Obituaries
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bobbysocks
Chief Master Sergeant
I sadly report the passing of James McLane Jr. He served with the 357th Fighter Group based out of Leiston, UK. I had the extreme pleasure to spend time with Jim at the last 357th mini reunion at their museum in Ida, La a year ago. He was a true gentleman and gracious man. attached is a letter from his son Jim McLane III and a link to a story or 2 written by him. He will be missed.
Several folks have asked me about memorial services for my father.
On Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7 pm a funeral service and reception will be held at Lakeside Lutheran Church, 1101 South Egret Bay Blvd, League City TX. My dad's ashes will be interred on a later date in the Houston National (Veterans) Cemetery.
An obituary appeared in the Sunday Nov 18th Houston Chronicle.
James McLane Obituary: View James McLane's Obituary by Houston Chronicle
On a related subject, an article based on a story my father told begins on page 20 in the latest issue of Horizons, a technical society newsletter. The newsletter can be downloaded and read here.
http://www.aiaahouston.org/Horizons/Horizons_2012_09_and_10.pdf
It's a large file so the download may take a minute or so.
Jim McLane III
Houston TX
Kit Carson's Narrow Escape
http://www.cebudanderson.com/narrowescape.htm
Several folks have asked me about memorial services for my father.
On Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7 pm a funeral service and reception will be held at Lakeside Lutheran Church, 1101 South Egret Bay Blvd, League City TX. My dad's ashes will be interred on a later date in the Houston National (Veterans) Cemetery.
An obituary appeared in the Sunday Nov 18th Houston Chronicle.
James McLane Obituary: View James McLane's Obituary by Houston Chronicle
On a related subject, an article based on a story my father told begins on page 20 in the latest issue of Horizons, a technical society newsletter. The newsletter can be downloaded and read here.
http://www.aiaahouston.org/Horizons/Horizons_2012_09_and_10.pdf
It's a large file so the download may take a minute or so.
Jim McLane III
Houston TX
Kit Carson's Narrow Escape
http://www.cebudanderson.com/narrowescape.htm
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
My deepest sympathy to you and your familly.
Hoping the following is of interest to you. I am a retired History teacher with an interest in WW2 and militaria. I have just purchased a lot at a Sydney auction house, described as quantity of Spitfire/airforce ephemera, it consists of a 2 ear piece wireless head set with detached wires, I imagine this to be the WW2 spitfire bit, an incomplete set of Rude Star identifier round charts from 1942 USA Navypublication, and a number of items dating from the decade 1960-1970 that would relate to a pilot ie Flight radio operator's manual 1969, the observers basic book of aircraft civil 1970, Sight reduction tables for air navigation vol 3 1967, neatly written on the Flight radio operators manual is C H Parkinson. I asked the auctioneer why he described this as a spitfire lot, he said it had been purchased some time back by a friend of his for her son and he did not want it, so was reselling it, cost me $120. I think what I have is Aust'n WW2 pilot F/O Colin Henry DFC, his spitfire headset and star navigation charts. If this is so he must have flown as a commercial pilot after the war, and I found this forum trying to track down his obituary on the net. what do you think, if you would like to see a picture of the headset etc, please get back to me,
regards Mark in Newcastle
regards Mark in Newcastle
Last edited:
Thorlifter
Captain
Democratic Sen. Inouye of Hawaii dies at 88 | The Ticket - Yahoo! News
Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii has died at age 88 after battling a respiratory illness, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Monday. Inouye won the Medal of Honor in World War II—a conflict that cost him his right arm—and later became the first Japanese-American House member and then senator.
His last word was "Aloha," his office said.
"I rise with a real heavy heart. Our friend Dan Inouye just died," Reid said in an emotional tribute. "His commitment to our nation will never be surpassed."
Reid, who several times was at loss for words, said he had spoken to Inouye's wife, Irene. "We will all miss him—and that's a gross understatement."
President Barack Obama said in a statement on Monday that "our country has lost a true American hero."
"It was his incredible bravery during World War II—including one heroic effort that cost him his arm but earned him the Medal of Honor—that made Danny not just a colleague and a mentor, but someone revered by all of us lucky enough to know him," Obama said.
The long-serving senator—he was second in longevity in office only to the late Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia—served as the chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. He never boasted about his military service, but his obituary in Hawaii's Star-Advertiser newspaper included this astonishing passage:
In northern Italy in April 1945 as the war in Europe was coming to an end, Inouye moved his platoon against German troops near San Terenzo. Inouye crawled up a slope and tossed two hand grenades into a German machine-gun nest. He stood up with his tommy gun and raked a second machine-gun nest before being shot in the stomach. But he kept charging until his right arm was hit by an enemy rifle grenade and shattered.
"I looked at it, stunned and disbelieving. It dangled there by a few bloody shreds of tissue, my grenade still clenched in a fist that suddenly didn't belong to me anymore," Inouye wrote in his 1967 autobiography, "Journey to Washington," written with Lawrence Elliott.
Inouye wrote that he pried the grenade out of his right hand and threw it at the German gunman, who was killed by the explosion. He continued firing his gun until he was shot in the right leg and knocked down the hillside. Badly wounded, he ordered his men to keep attacking and they took the ridge from the enemy.
Inouye died at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington at 5:01 p.m., his office said. The senator generally stayed out of the limelight, but he was well known in Washington as a staunch defender of lawmakers' securing federal cash for their home states. He also enjoyed some prominence as a member of the committee that investigated the Watergate break-in that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation and chairing the special committee that investigated the Iran-Contra scandal.
"Sen. Daniel Inouye was a man who rarely called attention to himself but who lived a remarkable American life filled with the dignity and grace of a true hero," Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "He was a man who had every reason to call attention to himself but who never did."
"He was the kind of man, in short, that America has always been grateful to have, especially in her darkest hours, men who lead by example and who expect nothing in return," McConnell said.
Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii has died at age 88 after battling a respiratory illness, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Monday. Inouye won the Medal of Honor in World War II—a conflict that cost him his right arm—and later became the first Japanese-American House member and then senator.
His last word was "Aloha," his office said.
"I rise with a real heavy heart. Our friend Dan Inouye just died," Reid said in an emotional tribute. "His commitment to our nation will never be surpassed."
Reid, who several times was at loss for words, said he had spoken to Inouye's wife, Irene. "We will all miss him—and that's a gross understatement."
President Barack Obama said in a statement on Monday that "our country has lost a true American hero."
"It was his incredible bravery during World War II—including one heroic effort that cost him his arm but earned him the Medal of Honor—that made Danny not just a colleague and a mentor, but someone revered by all of us lucky enough to know him," Obama said.
The long-serving senator—he was second in longevity in office only to the late Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia—served as the chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. He never boasted about his military service, but his obituary in Hawaii's Star-Advertiser newspaper included this astonishing passage:
In northern Italy in April 1945 as the war in Europe was coming to an end, Inouye moved his platoon against German troops near San Terenzo. Inouye crawled up a slope and tossed two hand grenades into a German machine-gun nest. He stood up with his tommy gun and raked a second machine-gun nest before being shot in the stomach. But he kept charging until his right arm was hit by an enemy rifle grenade and shattered.
"I looked at it, stunned and disbelieving. It dangled there by a few bloody shreds of tissue, my grenade still clenched in a fist that suddenly didn't belong to me anymore," Inouye wrote in his 1967 autobiography, "Journey to Washington," written with Lawrence Elliott.
Inouye wrote that he pried the grenade out of his right hand and threw it at the German gunman, who was killed by the explosion. He continued firing his gun until he was shot in the right leg and knocked down the hillside. Badly wounded, he ordered his men to keep attacking and they took the ridge from the enemy.
Inouye died at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington at 5:01 p.m., his office said. The senator generally stayed out of the limelight, but he was well known in Washington as a staunch defender of lawmakers' securing federal cash for their home states. He also enjoyed some prominence as a member of the committee that investigated the Watergate break-in that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation and chairing the special committee that investigated the Iran-Contra scandal.
"Sen. Daniel Inouye was a man who rarely called attention to himself but who lived a remarkable American life filled with the dignity and grace of a true hero," Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "He was a man who had every reason to call attention to himself but who never did."
"He was the kind of man, in short, that America has always been grateful to have, especially in her darkest hours, men who lead by example and who expect nothing in return," McConnell said.
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Tadeusz Haska - If it weren't for Poland, we'd all be speaking Mongolian right now...
Tadeusz Haska died last week at 93. A long-time chairman of the Polish department at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Dr. Haska joined the Resistance to fight the Germans during World War II. Soon after the war he ran for elected office, but was imprisoned when the communists took over Poland. He escaped to Sweden, then returned on a daring boat raid across the Baltic Sea to spirit his wife out of the country. They made it to America in 1949 and he began his Cold War career educating our service members during the protracted struggle against the Soviets.
In many ways, Dr. Haska personified the indomitable Polish spirit, something that neither Nazi terror nor communist control could ever break. Indeed, even as we marvel today at the people power of the Arab Spring and the "color revolutions" in Ukraine and Georgia a decade ago, our gaze should extend back to an earlier mass movement: Poland's Solidarity. Not only did the rising there free the Poles, it also sparked the collapse of Soviet control in central Europe.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, in his book Game Plan, a prescient strategic meditation on what was to become the final phase of the Cold War, pointed out Poland's critical role then -- and in the future. As he saw it, for Moscow, Poland was a "linchpin state" whose loss would prove a fatal blow to Russian geostrategic aims in Europe. So it was. By 1999, Poland was a NATO member. Today, it serves as a bulwark of strategic forward defense for the whole alliance -- against a range of threats, perhaps even those posed by a looming new age of missile warfare.
It is interesting to note that Poland has played a similar role as shield more than once in its earlier history. In the 13th century, even in defeat at the Battle of Liegnitz (1241) against the Mongols, the Poles' and their allies' fierce resistance may have served to deter future invasions by the steppe hordes. Historians suggest that the Mongol commander was distracted by a budding political succession struggle back home. But the fact is that the Mongols never came back; they stayed on to rule in Russia, but left the Poles -- and the rest of the West -- alone.
In the 17th century the major threat to Europe came from the Ottoman Empire, which was already in control of the Balkans and battering at the gates of Vienna (1683). After two months under siege, the city was close to falling, but once again the Poles, under King John Sobieski, rode to the rescue. The Turks were defeated in battle, the siege was lifted, and the Ottoman threat to Europe was over for good.
In the following decades, though, Poland itself came under siege. Russia pressed from the east, Germany from the west, Austria from the south, and even Sweden encroached from the north. By the centennial of the siege of Vienna, Poland was being partitioned. In 1795, after an insurgency led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko -- a "foreign fighter" who helped the colonies during the American revolution -- was put down, Poland disappeared from the map of Europe. Hardly a fitting reward for a shield of the West.
Poland was restored to Europe's map in 1919 by the post-World War I Treaty of Versailles. The nation was reborn fighting. Russia's new communist rulers, in the process of winning a civil war against tsarist loyalists and defeating an intervention by the Western Allies, began to look to the heart of devastated Europe as a field of easy conquest. The only thing standing between the Soviets and their goal was the newly minted Polish military.
The Poles were outnumbered and, for reasons that still defy logical explanation, on the receiving end of pro-Russian Western press accounts that left them virtually without external support -- save, that is, for a small French contingent whose members included Charles de Gaulle. The war raged back and forth, with the Soviets finally seeming on the verge of capturing Warsaw. The Poles, refusing to accept defeat, conjured the "miracle on the Vistula" that autumn of 1920, saving their country -- and probably the rest of Europe.
While Poland was swiftly overrun by German and Soviet forces in 1939, the Poles continued to resist at home and tens of thousands made their way to the West to continue the fight. One of their most notable contributions came in the fall of 1940, during the Battle of Britain, when about 1,500 Polish pilots comprised a very significant percentage of those that Winston Churchill called "the Few" who saved Britain -- and so much more. The Normandy invasion would never have been possible had England fallen.
So there it is. Whether in ferocious resistance to the Mongols, the Ottoman Turks, the early- and late-Soviet Union -- even the Nazis -- Poland has repeatedly served to shield Europe from aggression, and in its own distinct way. A Slavic nation, but Roman Catholic rather than Orthodox. Sharing an open, hard-to-defend geography with its Prussian neighbor, but liberal and peace-loving rather than militaristic. In short, a most paradoxical nation, cast against type for the role it played.
Dr. Haska embodied the Polish national character. A thoughtful intellectual, a master of nine languages, and a historian, he had also been a partisan who mounted hit-and-run raids against the Nazis. And he was so proud of his heritage. When I first met him, greeting him with a passable Dzien dobry, his face lit up and he spoke only Polish with me. Most of which I could not understand -- but I got the gist.
At his wake last Thursday night, most of the whispers I heard were in Polish, too. There was much sorrow in the words, but there was a strong current of pride as well, duly honoring this fallen shield-bearer.
source: Foreign Policy
Tadeusz Haska died last week at 93. A long-time chairman of the Polish department at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Dr. Haska joined the Resistance to fight the Germans during World War II. Soon after the war he ran for elected office, but was imprisoned when the communists took over Poland. He escaped to Sweden, then returned on a daring boat raid across the Baltic Sea to spirit his wife out of the country. They made it to America in 1949 and he began his Cold War career educating our service members during the protracted struggle against the Soviets.
In many ways, Dr. Haska personified the indomitable Polish spirit, something that neither Nazi terror nor communist control could ever break. Indeed, even as we marvel today at the people power of the Arab Spring and the "color revolutions" in Ukraine and Georgia a decade ago, our gaze should extend back to an earlier mass movement: Poland's Solidarity. Not only did the rising there free the Poles, it also sparked the collapse of Soviet control in central Europe.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, in his book Game Plan, a prescient strategic meditation on what was to become the final phase of the Cold War, pointed out Poland's critical role then -- and in the future. As he saw it, for Moscow, Poland was a "linchpin state" whose loss would prove a fatal blow to Russian geostrategic aims in Europe. So it was. By 1999, Poland was a NATO member. Today, it serves as a bulwark of strategic forward defense for the whole alliance -- against a range of threats, perhaps even those posed by a looming new age of missile warfare.
It is interesting to note that Poland has played a similar role as shield more than once in its earlier history. In the 13th century, even in defeat at the Battle of Liegnitz (1241) against the Mongols, the Poles' and their allies' fierce resistance may have served to deter future invasions by the steppe hordes. Historians suggest that the Mongol commander was distracted by a budding political succession struggle back home. But the fact is that the Mongols never came back; they stayed on to rule in Russia, but left the Poles -- and the rest of the West -- alone.
In the 17th century the major threat to Europe came from the Ottoman Empire, which was already in control of the Balkans and battering at the gates of Vienna (1683). After two months under siege, the city was close to falling, but once again the Poles, under King John Sobieski, rode to the rescue. The Turks were defeated in battle, the siege was lifted, and the Ottoman threat to Europe was over for good.
In the following decades, though, Poland itself came under siege. Russia pressed from the east, Germany from the west, Austria from the south, and even Sweden encroached from the north. By the centennial of the siege of Vienna, Poland was being partitioned. In 1795, after an insurgency led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko -- a "foreign fighter" who helped the colonies during the American revolution -- was put down, Poland disappeared from the map of Europe. Hardly a fitting reward for a shield of the West.
Poland was restored to Europe's map in 1919 by the post-World War I Treaty of Versailles. The nation was reborn fighting. Russia's new communist rulers, in the process of winning a civil war against tsarist loyalists and defeating an intervention by the Western Allies, began to look to the heart of devastated Europe as a field of easy conquest. The only thing standing between the Soviets and their goal was the newly minted Polish military.
The Poles were outnumbered and, for reasons that still defy logical explanation, on the receiving end of pro-Russian Western press accounts that left them virtually without external support -- save, that is, for a small French contingent whose members included Charles de Gaulle. The war raged back and forth, with the Soviets finally seeming on the verge of capturing Warsaw. The Poles, refusing to accept defeat, conjured the "miracle on the Vistula" that autumn of 1920, saving their country -- and probably the rest of Europe.
While Poland was swiftly overrun by German and Soviet forces in 1939, the Poles continued to resist at home and tens of thousands made their way to the West to continue the fight. One of their most notable contributions came in the fall of 1940, during the Battle of Britain, when about 1,500 Polish pilots comprised a very significant percentage of those that Winston Churchill called "the Few" who saved Britain -- and so much more. The Normandy invasion would never have been possible had England fallen.
So there it is. Whether in ferocious resistance to the Mongols, the Ottoman Turks, the early- and late-Soviet Union -- even the Nazis -- Poland has repeatedly served to shield Europe from aggression, and in its own distinct way. A Slavic nation, but Roman Catholic rather than Orthodox. Sharing an open, hard-to-defend geography with its Prussian neighbor, but liberal and peace-loving rather than militaristic. In short, a most paradoxical nation, cast against type for the role it played.
Dr. Haska embodied the Polish national character. A thoughtful intellectual, a master of nine languages, and a historian, he had also been a partisan who mounted hit-and-run raids against the Nazis. And he was so proud of his heritage. When I first met him, greeting him with a passable Dzien dobry, his face lit up and he spoke only Polish with me. Most of which I could not understand -- but I got the gist.
At his wake last Thursday night, most of the whispers I heard were in Polish, too. There was much sorrow in the words, but there was a strong current of pride as well, duly honoring this fallen shield-bearer.
source: Foreign Policy
Wing Commander William Hoy
Wing Commander William Hoy, who has died aged 93, was a successful wartime night fighter pilot, and in 1957 set a new world record time for a flight from Tokyo to London. During the early post-war years, the RAF Flying College flew a variety of aircraft named "Aries" on a series of long-range and record-breaking flights. Hoy joined the college as an instructor in June 1955, coinciding with the arrival of a specially modified Canberra PR 7, "Aries V".
In June 1956 Hoy took the aircraft on a series of flights in West Africa, studying the problems of flying at very high altitude near the tropopause (the boundary between the dense atmosphere around Earth, known as the troposphere, and the stratosphere) in equatorial latitudes. He then flew the aircraft direct from Dakar to his base in Lincolnshire, a distance of 2,760 miles.
A year later he made his record-breaking flight from Tokyo. The aircraft had been flown to Japan on May 23 1957 by another crew from the Flying College in an elapsed time of 19 hours. After just two hours on the ground, Aries V, flown by Hoy and his crew, took off for Fairbanks in Alaska, where they refuelled before heading for the North Pole on a direct flight to London. They landed after a flight of 4,211 miles, the longest ever record attempt by a RAF jet aircraft at that time. The total elapsed time for the 8,000-mile flight from Tokyo was a few minutes short of 18 hours. Hoy was awarded an AFC for his work at the RAF Flying College.
William Hoy was born in Edinburgh on December 23 1918 and educated at George Watson's College, where he won a scholarship to the RAF College, Cranwell. He graduated as a pilot in October 1939.
He flew Anson and Hudson aircraft on shipping sweeps over the North Sea, taking part in the operations over the Norwegian coast after the German invasion in April 1940. He then joined No 420 Flight, flying the antiquated Harrow bomber on operations to drop aerial mines by night. The mines were attached to 2,000ft of piano wire in the hope that enemy bombers would fly into the wire, causing the mines to strike them and explode. There are no recorded successes.
Converting to the Beaufighter night fighter in late 1941, Hoy joined No 604 Squadron and was soon appointed a flight commander. On the night of July 29 1942 he shot down a Heinkel bomber off Land's End and, in spring 1943, he accounted for two more off the coast of Yorkshire and damaged a third. On another occasion he led another Beaufighter on a well-planned attack on an enemy reconnaissance aircraft, which was destroyed as a direct result of Hoy's initiative. In July 1943 he was awarded a DFC .
After a rest period, Hoy returned to the front line as flight commander of 25 Squadron, flying the Mosquito. On July 9 1944 he shot down a V-1 flying bomb over the Channel.
After the war Hoy commanded two night fighter squadrons before being appointed wing commander, flying at Church Fenton in Yorkshire – the home of four fighter squadrons. He attended No 1 Course at the new RAF Flying College at Manby, Lincolnshire, before taking up an appointment in the Middle East.
After his flight in Aries V, Hoy served with Nato and at the Air Ministry. His last appointment before retiring in 1966 was as station commander at RAF Manston in Kent.
Hoy then worked as the station manager for Invicta Airways, operating from Manston, before joining the building industry, spending some years on the sales staff of Tunnel Cement. He finally retired to Bedfordshire before moving to Australia to live near his daughter.
William Hoy married, in 1945, Monica Evans. She and a son predeceased him. He is survived by his daughter.
Wg Cdr William Hoy, born December 23 1918, died November 20 2012.
source: The Telegraph
Wing Commander William Hoy, who has died aged 93, was a successful wartime night fighter pilot, and in 1957 set a new world record time for a flight from Tokyo to London. During the early post-war years, the RAF Flying College flew a variety of aircraft named "Aries" on a series of long-range and record-breaking flights. Hoy joined the college as an instructor in June 1955, coinciding with the arrival of a specially modified Canberra PR 7, "Aries V".
In June 1956 Hoy took the aircraft on a series of flights in West Africa, studying the problems of flying at very high altitude near the tropopause (the boundary between the dense atmosphere around Earth, known as the troposphere, and the stratosphere) in equatorial latitudes. He then flew the aircraft direct from Dakar to his base in Lincolnshire, a distance of 2,760 miles.
A year later he made his record-breaking flight from Tokyo. The aircraft had been flown to Japan on May 23 1957 by another crew from the Flying College in an elapsed time of 19 hours. After just two hours on the ground, Aries V, flown by Hoy and his crew, took off for Fairbanks in Alaska, where they refuelled before heading for the North Pole on a direct flight to London. They landed after a flight of 4,211 miles, the longest ever record attempt by a RAF jet aircraft at that time. The total elapsed time for the 8,000-mile flight from Tokyo was a few minutes short of 18 hours. Hoy was awarded an AFC for his work at the RAF Flying College.
William Hoy was born in Edinburgh on December 23 1918 and educated at George Watson's College, where he won a scholarship to the RAF College, Cranwell. He graduated as a pilot in October 1939.
He flew Anson and Hudson aircraft on shipping sweeps over the North Sea, taking part in the operations over the Norwegian coast after the German invasion in April 1940. He then joined No 420 Flight, flying the antiquated Harrow bomber on operations to drop aerial mines by night. The mines were attached to 2,000ft of piano wire in the hope that enemy bombers would fly into the wire, causing the mines to strike them and explode. There are no recorded successes.
Converting to the Beaufighter night fighter in late 1941, Hoy joined No 604 Squadron and was soon appointed a flight commander. On the night of July 29 1942 he shot down a Heinkel bomber off Land's End and, in spring 1943, he accounted for two more off the coast of Yorkshire and damaged a third. On another occasion he led another Beaufighter on a well-planned attack on an enemy reconnaissance aircraft, which was destroyed as a direct result of Hoy's initiative. In July 1943 he was awarded a DFC .
After a rest period, Hoy returned to the front line as flight commander of 25 Squadron, flying the Mosquito. On July 9 1944 he shot down a V-1 flying bomb over the Channel.
After the war Hoy commanded two night fighter squadrons before being appointed wing commander, flying at Church Fenton in Yorkshire – the home of four fighter squadrons. He attended No 1 Course at the new RAF Flying College at Manby, Lincolnshire, before taking up an appointment in the Middle East.
After his flight in Aries V, Hoy served with Nato and at the Air Ministry. His last appointment before retiring in 1966 was as station commander at RAF Manston in Kent.
Hoy then worked as the station manager for Invicta Airways, operating from Manston, before joining the building industry, spending some years on the sales staff of Tunnel Cement. He finally retired to Bedfordshire before moving to Australia to live near his daughter.
William Hoy married, in 1945, Monica Evans. She and a son predeceased him. He is survived by his daughter.
Wg Cdr William Hoy, born December 23 1918, died November 20 2012.
source: The Telegraph
Flight Lieutenant Jimmy Corbin
Flight Lieutenant Jimmy Corbin, who has died aged 95, had just 29 hours' flying time in the Spitfire when he joined his fighter squadron during the Battle of Britain. Corbin arrived on No 66 Squadron as it moved south to Surrey in late August 1940, as the Battle was reaching its climax. Because he had so little experience, he was dispatched by his CO to the north of England for a few weeks' extra training before returning to No 66, which had moved to Gravesend. During the final month of the Battle, Corbin was in action over his native Kent.
As the Battle of Britain was drawing to a close, Corbin's CO, Squadron Leader Athol Forbes, decided that 10 of his pilots should record their impressions of the great air battle while memories were fresh. He chose a cross-section of officers and sergeants from different backgrounds and with different experiences – Corbin was one of them.
In between flying on operations, the 10 scribbled down their thoughts. Corbin contributed the third chapter of their classic book Ten Fighter Boys, which was published by Collins in 1942 – and by which time five had perished. The book was reissued in 2008. In 2007 Corbin decided to complete his story, publishing his own book, Last of the Ten Fighter Boys.
In the New Year of 1941, Fighter Command went on the offensive, carrying out sweeps over northern France. Corbin's Spitfire was hit by anti-aircraft fire and damaged over Calais, but he managed to return safely to base. During a strafing attack against an airfield on the Brest Peninsula, Corbin and his leader damaged a number of aircraft on the ground.
In June 1941 he attacked a Heinkel bomber which was returning from an attack on Liverpool and probably destroyed it; a month later he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 while escorting a force of Blenheim bombers over the Dutch coast. After a year of almost continuous operations, he was rested and became an instructor at a fighter training unit.
William James Corbin was born at Maidstone on August 5 1917 and educated in the town at St Michael's School. He trained as a teacher, and in April 1939 joined the RAFVR . He was called up on the outbreak of war .
After his spell as an instructor, Corbin was commissioned and joined a Spitfire squadron sent to North Africa in support of Operation Torch, the Allied landings in Algeria and Morocco in November 1942. He saw a great deal of action with No 72 Squadron as the Allied armies moved eastwards towards Tunis, shooting down a Bf 109 (with another probable) and damaging at least three more fighters.
He was also engaged on many sweeps shooting up motor transports and aircraft on the ground. During these operations, the Spitfires faced intense enemy ground fire, and Corbin recorded in his diary that he felt "a little shaky at times". As the Allies closed on Tunis, he attacked a motor torpedo boat – which exploded from the concentrated fire from his cannons; he also damaged two others. A few days later the war in North Africa was over and, after 450 hours' operational flying, Corbin was rested and returned to Britain to be a gunnery instructor. He was awarded a DFC.
At the end of the war, Corbin left the RAF and returned to Maidstone, where he took up a teaching post. He joined the RAF Reserve and enjoyed flying Tiger Moths and Chipmunks at weekends until the Force was disbanded in 1955. He received the Air Efficiency Award.
After 10 years teaching at Collier Road School, Corbin joined the staff of Maidstone Technical School, retiring as a senior master in 1980. He lived most of his life in the Maidstone area, and in 2011 was granted the Freedom of the Borough.
Corbin and his wife were keen golfers, and he played at Bearsted until late in life. He then made daily visits to the club for his "medicinal whisky" until shortly before his death.
Jimmy Corbin was briefly married during the war. He married, secondly, in 1955, Jeanne, who survives him with their son and two daughters.
Flt Lt Jimmy Corbin, born August 5 1917, died December 8 2012.
source: The Telegraph
Flight Lieutenant Jimmy Corbin, who has died aged 95, had just 29 hours' flying time in the Spitfire when he joined his fighter squadron during the Battle of Britain. Corbin arrived on No 66 Squadron as it moved south to Surrey in late August 1940, as the Battle was reaching its climax. Because he had so little experience, he was dispatched by his CO to the north of England for a few weeks' extra training before returning to No 66, which had moved to Gravesend. During the final month of the Battle, Corbin was in action over his native Kent.
As the Battle of Britain was drawing to a close, Corbin's CO, Squadron Leader Athol Forbes, decided that 10 of his pilots should record their impressions of the great air battle while memories were fresh. He chose a cross-section of officers and sergeants from different backgrounds and with different experiences – Corbin was one of them.
In between flying on operations, the 10 scribbled down their thoughts. Corbin contributed the third chapter of their classic book Ten Fighter Boys, which was published by Collins in 1942 – and by which time five had perished. The book was reissued in 2008. In 2007 Corbin decided to complete his story, publishing his own book, Last of the Ten Fighter Boys.
In the New Year of 1941, Fighter Command went on the offensive, carrying out sweeps over northern France. Corbin's Spitfire was hit by anti-aircraft fire and damaged over Calais, but he managed to return safely to base. During a strafing attack against an airfield on the Brest Peninsula, Corbin and his leader damaged a number of aircraft on the ground.
In June 1941 he attacked a Heinkel bomber which was returning from an attack on Liverpool and probably destroyed it; a month later he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 while escorting a force of Blenheim bombers over the Dutch coast. After a year of almost continuous operations, he was rested and became an instructor at a fighter training unit.
William James Corbin was born at Maidstone on August 5 1917 and educated in the town at St Michael's School. He trained as a teacher, and in April 1939 joined the RAFVR . He was called up on the outbreak of war .
After his spell as an instructor, Corbin was commissioned and joined a Spitfire squadron sent to North Africa in support of Operation Torch, the Allied landings in Algeria and Morocco in November 1942. He saw a great deal of action with No 72 Squadron as the Allied armies moved eastwards towards Tunis, shooting down a Bf 109 (with another probable) and damaging at least three more fighters.
He was also engaged on many sweeps shooting up motor transports and aircraft on the ground. During these operations, the Spitfires faced intense enemy ground fire, and Corbin recorded in his diary that he felt "a little shaky at times". As the Allies closed on Tunis, he attacked a motor torpedo boat – which exploded from the concentrated fire from his cannons; he also damaged two others. A few days later the war in North Africa was over and, after 450 hours' operational flying, Corbin was rested and returned to Britain to be a gunnery instructor. He was awarded a DFC.
At the end of the war, Corbin left the RAF and returned to Maidstone, where he took up a teaching post. He joined the RAF Reserve and enjoyed flying Tiger Moths and Chipmunks at weekends until the Force was disbanded in 1955. He received the Air Efficiency Award.
After 10 years teaching at Collier Road School, Corbin joined the staff of Maidstone Technical School, retiring as a senior master in 1980. He lived most of his life in the Maidstone area, and in 2011 was granted the Freedom of the Borough.
Corbin and his wife were keen golfers, and he played at Bearsted until late in life. He then made daily visits to the club for his "medicinal whisky" until shortly before his death.
Jimmy Corbin was briefly married during the war. He married, secondly, in 1955, Jeanne, who survives him with their son and two daughters.
Flt Lt Jimmy Corbin, born August 5 1917, died December 8 2012.
source: The Telegraph
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Lt. Montague (Monty) Yudelman, a longtime PRB trustee and a SAAF veteran. Passed away at Jan. 22, 2013. He retired as director of Agriculture and Rural Development at the World Bank, but his energy and dedication to development issues never wavered.
Dr. Yudelman was a respected worldwide expert on agriculture development, and he served as a consultant to numerous institutions including the Inter-American Development Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Rockefeller and Ford foundations, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and several foreign governments. He published widely in the field of agricultural development.
"Monty was deeply committed to issues of population and food/agriculture, and he was a wonderful PRB board member," noted Wendy Baldwin, PRB president and CEO. "He challenged us to do more, was generous with his presence and good spirit, and was always a joy to talk with. We will all miss him."
Monty was a lieutenant with the South African Air Force during World War II. Great Britain awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1943 "for acts of valor, courage, and devotion to duty while flying in active operations against the enemy." He served in 15 Sqn SAAF and took part in attack against Africa Corps in 1942.
Among his many contributions and accomplishments was the creation of the Malthus Lecture Series, a partnership between PRB and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). These lectures promote the study of the connections among nutrition, food, agriculture, and population, and invite an outstanding scholar or policymaker to give a presentation each year. He also helped create CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership.
"Through his leadership as Board Chair and Trustee, his mentoring and support of the PRB staff, and the establishment of the Malthus Lecture Series, Monty will be remembered fondly and his legacy will live on at PRB," said James Scott, COO/CFO of PRB.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDF6oyKfGhQ
Dr. Yudelman was a respected worldwide expert on agriculture development, and he served as a consultant to numerous institutions including the Inter-American Development Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Rockefeller and Ford foundations, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and several foreign governments. He published widely in the field of agricultural development.
"Monty was deeply committed to issues of population and food/agriculture, and he was a wonderful PRB board member," noted Wendy Baldwin, PRB president and CEO. "He challenged us to do more, was generous with his presence and good spirit, and was always a joy to talk with. We will all miss him."
Monty was a lieutenant with the South African Air Force during World War II. Great Britain awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1943 "for acts of valor, courage, and devotion to duty while flying in active operations against the enemy." He served in 15 Sqn SAAF and took part in attack against Africa Corps in 1942.
Among his many contributions and accomplishments was the creation of the Malthus Lecture Series, a partnership between PRB and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). These lectures promote the study of the connections among nutrition, food, agriculture, and population, and invite an outstanding scholar or policymaker to give a presentation each year. He also helped create CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership.
"Through his leadership as Board Chair and Trustee, his mentoring and support of the PRB staff, and the establishment of the Malthus Lecture Series, Monty will be remembered fondly and his legacy will live on at PRB," said James Scott, COO/CFO of PRB.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDF6oyKfGhQ
michaelmaltby
Colonel
Joseph Stalin, who died 60 years ago today. Still popular after all these years ... in some circles.
MM
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not sure if this fits in here but I work with this girls Mom,
Officer Jennifer Kovach was pronounced dead in hospital early Thursday morning after a collision with a Guelph Transit bus. (Facebook) Related
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Guelph officer dies in line of duty after transit bus collisionConst. Jennifer Kovach is being remembered by friends, family and colleagues as a passionate member of the Guelph Police Service who was fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming an officer.
Kovach was en route to assisting another police officer early Thursday when she lost control of her cruiser, which collided with a Guelph Transit bus. She later died in hospital.
Kovach is the third member in the history of the Guelph Police Service to die in the line of duty.
"Jennifer didn't come to work, she came to make a difference in the city of Guelph," said Guelph Police Chief Brian Larkin at an afternoon press conference.
Larkin added that Kovach had offers to join other police services, but insisted on staying in her hometown.
Kovach was the daughter of Guelph Ward 4 Coun. Gloria Kovach. During a press conference, Guelph Mayor Karen Farbridge said she knew Kovach personally for many years.
"I watched Jennifer grow up from a young child to a teenager to a young woman," said Farbridge. "Its a very sad day and my heart goes out very much to her mother and family."
Cam Guthrie, another councillor for Guelph Ward 4, said he also knew Kovach since she was a child. "Our whole city is mourning together today for sure," Guthrie told CBC News.
Kovach graduated in 2007 from the police foundations program at Conestoga College in Kitchener. Professor Carolyn Harrison, one of Kovach's instructors, said she remembers Kovach as being a very keen and talented student.
"Jen was one of those model students that was just a great credit to her class," said Harrison. "She was enthusiastic, she had a great sense of humour, she was always smiling."
Officer Jennifer Kovach was pronounced dead in hospital early Thursday morning after a collision with a Guelph Transit bus. (Facebook) Related
Related Stories
Guelph officer dies in line of duty after transit bus collisionConst. Jennifer Kovach is being remembered by friends, family and colleagues as a passionate member of the Guelph Police Service who was fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming an officer.
Kovach was en route to assisting another police officer early Thursday when she lost control of her cruiser, which collided with a Guelph Transit bus. She later died in hospital.
Kovach is the third member in the history of the Guelph Police Service to die in the line of duty.
"Jennifer didn't come to work, she came to make a difference in the city of Guelph," said Guelph Police Chief Brian Larkin at an afternoon press conference.
Larkin added that Kovach had offers to join other police services, but insisted on staying in her hometown.
Kovach was the daughter of Guelph Ward 4 Coun. Gloria Kovach. During a press conference, Guelph Mayor Karen Farbridge said she knew Kovach personally for many years.
"I watched Jennifer grow up from a young child to a teenager to a young woman," said Farbridge. "Its a very sad day and my heart goes out very much to her mother and family."
Cam Guthrie, another councillor for Guelph Ward 4, said he also knew Kovach since she was a child. "Our whole city is mourning together today for sure," Guthrie told CBC News.
Kovach graduated in 2007 from the police foundations program at Conestoga College in Kitchener. Professor Carolyn Harrison, one of Kovach's instructors, said she remembers Kovach as being a very keen and talented student.
"Jen was one of those model students that was just a great credit to her class," said Harrison. "She was enthusiastic, she had a great sense of humour, she was always smiling."