The Southampton Blitz was the heavy bombing of Southampton by the Nazi German Luftwaffe during World War II. Southampton was a strategic bombing target for the Luftwaffe as it contained both busy docks with associated business premises and factories and the Supermarine factory building Spitfires in Woolston. Being a large port city on the south coast it was within easy reach of German airfields in France. During the war, 57 attacks on the city were made. According to the Air Raid Precautions Department 2,300 bombs were dropped amounting to over 470 tonnes of high explosives. Over 30,000 incendiary devices were dropped on the city with nearly 45,000 buildings damaged or destroyed, with most of the city's High Street being hit; the Supermarine factory building making Spitfires in Woolston was a key target in the city. On the 24 and 26 September, 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked the riverside factory during two day-time raids. Much of the factory was destroyed and 110 people were killed. Northam gasworks was targeted on 26 September and 11 workers were killed in the raid.

A daylight raid on 6 November, 1940 targeted the city's Civic Centre. Hermann Goering, head of the Luftwaffe, had remarked that the Civic Centre appeared like a "piece of cake" from the air, that he was going to "cut himself a slice". During the raid twelve bombs were dropped, including a direct hit on the Civic Centre with a 500lb high explosive; the bomb penetrated to the lower floors of the art gallery killing 35 people, including 14 children, who were having an art lesson in the basement. Of the 57 air raids, by far the worst were on 23 and 30 November and 1 December 1940 and these attacks are referred to as "Southampton's Blitz". Starting at 1815 and running until midnight on the evening of 23 November, 77 people were killed and over 300 injured with the Civic Centre taking much of the brunt of the attack; the scale of the raid ruined the city's water supply and many of the fires had the be left to burn themselves out. There were reports that the glow of the firestorm of Southampton burning could be seen from as far away as Cherbourg on the coast of France.

Nazi publicity declared in propaganda. A week 120 German bombers returned for a further six-hour attack on the evening of November 30. 800 bombs dropped on the city left 137 96 killed in their air raid shelters. Major buildings including Pirelli Cable Works, the Daily Echo newspaper building and the General Motors factory were damaged or destroyed. All Saints', Holyrood and St. Mary's churches, were destroyed and although St. Michael's escaped with only minor damage because the spire was used by the German bombers as a landmark and their pilots were ordered not to hit it. Altogether, Southampton lost seven churches during the blitz, as well as the Audit House, the Ordnance Survey offices and many shops and homes; the last casualties of air raids in the city were in a small raid on the suburbs of the city in May 1941 and on 8 July 1941 in the area of Victory Crescent, Millbrook with the loss of at least three lives. The last major raid of over 50 bombers was in June 1942. There were occasional tip and run raids and in 1944 two V1 flying bombs in mid-July were the last enemy ordnance to fall in the city.

Among the victims of the bombing was Edgar L. Perry, who had worked as a trimmer on board the RMS Titanic. Perry, who had survived the sinking, perished along with his wife on 23 November 1940 as they sought shelter from the bombing. BBC People's War - One child's memories of the Southampton Blitz BBC People's War - getting bombed when home on leave Soton Blitz on Plimsoll.org Mapping the Southampton Blitz 70 years on - Ordnance Survey

British logistics in the Normandy Campaign played a key role in the success of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France in June 1944. The objective of the campaign was to secure a lodgement on the mainland of Europe for further operations; the Allies had to land sufficient forces to overcome the initial opposition and build it up faster than the Germans could respond. Planning for this operation had begun in 1942; the Anglo-Canadian force, the 21st Army Group, consisted of the British Second Army and Canadian First Army. Between them they had six armoured divisions, ten infantry divisions, two airborne divisions, nine independent armoured brigades and two commando brigades. Logistical units included six supply unit headquarters, 25 Base Supply Depots, 83 Detail Issue Depots, 25 field bakeries, 14 field butcheries and 18 port detachments; the army group was supported over the beaches and through the Mulberry artificial port specially constructed for the purpose. During the first seven weeks after the British and Canadian landings in Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944, the advance was much slower than anticipated, the lodgement area much smaller.

The short lines of communication provided an opportunity to accumulate reserves of supplies. Two army roadheads were created, No. 1 Army Roadhead for I Corps and No. 2 Army Roadhead for XXX Corps, these being the two corps ashore at the time. When the Canadian First Army assumed control of the British I Corps on 21 June, No. 1 Army Roadhead passed to its control. No. 2 Army Roadhead formed the nucleus of what became the Rear Maintenance Area of the 21st Army Group. By 26 July, 675,000 personnel, 150,000 vehicles and 690,000 tonnes of stores and 69,000 tonnes of bulk petrol had been landed. Ammunition usage was high, exceeding the daily allocation for the 25-pounder field guns by 8 per cent and for the 5.5-inch medium guns by 24 per cent. Greater priority was given to ammunition shipments, with petrol and lubricant shipments cut to compensate. On 25 July, the US First Army began the break-out from Normandy. On 26 August, 21st Army Group issued orders for an advance to the north to capture Belgium.

After a rapid advance, the British Guards Armoured Division liberated Brussels, the Belgian capital, on 3 September and the 11th Armoured Division captured Antwerp the following day. The advance was much faster than expected and the rapid increase in the length of the line of communications threw up logistical challenges that, together with increased German resistance, threatened to stall the Allied armies. By mid-September, the Allies had liberated most of Belgium; the success of the 21st Army Group was in large part due to its logistics, which provided the operational commanders with enormous capacity and tremendous flexibility. Between the world wars the British Army developed a doctrine based on using machinery as a substitute for manpower. In this way, it was hoped that mobility could be restored to the battlefield and the enormous casualties of the Great War could be avoided; the Army embraced motor transport and mechanisation as a means of increasing the tempo of operations. The wholesale mechanisation of the infantry and artillery was ordered in 1934 and by 1938, the British Army had only 5,200 horses, compared with 28,700 in the eve of the Great War in 1914.

In the Second World War, the Army relied on motor transport to move supplies between the railheads and the divisional depots. France was occupied by Germany in June 1940 following the German victory in the Battle of France. An important factor in the defeat was the failure of the logistical system of the British Expeditionary Force, which responded too to the rapid German advance. In the aftermath, the prospect of a British army invading and liberating France was remote, the British Army concentrated on repelling rather than mounting a cross-channel attack. On 19 June 1940, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Sir John Dill, ordered that all line of communications units not required for home defence be disbanded and no further units be raised. In the event of an invasion of the UK, the Home Forces planned to rely on civilian resources for transportation and maintenance. In March 1941, the War Cabinet decided. Henceforth, although the manpower "ceiling" was to be raised a little, this meant that raising more logistical units required the conversion of other units.

By this time, Home Forces divisions had a divisional slice of 25,000, but overseas operations required one of 36,500 to 39,000. The German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 drew German forces away from the west, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, while having the immediate effect of diverting troops from the war against Germany, brought the United States into the war, with the prospect of substantial resources over the longer term; this made realistic planning for an invasion of France possible. A War Office staff study in May 1942 for Operation Sledgehammer, an assault on France in 1942, revealed that an expeditionary force of six divisions would require all the logistical units in the UK, but not until 18 December 1942 was a final decision taken that a German invasion of the UK in 1943 was unlikely, the reorganisation of the forces in the UK for an invasion of France could begin. Operation Sledgehammer was superseded by Operation Roundup, a plan for an invasion of France in 1943.

In January 1943, the Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, General Sir Bernard Paget, estimated that an expeditionary force of eleven British and five Can

George James Cowley-Brown, M. A. was an Anglican clergyman and author who served in both the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church. The eldest son of George Francis Brown, he was educated at Christ Church, where awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1854 and a Master of Arts degree in 1857, he was ordained in the Anglican ministry as a deacon in 1855 and a priest in 1858. He served as a curate at Bladon-cum-Woodstock, Oxfordshire, 1855–1867, his next three appointments were Rector of Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire, 1867–1874. He became Rector of St John's, Edinburgh in 1883 and a canon of St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh in 1898, he retired in 1909. He lived at 9 Grosvenor Street in the western part of the city, he married and had two sons: Horace Wyndham Cowley-Brown and John Stapleton Cowley-Brown, who both became authors. He published a number of works: Lectures on the Gospel according to St. John A Short Apology for the Book of Common Prayer Daily Lessons on the Life of Our Lord, two volumes Prayers for a Household from Old Divines Some Reason for Believing Christianity to be True Via Media Verselets and Versions Bertie, David M..

Scottish Episcopal Clergy, 1689–2000. Edinburgh: T & T Clark. ISBN 0567087468

Ibrahim Obreh Kargbo is a Sierra Leonean former football player. He ended his career with a suspension over match-fixing. Former teams are Old Edwardians F. C. Feyenoord Rotterdam, RWD Molenbeek, Sporting Charleroi, Malatyaspor, FC Brussels and Willem II. During his time at Willem II he was a key player, he played more than 100 matches for the Dutch side and moved to FC Baku when his contract had expired. In August 2013, he joined his former team Brussels but decided to terminate his contract a month later. On 11 July 2014, Kargbo went on trial with Swindon Town along with Elikem Amenku after his release from West Bromwich Albion, although he did not sign for the club. Instead, Kargbo signed for Atlético, he played for Barkingside and Thamesmead Town, before signing for Welling United in February 2016. After making 10 appearances for Welling in their unsuccessful attempt to stay in the National League, Kargbo signed for Dulwich Hamlet of the Isthmian League Premier Division ahead of the 2016−17 season, going on to make 45 appearances and scoring 3 goals in all competitions in his first season at the club.

He plays as Defensive Midfielder. Kargbo is first choice defender for the Sierra Leone national football team and he succeeded Mohamed Kallon as the Leone Stars' national team captain. In July 2014, Kargbo was among 15 players and officials suspended from international football, along with Ibrahim Koroma, Samuel Barlay and Christian Caulker over allegations of match-fixing relating to a Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in 2008 against South Africa which ended 0–0, he was involved in match fixing during his time at Willem II, serving as the main contact for a gambling syndicate and selling them losses against AFC Ajax and Feyenoord. His ban was lifted in 2015. On 15 February 2016, the Royal Dutch Football Association reported it had found evidence of Kargbo being involved in match fixing in a match against FC Utrecht on 9 August 2009. Kargbo is now banned from playing football in the Netherlands. In April 2019, FIFA banned Kargbo for life from all footballing activities due to "match manipulation".

His son Ibrahim Kargbo Jr. is a footballer. As of 25 April 2013 SportWereld – Ibrahim Kargbo at the Wayback Machine Ibrahim Kargbo at Soccerway Career statistics at Dulwich Hamlet F. C

The second USS Saco was a yard tug in the United States Navy during the 1920s. The steam tug Alexander Brown was built in 1912 for the Aransas Dock and Channel Company, Aransas Pass, Texas, by A. C. Brown and Son, New York, she was acquired by the Navy on 30 September 1918 and designated SP-2725. Purchased for use as a yard tug at the Naval Air Station Key West, she operated there as Alexander Brown until 24 November 1920, when she was renamed Saco and redesignated YT-31. Saco continued yard tug operations until struck from the Navy list on 22 October 1926, she was sold to N. Block and Company, Virginia, on 3 May 1927; this article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here

Mohamed Abdelaziz is a Libyan politician who served as the foreign minister and chairman of the Arab League council of ministers from January 2013 to August 2014. Graduated from the Political Science Department of Cairo University in 1975, he worked for the Libyan Mission to the United Nations and was under-secretary of the Foreign Ministry at the time of Abdel Rahim Al-Kib. Abdelaziz was a member of the Libyan Mission to the UN, he worked at the Crime Prevention Centre in Vienna. He served as deputy minister of international cooperation and foreign affairs in the transition government of Libya. On 7 January 2013, Abdelaziz was appointed minister of international cooperation and foreign affairs after these two ministries were remerged; the cabinet was headed by Ali Zidan. Abdelaziz's term as foreign minister ended when the cabinet resigned on 29 August 2014, he was replaced by Mohammed al-Dairi in the post. In April 2014 he called for the restoration of the Senussi dynasty and that the constitutional monarchy established by the federalist constitution of 1951 was the "only solution" for "the return of security and stability to Libya"