|
Wilkinson Sword Of Peace
The Firmin Sword of Peace (previously known as the Wilkinson Sword of Peace) is an award given to units of the British Armed Forces for activities above and beyond the unit's normal role that improve relations with the community, either within the United Kingdom, or overseas. The award was established by British swordmaker Wilkinson Sword in 1966, with the company presenting a ceremonial sword to one unit each of the Royal Navy (including the Royal Fleet Auxiliary), British Army, and Royal Air Force; each unit having been judged as making the most outstanding contribution to community relations within each service during the calendar year. An award can be shared between multiple units on the same operation: for example, the 1998 Navy award was presented to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships and for their involvement in Operation Teller (the British relief response to Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch was an extremely deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane, which became the sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid. The force is also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces. Since the formation of the united Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 (later succeeded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and finally by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), the British Armed Forces have seen action in most major wars involving the world's great powers, including the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, American War of Independence, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the First World War and the Second World War. Britain's victories in most of these wars allowed it to influence world events and establish itself as one of the world's leading mili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Aldergrove
Aldergrove Flying Station, also known previously as JHC FS Aldergrove, is a British military base located south of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, Northern Ireland and northwest of Belfast, and adjoins Belfast International Airport. It is sometimes referred to simply as Aldergrove, County Antrim, Aldergrove which is the name of a nearby hamlet. The military flying units share Aldergrove's runways with Belfast International Airport, but have their own separate facilities and helipad. The site was formerly RAF Aldergrove, a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station which was in operation between 1918 and 2009. History Interwar period RAF Aldergrove first opened in 1918 but was not designated as an operational RAF station until 1925. Various squadrons were posted here during this time: * A detachment of No. 4 Squadron RAF between 30 April 1920 and 26 September 1922 again with the Bristol F2B. * No. 2 Squadron RAF initially at full strength between 2 June 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Brize Norton
Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton is the largest List of Royal Air Force stations, station of the Royal Air Force. Situated in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, it is close to the village of Brize Norton and the towns of Carterton, Oxfordshire, Carterton and Witney. The station is the base for air transport, air-to-air refuelling and military parachuting, with the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, Airbus A400M Atlas and Airbus A330 MRTT, Airbus Voyager operating from the station. Major infrastructure redevelopment began in 2010, ahead of the closure of RAF Lyneham in 2012, and Brize Norton became the sole air point of embarkation for British troops. History Royal Air Force Construction of RAF Brize Norton began in 1935 with the official opening taking place on 13 August 1937. The station was originally to be named RAF Carterton, given its proximity and relationship with the town of the same name, but was instead named RAF Brize Norton to avoid possible ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Cosford
Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford (formerly DCAE Cosford) is a Royal Air Force station near to the village of Cosford, Shropshire, England just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton. It is a training station, home to the Defence School of Aeronautical Engineering headquarters, the Defence School of Photography, No. 1 Radio School, and the RAF School of Physical Training. History Origins RAF Cosford opened in 1938 as a joint aircraft maintenance, storage and technical training unit. It was originally intended to be opened as RAF Donington (the parish in which it is located) but to avoid confusion with the nearby army camp at Donnington it was named after Cosford Grange House which was located at the south western edge of the airfield. It has remained mainly a training unit to this day. The ''Fulton'' barrack block was built just before the Second World War as the largest single building barrack block in the UK. The block was named after Captain Fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Leeming
Royal Air Force Leeming or more simply RAF Leeming is a Royal Air Force station located near Leeming, North Yorkshire, England. It was opened in 1940 and was jointly used by the RAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Between 1950 and 1991, it operated mostly as a training base with Quick Reaction Force (QRF) Panavia Tornado F3 fighters based there in the latter stages of the Cold War and into the early 21st century. Since 2006, it has become the home of the deployable RAF communications cadre ( No. 90 Signals Unit RAF) and the home of No. 135 Expeditionary Air Wing. History The area at the extreme western edge of the base was used in the 1930s by local flying enthusiasts. It took the name of ''Londonderry Aerodrome'' as it was closest to the hamlet of Londonderry in North Yorkshire. In the late 1930s, the Royal Air Force bought up the aerodrome and most of the surrounding land to convert it into an RAF airfield, which became known as Royal Air Force Leeming. Part of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RFA Largs Bay
HMAS ''Choules'' (L100) is a that served with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) from 2006 to 2011, before being purchased by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The vessel was built as RFA ''Largs Bay'' by Swan Hunter in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear. She was named after Largs Bay in Ayrshire, Scotland, and entered service in November 2006. During her career with the RFA, ''Largs Bay'' served as the British ship assigned to patrol the Falkland Islands in 2008, and delivered relief supplies following the 2010 Haiti earthquake. At the end of 2010, ''Largs Bay'' was marked as one of the vessels to be removed from service under the Strategic Defence and Security Review. She was offered for sale, with the RAN announced as the successful bidder in April 2011. After modifications to make her more suited for Australian operating conditions, the vessel was commissioned in December 2011 as HMAS ''Choules'', named after Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy Chief Petty Officer Claude Choules. A propu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF High Wycombe
Royal Air Force High Wycombe or more simply RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It houses Headquarters Air Command, and was originally designed to house RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s. The station is also the headquarters of the European Air Group and the United Kingdom Space Command. The location of the station was originally suggested by Wing Commander Alan Oakeshott when the Air Ministry was seeking a new, secure, site for Bomber Command away from London. Wing Commander Oakeshott was killed in combat in 1942 and is commemorated on the Naphill War Memorial and in the name of the station's welfare centre, opened in 2011. The motto of RAF High Wycombe in Latin is 'Non Sibi', which translates as 'not for ourselves'. History Construction Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, the Air Ministry sought a safe location for RAF Bomber Command away from London. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Digby
Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Defence Intelligence#Joint Forces Intelligence Group (JFIG), Joint Forces Intelligence Group of Strategic Command (United Kingdom), Strategic Command. Other units include the RAF Aerial Erector School, No. 54 Signals Unit and No. 591 Signals Unit. Formerly an RAF training and fighter airfield, it is one of the country's older Royal Air Force stations, predated only by RAF Northolt, which is the oldest and predates the Royal Air Force by three years, having opened in 1915. Flying at Digby ceased in 1953. History First World War There are dated photographs that show that the airfield was already in use for flying training by Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Naval pilots in the summer of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Shawbury
Royal Air Force Shawbury, otherwise known as RAF Shawbury, is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Shawbury in Shropshire in the West Midlands of England. History The First World War The station at Shawbury was first used for military flying training in 1917 by the Royal Flying Corps. No. 29 (Training) Wing formed on 1 September 1917 with three training squadrons, No. 10 Squadron, No. 29 (Australian) (Training) Squadron and No. 67 Squadron. Several different types of aircraft were operated which caused difficulties with training and maintenance. Two of the squadrons combined to form 9 Training Depot Station on 1 March 1918, the other moving to Gloucestershire. Training continued on a more organised basis until the end of the war. The airfield closed in May 1920 when the strength of the RAF was drastically reduced. The hangars and other buildings were demolished and the land was returned to agricultural use. The Second World War In February 1938 the station was rea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilkinson Sword
Wilkinson Sword is a British brand selling razors and other personal care products, currently owned by Edgewell Personal Care. The company was founded as a manufacturer of guns made in Shotley Bridge in County Durham, by Henry Nock in London in 1772. Besides guns, the company has also produced swords, bayonets and products such as typewriters, garden shears, scissors and motorcycles. Gardening equipment is still made under the Wilkinson Sword name by E.P. Barrus under a licensing arrangement. Wilkinson Sword has manufactured its products in three UK locations over the years: in London ( Chelsea and Acton), Cramlington in Northumberland, and Bridgend in Wales, where it made gardening tools. In 2000, the company closed its razor plant in the UK and consolidated production in Germany. In 2014, the company further moved most of its production to Czech Republic. History Henry Nock began trading as a gunlock smith out of Mount Pleasant in London in 1772. In 1775, he formed Nock, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Linton-on-Ouse
Royal Air Force Linton-on-Ouse or more simply RAF Linton-on-Ouse is a former Royal Air Force station at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, England, north-west of York. It had satellite stations at RAF Topcliffe and Dishforth Airfield (British Army). The station opened in 1937. With the transfer of pilot training to RAF Valley on Anglesey in 2019, the station closed in 2020. In February 2021, the MOD confirmed that no alternative military use had been identified for the site and that it would therefore be sold. History RAF Linton-on-Ouse opened on 13 May 1937 as a bomber airfield and was the home of No. 4 Group RAF until 1940. Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore ''Action Stations: Military Airfields of Yorkshire v. 4'' – Page 122 The base's first commander was Wing Commander A. D. Pryor. When the Second World War began, bombers were launched from Linton to drop propaganda leaflets over Germany and the base was eventually used to launch bombing raids on Norway, The Nethe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firmin & Sons
Firmin & Sons is a British company, founded in 1655, that manufactures and supplies military ceremonial buttons, badges, accoutrements, and uniforms. Thomas Firmin was born in Ipswich, Suffolk in 1632 and was apprenticed to The Girdlers Company the makers of belts both for fine dress and for utility. The account records of the Master and Wardens of the Girdlers survived the Great Fire of London. There is an entry in the accounts for the year 1653/54 of Thomas Firmin paying six shillings for the half year. By this time he appears to have completed his apprenticeship as he is listed amongst the yeomen of the company for that year. Upon completion of his apprenticeship he is known to have set up in business on his own, in premises at Three King's Court, off Lombard Street, in the Langborne Ward in the City of London. By the account year for The Girdlers Company 1655/56 Richard Overston is Master and John Taylor Renter Warden. Thomas Firmin's business is such that the account records ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
