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23rd Battalion (New Zealand)
The 23rd Battalion, also known as the ''Canterbury-Otago Battalion'', was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Military Forces during the Second World War. Formed in November 1939 as part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force. After undertaking training at Burnham Camp the battalion sailed from New Zealand on 1 May 1940. The battalion saw action in Greece, Crete, North Africa, and Italy. History Formation and training Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the New Zealand government authorised the formation of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF), for service at home and abroad. Following consultation with the British government, it was decided that the main New Zealand contribution to the war effort would be in the form of an infantry division, the 2nd New Zealand Division, under the command of Major General Bernard Freyberg. The new division would require nine battalions of infantry and consequently, several infa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Army
The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Military Forces, the Army traces its history from settler militia raised in that same year. The current name was adopted by the New Zealand Army Act 1950. During its history, the New Zealand Army has fought in a number of major wars, including the Second Boer War#New Zealand, Second Boer War, the First World War, First and Second World Wars, New Zealand in the Korean War, Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, New Zealand in the Vietnam War, Vietnam War, and more recently in Iraq War, Iraq and War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), Afghanistan. Since the 1970s, deployments have tended to be assistance to multilateral peacekeeping efforts. Considering the small size of the force, operational commitments have remaine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg
Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a United Kingdom, British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the List of governors-general of New Zealand, 7th governor-general of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952 - the first to have been raised and educated in New Zealand. Freyberg served as an officer in the British Army during the First World War. He took part in the beach landings during the Gallipoli campaign and was the youngest general in the British Army during the First World War, later serving on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, where he was decorated with the Victoria Cross and three Distinguished Service Orders, making him one of the most highly decorated British Empire soldiers of the First World War. He liked to be in the thick of the action: Winston Churchill called him "the Salamander" due to his ability to pass through fire unharme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fall Of France
The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) and France. The plan for the invasion of the Low Countries and France was called (Case Yellow or the Manstein plan). (Case Red) was planned to finish off the French and British after the evacuation at Dunkirk. The Low Countries and France were defeated and occupied by Axis troops down to the Demarcation line. On 3 September 1939, France and Britain declared war on Nazi Germany, over the German invasion of Poland on 1 September. In early September 1939, the French army began the limited Saar Offensive but by mid-October had withdrawn to the start line. On 10 May 1940, Wehrmacht armies invaded Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and parts of France. In (Case Yellow), German armoured units advanced through the Ardennes, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (), was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom. It was to have taken place during the Battle of Britain, nine months after the start of the Second World War. Following the Battle of France and that country's capitulation, Adolf Hitler, the German Führer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, hoped the British government would accept his offer to end the state of war between the two. He considered invasion to be a last resort, to be used only if all other options had failed. As a precondition for the invasion of Great Britain, Britain, Hitler demanded both air superiority, air and naval superiority over the English Channel and the proposed landing sites. The German forces achieved neither at any point of the war. Further, both Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the German High Command and Hitler himself held serious doubts about the prospects for success. Nevertheless, both the German Army (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gourock
Gourock ( ; ) is a town in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a resort town, seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is as a residential area, extending contiguously from Greenock, with a railway terminus and ferry services across the Clyde. History The name Gourock comes from a Gaelic word for "pimple", in reference to the hill above the town. As far back as 1494 it is recorded that James IV of Scotland, James IV sailed from the shore at Gourock to quell the rebellious Highland clans. Two hundred years later William III of England, William and Mary granted a Charter in favour of Stewart of Castlemilk which raised Gourock to a Burgh of Barony. In 1784 the lands of Gourock were purchased by Duncan Darroch, a former merchant in Jamaica. He built Gourock House near the site of the castle in what the family eventually gifted to the town ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freetown
Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and political centre, as it is the seat of the Government of Sierra Leone. The population of Freetown was 1,347,559 as of the 2024 census. The city's economy revolves largely around its harbour, which occupies a part of the estuary of the Sierra Leone River in one of the world's largest natural deep water harbours. Although the city has traditionally been the homeland of the Sierra Leone Creole people, the population of Freetown is ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse. The city is home to a significant population of all of Sierra Leone's Ethnic groups in Sierra Leone, ethnic groups, with no single ethnic group forming more than 27% of the city's population. As in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone, the Krio language ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest city by population, after Johannesburg, and the largest city in the Western Cape. The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality. The city is known for Port of Cape Town, its harbour, its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place in the world to visit by ''The New York Times'', and was similarly ranked number one by ''The Daily Telegraph'' in both 2016 and 2023. Located on the shore of Table Bay, the City Bowl area of Cape Town, which contains its Cape Town CBD, central business district (CBD), is History of Cape Town, the oldest urban area in the Western Cape, with a signi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The Extremes on Earth#Other places considered the most remote, world's most isolated major city by certain criteria, Perth is part of the South West Land Division of Western Australia, with most of Perth metropolitan region, Perth's metropolitan area on the Swan Coastal Plain between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Scarp. The city has expanded outward from the original British settlements on the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River, upon which its #Central business district, central business district and port of Fremantle are situated. Perth was founded by James Stirling (Royal Navy officer), Captain James Stirling in 1829 as the administrative centre of the Swan River Colony. The city is situated on the traditional lands of the Whadju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otago
Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government region. Its population was The name "Otago" is the local Māori language#South Island dialects, southern Māori dialect pronunciation of "Otakou, Ōtākou", the name of the Māori village near the entrance to Otago Harbour. The exact meaning of the term is disputed, with common translations being "isolated village" and "place of red earth", the latter referring to the reddish-ochre clay that is common in the area around Dunedin. "Otago" is also the old name of the European settlement on the harbour, established by the Weller Brothers in 1831, which lies close to Otakou. The upper harbour later became the focus of the Otago Association, an offshoot of the Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), Free Church of Scotland, notable for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canterbury, New Zealand
Canterbury () is a Regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current form was established in 1989 during nationwide local government reforms. The Kaikōura District joined the region in 1992 following the abolition of the Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council. Christchurch, the South Island's largest city and the country's second-largest urban area, is the seat of the region and home to percent of the region's population. Other major towns and cities include Timaru, Ashburton, New Zealand, Ashburton, Rangiora and Rolleston, New Zealand, Rolleston. History Natural history The land, water, flora, and fauna of Canterbury has a long history, stretching from creation of the greywacke basement rocks that make up the Southern Alps to the arrival of the first humans. This history is linked to the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south by the Foveaux Strait and Southern Ocean, and to the east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers , making it the List of islands by area, world's 12th-largest island, constituting 56% of New Zealand's land area. At low altitudes, it has an oceanic climate. The most populous cities are Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson and Invercargill. Prior to European settlement, Te Waipounamu was sparsely populated by three major iwi – Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, and the historical Waitaha (South Island iwi), Waitaha – with major settlements including in Kaiapoi Pā near modern-day Christchurch. During the Musket Wars expanding iwi colonised Te Tau Ihu Māori, Te Tau Ihu, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
22nd Battalion (New Zealand)
The 22nd Battalion, also known as the "Wellington Battalion", was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Military Forces, which served during the Second World War. After undertaking defensive duties in the United Kingdom from mid-1940 until early 1941, the battalion then fought in the Battles of Greece and Crete where it suffered heavy casualties and lost a large number of men who were taken as prisoners of war. After being rebuilt, the battalion fought in North Africa, fighting in Operation Crusader, before undertaking garrison duties in Syria. It later fought in the First Battle of El Alamein during which they suffered heavy casualties at Ruweisat Ridge. Re-formed, the battalion later fought in the Second Battle of El Alamein. In late 1943, the battalion was transferred to Italy where it fought for the remainder of the war, fighting battles around Cassino and along the Adriatic coast, before entering Trieste in the final days of the war. After the war, it performed occupatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
