|
Fred Hockley
Sub-Lieutenant Frederick (Fred) Hockley RNVR (1923–1945) was an English Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot who was shot down over Japan while taking part in the last combat mission flown by British aircraft in the Second World War. Nine hours after Emperor Hirohito announced the unconditional surrender of Japan, on 15 August 1945, Hockley was secretly executed by soldiers from the Imperial Japanese Army. The two officers who instigated the killing were convicted of war crimes and hanged in Hong Kong in 1947. Early life Hockley was born in Littleport near Ely in Cambridgeshire. His father was a foreman for the water board and a bellringer in the parish church. Fred attended Soham Grammar School and was a keen swimmer. Mission over Japan Hockley was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was posted to the aircraft carrier HMS Indefatigable as a Supermarine Seafire fighter pilot with 24 Wing of the Fleet Air Arm. On 15 August 1945 he took o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Littleport, Cambridgeshire
Littleport is a large village in East Cambridgeshire, in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about north-east of Ely and south-east of Welney, on the Bedford Level South section of the River Great Ouse, close to Burnt Fen and Mare Fen. There are two primary schools, Millfield Primary and Littleport Community, and a secondary, Littleport and East Cambridgeshire Academy. The Littleport riots of 1816 influenced the passage of the Vagrancy Act 1824. History With an Old English name of ''Litelport'', the village was worth 17,000 eels a year to the Abbots of Ely in 1086. The legendary founder of Littleport was King Canute. A fisherman gave the king shelter one night, after drunken monks had denied him hospitality. After punishing the monks, he made his host the mayor of a newly founded village. The Littleport Riots of 1816 broke out after war veterans from the Battle of Waterloo returned home, only to find they could get no work and grain prices had gone up. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seafire Over Invincible-class NAN2-1-44
''SeaFire'', first published in 1994, was the fourteenth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond (including Gardner's novelization of ''Licence to Kill''). Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam. Plot summary With the help of his latest girlfriend Flicka von Grüsse, James goes after billionaire Sir Maxwell Tarn, who thinks he's the next Hitler. Captain Bond now works for MicroGlobe One rather than an ill M whom he visits to cheer up and keep informed of the plot. The global trail takes 007 to Puerto Rico via Spain, Israel and Germany. During the story, Bond proposes to Flicka. An old friend reappears to aid James and split up this spy twosome. Publication history * UK first hardback edition: August 1994 Hodder & Stoughton * U.S. first hardback edition: September 1994 Putnam * UK first paperback edition: May 1995 Coronet Books * U.S. f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commissioned officer rank similar to a staff sergeant or warrant officer but is not equivalent to the role or appointment of an adjutant. An adjutant general is commander of an army's administrative services. Etymology Adjutant comes from the Latin ''adiutāns'', present participle of the verb ''adiūtāre'', frequentative form of ''adiuvāre'' 'to help'; the Romans actually used ''adiūtor'' for the noun. Military and paramilitary appointment In various uniformed hierarchies, the term is used for number of functions, but generally as a principal aide to a commanding officer. A regimental adjutant, garrison adjutant etc. is a staff officer who assists the commanding officer of a regiment, battalion or garrison in the details of regimental, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewel Voice Broadcast
The was a radio broadcast of surrender given by Japanese Emperor Hirohito (Shōwa) on August 15, 1945. It announced to the Japanese people that the Japanese Government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration demanding the unconditional surrender of the Japanese military at the end of World War II. Following the Hiroshima bombing on August 6, the Soviet declaration of war and the Nagasaki bombing on August 9, the Emperor's speech was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time on August 15, 1945, and referred to the atomic bombs as a reason for the surrender. The speech is the first known instance of an Emperor of Japan speaking to the common people (albeit via a phonograph record). It was delivered in formal Classical Japanese, with much pronunciation unfamiliar to ordinary Japanese. The speech made no direct reference to a surrender of Japan, instead stating that the government had been instructed to accept the " joint declaration" of the United States, the United Kingdom, China ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hirohito
Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was succeeded by his fifth child and eldest son, Akihito. By 1979, Hirohito was the only monarch in the world with the title "emperor". He was the longest-reigning historical Japanese emperor and one of the longest-reigning monarchs in the world. Hirohito was the head of state under the Meiji Constitution during Japan's imperial expansion, militarization, and involvement in World War II. Japan waged a war across Asia in the 1930s and 40s in the name of Hirohito, who was revered as a god. After Japan's surrender, he was not prosecuted for war crimes, as General Douglas MacArthur thought that an ostensibly cooperative emperor would help establish a peaceful Allied occupation, and help the U.S. achieve their postwar objectives. His role dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Lowden
Sub-lieutenant Victor Soutar Lowden DSC (13 September 1923 – 13 June 1998) was a Scottish businessman and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot during World War II. On 15 August 1945 he flew as fighter escort with one of the last Allied bombing raids on Tokyo Bay, subsequently participating in the last dogfight of the war, for which he was honoured. Early life Victor Lowden was born in Bangkok where his father was working as an accountant. He was educated at the High School of Dundee and Strathallan School in Scotland and St John's College, Cambridge. Lowden graduated with a BA (Hons) in economics, which had been accelerated over two years, so that he could join the Fleet Air Arm. His younger brother was Gordon Lowden. Naval career Lowden joined the Fleet Air Arm in July 1942 and completed his basic flying training at RAF Sealand and RCAF Station Kingston in Canada. Whilst training at RNAS Henstridge Lowden came to the attention of Commander R Mike Crosley who des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chōnan
270px, Chōnan town hall is a town located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7,743 in 3240 households and a population density of 120 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Located in the mountainous terrains that divides the Bōsō Peninsula, Chōnan has relatively little flat land. Like other municipalities in the region, the town maintains agricultural reservoirs. Several golf courses dot the landscape. Chōnan is located in the southeastern part of Chiba prefecture, about 25 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba, and 50 to 60 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. Neighboring municipalities Chiba Prefecture * Ichihara * Mobara * Nagara * Mutsuzawa * Ōtaki Climate Chōnan has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Chōnan is 15.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1684 mm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitsubishi A6M Zero
The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was designated as the , or the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen. The A6M was usually referred to by its pilots as the ''Reisen'' (, zero fighter), "0" being the last digit of the Japanese calendar#Years, imperial year 2600 (1940) when it entered service with the Imperial Navy. The official World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft, Allied reporting name was "Zeke", although the name "Zero" (from Type 0) was used colloquially as well. The Zero is considered to have been the most capable carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter in the world when it was introduced early in World War II, combining excellent maneuverability and very long range.Hawks, Chuck"The Best Fighter Planes of World War II" chuckhawks.com. Retrieved: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokyo Bay
is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous and largest industrialized area in Japan. Names In ancient times, Japanese knew Tokyo Bay as the . By the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600) the area had become known as after the city of Edo. The bay took its present name in modern times, after the Imperial court moved to Edo and renamed the city Tokyo in 1868. Geography Tokyo Bay juts prominently into the Kantō Plain. It is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture to the east and the Miura Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture to the west. The shore of Tokyo Bay consists of a diluvial plateau and is subject to rapid marine erosion. Sediments on the shore of the bay make for a smooth, continuous shoreline. Boundaries In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grumman Avenger
The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval aviation services around the world. The Avenger entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw action during the Battle of Midway. Despite the loss of five of the six Avengers on its combat debut, it survived in service to become the most effective and widely-used torpedo bomber of World War II, sharing credit for sinking the super-battleships and (the only ships of that type sunk exclusively by American aircraft while under way) and being credited for sinking 30 submarines. Greatly modified after the war, it remained in use until the 1960s.Wheeler 1992, p. 53. Design and development The Douglas TBD Devastator, the U.S. Navy's main torpedo bomber introduced in 1935, was obsolescent by 1939. Bids were accepted from several companies, but Gru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairey Firefly
The Fairey Firefly is a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft that was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was developed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviation Company. Development of the Firefly can be traced back to pair of specifications issued by the British Air Ministry in 1938, calling for new naval fighter designs. Designed to the contemporary FAA concept of a two-seat fleet reconnaissance/fighter, the pilot and observer were positioned at separate stations. In flight, the Firefly was superior in terms of both performance and firepower to its predecessor, the Fairey Fulmar. Due to a protracted development, the type only entered operational service towards the end of the conflict, at which point it was no longer competitive as a fighter. The limitations of a single engine in a relatively heavy airframe reduced its performance, but the Firefly proved to be a fairly sturdy, long-ranged, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermarine Seafire
The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised version of the Spitfire's stablemate, the Hawker Hurricane. The name Seafire was derived from the abbreviation of the longer name Sea Spitfire.Andrews and Morgan 1987, p. 247. The idea of adopting a navalised carrier-capable version of the Supermarine Spitfire had been mooted by the Admiralty as early as May 1938. Despite a pressing need to replace various types of obsolete aircraft that were still in operation with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), some opposed the notion, such as Winston Churchill, although these disputes were often a result of an overriding priority being placed on maximising production of land-based Spitfires instead. During 1941 and early 1942, the concept was again pushed for by the Admiralty, culminating in an initial batch of Seafire Mk Ib fighters being provided in late 1941 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
