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Air Defence Of Great Britain
The Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) command comprising substantial army and RAF elements responsible for the air defence of the British Isles. It lasted from 1925, following recommendations that the RAF take control of metropolitan air defence, until 1936 when it became RAF Fighter Command. History The ADGB was created as a command in 1925 as a result of the 1923 recommendation of the Steel–Bartholomew Committee, including their recommendation to transfer responsibility for home air defence from the War Office to the Air Ministry. It main initial elements were: * The RAF's Metropolitan Air Force, initially comprising 25 squadrons (9 fighter), soon expanding to 52 squadrons (17 fighter) * 264 heavy AA guns (Royal Artillery) and 672 searchlights (Royal Engineers) * The new part-time volunteer Observer Corps ADGB was organised into three defensive zones: * Inner Artillery Zone (IAZ), over London. * Air Fighter Zone (AFZ), divided into two areas co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of List of islands of the United Kingdom, the smaller islands within the British Isles, covering . Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. It maintains sovereignty over the British Overseas Territories, which are located across various oceans and seas globally. The UK had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the UK is London. The cities o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd Anti-Aircraft Division (United Kingdom)
The 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division (2nd AA Division) was an Air Defence formation of the British Army from 1935 to 1942. It controlled anti-aircraft gun and searchlight units of the Territorial Army (TA) defending the East Midlands and East Anglia during The Blitz. Origin In December 1935 the TA's 46th (North Midland) Division (which also acted as HQ for the North Midland Area of Northern Command) was disbanded and its headquarters was converted into 2nd Anti-Aircraft (AA) Division to control the increasing number of AA units being created. At first it administered all AA units in Great Britain outside London and the Home Counties, which were covered by 1st Anti-Aircraft Division. The new division was first organised at York, but shortly afterwards took over 46 Division's HQ at Normanton, Derby.''Monthly Army List'' 1936–39. Order of battle By the end of 1936 the division had the following order of battle, though many of the units were in an early stage of formation or conver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Ellington
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Edward Leonard Ellington, (30 December 1877 – 13 June 1967) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the First World War as a staff officer and then as director-general of military aeronautics and subsequently as controller-general of equipment. In the inter-war years he held command positions in the Middle East, in India and then in Iraq. He served as Chief of the Air Staff in the mid-1930s and in that role he implemented a plan, known as 'Scheme F'. This scheme implemented an increase in the size of the Royal Air Force to 187 squadrons (five bomber squadrons for every two fighter squadrons, reflecting the dominance of the bomber strategy at the time) within three years to counter the threat from Hitler's Germany. He also broke up the command known as "Air Defence of Great Britain" to create RAF Fighter Command, RAF Bomber Command, RAF Coastal Command and RAF Training Command. He then served as Inspector-General of the R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Rowland Scarlett
Air Vice Marshal Francis Rowland Scarlett, (18 May 1875 – 15 April 1934) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. Early and family life Francis Rowland Scarlett was born on 18 May 1875, the son of Lieutenant Colonel William James Scarlett. At the age of 29 he married Dora Blakiston-Houston, the daughter of John Blakiston-Houston, an Irish Unionist Party politician. He was the father of Air Vice Marshal James Rowland Scarlett-Streatfeild who was killed serving in the Second World War. Military career Scarlett joined the Royal Navy in (or around) 1891, and held the rank of lieutenant when in July 1902 he was posted as 1st lieutenant on the training ship HMS ''Caledonia'', anchored at the Firth of Forth. In April 1913 he attended the Central Flying School, being awarded his Aviator's Certificate no. 468 on 4 April 1913. He served in the First World War as the Inspecting Captain of Aircraft, of Air Stations and then of Air Training, gaining a promotion to wing captain at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Salmond
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Maitland Salmond, (17 July 1881 – 16 April 1968) was a British military officer who rose to high rank in the Royal Flying Corps and then the Royal Air Force. During the First World War he served as a squadron commander, a wing commander and then as General Officer Commanding the RAF on the Western Front towards the end of the war. He went on to be Air Officer Commanding British Forces in Iraq in the early 1920s when he halted a Turkish invasion and sought to put down a Kurdish uprising against King Faisal, the British-sponsored ruler of Iraq. He was Chief of the Air Staff in the early 1930s and bitterly opposed the position taken by British politicians at the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva, which would have led to the UK's complete aerial disarmament. In the event the talks broke down when Adolf Hitler withdrew from the Conference in October 1933. Early life John Salmond was born the son of Major General Sir William Salmon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Vice Marshal
Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. Air vice-marshal is usually equivalent to the naval rank of rear admiral or a rank of major general in an army. The rank of air vice-marshal is immediately senior to the rank of air commodore and immediately subordinate to the rank of air marshal. Since before the Second World War it has been common for air officers commanding RAF Group (air force), groups to hold the rank of air vice-marshal. In small air forces such as the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Ghana Air Force, the head of the air force holds the rank of air vice-marshal. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Second Tactical Air Force
The Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the World War II, Second World War. It was made up of Squadron (aviation), squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other Commonwealth of Nations, British Commonwealth air forces, and exiles from occupied Europe, German-occupied Europe. Renamed as British Air Forces of Occupation in 1945, 2TAF was recreated in 1951 and became Royal Air Force Germany in 1959. Formation 2TAF was formed on 1 June 1943 as HQ Tactical Air Force from RAF Army Cooperation Command, Army Co-operation Command, in connection with preparations then in train to invade Europe a year later. It took units from both RAF Fighter Command, Fighter Command and RAF Bomber Command, Bomber Command in order to form a force capable of supporting the British Army in the field. Bomber Command provided No. 2 Group RAF, No. 2 Group with light bombers; Fighter Command was split into the Air Defence of Great ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Pile
General Sir Frederick Alfred Pile, 2nd Baronet, (14 September 1884 – 14 November 1976) was a senior British Army officer who served in both World Wars. In the Second World War he was General Officer Commanding Anti-Aircraft Command, one of the elements that protected Britain from aerial attack. Early life Pile was born in Dublin as the second child of Sir Thomas Devereux Pile, 1st Baronet and his wife, Caroline Maude Nicholson. Sir Thomas served as the Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1900 to 1901. Pile had an older sister and two younger brothers. His youngest brother, Cyril John Pile, served in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War, and was killed in action in 1917. After attending the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, Pile was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in July 1904. He initially served in India, together with Britain and South Africa. Military career Pile served in the First World War and was involved in the retreat from Mons and was a Staff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
III Anti-Aircraft Corps (United Kingdom)
III Anti-Aircraft Corps was a high-level formation of Britain's Anti-Aircraft Command from 1940 to 1942. It defended Scotland, Northern Ireland and North East England during the Blitz and the middle years of the Second World War. Origin AA Command had been created in 1938 to control the Territorial Army's rapidly-expanding anti-aircraft (AA) organisation within Air Defence of Great Britain. On the outbreak of war in September 1939, it commanded seven AA Divisions, each with several AA Brigades, disposed around the United Kingdom. Continued expansion made this organisation unwieldy, so in November 1940 – during the ''Luftwaffes nightly Blitz on London and other British cities – five further AA Divisions were organised, and all the divisions grouped under three corps headquarters directly subordinate to AA Command. III AA Corps covered North Eastern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and by February 1941 comprised four division-level headquarters and 11 brigades. Its bound ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
II Anti-Aircraft Corps (United Kingdom)
II Anti-Aircraft Corps (II AA Corps) was a high-level formation of Britain's Anti-Aircraft Command from 1940 to 1942. It defended the Midlands and North West of England and Wales during the Blitz and the middle years of the Second World War. Origin AA Command had been created in 1938 to control the Territorial Army's rapidly-expanding anti-aircraft (AA) organisation within Air Defence of Great Britain. On the outbreak of war in September 1939, it commanded seven AA Divisions, each with several AA Brigades, disposed around the United Kingdom. Continued expansion made this organisation unwieldy, so in November 1940 – during the ''Luftwaffes nightly Blitz on London and other British cities – five further AA Divisions were organised, and all the divisions grouped under three corps headquarters directly subordinate to AA Command. II AA Corps covered the Midlands and North West of England and North Wales, and by February 1941 comprised four AA divisions and 14 brigades. Its boundar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Anti-Aircraft Corps (United Kingdom)
I Anti-Aircraft Corps (I AA Corps) was a high-level formation of Britain's Anti-Aircraft Command from 1940 to 1942. It defended Southern England and Wales during the Blitz and the middle years of the Second World War. Origin AA Command had been created in 1938 to control the Territorial Army's rapidly-expanding anti-aircraft (AA) organisation within Air Defence of Great Britain. On the outbreak of war in September 1939, it commanded seven AA Divisions, each with several AA Brigades, disposed around the United Kingdom. Continued expansion made this organisation unwieldy, so in November 1940 – during the ''Luftwaffes nightly Blitz on London and other British cities – five further AA Divisions were organised, and all the divisions grouped under three corps headquarters directly subordinate to AA Command. The largest of these was I AA Corps, covering Southern England and South Wales, which by February 1941 comprised five AA divisions and 20 brigades. Its boundaries roughly coinc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
