and squadrons are under the command of 2 Group. Squadrons and Flights at various stations, Defence NBC Centre Winterbourne Gunner RAF Wittering and RAF Scampton based Air Combat Service Support Units. Joint Ground-Based Air Defence Command RAF Bentley Priory RAF Fylingdales RAF Neatishead No.2 Group was originally formed as No.2 Group on 1 April 1918 at Oxford. The unit was disbanded at RAF Uxbridge on 31 March 1920 as the need for training had lessened following the armistice, the Group was reformed as No.2 Group on 20 March 1936, with it headquarters base at Abingdon. The force consisted of Bristol Blenheim Mk, IVs and the Blenheim Mk. I. On 3 September 1939, the day war broke out, a Blenheim from 2 Group made the first British operational sortie to cross the German frontier in the Second World War, the following day saw the Groups Blenheims make the first British bombing attack of the war. In April 1940, Norway was invaded by the Germans, the Group carried out intensive operations against the advancing Germans following their breakthrough of 10 May 1940, suffering heavy losses. On 17 May, twelve crews of No.82 Squadron left Watton to attack enemy columns near Gembloux, a severe flak barrage split the formation up, allowing Messerschmitt Bf 109s to attack. Only one Blenheim, managed to return to Watton, the rest shot down, No.82 Squadron was again operational just three days later. During June, Blenheims began a new phase by bombing Luftwaffe airfields in France, in July the twelve Blenheim squadrons of 2 Group lost 31 aircraft, along with three Wing Commanders. During the summer the light bomber force also supported operations during the Battle of Britain. By mid 1941 the Group was engaged in raids on coastal shipping. At that stage of the war the Group’s Blenheims were near obsolete, even Churchill was greatly disturbed by the loss rates on the attacks Stevenson was ordering his crews to fly. Upon his removal as AOC in December 1941 his crews were greatly relieved, No.2 Group carried out a low-level attack on Bremen on 2 July 1941 in which the leader, Wing Commander Hughie Edwards of No.105 Squadron, won the Victoria Cross. RAF losses were 14 aircraft brought down by flak and fighters, substantial damage was inflicted on the factory, but with few casualties suffered by the Dutch workers and civilian population. 2 group supported the ill-fated Commando raid on Dieppe in August 1942, Mosquitoes Mk IVs also made the first daylight attack on Berlin
8.
No. 32 Squadron RAF
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No.32 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates in the VIP and general air transport roles from RAF Northolt in Greater London. Originally formed in 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps, the squadron saw action during the First and Second World Wars with fighter aircraft, the Metropolitan Communications Squadron, involved in the VIP transport role, was renamed as No.32 Squadron at that time. In 1995, the squadron was merged with the Queens Flight, at this time the squadron moved from RAF Benson to RAF Northolt, where it remains. The merger ended the RAFs provision of dedicated VIP transport aircraft, two flights within the squadron operate the British Aerospace 146 and AgustaWestland AW109. No.32 Squadron was formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps on 12 January 1916 at Netheravon and moved to France as a fighter squadron equipped with Airco DH. 2s in May. These in turn began to be replaced by the S. E. 5a in December 1917 which were flown for the rest of the war on fighter, on 1 April 1918 No.32 became part of the new Royal Air Force. In March 1919, the returned to the UK as a cadre. During the war just ended, sixteen aces had served in its ranks, the squadron reformed on 1 April 1923 at Kenley as a single flight of Sopwith Snipe fighters. A second flight was formed on 10 December 1923 and a third brought the squadron up to strength on 1 June 1924, Gloster Grebes were received at the end of 1924 and were replaced by Gloster Gamecocks two years later. Equipped in succession with Armstrong Whitworth Siskins, Bristol Bulldogs and Gloster Gauntlets, following Operation Torch, the Anglo American invasion of North Africa, in December 1942,32 Squadron deployed with its Hurricanes to Algeria, converting to the Supermarine Spitfire by July 1943. Operations included a deployment to Greece, where the took part in the Greek Civil War from September 1944 to February 1945. After the end of the Second World War, the squadron continued as a squadron, flying Spitfires, Vampires and Venoms from bases in Palestine, Cyprus, Egypt, Persian Gulf, Malta. In January 1957, the converted to Canberra bombers at RAF Weston Zoyland, flying these from Cyprus. The Metropolitan Communications Squadron was formed on 8 April 1944 by the renaming of No.510 Squadron for VIP air transport, simultaneous with No.32 Squadron being disbanded in Cyprus in February 1969, the Metropolitan Communications Squadron was renamed No.32 Squadron. It operated a variety of aircraft, including Hawker Siddeley Andovers, the squadron acquired four HS.125 CC. 1s business jets in 1971. These would be supplemented and then replaced by two HS.125 CC. 2s delivered in 1973 and six BAe 125 CC. 3s delivered in 1982 and 1983, aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters served with the squadron from 1976 onwards. These were replaced by initially two Twin Squirrels in 1996, the RAF leased two BAe 146s in 1983 as a test of their suitability to replace the Andover, which were operated by 241 Operational Conversion Unit. Two BAe 146-100s were purchased in 1984 for the Queens Flight as a result, a third BAe 146 CC.2 was purchased in 1989 and delivered in 1990, although it was subsequently sold in 2002
9.
Queen's Colour Squadron
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The Queens Colour Squadron is the unit of the Royal Air Force charged with the safe-keeping of the Queens Colour for the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. Since its formation, it has been manned exclusively by officers and it also has a secondary operational role as 63 Squadron RAF Regiment, a Regiment Field Squadron, responsible for the defence of RAF and other assets on the ground from enemy forces. In its ceremonial role, the squadron is responsible for representing the Royal Air Force at various significant occasions, the Squadron also handled the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales on the return of her body to RAF Northolt following her death in Paris in 1997. The Royal Air Force had a drill unit based at the Royal Air Force Depot at Uxbridge in Middlesex since the early 1920s. In 1960, the RAF Drill Unit was charged with the task of guarding and escorting the Queens Colour of the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom, and renamed the Queens Colour Squadron. It was a ceremonial unit for 30 years, providing the sole escort to the colour, and famed for its displays of exhibition drill. However, the Options for Change reforms led to the squadron being given a role as a field squadron in addition to its ceremonial role. For this, it was given the number plate of No 63 Squadron, No 63 Squadron was formed as a light anti-aircraft squadron in 1943, a role it served in for the duration of the Second World War. In 1946, while serving in Berlin, the role was changed. It remained in this role until 1972, when it was planned to become the first RAF Regiment squadron to be equipped with the Rapier SAM, two unexpected tours in Northern Ireland meant that it was 1974 before the squadron converted. Following this, it was deployed in RAF Germany until 1992, when, with the withdrawal of the RAF from Europe. Whilst at Gutersloh,63 Sqn RAF Regt was deployed, as part of 5 Brigade to the Falkland Islands during the conflict there and they landed at San Carlos on 29 May -1 June, deployed immediately and remained there until being redeployed to Stanley after the conflict ceased. 63 RAF Regiment deployed to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 as an RFS to Basra Air Station, providing protection to the air base
10.
No. 600 Squadron RAF
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No.600 Squadron RAuxAF is a squadron of the RAF Reserves. It was formed in 1925 and operated as a fighter squadron during the Second World War with great distinction. After the war,600 Squadron went on to operate jet fighters until 1957, reactivated in 1999,600 Squadron is the only RAF Reserve unit within the M25. It is a Headquarters Support Squadron and provides trained part-time reservists to support RAF operations around the world. No.600 Squadron RAuxAF was formed at RAF Northolt on 14 October 1925 as a unit of the Auxiliary Air Force, equipped with Avro 504 trainers and Airco DH. 9A day bombers. It moved to RAF Hendon at the end of 1926, replacing its DH. 9As, veterans of the First World War and it was designated a fighter squadron in July 1934. On the outbreak of war day and night patrols were flown, in September 1940, the first Bristol Beaufighter was received, conversion being completed early in 1941. In October 1940 the squadron moved to Yorkshire and in March 1941 to south-west England, in November 1942,600 Sqn moved to North Africa to provide night cover for Allied bases and shipping. It was transferred to Malta in June 1943, and in September, to Italy where it spent the rest of the war on night defence and intruder missions. Re-equipment with Mosquitoes began in January 1945 and on 21 August 1945 the squadron disbanded, on 10 May 1946,600 Sqn reformed at RAF Biggin Hill, as a day fighter squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force with Spitfires. It began to recruit during June and received its first operational aircraft in October, after receiving a De Havilland Vampire in October 1949 for jet conversion, it was allotted Meteors in March 1950 and flew these until the Royal Auxiliary Air Force disbanded on 10 March 1957. Currently five Operational Flights exist, these being Operations, Intelligence, Communications, Administration, Squadron personnel have deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gulf States and into positions within the UK. In 2007 the Corporation of the City of London granted 600 Squadron Privileged Regiment Status, further information can be found on the RAF Reserves website
11.
Expeditionary Air Wing
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On 1 April 2006 Expeditionary Air Wings were formed at nine of the RAFs Main Operating Bases. Each EAW has its own identity and is led by the Station Commander, the deployable elements of the station structures form the core of each EAW, reinforced by elements of the Air Combat Service Support Units. Flying and Force Protection force elements are attached to meet the requirements of each operation, eAWs enable the RAF to train as cohesive units of Air Power which are prepared and capable of transitioning quickly from peacetime structures and deploying swiftly on operations in tailored packages. RAF Waddington RAF Brize Norton RAF Coningsby Deployed to RAF Akrotiri from August to November 2013 for Operation Luminous comprised, lockheed Hercules C4 B Flight, Unknown Boeing C-17A Globemaster III C Flight, Bahrain International Airport, A mix of BAe125s and BAe146s from No.32 Squadron. RAFO Musannah in support of Operation Kipion,2 x AgustaWestland Merlin HM.2 helicopters, Previous, During 2008, Muscat International Airport, Oman. Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2 & R1 October 2013, Unknown deployed location suspected to be Muscat International Airport, V Squadron 2 x Sentry AEW1 AEW&C aircraft from No.8 Squadron Previous, Contingency Operating Base Basra/Basra Airport, Iraq for Operation Telic. 1 x Sentinel R1 airborne standoff radar aircraft from No V Squadron RAF Advanced Air Striking Force Cotter, royal Air Force celebrating 90 years
12.
Central Band of the Royal Air Force
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Now based at purpose built, state of the art facilities at Royal Air Force Northolt, the Central Band continues to demonstrate its versatile and unique role. The band is at the forefront of many State Ceremonial events, Central Band musicians have been privileged to participate in many high-profile national events, including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the Royal Wedding and the 2012 London Olympics. In 1922, the Central Band became the first military band to broadcast on BBC Radio, the band also played a leading role in marking the 70th anniversary of the ‘Dambusters’ with a performance on BBC Radio 2’s ‘Friday Night is Music Night”. Alongside this broadcasting success, the musicians of the Band are well recognised for their recording prowess, within the United Kingdom the Central Band enjoys supporting several Service charities. Most notable is their partnership with the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust, with whom they undertake a concert tour, covering a dozen cities. 2013 saw the band make its West End debut at the Dominion Theatre, having featured in International Tattoos in Quebec and Basel, the band is looking forward to taking a leading role in the 2015 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Engagements have also undertaken in other countries around the world, including Holland, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Australia. There is, however, another side to the accomplishments of Central Band musicians. As serving members of the Royal Air Force, Music Services musicians also undertake key operational support roles, most recently Royal Air Force Musicians have deployed on Operation TELIC, Operation HERRICK, and Operation KIPION, and have also completed medical support roles in the Falkland Islands. All band members are fully trained military personnel, the Director of Music is Squadron Leader Matthew Little. The Bandmaster is Warrant Officer Terry Gardner, the Squadronaires - The RAFs Big Band style group
13.
British Forces Post Office
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The British Forces Post Office provides a postal service to HM Forces, separate from that provided by Royal Mail in the United Kingdom. BFPO addresses are used for the delivery of mail in the UK, BFPO moved from its original base at Inglis Barracks, Mill Hill to its current based at RAF Northolt in North West London in 2007. The mission of BFPO is to. provide an efficient and effective Postal, below is an example of a BFPO address, using the fictitious Loamshire Regiment,12345678 LCPL B Jones B Company 1 Loamshire Regt BFPO61 BFPO61 is for Milan, Italy. Until the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, BFPO1 was the address for British forces serving in the then colony. When sending mail from the UK to a member of HM Forces serving overseas, the sender must address it to the appropriate BFPO number, in addition, mail to those destinations cannot be sent using the Bluey system. In 2012, in collaboration with Royal Mail, the BFPO introduced UK-style postcodes, to help ordering items online, the addresses are assigned to the notional post town BFPO and, as of 2012, the postcodes all begin with BF1. Due to the sorting process at BFPO these UK style postcodes should not appear on items of mail. The letters are downloaded and printed and then dispatched to the recipient via the military postal system. Letters sent by serving Armed Forces members to family and friends in the UK are downloaded and printed at various locations in the UK, the name, e-bluey, comes from the aerograms that are provided for troops on active service and their families at home. E-Bluey was thus a natural term for the BFPOs electronic hybrid mail system, the entire system uses high level 256K SSL security and encrypted databases. The e-blueys are downloaded from a web server and utilises Pressure Sealed forms that are printed and sealed with an integrated Printer/Sealer. This ensures maximum security and privacy and the correspondence is not censored or reviewed, the e-bluey was first conceived of by Brigadier Barry Cash, CE of the British Forces Post Office assigning the initial development to Major Roy Walker MBE in the late 1990s. The service was activated the week before Christmas of 2000, photo capability was added in 2005 allowing senders to attach personal photos to their e-blueys. In the spring of 2003 during the first 3 months of the Invasion of Iraq over 250,000 e-blueys per month were sent, subsequently the e-bluey has become ubiquitous with mail delivery for British Troops and currently accounts for 80% of the flat mail delivered to troops in theatre. E-blueys are available in locations around the globe plus operational Navy ships. For the past ten years the system has been supported by SuperLetter. Com Inc. who provide the software. The system has won awards including BFPO e-bluey System Winner 2001 World Mail Award, BFPO e-bluey System Winner 2005 UK Mail Award. The E-bluey equipment has been maintained by Technical Support Services, a department within BFPO London, one of the services that is provided by some of the British Forces Post Offices is the issuing and cashing of postal orders
14.
Service Prosecuting Authority
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Furthermore, it acts as respondent in the Summary Appeal Court and represents the Crown in the Courts Martial Appeal Court. The authority is independent of the Military Chain of Command. The Deputy Director Service Prosecutions is a Brigadier position and is an Officer of the Army Legal Services and it is staffed by Officers from all three of the UK Armed Forces and is supported by a number of Civil Servants who work for the Ministry of Defence. On 1 January 2009, the authorities were placed under the leadership of one Director as the newly combined authority took effect. In 2010 the authority moved from Hillingdon House in RAF Uxbridge to a newly built headquarters in RAF Northolt
15.
ICAO airport code
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The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-character alphanumeric code designating aerodromes around the world. ICAO codes are used to identify other aviation facilities such as weather stations, International Flight Service Stations or Area Control Centers. Flight information regions are identified by a unique ICAO-code. Code selections in North America were based on existing radio station identifiers, for example, radio stations in Canada were already starting with C, so it seemed logical to begin Canadian airport identifiers with Cxxx. The United States had many pre-existing airports with established mnemonic codes and their ICAO codes were formed simply by prepending a K to the existing codes, as half the radio station identifiers in the US began with K. Most ICAO codes outside the US and Canada have a geographical structure. Most of the rest of the world was classified in a more planned top-down manner, thus Uxxx referred to the Soviet Union with the second letter denoting the specific region within it, and so forth. Europe had too many locations for one starting letter, so it was split into Exxx for northern Europe. The second letter was more specific, EGxx was the United Kingdom, EDxx was West Germany, ETxx was East Germany, LExx was Spain, LAxx was Albania, France was designated LFxx, as the counterpart EFxx was the unambiguously northern Finland. ICAO codes are separate and different from IATA codes, which are used for airline timetables, reservations. For example, the IATA code for Londons Heathrow Airport is LHR, in general IATA codes are usually derived from the name of the airport or the city it serves, while ICAO codes are distributed by region and country. Far more aerodromes have ICAO codes than IATA codes, and to add to the confusion IATA codes are assigned to railway stations. Unlike the IATA codes, the ICAO codes generally have a structure and are comprehensive. In general, the first letter is allocated by continent and represents a country or group of countries within that continent, the second letter generally represents a country within that region, and the remaining two are used to identify each airport. The exception to rule is larger countries that have single-letter country codes. In either case, ICAO codes generally provide geographical context unlike IATA codes, for example, if one knows that the ICAO code for Heathrow is EGLL, then one can deduce that the airport EGGP is somewhere in the UK. On the other hand, knowing that the IATA code for Heathrow is LHR does not enable one to deduce the location of the airport LHV with any greater certainty, there are a few exceptions to the regional structure of the ICAO code made for political or administrative reasons. Similarly Saint Pierre and Miquelon is controlled by France, and airports there are assigned LFxx as though they were in Europe, further, in region L, all available 2-letter prefixes have been exhausted and thus no additional countries can be added
16.
Runway
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According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a runway is a defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft. Runways may be a surface or a natural surface. Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally the magnetic azimuth of the heading in decadegrees. This heading differs from true north by the magnetic declination. A runway numbered 09 points east, runway 18 is south, runway 27 points west, when taking off from or landing on runway 09, a plane would be heading 90°. A runway can normally be used in both directions, and is named for each separately, e. g. runway 33 in one direction is runway 15 when used in the other. The two numbers usually differ by 18, Runway Zero Three Left becomes Runway Two One Right when used in the opposite direction. In some countries, if parallel runways are too close to each other, at large airports with four or more parallel runways some runway identifiers are shifted by 10 degrees to avoid the ambiguity that would result with more than three parallel runways. For example, in Los Angeles, this results in runways 6L, 6R, 7L. At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, there are five parallel runways, named 17L, 17C, 17R, 18L, for clarity in radio communications, each digit in the runway name is pronounced individually, runway three six, runway one four, etc. A leading zero, for example in runway zero six or runway zero one left, is included for all ICAO, however, most U. S. civil aviation airports drop the leading zero as required by FAA regulation. This also includes some military airfields such as Cairns Army Airfield and this American anomaly may lead to inconsistencies in conversations between American pilots and controllers in other countries. It is very common in a such as Canada for a controller to clear an incoming American aircraft to, for example, runway 04. In flight simulation programs those of American origin might apply U. S. usage to airports around the world, for example, runway 05 at Halifax will appear on the program as the single digit 5 rather than 05. Runway designations change over time because the magnetic poles slowly drift on the Earths surface, depending on the airport location and how much drift takes place, it may be necessary over time to change the runway designation. As runways are designated with headings rounded to the nearest 10 degrees, for example, if the magnetic heading of a runway is 233 degrees, it would be designated Runway 23. If the magnetic heading changed downwards by 5 degrees to 228, if on the other hand the original magnetic heading was 226, and the heading decreased by only 2 degrees to 224, the runway should become Runway 22. Because the drift itself is slow, runway designation changes are uncommon
17.
Asphalt
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Asphalt, also known as bitumen is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in deposits or may be a refined product. Until the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used, the word is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄσφαλτος ásphaltos. The primary use of asphalt/bitumen is in construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt, the terms asphalt and bitumen are often used interchangeably to mean both natural and manufactured forms of the substance. In American English, asphalt is the carefully refined residue from the process of selected crude oils. Outside the United States, the product is often called bitumen, geologists often prefer the term bitumen. Common usage often refers to forms of asphalt/bitumen as tar. Naturally occurring asphalt/bitumen is sometimes specified by the crude bitumen. Its viscosity is similar to that of cold molasses while the material obtained from the distillation of crude oil boiling at 525 °C is sometimes referred to as refined bitumen. The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the reserves of natural bitumen, covering 142,000 square kilometres. Additionally, most natural bitumens contain organosulfur compounds, resulting in a sulfur content of up to 4%. Nickel and vanadium are found in the <10 ppm level, as is typical of some petroleum, the substance is soluble in carbon disulfide. It is commonly modelled as a colloid, with asphaltenes as the dispersed phase, and it is almost impossible to separate and identify all the different molecules of asphalt, because the number of molecules with different chemical structure is extremely large. Asphalt/bitumen can sometimes be confused with tar, which is a visually similar black. During the early and mid-20th century when town gas was produced, coal tar was a readily available byproduct, the addition of tar to macadam roads led to the word tarmac, which is now used in common parlance to refer to road-making materials. However, since the 1970s, when natural gas succeeded town gas, other examples of this confusion include the La Brea Tar Pits and the Canadian oil sands, both of which actually contain natural bitumen rather than tar. Pitch is another term used at times to refer to asphalt/bitumen
18.
South Ruislip
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South Ruislip is an area of west London in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The population, according to the 2001 UK census, was 10,823, by 2008, this had reached 11,116. Schools in South Ruislip include Bourne Primary, Deanesfield, Field End, St Swithun Wells, emerald GAA Grounds is located on West End Road and is the headquarters of London GAA. It is the venue for playing hurling and Gaelic football in Britain. South Ruislip station is served by the Central line of the London Underground, chiltern Railways serve hourly, with trains to London Marylebone and High Wycombe. Although no bus route serves the station, London Buses route E7 serves one end of nearby Station Approach. The Royal Air Force station, RAF Northolt, is situated in South Ruislip near the A40, most early RAF airfields were named after the nearest railway station, in this case Northolt Junction, the original name of South Ruislip station. Polish fighter pilots during in the Battle of Britain were based at RAF Northolt, the memorial stands next to the A40 adjacent to the airfield, and is dedicated to the memory of the Polish airmen who fought with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A damaged Vickers Wellington, attempting to land at RAF Northolt, the resulting fire caused the remaining ammunition on board to detonate, and 21 people were killed. In 1972 HQ, 3d Air Force relocated to RAF Mildenhall, London, Historical Publications ISBN 0-948667-29-X Bowlt, Eileen. Around Ruislip, Eastcote, Northwood, Ickenham & Harefield, stroud, Sutton Publishing ISBN 978-0-7509-4796-1 South Ruislip Residents Association
19.
Nautical mile
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A nautical mile is a unit of measurement defined as exactly 1852 meters. Historically, it was defined as one minute of latitude, which is equivalent to one sixtieth of a degree of latitude. Today it is an SI derived unit, being rounded to a number of meters. The derived unit of speed is the knot, defined as one mile per hour. The geographical mile is the length of one minute of longitude along the Equator, there is no internationally agreed symbol. M is used as the abbreviation for the mile by the International Hydrographic Organization and by the International Bureau of Weights. NM is used by the International Civil Aviation Organization, nm is used by the U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Nmi is used by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the word mile is from the Latin word for a thousand paces, mīlia. In 1617 the Dutch scientist Snell assessed the circumference of the Earth at 24,630 Roman miles, around that time British mathematician Edmund Gunter improved navigational tools including a new quadrant to determine latitude at sea. He reasoned that the lines of latitude could be used as the basis for a unit of measurement for distance, as one degree is 1/360 of a circle, one minute of arc is 1/21600 of a circle. These sexagesimal units originated in Babylonian astronomy, Gunter used Snells circumference to define a nautical mile as 6,080 feet, the length of one minute of arc at 48 degrees latitude.3 metres. Other countries measure the minute of arc at 45 degrees latitude, in 1929, the international nautical mile was defined by the First International Extraordinary Hydrographic Conference in Monaco as 1,852 meters. Imperial units and United States customary units used a definition of the nautical mile based on the Clarke Spheroid, the United States nautical mile was defined as 6,080.20 feet based in the Mendenhall Order foot of 1893. It was abandoned in favour of the nautical mile in 1954.181 meters. It was abandoned in 1970 and, legally, references to the unit are now converted to 1,853 meters. Conversion of units Orders of magnitude
20.
Uxbridge
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Uxbridge is a town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Fifteen miles west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbridge historically formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex, as part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century it expanded and increased in population, becoming a municipal borough in 1955, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. It is a significant retail and commercial centre, and is the location of Brunel University, the town is close to the boundary with Buckinghamshire, which is locally the River Colne. Several historical events have taken place in and around the town, the public house at the centre of those events, since renamed the Crown & Treaty, still stands. Uxbridge also houses the Battle of Britain Bunker, from where the air defence of the south-east of England was coordinated during the Battle of Britain. Situated in RAF Uxbridge, the No.11 Group Operations Room within the bunker played a crucial rule during the battle and was used during the D-Day landings. The wards of Uxbridge North and Uxbridge South are used for the election of councillors to Hillingdon Council, the 2011 Census recorded population figures of 12,048 for Uxbridge North and 13,979 for Uxbridge South. The name of the town is derived from Wixans Bridge, which was sited near the bottom of Oxford Road where a road bridge now stands, beside the Swan. The Wixan were a 7th-century Saxon tribe from Lincolnshire who also began to settle in what became Middlesex, anglo-Saxons began to settle and farm in the area of Uxbridge in the 5th century, clearing the dense woodland and remaining there for around 500 years. Two other places in Middlesex bore the name of the Wixan, Uxendon, a now preserved only in the street names of Uxendon Hill and Crescent in Harrow. Archaeologists found Bronze Age remains and medieval remains during the construction of The Chimes shopping centre, Uxbridge is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of the 11th century, but a hundred years later the existing church, St Margarets, was built. The town appears in records from 1107 as Woxbrigge, and became part of the Elthorne Hundred with other settlements in the area. Charles I met with representatives of Parliament at the Crown Inn in Uxbridge in 1645, the town had been chosen as it was located between the Royal headquarters at Oxford and the Parliamentary stronghold of London. The covered market was built in 1788, replacing a building constructed in 1561, in the early 19th century, Uxbridge had an unsavoury reputation, the jurist William Arabin said of its residents They will steal the very teeth out of your mouth as you walk through the streets. For about 200 years most of Londons flour was produced in the Uxbridge area, the Grand Junction Canal opened in 1794, linking Uxbridge with Birmingham. By 1800 Uxbridge had become one of the most important market towns in Middlesex, the development of Uxbridge declined after the opening of the Great Western Railway in 1838, which passed through West Drayton. A branch line to Uxbridge was not built until 1904, harmans Brewery was established in Uxbridge by George Harman in 1763, and moved into its new headquarters in Uxbridge High Street in 1875
21.
London Borough of Hillingdon
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The London Borough of Hillingdon is the westernmost borough in Greater London, England which had a population of 273,936 according to the 2011 Census. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, today, Hillingdon is home to Heathrow Airport and Brunel University, and is the second largest of the 32 London boroughs by area. Hillingdon Council governs the borough, with its headquarters in the Civic Centre in Uxbridge, for administrative purposes, the borough is split into North and South Hillingdon. The councils involved were unable to decide upon a name, with Keith Joseph suggesting Uxbridge in October 1963. The coat of arms for the London Borough of Hillingdon was granted on 22 March 1965, between 1973 and 1978, the boroughs civic centre was built in Uxbridge. The borough has been twinned with the French town of Mantes-la-Jolie, the twinning programme was reviewed in 2011 and it was suggested that the link with Schleswig be ended owing to a lack of contact between the towns. In December 2011, the borough decided instead to end the link with a second German town, Emden, citing administrative problems. Population grew from 2001–2011 by 11. 5% -4. 4% above the England and Wales mean of 7. 1% - as part of the fastest population-growth area, by comparison Merton and Bromley had growth of 4. 5% and Tower Hamlets had growth of 26. 4%. Households increased from 2001–2011 by 3. 3%, and the number of people per household was 2.7. The borough is governed by a council, known interchangeably by the full name. It is split into wards represented by 65 Conservative and Labour councillors, a cabinet and leader are elected annually. The present leader of the council is Cllr, ray Puddifoot MBE of the Conservative Party. Elections for councillors are held four years. A Mayor is chosen yearly by councillors, the role is largely ceremonial, the present mayor is Councillor George Cooper, who was elected in May 2015. In the London assembly elections, Ealing and Hillingdon Borough form a constituency with one member as there are eleven London-wide members. At the same election in 2012 Conservative mayoral candidate Boris Johnson won the largest share of Hillingdons votes in becoming elected Mayor of London for a second term. The British Governments UK Visas and Immigration has two immigration removal centres, Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre and Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre in Harmondsworth. The borough also includes RAF Northolt and the sites of RAF Eastcote, RAF South Ruislip, RAF West Drayton, RAF Ruislip 4MU, RAF West Ruislip
22.
Heathrow Airport
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Heathrow Airport is a major international airport in London, United Kingdom. In 2016, it handled a record 75.7 million passengers, Heathrow lies 14 miles west of Central London, and has two parallel east–west runways along with four operational terminals on a site that covers 12.27 square kilometres. London Heathrow is the hub for British Airways and the primary operating base for Virgin Atlantic. In September 2012, the UK government established the Airports Commission, in July 2015, the commission backed a third runway at Heathrow and the government approved a third runway in October 2016. Heathrow is 14 mi west of central London, near the end of the London Borough of Hillingdon on a parcel of land that is designated part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. The airport is surrounded by the areas of Harlington, Harmondsworth, Longford and Cranford to the north and by Hounslow. To the south lie Bedfont and Stanwell while to the west Heathrow is separated from Slough in Berkshire by the M25 motorway, Heathrow falls entirely under the TW postcode area. As the airport is west of London and as its runways run east–west, for a chronicled history of Heathrow Airport, see History of Heathrow Airport. Heathrow Airport originated in 1929 as an airfield on land south-east of the hamlet of Heathrow from which the airport takes its name. At that time there were farms, market gardens and orchards there, there was a Heathrow Farm about where Terminal 1 is now, a Heathrow Hall and a Heathrow House. This hamlet was largely along a lane which ran roughly along the east. Development of the whole Heathrow area as a much larger airport began in 1944. But by the time the airfield was nearing completion, World War II had ended, the government continued to develop the airport as a civil airport, it opened as London Airport in 1946 and was renamed Heathrow Airport in 1966. Heathrow Airport is used by over 80 airlines flying to 185 destinations in 84 countries, the airport is the primary hub of British Airways and is a base for Virgin Atlantic. It has four terminals and a cargo terminal. Of Heathrows 73.4 million passengers in 2014, 93% were international travellers, the busiest single destination in passenger numbers is New York, with over 3 million passengers flying between Heathrow and JFK Airport in 2013. As the required length for runways has grown, Heathrow now has two parallel runways running east–west. These are extended versions of the two east–west runways from the original hexagram, from the air, almost all of the original runways can still be seen, incorporated into the present system of taxiways
23.
Royal Flying Corps
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The Royal Flying Corps was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War, until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC supported the British Army by artillery co-operation, at the start of World War I the RFC, commanded by Brigadier-General Sir David Henderson, consisted of five squadrons – one observation balloon squadron and four aeroplane squadrons. These were first used for spotting on 13 September 1914. Aerial photography was attempted during 1914, but again only became effective the next year, by 1918, photographic images could be taken from 15,000 feet and were interpreted by over 3,000 personnel. By this time parachutes had been used by balloonists for three years, on 17 August 1917, South African General Jan Smuts presented a report to the War Council on the future of air power. On 1 April 1918, the RFC and the RNAS were amalgamated to form a new service, after starting in 1914 with some 2,073 personnel, by the start of 1919 the RAF had 4,000 combat aircraft and 114,000 personnel in some 150 squadrons. The recommendations of the committee were accepted and on 13 April 1912 King George V signed a royal warrant establishing the Royal Flying Corps, the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers became the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps a month later on 13 May. The Flying Corps initial allowed strength was 133 officers, and by the end of year it had 12 manned balloons and 36 aeroplanes. The RFC originally came under the responsibility of Brigadier-General Henderson, the Director of Military Training, and had branches for the Army. Major Sykes commanded the Military Wing and Commander C R Samson commanded the Naval Wing, the RFCs motto was Per ardua ad astra. This remains the motto of the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces, the RFCs first fatal crash was on 5 July 1912 near Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain. Loraine and his observer, Staff Sergeant R. H. V, an order was issued after the crash stating Flying will continue this evening as usual, thus beginning a tradition. Four months later on 11 December 1912 Parke was killed when the Handley Page monoplane in which he was flying from Hendon to Oxford crashed. The Naval Wing, with pilots and aircraft than the Military Wing. In November 1914 the Royal Flying Corps, even taking the loss of the Naval Wing into account, had expanded sufficiently to warrant the creation of wings consisting of two or more squadrons and these wings were commanded by lieutenant-colonels. In October 1915 the Royal Flying Corps had undergone further expansion which justified the creation of brigades, further expansion led to the creation of divisions, with the Training Division being established in August 1917 and RFC Middle East, being raised to divisional status in December 1917. Finally, the air raids on London and the south-east of England led to the creation of the London Air Defence Area in August 1917 under the command of Ashmore who was promoted to major-general. Two of the first three RFC squadrons were formed from the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers, No.1 Company becoming No.1 Squadron, RFC, a second heavier-than-air squadron, No.2 Squadron, RFC, was also formed on the same day
24.
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
25.
Hawker Hurricane
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The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–1940s that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force. In late 1934, the Air Ministry placed an order for Hawkers Interceptor Monoplane, on 6 November 1935, the prototype Hurricane, K5083, performed its maiden flight. In June 1936, the Hurricane was ordered into production by the Air Ministry, the Hurricane was rapidly procured prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, by which point, the RAF operated a total of 18 Hurricane-equipped squadrons. It is perhaps best known for its contribution to Britains home defences during the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane evolved through several versions and adaptations, resulting in a series of aircraft which acted as fighters, bomber-interceptors, fighter-bombers and ground support aircraft. By the end of production in 1944, in excess of 14,583 Hurricanes had been completed, at the time, there was an institutional reluctance towards change within the Air Staff, according to aviation author Francis K. In 1934, the British Air Ministry issued Specification F. 7/30 in response to demands within the Royal Air Force for a new generation of fighter aircraft. Earlier, during 1933, British aircraft designer Sydney Camm had conducted discussions with Major John Buchanan of the Directorate of Technical Development on a monoplane based on the existing Fury. Camms initial submission in response to F. 7/30, the Hawker P. V.3, was essentially a version of the Fury biplane. However, the P. V.3 was not among the proposals which the Air Ministry had selected to be constructed as a government-sponsored prototype, after the rejection of the P. V. By January 1934, the detail drawings had been finished. In August 1934, a scale model of the design was produced and dispatched to the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. A series of wind tunnel tests confirmed the aerodynamic qualities of the aircraft were in order and this time, the Ministrys response was favourable, and a prototype of the Interceptor Monoplane was promptly ordered. In November 1934, the Air Ministry issued Specification F. 5/34 which, drawing on the work of Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley, however, by this time, work had progressed too far to immediately modify the planned four-gun installation. In July 1935, this specification was amended to include installation of eight guns, ground testing and taxi trials took place over the following two weeks. On 6 November 1935, the prototype K5083 took to the air for the first time at the hands of Hawkers chief test pilot, Flight Lieutenant George Bulman. Bulman was assisted by two pilots in subsequent flight testing, Philip Lucas flew some of the experimental test flights. As completed, the prototype had been fitted with ballast to represent the aircrafts armament prior to the acceptance of the final multi-gun wing armament. In early 1936, the prototype was transferred to RAF Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, in the course of further testing, it was found that the Hurricane had poor spin recovery characteristics, in which all rudder authority could be lost due to shielding of the rudder
26.
Battle of Britain
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The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, when the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against the German Air Force attacks from the end of June 1940. It is described as the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces, the primary objective of the Nazi German forces was to compel Britain to agree to a negotiated peace settlement. In July 1940, the air and sea blockade began with the Luftwaffe mainly targeting coastal shipping convoys, ports and shipping centres, such as Portsmouth. On 16 July Hitler ordered the preparation of Operation Sea Lion as an amphibious and airborne assault on Britain. Nazi Germany was unable to sustain daylight raids, but their continued night bombing operations on Britain became known as the Blitz. Its first Chief of the Air Staff Hugh Trenchard was among the military strategists in the 1920s like Giulio Douhet who saw air warfare as a new way to overcome the stalemate of trench warfare, interception was near impossible with fighter planes no faster than bombers. Their view was that the bomber will always get through, Germany was forbidden military air forces by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, but developed aircrew training in civilian and sport flying. In 1926 the secret Lipetsk fighter-pilot school began operating, a winter 1933–34 war game indicated a need for fighters and anti-aircraft protection as well as bombers. On 1 March 1935 the Luftwaffe was formally announced, with Walther Wever as Chief of Staff, the list excluded bombing civilians to destroy homes or undermine morale, as that was considered a waste of strategic effort, but the doctrine allowed revenge attacks if German civilians were bombed. A revised edition was issued in 1940, and the central principle of Luftwaffe doctrine was that destruction of enemy armed forces was of primary importance. In the Spanish Civil War, the Luftwaffe in the Condor Legion tried out air fighting tactics, wolfram von Richthofen become an exponent of air power providing ground support to other services. The difficulty of hitting targets prompted Ernst Udet to require that all new bombers had to be dive bombers. Priority was given to producing large numbers of aeroplanes. The speed with which German forces defeated most of the armies in Norway in early 1940 created a significant political crisis in Britain. In early May 1940, the Norway Debate questioned the fitness for office of the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, on 10 May, the same day Winston Churchill became British Prime Minister, the Germans initiated the Battle of France with an aggressive invasion of French territory. The Germans were so convinced of an imminent armistice that they began constructing street decorations for the parades of victorious troops. Instead, Churchill used his skilful rhetoric to harden public opinion against capitulation, the Battle of Britain has the unusual distinction that it gained its name before being fought. In secret conference on 23 May 1939 Hitler set out his rather contradictory strategy that an attack on Poland was essential, if this is impossible, then it will be better to attack in the West and to settle Poland at the same time with a surprise attack
27.
No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron
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No.303 Polish Fighter Squadron was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It was not just the highest scoring of the Hurricane squadrons during the Battle of Britain, the squadron was named after the Polish and United States hero General Tadeusz Kościuszko, and the eponymous Polish 7th Air Escadrille founded by Merian C. Cooper, that served Poland in the 1919–1921 Polish-Soviet War, No.303 was formed in July 1940 in Blackpool, England before deployment to RAF Northolt on 2 August as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom. It had a combat record and was disbanded in December 1946. No.303 Squadron was from 2 August 1940 based at RAF Northolt and its initial cadre was 13 Officer and 8 NCO pilots and 135 Polish ground staff. The name chosen by the squadron was in honour of the famous Polish Kosciuszko Squadron which fought during the Polish-Soviet War in 1920, No.303 Squadron was also linked to the original Kosciuszko Escadrille through personnel that had served in the squadron. Later, further air force units from the unit were renamed the 7th, 121st. During the Battle of Britain, No.303 Squadron was equipped with Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft, after a period of training, on 24 August 1940, the squadron was scrambled for the first time, although it did not come into contact with any enemy aircraft. The wreck was excavated in 1982, after S/L Kellets personal recommendation, the squadron was declared operational next day by No.11 Group RAF. On 31 August 1940, the squadron was scrambled in the afternoon on its first operational sortie. In a dogfight over Kent, A Flight claimed four confirmed, claimants were S/L Kellet, F/O Henneberg, P/O Feric and Sgt. During 2 September 1940, the squadron was scrambled three times, on the last scramble, P/O Feric shot down a Bf 109 and then made a forced landing near Dover while former Czechoslovak Air Force pilot Sgt. Josef František claimed a Bf 110, the following day over Dover, Frantisek claimed his second victory, with a total of 17 victories he was the top-scoring Allied fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain. On 6 September 1940, nine Hurricanes were scrambled towards incoming bomber formations, however, during the climb, they were bounced by Bf 109s of III. /JG27. S/L Kellet and F/L Forbes both force-landed, and were wounded slightly, while Sgt Karubin bailed out wounded, S/L Krasnodebski was severely burned, the squadron claimed five Bf 109s, a Do 17 and a Heinkel He 111. F/O Witold Urbanowicz was appointed as acting Squadron Leader, on 7 September 1940, the German air offensive switched to the London docks. No.303 Squadron was successfully vectored towards the bomber streams and claimed 12 Do 17s. P/O Daszewski was shot down and seriously wounded, while F/O Pisarek bailed out and his Hurricane crashed in a back garden of a house in Loughton, killing a family of three in their shelter
28.
Supermarine Spitfire
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The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries before, during and after World War II. The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations and it was also the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war. The Spitfire continues to be popular among enthusiasts, about 54 remain airworthy, Spitfire units, however, had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes because of its higher performance. Spitfires in general were tasked with engaging Luftwaffe fighters during the Battle, much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber and trainer, and it continued to serve in these roles until the 1950s. The Seafire was an adaptation of the Spitfire which served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 through to the mid-1950s. As a consequence of this, the Spitfires performance and capabilities improved over the course of its service life and this made its first flight in February 1934. Of the seven designs tendered to F7/30, the Gloster Gladiator biplane was accepted for service and this led to the Type 300, with retractable undercarriage and the wingspan reduced by 6 ft. This was submitted to the Air Ministry in July 1934, but was not accepted, on 3 January 1935, they formalised the contract with a new specification, F10/35, written around the aircraft. On 5 March 1936, the prototype took off on its first flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome, at the controls was Captain Joseph Mutt Summers, chief test pilot for Vickers, who is quoted as saying Dont touch anything on landing. This eight-minute flight came four months after the flight of the contemporary Hurricane. K5054 was fitted with a new propeller, and Summers flew the aircraft on 10 March 1936, after the fourth flight, a new engine was fitted, and Summers left the test-flying to his assistants, Jeffrey Quill and George Pickering. They soon discovered that the Spitfire was a good aircraft. The rudder was over-sensitive and the top speed was just 330 mph, here, Flight Lieutenant Humphrey Edwardes-Jones took over the prototype for the RAF. He had been orders to fly the aircraft and then to make his report to the Air Ministry on landing. Edwardes-Joness report was positive, his only request was that the Spitfire be equipped with a position indicator. A week later, on 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 Spitfires, before any formal report had been issued by the A&AEE, the British public first saw the Spitfire at the RAF Hendon air-display on Saturday 27 June 1936. The first and most immediate problem was that the main Supermarine factory at Woolston was already working at full capacity fulfilling orders for Walrus and Stranraer flying boats. In February 1936 the director of Vickers-Armstrongs, Sir Robert MacLean, guaranteed production of five aircraft a week, on 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 aircraft, for a price of £1,395,000
29.
British European Airways
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British European Airways, formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom, from 1946 until 1974, BEA operated a network of internal German routes between West Berlin and West Germany as well. Formed as the British European Airways division of British Overseas Airways Corporation on 1 January 1946, operations commenced from Croydon and Northolt airports, with DH89A Dragon Rapides and Douglas DC-3s. During 1952, BEA carried its millionth passenger, and by the early 1960s it had become the western worlds fifth-biggest passenger-carrying airline, in 1950, BEA operated the worlds first turbine-powered commercial air service with Vickers Viscount 630 prototype, from London to Paris. The airline entered the jet age in 1960 with de Havillands DH106 Comet 4B, on 1 April 1964, it became the first to operate the DH121 Trident, on 10 June 1965, a BEA Trident 1C performed the worlds first automatic landing during a scheduled commercial air service. For most of its existence, BEA was headquartered at BEAline House in Ruislip, BEA ceased to exist as a legal entity on 1 April 1974 when the merger with BOAC to form British Airways took effect. On 1 January 1946, the Attlee government lifted wartime restrictions on civil flying in the United Kingdom, BOAC formed a British European Airways division on 1 January 1946 in anticipation of that years Civil Aviation Act. Following its formation, BOACs new division began taking over Transport Commands operations from 4 March 1946, on that day, it inaugurated a weekly Dakota service from Northolt to Madrid and Gibraltar. This was followed by additional Dakota services to Stavanger and Oslo, Copenhagen, as well as Athens via Marseille, on each of these flights, half of the Dakotas 16 seats were reserved for UK government officials. Initially, crews continued to wear BOAC uniforms, although some services still used Croydon for some time, the main operating base moved to RAF Northolt. On 1 August 1946, the Civil Aviation Act 1946 was given Royal Assent and this established BEA as a crown corporation in its own right and transferred primary responsibility for scheduled air services from the UK to Europe to BEA. The Civil Aviation Act 1946 furthermore provided for nationalisation of private, independent British scheduled airlines, the first flight operated by the newly constituted British European Airways Corporation departed Northolt for Marseille, Rome and Athens on the day of its formation at 8,40 am. This was followed by further route launches to Amsterdam, Brussels, initially, BEA supplemented its ex-RAF Transport Command Dakotas with Dragon Rapides and Avro Nineteens. Between August and October 1946, BEA took delivery of the first 11 of an eventual 83 Vickers Viking piston-engined airliners and these were BEAs first new aircraft, which it leased from the UK government. The first Viking revenue service departed Northolt for Copenhagen on 1 September 1946, compared with the Dakota, the Viking took 35 minutes less to reach Copenhagen from London. Following their introduction on the London–Copenhagen route, Vikings began replacing Dakotas on BEAs services to Amsterdam, Oslo, Stockholm, Gibraltar, the following month, BEAs Belfast operations transferred to Nutts Corner while Dakotas replaced the Jupiter class Ju 52s from 1947. On 1 February 1947, the process of merging the wholly private, railway Air Services, Isle of Man Air Services, and Scottish Airways were among the first independents merged into the new corporation. On 24 September 1947, BEA assisted in the formation of Cyprus Airways on the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean in co-operation with the Government of Cyprus,1947 was also the year BEA operated its first scheduled all-cargo flight from Northolt to Brussels with a DC-3 freighter
30.
English Channel
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The English Channel, also called simply the Channel, is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France, and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is about 560 km long and varies in width from 240 km at its widest to 33.3 km in the Strait of Dover and it is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 km2. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the English Channel as follows, a line joining Isle Vierge to Lands End. The southwestern limit of the North Sea, the IHO defines the southwestern limit of the North Sea as a line joining the Walde Lighthouse and Leathercoat Point. The Walde Lighthouse is 6 km east of Calais, and Leathercoat Point is at the end of St Margarets Bay. The Strait of Dover, at the Channels eastern end, is its narrowest point and it is relatively shallow, with an average depth of about 120 m at its widest part, reducing to a depth of about 45 m between Dover and Calais. Eastwards from there the adjoining North Sea reduces to about 26 m in the Broad Fourteens where it lies over the watershed of the land bridge between East Anglia and the Low Countries. It reaches a depth of 180 m in the submerged valley of Hurds Deep,48 km west-northwest of Guernsey. The eastern region along the French coast between Cherbourg and the mouth of the Seine river at Le Havre is frequently referred to as the Bay of the Seine. There are several islands in the Channel, the most notable being the Isle of Wight off the English coast. The coastline, particularly on the French shore, is indented, several small islands close to the coastline, including Chausey. The Cotentin Peninsula in France juts out into the Channel, whilst on the English side there is a parallel channel known as the Solent between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. The Celtic Sea is to the west of the Channel, the time difference of about six hours between high water at the eastern and western limits of the Channel is indicative of the tidal range being amplified further by resonance. It was never defined as a border and the names were more or less descriptive. It was not considered as the property of a nation, strangely, before the development of the modern nations, British scholars very often referred to it as Gaulish and the French one as British or English. The name English Channel has been used since the early 18th century. In modern Dutch, however, it is known as Het Kanaal, later, it has also been known as the British Channel or the British Sea having been called the Oceanus Britannicus by the 2nd-century geographer Ptolemy. The same name is used on an Italian map of about 1450, the Anglo-Saxon texts often call it Sūð-sǣ as opposed to Norð-sǣ
31.
British Army
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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
32.
Claude Grahame-White
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Claude Grahame-White was an English pioneer of aviation, and the first to make a night flight, during the Daily Mail sponsored 1910 London to Manchester air race. Claude Grahame-White was born in Bursledon, Hampshire in England on 21 August 1879 and he learned to drive in 1895, was apprenticed as an engineer and later started his own motor engineering company. Grahame-Whites interest in aviation was sparked by Louis Blériots crossing of the English Channel in 1909 and this prompted him to go to France, where he attended the Reims aviation meeting, at which he met Blériot and subsequently enrolled at his flying school. Grahame-White was one of the first people to qualify as pilot in England, although Paulhan won the prize, Grahame Whites achievement was widely praised. On 2 July 1910, Claude Grahame-White, in his Farman III biplane, in the same year he won the Gordon Bennett Aviation Cup race in Belmont Park, Long Island, New York, for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club. On 14 October 1910 while in Washington, D. C, Grahame-White flew his Farman biplane over the city and landed on West Executive Avenue near the White House. Rather than being arrested Grahame-White was applauded for the feat by the newspapers, during the war itself he flew the first night patrol mission against an expected German raid on 5 September 1914. In 1911 he established a school at Hendon Aerodrome. In 1912 Grahame-White gave H. G. Wells his first flight, the Aerodrome was lent to the Admiralty, and eventually taken over by the RAF in 1919. Grahame-Whites aerodrome was purchased by the RAF in 1925, after a legal struggle. After this he lost his interest in aviation, eventually moving to Nice in his old age, Hendon Aerodrome later became RAF Hendon but after flying ceased there in the 1960s it was then largely redeveloped as a housing estate which was named Grahame Park in tribute to Grahame-White. Grahame-White was a co-founder of Aerofilms Limited in 1919, in 1911 The Grahame-White Aviation Company was formed to cover his aviation interests, including aerodromes and aircraft design, development, and construction
33.
Hendon Aerodrome
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Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968. It was situated in Colindale, seven miles north west of Charing Cross and it nearly became the Charing Cross of the UKs international air routes, but for the actions of the RAF after the First World War. It was known as a place of pioneering experiments including the first airmail, the first parachute descent from a aircraft, the first night flights. The first powered flight from Hendon was in an 88-foot long non-rigid airship built by Spencer Brothers of Highbury and it took off from the Welsh Harp Reservoir in 1909, piloted by Henry Spencer, and the only passenger was Muriel Matters, the Australian suffragette. The first attempt at flight was by H. P. Handasyde, again at the Welsh Harp and they constructed a monoplane with four engines in the ballroom of the hotel, but were never able to get airborne. From 1908 to 1910, their Grasshopper, as the plane was called, taxied about and left the ground briefly, but failed to get truly airborne, although these attempts attracting quite a crowd. In 1906, before any powered flight had taken place in Britain, the journey had to be completed within twenty-four hours, with no more than two landings. Grahame-White made two attempts, but it was Paulhan who succeeded and he chose a field on the future aerodrome site as his point of departure. On 27 April he flew 117 miles from Hendon to Lichfield, before dawn on 28 April he took off and reached Burnage on the outskirts of Manchester after three hours 55 minutes in the air, during a period of just over twelve hours. This was the first true flight from the Hendon site, the first occupants were Horatio Barbers Aeronautical Syndicate Ltd and the Bleriot flying school. From 9 to 16 September 1911, the first official UK airmail was flown between Hendon and Windsor as part of the celebrations of the coronation of King George V, in 1912, the first Aerial Derby started and ended at Hendon. An estimated three million people turned out across London, forming a ring around the race circuit to see the aviators fly round the metropolis. An estimated two million of these Londoners had never seen an aircraft in flight before, at Hendon Aerodrome at least 45,000 people paid for admission to the enclosures. These annual events became as important as the Ascot and Epsom races during the London Season, by 1925,100,000 people were coming to see the display, and it was so popular that there was talk of having to spread it over a few days. The first fatality at Hendon, reported in The Times in May 1911, was Bernard Benson, on 25 May 1911 he fell 100 feet from an ASL Valkyrie. A number of flying schools were located at Hendon, including Grahame-Whites, in November 1916, the War Office commandeered the flying schools, after which the aerodrome trained 490 pilots. Claude Grahame-White and other members of the Royal Naval Air Service mounted a defence of London in 1915
34.
London Stock Exchange
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The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London in the United Kingdom. As of December 2014, the Exchange had a capitalisation of US$6.06 trillion. The Exchange was founded in 1801 and its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pauls Cathedral in the City of London, the Exchange is part of the London Stock Exchange Group. London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s oldest stock exchanges, London Stock Exchange Group was created in October 2007 when London Stock Exchange merged with Milan Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana. The Royal Exchange had been founded by English financier Thomas Gresham on the model of the Antwerp Bourse and it was opened by Elizabeth I of England in 1571. During the 17th century, stockbrokers were not allowed in the Royal Exchange due to their rude manners and they had to operate from other establishments in the vicinity, notably Jonathans Coffee-House. At that coffee house, a broker named John Casting started listing the prices of a few commodities, exchange rates and certain key provisions such as salt, coal, originally, this was not a daily list and was only published a few days of the week. This list and activity was moved to Garraway’s coffee house. Public auctions during this period were conducted for the duration that a length of tallow candle could burn, as stocks grew, with new companies joining to raise capital, the royal court also raised some monies. These are the earliest evidence of organised trading in securities in London. After Greshams Royal Exchange building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, it was rebuilt and this was a move away from coffee houses and a step towards the modern model of stock exchange. The Royal Exchange not only housed brokers but also merchants and merchandise and this was the birth of a regulated stock market, which had teething problems in the shape of unlicensed brokers. In order to regulate these, Parliament brought out an act in 1697 that levied heavy penalties and it also set a fixed number of brokers, which was later increased as the size of the trade grew. The street in which they were now dealing was known as Exchange Alley, Parliament tried to regulate this and ban the unofficial traders from the Change streets. Traders became weary of bubbles when companies rose quickly and fell, after the Seven Years War, trade at Jonathans coffee house boomed again. In 1773, Jonathan, together with 150 other brokers, formed a club and opened a new and this now had a set entrance fee, through which traders could enter the stock room and trade securities. It was, however, not a location for trading. Fraud was also rife during these times and in order to such dealings
35.
World War I
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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
36.
Sefton Brancker
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Sefton Brancker was born on 22 March 1877, at Woolwich in Kent. His parents were Colonel William Godefroy Brancker and Hester Adelaide, the daughter of Major General Henry Charles Russel, Brancker grew up as the elder of two brothers and their father died in 1885. From 1891-94, the young Brancker attended Bedford School, the Branckers were a long-established Anglo-German family that had lived in England for several generations. Brancker was trained for the British Army at Woolwich, joining the Royal Artillery in 1896 and he served in the Second Boer War and later for a number of years in India, where he made his first flight in 1910. On 18 June 1913 he was awarded the Royal Aero Clubs Aviators Certificate no.525, during the First World War, Brancker held important administrative posts in the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force including Director of Military Aeronautics. In late 1915 a brigade system was introduced in the RFC and Brancker was promoted to brigadier general and this appointment was to be short-lived as in early 1916 Brancker was appointed Director of Air Organisation in London. In 1917, Brancker briefly served as the General Officer Commanding Royal Flying Corpss Palestine Headquarters, promoted to major general in 1918, he became Controller-General of Equipment in January of that year and Master-General of Personnel in August 1918. The following year, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and, with the introduction of RAF-specific ranks, he became an air vice marshal. On 11 May 1922 he was made Director of Civil Aviation and he encouraged Manchester and other cities to construct municipal airports and airfields. He participated in several long-distance survey flights, notably with Alan Cobham and he was an ardent supporter of the development of British civilian air services connecting London to British colonies and dominions overseas. Together with Lord Thomson, the Air Minister, Brancker was killed when the airship R101 crashed near Beauvais France on 5 October 1930, in 1952 British European Airways named its Pionair G-AKNB Sir Sefton Brancker to mark his substantial contribution to the development of British Aviation. In 1996 British Airways named one of its newly delivered Boeing 777s Sir William Sefton Branker in recognition of his work, other 777s in the BA fleet were named after aviation pioneers, for example Wilbur and Orville Wright and Sir Frank Whittle. The aircraft no longer carries Sir Seftons name, aircraft names having been removed from the BA fleet since the short-lived 1997 Utopia re-branding, kenmore Park housing estate in Kenton Harrow has a number of its roads named after aviators including Brancker. Footnotes Bibliography Pirie, Gordon H. Air Empire, British Imperial Civil Aviation, the War In The Air, Being the Story of The part played in the Great War by The Royal Air Force, Vol I. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – Brancker, Sir William Sefton
37.
War Office
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The name War Office is also given to the former home of the department, the War Office building located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. During August 2013 it was announced that the former War Office building would be sold on the open market. The War Office developed from the Council of War, an ad hoc grouping of the King and his military commanders which managed the Kingdom of Englands frequent wars. It was equivalent to the Admiralty, responsible for the Royal Navy, and the Air Ministry, the department had several London homes until it settled at Horse Guards in Whitehall during 1722, where it was to remain until 1858. The first War Office Secretary at War is usually said to have been William Blathwayt and it was, however, a fairly minor government job which dealt with the minutiae of administration rather than grand strategy. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments, from 1704 to 1855, the job of Secretary was possessed by a minister of the second rank, although he was occasionally part of the Cabinet. Many of his responsibilities were transferred to the Secretary of State for War after the creation of more senior post during 1794. The job of Secretary at War was merged with that of the Secretary of State for War during 1855, during 1855 the Board of Ordnance was abolished as a result of its perceived poor performance during the Crimean War. This powerful independent body, dating from the 15th century, had directed by the Master-General of the Ordnance. The disastrous campaigns of the Crimean War resulted in the consolidation of all duties during 1855 as subordinate to the Secretary of State for War. He was not, however, solely responsible for the Army and this was reduced in theory by the reforms introduced by Edward Cardwell during 1870, which subordinated the Commander-in-Chief to the Secretary for War. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind that of Britains rivals, the management of the War Office was hampered by persistent disputes between the civilian and military parts of the organisation. The government of H. H. Asquith attempted to resolve this during the First World War by appointing Lord Kitchener as Secretary for War, making him the first, however, this was thought unsatisfactory, during his tenure, the Imperial General Staff was virtually dismantled. Its role was replaced effectively by the Committee of Imperial Defence, the War Office decreased greatly in importance after the First World War, a fact illustrated by the drastic reductions of its staff numbers during the inter-war period. On 1 April 1920, it employed 7,434 civilian staff and its responsibilities and funding were also reduced. During 1936, the government of Stanley Baldwin appointed a Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister during 1940, he bypassed the War Office altogether and appointed himself Minister of Defence. Clement Attlee continued this arrangement when he came to power during 1945, during 1964, the present form of the Ministry of Defence was established, unifying the War Office, Admiralty, and Air Ministry. The records of the War Office are kept by The National Archives with the code WO and it contains about 1,000 rooms across seven floors, linked by 2½ miles of corridors
38.
Ickenham
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Ickenham is an area centred on an old village in Greater London, part of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Buildings from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries remain standing and have restored in recent years. The village was split into four manors, which became two, Ickenham and Swakeleys. The old manorial home of Swakeleys, a 17th-century Jacobean mansion Swakeleys House still stands, ickenhams manorial home, Manor Farm, now forms part of Long Lane Farm. A military station, RAF West Ruislip, was opened in 1917 and its final use was for the Navy Exchange of the U. S. Naval Activities, United Kingdom command between 1975 and 2006. By the 2011 Census, the population had reached 10,387, when Ickenham obtained a railway station on the Metropolitan Railways line between Harrow and Uxbridge, it brought with it a rail link to London. A great deal of development commenced in the village and it gradually became part of the London commuter belt. Ickenham expanded with the sale and development of much of the Swakeleys estate in 1922, Ickenham appears in the Domesday Book three times under the name Ticheham. Translated from Latin, the entry reads, Manor Ickenham answers for 9½ hides. 3 men-at-arms and 1 Englishman hold it from Earl Roger, land for 6 ploughs,4 ploughs there, a further 2 possible. 6 villagers with 1 hide,2 others with 1 hide and 1 virgate,2 others with 2 virgates,4 smallholders with 20 acres,3 cottages, meadow for 4 ploughs, pasture for the village livestock, woodland,200 pigs. Total value £4, when acquired the same, before 1066 £6, the Domesday Book describes the land as being predominantly flat and composed of London clay with the exception of alluvium along the banks of the River Pinn. Of the few archaeological surveys of Ickenham carried out, one in 1994 by the Museum of London found a system of Roman fields, dating back to the 1st and 2nd centuries along with pottery fragments. Research suggest that the area may have been abandoned for a following the departure of the Romans from Britain around AD410. Ickenham was originally divided into the four manors of Ickenham, Tykenham, Swalcliff, Tykenham and Herses were within the parish of Hillingdon, though Herses subsequently became part of the manor of Swalcliff. These manors were merged to form the main manors of Ickenham. The original lord of the manor of Ickenham was Geoffrey de Mandeville, from whom it passed to William de Brock and then, in 1334, by the mid-14th century, Ickenham was owned by the Shorediche family who retained possession until 1819. The Crosier family, major landowners in north-west Middlesex, moved to Ickenham in the 16th century and they established their manorial home as Sherwyns, and owned Home Farm and Sears house in 1624
39.
Farnborough Airport
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Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an operational business/executive general aviation airport in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England. The 310-hectare airport covers about 8% of Rushmoors land area, Farnborough Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee. The first powered flight in Britain was at Farnborough on 5 October 1908, the airfield is the home of the Farnborough Airshow which is held in even numbered years. It is also home to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, part of the Department for Transport, Farnborough Airport has a long history, beginning at the start of the 20th century with the creation of His Majestys Balloon Factory and the first powered flight in Britain in 1908. This subsequently became the Royal Aircraft Establishment, a connection which continues in the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust museum, Farnborough airfield and RAE was bombed by Germany on 13 August 1940 by a flight of Junkers 88 A-1’s from the KG54 squadron during World War 2. The civil enclave was operated by Farnborough Business Aviation until 2003, all experimental aircraft were moved to MoD Boscombe Down, the airport was taken over by TAG Aviation. Commercial defence research by research firm QinetiQ continues in the adjoining Cody Technology Park, Farnborough Airfield appeared in the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace, as the Austrian airport from which Bond flies. The airfield was also a location for the 2010 film Inception, after TAG took control of the airport from the MOD, it invested in a series of new infrastructure projects, including a new radar unit and a resurfaced runway. The most striking new constructions were a new tower, a large hangar unit. The designs won a series of awards, and were nominated for Building of the Year by Building Magazine in 2007, the terminal was formally opened by HRH Prince Andrew. TAG Aviation is a business aviation operator, with aircraft based in Farnborough, Switzerland. Business aviation has grown from a low level in 1989 to around 23,000 movements in 2013, the airport is home to a number of the UKs largest business jet companies, including Gama Aviation Executive Jet Charter and Bookajet. BAE also have a service using a Beechcraft King Air 200 to Walney Island. This service runs 1–4 times a day Monday–Friday, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch has its head office in Farnborough House, located in a compound within Farnborough Airport. During the Farnborough Airshow on 6 September 1952, a de Havilland Sea Vixen crashed and this incident led to major changes to the safety regulations for air shows in the UK. The nose-gear collapsed, followed by failure of the spar on both sides near the fuselage, both propellers shedding blades and the plane skidding to a halt on the runway. The two crew and one survived the crash, nobody else was injured. The accident was attributed to error, with gusty wind conditions as a major factor
40.
South Ruislip station
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South Ruislip is a station served by London Underground and Chiltern Railways in South Ruislip in west London. The station is owned, managed and staffed by London Underground, the station is in Travelcard Zone 5. The GWR/GCR Joint line to High Wycombe carried services from both Paddington and Marylebone and they met at Northolt Junction, situated slightly to the east of the station, from where four tracks ran westwards to Ruislip Gardens and West Ruislip, there the route shrank to two tracks only. Opened on 1 May 1908 and originally known as Northolt Junction, the station was designed by Brian Lewis and F. C. C. Curtis and first served by Central line trains on 21 November 1948 when the Central line extension from London towards West Ruislip was completed after being delayed by World War II, the rounded booking hall was not completed until 1960. The concrete, glass and granite chip frieze in the hall is one of the earliest public works by glass artist. The alignment of the turnout towards Marylebone was improved to allow higher-speed running, fragments of the old trackwork can still be seen to the north of the line at this point. The trackwork at this station has upgraded and now permits higher speed running up to 100 miles per hour. The station was transferred from the Western Region of British Rail to the London Midland Region on 24 March 1974, the Monday - Friday off-peak service consists of,1 train per hour to London Marylebone 1 train per hour to High Wycombe Extra trains call during peak times. On weekdays, there is also a parliamentary train to. Ticket barriers control access to all platforms, a large West London Waste Authority bulk rubbish handling depot lies to the east of the station which sees a daily waste train in operation. There is also a single line connection with the line to/from Paddington, the lines to Marylebone formerly passed either side of West Waste. The new down main line has a speed limit of 100 miles per hour compared with the former 60 miles per hour. The existing down main has been remodelled to become the down loop line, the bridge outside which carries the lines over Station Approach is lower than others locally at 11 feet 9 inches and is often hit by high vehicles. Either side of it false deck beams have been installed so the danger of any impacts causing damage to the bridge itself has been lessened, London Buses route 114 and E7 serve the station. ISBN 0-85033-592-2 London Transport Museum Photographic Archive South Ruislip and Northolt Junction station,1937 Rotunda ticket hall under construction,1954 Temporary booking hall,1955
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Zeppelin
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A Zeppelin was a type of rigid airship named after the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelins notions were first formulated in 1874 and developed in detail in 1893 and they were patented in Germany in 1895 and in the United States in 1899. After the outstanding success of the Zeppelin design, the word came to be commonly used to refer to all rigid airships. Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG, the worlds first airline in revenue service, by mid-1914, DELAG had carried over 10,000 fare-paying passengers on over 1,500 flights. During World War I the German military made use of Zeppelins as bombers and scouts. The defeat of Germany in 1918 temporarily slowed down the airship business, an exception was made allowing the construction of one airship for the US Navy, which saved the company from extinction. In 1926 the restrictions on airship construction were lifted and with the aid of donations from the public and this revived the companys fortunes, and during the 1930s the airships Graf Zeppelin and the larger LZ129 Hindenburg operated regular transatlantic flights from Germany to North America and Brazil. The Hindenburg disaster in 1937, along political and economic issues. The principal feature of Zeppelins design was a rigid metal framework made up from transverse rings. The advantage of design was that the aircraft could be much larger than non-rigid airships. The framework of most Zeppelins was made of duralumin, early Zeppelins used rubberised cotton for the gasbags, but most later craft used goldbeaters skin, made from the intestines of cattle. The first Zeppelins had long cylindrical hulls with tapered ends and complex multi-plane fins and they were propelled by several engines, mounted in gondolas or engine cars, which were attached to the outside of the structural framework. Some of these could provide reverse thrust for manoeuvring while mooring, early models had a comparatively small externally mounted gondola for passengers and crew which was attached to the bottom of the frame. This space was never heated so passengers during trips across the North Atlantic or Siberia were forced to bundle themselves in blankets, the flight ceiling was so low that no pressurization of the cabins was necessary, though the Hindenburg did maintain a pressurized air-locked smoking room. Access to the Zeppelin was achieved in a number of ways, the Graf Zeppelins gondola was accessed while the vessel was on the ground, via gangways. This describes a large rigidly framed outer envelope containing several separate gasbags and he had previously encountered Union Army balloons in 1863 when he visited the United States as a military observer during the American Civil War. Count Zeppelin began to pursue his project after his early retirement from the military in 1890 at the age of 52. Convinced of the importance of aviation, he started working on various designs in 1891
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No. 18 Squadron RAF
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No.18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham. No.18 Squadron was the first and is currently the largest RAF operator of the Chinook, owing to its heritage as a bomber squadron, it is also known as No.18 Squadron. The squadron was formed on 11 May 1915 at Northolt as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It arrived in France on 19 November 1915, principally equipped with the Vickers FB5 Gunbus, supplemented by a few Airco DH. 2s and Bristol Scouts, by April 1916 the squadron had re-equipped with FE2bs. Victor Huston became a flying ace piloting one of these. E. 2bs became more vulnerable during daylight operations. The squadron re-equipped with Airco DH. 4s from June 1917,18 Squadron was among many units deployed to stop the German attacks, resorting to low level attacks as well as more conventional medium level operations. George Darvill became an ace on DH. 4s, scoring nine victories, in September 1918, the squadron began to re-equip with Airco DH. 9As, this process continuing until November that year. By the end of the war, the squadron had claimed 200 air-to-air victories, the squadron returned to Britain in September 1919 and disbanded at Weston-on-the-Green on 31 December 1919. The squadron reformed at RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire on 20 October 1931, in January 1936, the squadron moved to RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk, with part of the squadron being detached to form No.49 Squadron on 10 February. In April 1936, the squadrons Harts were replaced by the improved Hawker Hind derivative, the squadron joined the newly established No.1 Group RAF in July 1936, and moved back to Upper Heyford in September 1936. 18 Squadron transferred to 2 Group on 1 January 1939, re-equipping with Bristol Blenheim I monoplane twin-engined bombers in May 1939. On the outbreak of the Second World War, No.18 Squadron along with 57 Squadron comprised No.70 Wing and was based at Upper Heyford. The wing was allocated for deployment to France as part of the BEF Air Component,18 Squadron reached France by the end of September 1939, commencing operations in October and re-equipping with Blenheim IVs in February 1940. When Germany invaded France and the Low Countries,18 Squadron took part in bombing missions against German troops as well as their envisioned reconnaissance missions. After the squadron was forced to change airfields three times in three days, it was ordered to back to England on 19 May, moving to RAF Watton in Norfolk. The Squadron was then assigned to anti-shipping duties, but during one raid over France in August 1941 and it was a spare for Wing Commander Douglas Bader. The Squadron then moved to North Africa with the Blenheim V, during an unescorted raid on Chouigui airfield in December 1942 led by Wing Commander Hugh Malcolm, his aircraft was shot down and he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. During 1943–45, No.18 Squadron supported the advance through Italy before moving to Greece in September 1945
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