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Patricia Davies (cryptographer)
Patricia Davies (née Owtram; born 19 June 1923) is an English former codebreaker who served as a special duties linguist in the Women’s Royal Naval Service during World War II. She and her younger sister Jean Argles are often referred to as "The Codebreaking Sisters". As a teenage interceptor, Davies listened to radio transmissions in both German and encrypted code as part of the British war effort, transcribing and decoding the messages and passing them on to Bletchley Park. After the war, Davies was a television producer, journalist, and author. She was also an organiser of the Chiswick Women’s Institute and a patron of the Sea Cadets. Until Argles died in 2023, the sisters were the last to have been required to sign the Official Secrets Act. In their later years they discovered that each had been doing top secret war work. In their nineties, they appeared frequently on radio and television relating stories of their wartime activities. Their book ''Codebreaking Sisters: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WRENS
Wrens are a family (biology), family, Troglodytidae, of small brown passerine birds. The family includes 96 species and is divided into 19 genus, genera. All species are restricted to the New World except for the Eurasian wren that is widely distributed in the Old World. In Anglophone, Anglophone regions, the Eurasian wren is commonly known simply as the "wren", as it is the originator of the name. The name ''wren'' has been applied to other, unrelated birds, particularly the New Zealand wrens (Acanthisittidae) and the Australian wrens (Maluridae). Most wrens are visually inconspicuous though they have loud and often complex songs. Exceptions include the relatively large members of the genus ''Campylorhynchus'', which can be quite bold in their behaviour. Wrens have short wings that are barred in most species, and they often hold their tails upright. Wrens are primarily insectivorous, eating insects, spiders and other small invertebrates, but many species also eat vegetable matt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in European theatre of World War I, Europe and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, Middle East, as well as in parts of African theatre of World War I, Africa and the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I, Asia-Pacific, and in Europe was characterised by trench warfare; the widespread use of Artillery of World War I, artillery, machine guns, and Chemical weapons in World War I, chemical weapons (gas); and the introductions of Tanks in World War I, tanks and Aviation in World War I, aircraft. World War I was one of the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflicts in history, resulting in an estimated World War I casualties, 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded, plus some 10 million civilian de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allies of World War II, Allied forces in northwest Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. US General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the commander in SHAEF throughout its existence. The position itself shares a common lineage with Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, Atlantic, but they are different titles. History Eisenhower transferred from command of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army, Mediterranean Theater of Operations to command SHAEF, which was formed in Camp Griffiss, Bushy Park, Teddington, London, from December 1943; an adjacent street named Shaef Way, and a gate into the park called Shaef Gate, remain to this day. Southwick House was used as an alternative headquarters near Portsmouth. Its staff took the outline plan for Operation Overlord created by Lieutenant General Sir Frederick E. Morgan, Chief of St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Normandy Landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day (after D-Day (military term), the military term), it is the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France, and the rest of Western Europe, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front. Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on the day selected for D-Day was not ideal, and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the planners had re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cap Gris-Nez
Cap Gris-Nez is a cape located in Audinghen, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département of northern France. Part of the Côte d'Opale, it is classified as a protected natural area. Its cliffs mark the closest point of France to Great Britain, separated by just . Etymology The name "Gris-Nez" translates to "grey nose" in French referencing the grey-coloured cliffs of the cape. The Dutch name, "Swartenesse" ("black cape"), distinguished it from "Blankenesse" ("white cape"), now known as Cap Blanc-Nez to the northeast. The suffix "-nesse" or "-nez" is cognate with the English "-ness," signifying a headland, as seen in Dungeness and Sheerness. Geology The cliffs of Cap Gris-Nez are composed of sandstone, clay, and chalk, primarily grey in colour. The area is a site for fossil hunting, with most fossils originating from the Jurassic period. These include bivalves, gastropods, and fossilised wood. Rare finds, such as large ammonites, as well as fish and reptile teeth, are occasio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dover
Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. The town is the administrative centre of the Dover District and home of the Port of Dover. Archaeological finds have revealed that the area has always been a focus for peoples entering and leaving Great Britain, Britain. The name derives from the River Dour that flows through it. In recent times the town has undergone transformations with a high-speed rail link to London, new retail in town with St James' area opened in 2018, and a revamped promenade and beachfront. This followed in 2019, with a new 500m Pier to the west of the Harbour, and new Marina unveiled as part of a £330m investment in the area. It has also been a point of destination for many English Channel migrant crossings (2018-present), illegal migrant crossings. The Port ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis ( ) is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site and heritage coast. The harbour wall, known as The Cobb, appears in Jane Austen's novel Persuasion (novel), ''Persuasion'', the John Fowles novel ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' and the 1981 The French Lieutenant's Woman (film), film of that name, partly shot in the town. A former mayor and MP was Admiral Sir George Somers, who founded the English colonial settlement of Somers Isles, now Bermuda, where Lyme Regis is twinned with St. George's, Bermuda, St George's. In July 2015, Lyme Regis joined Jamestown, Virginia in a Historic Atlantic Triangle with St George's. The 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census gave the urban area a population of 4,712, estimated at 4,805 in 2019. Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the city of York. The south-west of Yorkshire is densely populated, and includes the cities of Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Doncaster and Wakefield. The north and east of the county are more sparsely populated, however the north-east includes the southern part of the Teesside conurbation, and the port city of Kingston upon Hull is located in the south-east. York is located near the centre of the county. Yorkshire has a Yorkshire Coast, coastline to the North Sea to the east. The North York Moors occupy the north-east of the county, and the centre contains the Vale of Mowbray in the north and the Vale of York in the south. The west contains part of the Pennines, which form the Yorkshire Dales in the north-west. The county was historically borde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morse Code
Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of the early developers of the system adopted for electrical telegraphy. International Morse code encodes the 26 ISO basic Latin alphabet, basic Latin letters to , one Diacritic, accented Latin letter (), the Arabic numerals, and a small set of punctuation and procedural signals (Prosigns for Morse code, prosigns). There is no distinction between upper and lower case letters. Each Morse code symbol is formed by a sequence of ''dits'' and ''dahs''. The ''dit'' duration can vary for signal clarity and operator skill, but for any one message, once the rhythm is established, a beat (music), half-beat is the basic unit of time measurement in Morse code. The duration of a ''dah'' is three times the duration ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Y Service
The "Y" service was a network of British signals intelligence collection sites, the Y-stations. The service was established during the First World War and used again during the Second World War. The sites were operated by a range of agencies including the British Army, Army, Royal Navy, Navy and Royal Air Force, RAF, and the Foreign Office (MI6 and MI5). The General Post Office and the Marconi Company provided some receiving stations, ashore and afloat. There were more than 600 receiving sets in use at Y-stations during the Second World War. Role The "Y" name derived from Wireless Interception (WI). The stations tended to be one of two types, for intercepting the signals and for identifying where they were coming from. Sometimes both functions were operated at the same site, with the direction finding (D/F) hut being a few hundred metres from the main interception building to minimise interference. The sites collected radio traffic which was then either analysed locally or, if e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirror Books
Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', ''Sunday Mirror'', ''The Sunday People'', ''Daily Express'', ''Sunday Express'', '' Daily Star'', ''Daily Star Sunday'' as well as the Scottish '' Daily Record'' and '' Sunday Mail'' and the magazine ''OK!'' Since purchasing Local World, it has gained 83 print publications. Reach plc's headquarters are at the One Canada Square in London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The ''Daily Mirror'' was launched by Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, "for gentlewomen" in 1903. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange on 2 December 1953. In 1958 the International Publishing Company (IPC) acquired Mirror Group Newspapers, but IPC was in turn taken over by publishing giant Reed International in 1970. In 1984 Pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prisoner Of War
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a range of legitimate and illegitimate reasons. These may include isolating them from enemy combatants still in the field (releasing and Repatriation, repatriating them in an orderly manner after hostilities), demonstrating military victory, punishment, prosecution of war crimes, labour exploitation, recruiting or even conscripting them as combatants, extracting collecting military and political intelligence, and political or religious indoctrination. Ancient times For much of history, prisoners of war would often be slaughtered or enslaved. Early Roman gladiators could be prisoners of war, categorised according to their ethnic roots as Samnites, Thracians, and Gauls (''Galli''). Homer's ''Iliad'' describes Trojan and Greek soldiers offeri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
