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Donald Farmer
Lieutenant-Colonel Donald Dickson Farmer VC (28 May 1877 – 23 December 1956) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Early military service Farmer joined the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders on 29 March 1892, and served with the 1st Battalion in the Sudan Campaign, 1898, and was present at the battles of Atbara and Khartoum. Details on Victoria Cross Farmer was 23 years old, and a sergeant in the 1st Battalion, the Cameron Highlanders, during the Second Boer War when he won the VC on 13 December 1900 at Nooitgedacht, South Africa. His citation reads: Later military career He served in South Africa throughout the war, and returned home with other officers and men of the 1st Battalion Cameron Highlanders on the SS ''Dunera'', which arrived at Southampton in October 1902. During World War I he served with the King's Regiment (Liverp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kelso, Scottish Borders
Kelso is a market town in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Within the boundaries of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire, it lies where the rivers River Tweed, Tweed and River Teviot, Teviot have their confluence. The town has a population of 5,639 according to the 2011 census and based on the 2010 definition of the locality. Kelso's main tourist attractions are the ruined Kelso Abbey and Floors Castle. The latter is a house designed by William Adam (architect), William Adam which was completed in 1726. The Kelso Bridge was designed by John Rennie the Elder, John Rennie, who later built London Bridge. Kelso held the UK record for the lowest January temperature at , from 1881 until 1982. History The town of Kelso came into being as a direct result of the creation of Kelso Abbey in 1128. The town's name stems from the earliest settlement having stood on a chalky outcrop, and the town was known as Calkou (or perhaps Calchfynydd) in those early days, som ... [...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] |
1956 Deaths
Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are killed for trespassing by the Waorani people of Ecuador, shortly after making contact with them. * January 16 – Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser vows to reconquer Palestine (region), Palestine. * January 25–January 26, 26 – Finnish troops reoccupy Porkkala, after Soviet Union, Soviet troops vacate its military base. Civilians can return February 4. * January 26 – The 1956 Winter Olympics open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. February * February 2 – Austria and Israel establish diplomatic Austria–Israel relations, relations. * February 11 – British Espionage, spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean (spy), Donald Maclean resurface in the Soviet Union, after being missing for 5 years. * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1877 Births
Events January * January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India by the Royal Titles Act 1876, introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . * January 8 – Great Sioux War of 1876: Battle of Wolf Mountain – Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry in Montana. * January 20 – The Conference of Constantinople ends, with Ottoman Turkey rejecting proposals of internal reform and Balkan provisions. * January 29 – The Satsuma Rebellion, a revolt of disaffected samurai in Japan, breaks out against the new imperial government; it lasts until September, when it is crushed by a professionally led army of draftees. February * February 17 – Major General Charles George Gordon of the British Army is appointed Governor-General of the Sudan. March * March 2 – Compromise of 1877: The 1876 United States presidential election is resolved with the selection of Ru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pen And Sword Books
Pen and Sword Books, also stylised as Pen & Sword, is a British publisher which specialises in printing and distributing books in both hardback and softback on military history, militaria and other niche subjects, primarily focused on the United Kingdom. Pen and Sword has over 6,000 titles available in print, and also available as ebook download. Releasing 500 new titles each year on a variety of subjects, it is part of the '' Barnsley Chronicle'' newspaper group. History The first books produced by the company were in response to public demand, following a series of articles first published weekly in the '' Barnsley Chronicle''. ''Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks'' told the story of crash sites in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, and a further weekly feature on the history of two Kitchener battalions, known as the Barnsley Pals, aroused a public interest. Over the years these books have been reprinted a number of times. Following on from the success of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Crosses Of The Anglo-Boer War
The Victoria Cross (VC) is a British military honour awarded to 78 members of the British Armed Forces for action during the Second Boer War. The Victoria Cross is a military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of some Commonwealth countries and previous British Empire territories. The VC was introduced in Great Britain on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to reward acts of valour during the Crimean War, and takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals. It may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service and to civilians under military command. The first ceremony was held on 26 June 1857, when Queen Victoria invested 62 of the 111 Crimean recipients in Hyde Park. The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 to 31 May 1902, between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic). After a set of failed negotia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Register Of The Victoria Cross
''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the following details where applicable or available– rank, unit, other decorations, date of gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ..., place/date of birth, place/date of death, memorials, town/county connections, and any remarks. The book was first published by the quarterly magazine, '' This England'' in 1981, a revised and enlarged edition in 1988 and a third edition in 1997. There is no editor noted on the cover page or the title page, but Nora Buzzell is acknowledged in all three editions, especially in the 1988 and 1997 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monuments To Courage
David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a British historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 36 years to complete. Biography Harvey was born in East Ham, then in Essex but now part of the London Borough of Newham, the son of a grocer, and worked as a salesman after he attended Hinchley Wood School in Surrey. He later joined the Metropolitan Police, where he started the mounted police magazine ''One One Ten'', before he moved to Denver, Colorado, to run an equestrian centre for over a decade. A chance meeting with Canon William Lummis led him to take over his life-work of researching and documenting the final resting places of all Victoria Cross recipients. This task took Harvey to 48 countries over the next four decades. However, an accident during a visit to the Somme in 1992 left Harvey in a wheelchair for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort George, Highland
Fort George is a large 18th-century fortress near Ardersier, to the north-east of Inverness in the Highland council area of Scotland. It was built to control the Scottish Highlands in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745, replacing a ''Fort George'' in Inverness constructed after the 1715 Jacobite rising to control the area. The current fortress has never been attacked and has remained in continuous use as a garrison. The fortification is based on a star design; it remains virtually unaltered and nowadays is open to visitors with exhibits and facsimiles showing the fort's use at different periods, while still serving as an army barracks. Old Fort George In 1726, the first fortification known as Fort George was completed in Inverness on the orders of General George Wade. The Georgian fort, which stood on a hillock beside the River Ness, incorporated portions of a medieval castle that had been started by Malcolm III of Scotland in the late 11th century. In the 17th ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Walter Sandilands
Major-General James Walter Sandilands (1874 – 1959) was a senior British Army officer who served as Commander of British Troops in South China. Military career Sandilands joined the Militia and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 3rd & 4th (6th Royal Lancashire Militia) Battalions, Manchester Regiment on 14 April 1895. He was later promoted to lieutenant in the militia battalion of the Gordon Highlanders. He transferred to the full-time regular army when he was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders on 24 March 1897. He fought in the Mahdist War in 1898, for which he was mentioned in despatches and promoted to lieutenant on 28 September 1898.Hart′s Army list, 1903 He served in the Second Boer War with Mounted Infantry. During the war, he was present for operations in the Orange Free State from February to May 1900, then in Transvaal and the Orange River Colony during the rest of 1900. He took part in actions near Johannesbu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Arthur Penrhyn Clements
Major General Ralph Arthur Penrhyn Clements, (9 February 1855 – 2 April 1909), commonly known as R. A. P. Clements, was a senior British Army officer. Clements, the son of a churchman, fought in the Xhosa War of 1877–1878 and the Anglo-Zulu War as a junior officer. He was twice wounded during the Third Anglo-Burmese War while serving as a brigade major, being mentioned in dispatches. After commanding a battalion of the South Wales Borderers during the late 1890s, he was appointed a brigade commander during the Second Boer War. Clements commanded the Colesberg front in early 1900, but was surprised at the Battle of Nooitgedacht in December, managing to extricate his force from the latter. After the Boer War he served in India, rising to divisional command before his death. Early life and career Clements was born at Upton St Leonards on 9 February 1855, the son of Reverend Jacob Clements, a local sub-dean and Canon Residentiary, and was educated at the Rossall Scho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nooitgedacht, South Africa
In the Battle of Nooitgedacht on 13 December 1900, Boer commandos led by Generals Koos de la Rey and Christiaan Beyers combined to deal a defeat to a British brigade under the command of Major General R. A. P. Clements during the Second Boer War. Background Lord Roberts captured Pretoria on 5 June and the armies soon passed to the east. After the guerrilla war began, a force under Clements harried the Boers in the Moot, a valley in the Magaliesberg mountains. By the end of the year, the British grew careless. On 2 December, De la Rey's commando ambushed an ox-wagon convoy east of Rustenburg, killing and wounding 64 British soldiers and capturing 54 men and 118 wagons. De la Rey's deputy, Jan Smuts had a close call when a bullet intended for him killed another Boer. The raiders appropriated the boots and clothing and burned the rest of the supplies, while setting their prisoners free. De la Rey scouted Clement's camp at Nooitgedacht for three days. The camp had good water supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
