The War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict between Britain and Spain lasting from 1739 to 1748 in New Granada and among the West Indies of the Caribbean Sea, with major operations ended by 1742. Its name, coined by British historian Thomas Carlyle in 1858, refers to Robert Jenkins, a captain of a British merchant ship, having suffered having his ear severed when Spanish sailors boarded his ship at a time of peace. There is no evidence that supports the stories that the severed ear was exhibited before the British Parliament; the seeds of conflict began with the injury to Jenkins following the boarding of his vessel by Spanish coast guards in 1731, eight years before the war began. Popular response to the incident was tepid until several years when opposition politicians and the British South Sea Company played it up, hoping to spur outrage against Spain, believing that a victorious war would improve Britain's trading opportunities in the Caribbean. In addition, the British wanted to keep pressure on Spain to honour their lucrative asiento contract, which gave British slave traders permission to sell slaves in Spanish America.

The Spanish refer to this asiento in their name for this war. British attacks on Spanish possessions in Central America resulted in high casualties from disease. After 1742, the war was subsumed by the wider War of the Austrian Succession, which involved most of the powers of Europe. Peace arrived with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748; the cause of the war is traditionally seen as a dispute between Britain and Spain over access to markets in Spanish America. Historians such as Anderson and Woodfine argue it was one of several issues, including tensions with France and British expansion in North America, they suggest the decisive factor in turning a commercial dispute into war was the domestic political campaign to remove Robert Walpole, long-serving British Prime Minister. The 18th century economic theory of mercantilism viewed trade as a finite resource; the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht gave British merchants access to markets in Spanish America, including the Asiento de Negros, a monopoly to supply 5,000 slaves a year.

Another was the Navio de Permiso, permitting two ships a year to sell 500 tons of goods each in Porto Bello and Veracruz. These rights were assigned to the South Sea Company, acquired by the British government in 1720. However, trade between Britain and mainland Spain was far more significant. British goods were imported through Cadiz, either for sale locally or re-exported to Spanish colonies, with Spanish dye and wool being sold to England. A leading City of London merchant called the trade ‘the best flower in our garden.’ The asiento itself was marginally profitable and has been described as a'commercial illusion'. Previous holders made money by carrying smuggled goods that evaded customs duties, demand from Spanish colonists creating a large and profitable black market. Accepting the trade was too widespread to be stopped, the Spanish authorities used it as an instrument of policy. During the 1727 to 1729 Anglo-Spanish War, French ships carrying contraband were let through, while British ships were stopped and severe restrictions imposed on British merchants in Cadiz.

This was reversed during the 1733 to 1735 War of the Polish Succession, when Britain supported Spanish acquisitions in Italy. The 1729 Treaty of Seville allowed the Spanish to board British vessels trading with the Americas. In 1731, Robert Jenkins claimed his ear was amputated by coast guard officers after they discovered contraband aboard his ship Rebecca; such incidents were seen as the cost of doing business and were forgotten after the easing of restrictions in 1732. Although an earless Jenkins was exhibited in the House of Commons, war declared in 1739, the legend that his severed ear was shown to the House of Commons has no basis in fact. Tensions increased after the founding of the British colony of Georgia in 1732, which Spain considered a threat to Spanish Florida, vital to protect shipping routes with mainland Spain. For their part, the British viewed the 1733 Pacte de Famille between Louis XV and his uncle Philip V as the first step in being replaced by France as Spain's largest trading partner.

A second round of "depredations" in 1738 led to demands for compensation, British newsletters and pamphlets presenting them as inspired by France. Linking these allowed the Tory opposition to imply failure to act was due to George II's concerns over exposing Hanover to French attack. Resistance to European'entanglements' was an ongoing theme in English politics, going back to the 17th century; the January 1739 Convention of Pardo set up a Commission to resolve the Georgia-Florida boundary dispute and agreed Spain would pay damages of £95,000 for ships seized. In return, the South Sea Company would pay £68,000 to Philip V as his share of profits on the asiento. Despite being controlled by the government, the company refused and Walpole reluctantly accepted his political opponents wanted war. On 10 July 1739, the Admiralty was authorised to begin naval operations against Spain and on 20th, a force under Admiral Vernon sailed for the West Indies, he reached Antigua in early October. The incident that gave its name to the war had occurred in 1731, off the coast of Florida, when the British brig Rebecca was boarded by the Spanish patrol boat La Isabela, commanded by the guarda costa Juan de León Fandiño.

After boarding, Fandiño cut off the left ear of the

List of battles of the Polish-Soviet War by chronology: Soviet "Target Vistula" offensive Battle of Bereza Kartuska Vilna offensive: Polish offensive to Vilna First Battle of Lida Battle of Berezina Operation Minsk: Polish offensive to Minsk Battles of Chorupań and Dubno Battle of Daugavpils: joint Polish-Latvian operation Battle of Latyczów Battle of Koziatyn Battle of Czarnobyl Battle of the Berezina Kiev Offensive Battle of Wołodarka Battle of Bystryk Battle of Boryspil Battle of Borodzianka Battle of Głębokie Battle of Mironówka Battle of Olszanica Battle of Żywotów Battle of Miedwiedówka Battle of Dziunków Battle of Wasylkowce Battle of Grodno Battle of Brody Battle of Serock Battle of Ostrołęka Battle of Lwów Battle of Tarnopol Battle of Warsaw Battle of Nasielsk, Battle of Radzymin, Battle of Ossów, Battle of Borkowo, Battle of Kock Battle of Cyców Battle of Dęblin and Mińsk Mazowiecki Battle of Zadwórze: the "Polish Thermopylæ" Battle of Przasnysz Battle of Sarnowa Góra Battle of Białystok Battle of Zamość - Budyonny's attempt to take Zamość Battle of Komarów: great cavalry battle, ending in Budyonny's defeat Battle of Hrubieszów Battle of Sejny Battle of Kobryń Battle of Dytiatyn Battle of Brzostowica Battle of the Niemen River Battles of Obuchowe and Krwawy Bór Battle of Zboiska Battle of Minsk

Group Captain Norman William Reginald Mawle was a British World War I flying ace. He was credited with 12 official aerial victories during the First World War. During World War II, he returned to his country's service, not retiring until 1954. Norman William Reginald Mawle was born in Banbury on 27 February 1897. Cadet Norman Mawle of the Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 5 September 1916, he was seconded as a flying officer to the Royal Flying Corps on 27 December 1917. He was attached to No. 5 Squadron RFC for five weeks. Mawle was promoted to lieutenant on 5 March 1918. On 22 May 1918, Mawle was assigned to No. 84 Squadron RAF as a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5 pilot. His original assigned aircraft was substandard, he would not have success until it was wrecked by another pilot, replaced. Using SE.5 serial number D6917, he destroyed a German observation balloon at Proyart for his first victory, on 17 July 1918. Three days he busted another balloon and destroyed a Fokker D.

VII. A broken connecting rod in the engine moved Mawle out of his customary plane into SE.5 serial number C1868. VII over Warfusée. Once back in his familiar machine, he helped destroy an LVG reconnaissance plane on 29 July 1918 for his fifth win; the following day, he drove one Fokker D. VII spinning down out of control. Two other Fokker D. VIIs in the fight went down. On 4 August, he destroyed another balloon. Three days Mawle destroyed a Fokker D. VII and drove another down out of control; the following day, he burned a German balloon for final victory. While strafing two horse-drawn German balloons, Mawle was wounded in the stomach and arm by ground fire, he was removed from combat duty. On 2 November 1918, Mawle received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his exploits, his citation read: Lieutenant Norman William Reginald Mawle "A courageous and skillful leader, who has destroyed nine enemy machines and four kite balloons. While leading his patrol of five scouts, he observed a hostile formation of fifteen scouts.

Nothing daunted by the disparity in numbers, he at once engaged them. During a recent patrol he engaged two kite balloons, one of which he shot down in flames at 25 feet altitude, he attacked an anti-tank gun, stampeding the horses and causing the gun to overturn in a ditch. In this patrol he was wounded, but flew his machine back to his aerodrome." In November 1934, Mawle was executor on an estate in Hounslow. Mawle was promoted from flight lieutenant to squadron leader and transferred from No. 913 Balloon Squadron AAF to command of No. 911 Balloon Squadron AAF on 6 June 1939. On 1 September 1941, Mawle was promoted to temporary wing commander in the Balloon Branch of the Auxiliary Air Force of the Royal Air Force; as of 1 July 1942, he dropped the "temporary" designation. On 24 April 1944, Mawle transferred to administrative duties. Mawle retired from the Royal Auxiliary Air Force on 10 February 1954, as a wing commander retaining the rank of group captain. Mawle was serving as a magistrate and as Chairman of the West Bromwich Savings Committee, when he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1962 Birthday Honours.

Shores, Christopher. Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces, 1915–1920. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-19-4