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Robert Loraine
Robert Bilcliffe Loraine (14 January 1876 – 23 December 1935) was a successful London and Broadway British stage actor, actor-manager, and soldier who later enjoyed a side career as a pioneer aviator. Born in New Brighton, his father was Henry Loraine and mother Edith Kingsley (born Mary Ellen Bayliss). Robert made his first stage appearance in the English provinces in 1889, prior to serving in the Second Boer War. He introduced the George Bernard Shaw play '' Man and Superman'' to Broadway in 1905. Theatrical career Loraine was a versatile actor and was successful both in serious plays and in popular works of light entertainment. He was particularly associated with the works of George Bernard Shaw, taking over the role of John Tanner from Harley Granville Barker in the fourth run of '' Man and Superman'' at the Royal Court Theatre. He also won critical acclaim for performances in plays by William Shakespeare and August Strindberg. Aviation In 1909 Loraine took up the new t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Brighton, Merseyside
New Brighton is a seaside resort and suburb of Wallasey, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England, at the northeastern tip of the Wirral peninsula. It has sandy beaches which line the Irish Sea and mouth of the Mersey, and the UK's longest promenade. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census, the population was 14,859. History Up to the nineteenth century, the area had a reputation for smuggling and wrecking (shipwreck), wrecking, and secret underground cellars and tunnels are still rumoured to exist. It also had a strategic position at the entrance to the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary. The Fort Perch Rock, Perch Rock battery was completed in 1829. It mounted 18 guns, mostly 32-pounder gun, 32-pounders, and three 6-inch guns installed in 1899. Originally cut off at high tide, coastal reclamation has since made it fully accessible. In 1830, a Liverpool merchant, James Atherton (Founder of New Brighton), James Atherton, purchased of land at Rock Point, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bristol Boxkite
The Boxkite (officially the Bristol Biplane) was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company). A pusher biplane based on the successful Farman III, it was one of the first aircraft types to be built in quantity. As the type was used by Bristol for instruction purposes at their flying schools at Larkhill and Brooklands many early British aviators learned to fly in a Boxkite. Four were purchased in 1911 by the War Office and examples were sold to Russia and Australia. It continued to be used for training purposes until after the outbreak of the First World War. Background The original intention of Sir George White, the founder and chairman of Bristol Aircraft, was to build licensed copies of the Zodiac biplane, designed by Gabriel Voisin.Barnes 1988, p. 45 One example of this design was imported from France and exhibited by Bristol at the 1910 Aero show in London in March 1910, and afterwards taken t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wing (military Aviation Unit)
In military aviation, a wing is a unit of command. In most military aviation services, a wing is a relatively large formation of planes. In Commonwealth countries a wing usually comprises three squadrons, with several wings forming a group (around 10 squadrons). Each squadron will contain around 20 planes. Commonwealth usage Origins On its establishment in 1912, the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was intended to be an inter-service, combined force of the British Army and Royal Navy. Given the rivalry that existed between the army and navy, new terminology was used, in order to avoid marking the corps out as having an army or navy ethos. While the term "wing" had been used in the cavalry, its more general use predominated. Accordingly, the word "wing", with its allusion of flight, was chosen as the term of subdivision and the corps was split into a "Military Wing" (i.e. an army wing) and a "Naval Wing". Each wing consisted of a number of squadrons (the term "squad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major (British Army)
Major (Maj) is a military rank which is used by both the British Army and Royal Marines. The rank is superior to captain and subordinate to lieutenant colonel. The insignia for a major is a crown. The equivalent rank in the Royal Navy is lieutenant commander, and squadron leader in the Royal Air Force. History By the time of the Napoleonic wars, an infantry battalion usually had two majors, designated the "senior major" and the "junior major". The senior major effectively acted as second-in-command and the majors often commanded detachments of two or more companies split from the main body. The second-in-command of a battalion or regiment is still a major. File:British-Army-Maj(1856-1867)-Collar Insignia.svg, 1856 to 1867 major's collar rank insignia File:British-Army-Maj(1867-1880)-Collar Insignia.svg, 1867 to 1880 major's collar rank insignia File:British&Empire-Army-Maj(1881-1902).svg, 1881 to 1902 major's shoulder rank insignia During World War I, majors wore the follo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Squadron (aviation)
A squadron in an air force, or naval or army aviation service, is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force. In most armed forces, two or more squadrons will form a group or a wing. Some military forces (including the United States Air Force, United States Space Force, French Air and Space Force, Royal Air Force, German Air Force, Royal Netherlands Air Force, Belgian Air Component and Republic of Singapore Air Force) also use the term "squadron" for non-flying ground units (e.g. radar squadrons, missile squadrons, air defense squadrons, aircraft maintenance squadrons, security forces squadrons, civil engineering squadrons, range operations squadrons, range management squadrons, weather squadrons, medical squadrons, etc.). Comparative organization Germany In World War I, the Imperial Ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albatros Flugzeugwerke
Albatros Flugzeugwerke GmbH was a German aircraft manufacturer best known for supplying the German Luftstreitkräfte during World War I. The company was based in Adlershof, Johannisthal, Berlin, where it was founded by Walter Huth and Otto Wiener on December 20, 1909. The company (and its subsidiary, Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW)) produced many capable fighter aircraft, notably the Albatros D.III and Albatros D.V, both designed by Robert Thelen. The Albatros merged into Focke-Wulf in 1931. History The company was founded in Berlin-Johannisthal in late 1909 by Enno Walther Huth as the Albatros Werke AG. The first aircraft the company produced was a French Antoinette monoplane, which they built under licence. They then produced several versions of the Etrich Taube monoplane, as well the Albatros Doppeltaube, Doppeltaube biplane which used the same basic planform. A variety of other biplanes, with more conventional wing planforms were also built and flown. In 1912, five Albat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captain (British Army)
Captain (Capt) is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines and in both services it ranks above lieutenant and below major with a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. The rank of captain in the Royal Navy is considerably more senior (equivalent to the Army/RM rank of colonel) and the two ranks should not be confused. In the 21st-century British Army, captains are often appointed to be second-in-command (2IC) of a company or equivalent sized unit of up to 120 soldiers. History A rank of second captain existed in the Ordnance at the time of the Battle of Waterloo. From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the junior officer rank of captain. RAF captains had a rank insignia based on the two bands of a naval lieutenant with the addition of an eagle and crown above the bands. It was superseded by the rank of flight lieutenant on the followin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flight Commander
A flight commander is the leader of a constituent portion of an aerial squadron in aerial operations, often into combat. That constituent portion is known as a flight, and usually contains six or fewer aircraft, with three or four being a common number. The tactical need for commonality in performance characteristics of aircraft usually insures that all aircraft under a flight commander's command and control in air operations are the same or very similar types. Historically, the role of a flight commander in fighter aircraft has been that of principal attacker in air-to-air combat, with the other airplane or airplanes in a flight supporting and protecting him from counter-attack as a wingman or wingmen. This delineation of roles came into being very early in the history of aerial warfare, as Oswald Boelcke, Roderic Dallas, and Mick Mannock all derived the basic tactics of successful air-to-air combat from their flying experiences during World War I c. 1916. The flight command ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flying Officer
Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately senior to pilot officer and immediately below flight lieutenant. It is usually equivalent to the rank of sub-lieutenant in the navy and of the rank of lieutenant in other services. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force was "section officer". Canada The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force until the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces, when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian flying officers then became lieutenants. In official Canadian French usage, the rank title was . United Kingdom Origins The term "flying officer" was originally used in the Royal Flying Corps as a flying appointment for junior officers, not a rank. On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Reserve
The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Richard Haldane, the Secretary of State for War, which also created the Territorial Force. Haldane originally intended that the Militia would provide the reserve, but opposition from its representatives forced him to abolish it and create the Special Reserve instead. Only 60 per cent of the Militia transferred into the new reserve, and it was consistently under strength, particularly in officers. Reservists enlisted for a six-year term of service, and had to undergo six months of basic training on recruitment and three to four weeks training annually. The Special Reserve was organised into battalions, providing the third (and sometimes fourth) for each of the regular army's 64 two-battalion infantry regiments and a fifth and sixth for the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lieutenant (British Army)
Lieutenant (; Lt) is a junior officer rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above second lieutenant and below captain and has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and it is the senior subaltern rank. Unlike some armed forces which use first lieutenant, the British rank is simply lieutenant, with no ordinal attached. The rank is equivalent to that of a flying officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF). Although formerly considered senior to a Royal Navy (RN) sub-lieutenant, the British Army and Royal Navy ranks of lieutenant and sub-lieutenant are now considered to be of equivalent status. The Army rank of lieutenant has always been junior to the Navy's rank of lieutenant. Usage In the 21st-century British Army, the rank is ordinarily held for up to three years. A typical appointment for a lieutenant might be the command of a platoon or troop of approximately thirty soldiers. Before 1871, when the whole British Army switched to using the current rank of "lieutenant", the R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC supported the British Army by artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance. This work gradually led RFC pilots into aerial battles with German pilots and later in the war included the strafing of enemy infantry and emplacements, the bombing of German military airfields and later the strategic bombing of German industrial and transport facilities. At the start of World War I the RFC, commanded by Brigadier-General Sir David Henderson, consisted of five squadrons – one observation balloon squadron (RFC No 1 Squadron) and four aeroplane squadrons. These were first used for aerial spotting on 13 September 1914 but only became efficient when they perfected the use of wireless communication at Aubers Ridge on 9 May 1915. Ae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
