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Dale Fort
Dale Fort is a mid-19th-century coastal artillery fort at Dale Head, a rocky promontory near Dale, Pembrokeshire, west of Milford Haven in Wales. It is one of the centres run by Field Studies Council and offers residential and non-residential fieldwork for schools, colleges and universities, holiday accommodation and professional and leisure courses in natural history and arts. History Although there was a proposal for an artillery battery on this site in 1829, the present fort is a result of a recommendation by Sir John Fox Burgoyne, the Inspector-General of Fortifications, in 1850. There is no record of when construction started, but the work was completed by 1858 and a date of 1856 is inscribed above the main gate. The fort was intended to protect the anchorage at the mouth of Milford Haven by providing crossfire, interlocking fire with the nearby forts at Thorn Island and West Blockhouse Fort, West Blockhouse. In 1876 there was a recommendation that the fort be re-armed with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dale, Pembrokeshire
Dale is a small village and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, located on the peninsula which forms the northern side of the entrance to the Milford Haven Waterway. The village has 205 inhabitants according to the 2001 census, increasing to 225 at the 2011 Census. History It was once a marcher borough, controlled by the Norman de Vale family from the 13th century Dale Castle. Owen, in 1603, described it as one of nine Pembrokeshire "boroughs in decay". Located in the hundred of Roose, it is part of Little England beyond Wales and has been English-speaking since the 12th century. The name (Old Norse: ''Dalr'' = "valley") suggests prior occupation by Scandinavians. The nearby RAF Dale airfield was active from 1941 to 1948. Following cessation of activities in World War II, RAF Dale was decommissioned, and the site became occupied by the Fleet Air Arm as RNAS Dale (''HMS Goldcrest''), a satellite of HMS ''Goldcrest'' at RNAS Brawdy. Henry Tudor In 1485, Henry Tudor land ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is headed by the Chief Royal Engineer. The Corps Headquarters and the Royal School of Military Engineering are in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in Kent, England. The corps is divided into several regiments, barracked at various places in the United Kingdom and around the world. History The Royal Engineers trace their origins back to the military engineers brought to England by William the Conqueror, specifically Gundulf of Rochester, Bishop Gundulf of Rochester Cathedral, and claim over 900 years of unbroken service to the crown. Engineers have always served in the armies of the Crown; however, the origins of the modern corps, along with those of the Royal Artillery, lie in the Board of Ordnance established in the 15th century. In Woolwich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
68-pounder Gun
The 68-pounder cannon was an artillery piece designed and used by the British Armed Forces in the mid-19th century. The cannon was a smoothbore muzzle-loading gun manufactured in several weights firing projectiles of . Colonel William Dundas designed the 112 cwt version in 1841 which was cast the following year. The most common variant, weighing , dates from 1846. It entered service with the Royal Artillery and the Royal Navy and saw active service with both arms during the Crimean War. Over 2,000 were made and it gained a reputation as the finest smoothbore cannon ever made. The gun was produced at a time when new rifled and breech loading guns were beginning to make their mark on artillery. At first the 68-pounder's reliability and power meant that it was retained even on new warships such as HMS ''Warrior'', but eventually new rifled muzzle loaders made all smoothbore muzzle-loading guns obsolete. However, the large surplus stocks of 68-pounders were given new life when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magazine (artillery)
A magazine is an item or place within which ammunition or other explosive material is stored. The word is taken originally from the Arabic word ''makhāzin'' (مخازن), meaning "storehouses", via Italian and Middle French. The term is also used for an ammunition dump, a place where large quantities of ammunition are stored for later distribution. This usage is less common. Field magazines In the early history of tube artillery drawn by horses (and later by mechanized vehicles), ammunition was carried in separate unarmored wagons or vehicles. These soft-skinned vehicles were extremely vulnerable to enemy fire and to explosions caused by a weapons malfunction. Therefore, as part of setting up an artillery battery, a designated place would be used to shelter the ready ammunition. In the case of batteries of towed artillery the temporary magazine would be placed, if possible, in a pit, or natural declivity, or surrounded by sandbags or earthworks. Circumstances might requ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barracks
Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks are usually permanent buildings. The word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes, and the plural form often refers to a single structure and may be English plurals#Plural in form but singular in construction, singular in construction. The main objective of barracks is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training, and ''esprit de corps''. They have been called "discipline factories for soldiers". Like industrial factories, some are considered to be shoddy or dull buildings, although others are known for their magnificent architecture such as Collins Barracks, Dublin, Collins Barracks in Dublin and others in Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Vienna, or London. From the rough barracks of 19th- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bastion
A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the flanks being able to protect the curtain wall and the adjacent bastions. Compared with the medieval fortified towers they replaced, bastion fortifications offered a greater degree of passive resistance and more scope for ranged defence in the age of gunpowder artillery. As military architecture, the bastion is one element in the style of fortification dominant from the mid 16th to mid 19th centuries. Evolution By the middle of the 15th century, artillery pieces had become powerful enough to make the traditional medieval round tower and curtain wall obsolete. This was exemplified by the campaigns of Charles VII of France who reduced the towns and castles held by the English during the latter stages of the Hundred Years War, and by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loophole
A loophole is an ambiguity or inadequacy in a system, such as a law or security, which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the purpose, implied or explicitly stated, of the system. Originally, the word meant an arrowslit, a narrow vertical window in a wall through which an archer (or, later, gunman) could shoot. Loopholes were commonly used in U.S. forts built during the 1800s. Located in the sally port, a loophole was considered a last ditch defense, where guards could close off the inner and outer doors trapping enemy soldiers and using small arms fire through the slits. Legal loopholes are distinct from lacunae, although the two terms are often used interchangeably. In a loophole, a law addressing a certain issue exists, but can be legally circumvented due to a technical defect in the law, such as a situation where the details are under-specified. A lacuna, on the other hand, is a situation in which no law exists in the first place to address that particular issue. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ditch (fortification)
In military engineering, a ditch is an obstacle designed to slow down or break up an attacking force, while a Trench warfare, trench is intended to provide cover to the defenders. In military fortifications, the side of a ditch furthest from the enemy and closest to the next line of defence is known as the scarp (fortification), scarp while the side of a ditch closest to the enemy is known as the counterscarp. Uses In early fortifications, ditches were often used in combination with rampart (fortification), ramparts to slow down the enemy whilst defensive fire could be brought to bear from the relative protection afforded by the rampart and possibly the palisade. In medieval fortifications, a ditch was often constructed in front of a defensive wall to hinder Mining (military), mining and escalade activities from an attacker. When filled with water, such a defensive ditch is called a moat. However, moats may also be dry. Star forts designed by military engineers like Vauban, co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advanced Level (UK)
The A-level (Advanced Level) is a main school leaving qualification of the General Certificate of Education in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is available as an alternative qualification in other countries, where it is similarly known as an A-Level. Students generally study for A-levels over a two-year period. For much of their history, A-levels have been examined by written exams taken at the end of these two years. A more modular approach to examination became common in many subjects starting in the late 1980s, and standard for September 2000 and later cohorts, with students taking their subjects to the half-credit "AS" level after one year and proceeding to full A-level the next year (sometimes in fewer subjects). In 2015, Ofqual decided to change back to a terminal approach where students sit all examinations at the end of the second year. AS is still offered, but as a separate qualification; AS grades no longer count toward ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skokholm
Skokholm () or Skokholm Island is an island off the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales, south of the neighbouring island of Skomer. The surrounding waters are a marine reserve and all are part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Both islands are listed as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Geography Skokholm is long and wide, covering . Made up of Old Red Sandstone, its cliffs stand between in the northeast, to in the southwest. Battered by storms, the high cliffs and isolated nature of the island make it a haven for seabirds. There is a rock outcrop close to the centre of the island, which provides shelter to the island's only structures. Its greatest height is 55 metres (180 feet). History Whilst no trees grow on the island in modern times, Skokholm is possibly Norse for "wooded island", a combination of ''skógr'' (wood, modern Norwegian: ''skog'') and ''holmr'' (small island, middle English ''holm'' and modern Scandinavian ''holme''), named by the Vikings. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Wales Field Society
The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) () is a The Wildlife Trusts partnership, Wildlife Trust in south and west Wales, one of 46 such Trusts in the United Kingdom. History Forerunner of the WTSWW, the former West Wales Naturalists' Trust traces its origin to a meeting held in Haverfordwest in February 1938. It was convened by L. D. Whitehead, the Welsh industrialist and owner of Ramsey, and the naturalist and author R. M. Lockley, then living on Skokholm. Seventy-eight people were present at that inaugural meeting and on the motion of Mr. Hugh Lloyd-Philipps, of Dale Castle, the Pembrokeshire Bird Protection Society was formed. In 1943, the society was urged to promote the establishment of nature reserves in readiness for post-war conditions. A meeting in 1945 decided to widen its area, so as to cover the counties of Pembrokeshire, Pembroke, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthen, Cardiganshire, Cardigan, and Merioneth, in compliance with requests from those counties, and cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naval Mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are deposited and left to wait until, depending on their fuzing, they are triggered by the approach of or contact with any vessel. Naval mines can be used offensively, to hamper enemy shipping movements or lock vessels into a harbour; or defensively, to create "safe" zones protecting friendly sea lanes, harbours, and naval assets. Mines allow the minelaying force commander to concentrate warships or defensive assets in mine-free areas giving the adversary three choices: undertake a resource-intensive and time-consuming minesweeping effort, accept the casualties of challenging the minefield, or use the unmined waters where the greatest concentration of enemy firepower will be encountered. Although international law requires signatory nations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
