WesWorld

Quoted

In a straw poll today 28% percent of fathers and 65% of boys under 18 polled said they preferred beer to milk.

Quoted

Society of British Aircraft Constructors SBAC Show at Farnborough

This year, as usual, over Britain’s aviation companies were busy displaying their latest aircraft and equipment.

The Hawker Siddeley stands again dominated Farnborough week. The first production Hawker Tempest I for the Royal Egyptian Air Force was displayed as well as two more for the RAF. Both of these flew several times during the show. The Tempest II is powered by the Napier Sabre V. The tenth production Tempest III was also displayed and flown, the Tempest III is powered by the Rolls-Royce Vulture IV engine. A Hawker Sea Fury was on hand for displays and a full-size mock-up of the planned trainer variant was also on display. Avro only had commercial aircraft on show this year, the usual Lancaster bomber being absent. The 689 Tudor II airliner seating sixty60 passengers and powered by four 1,770hp Bristol Hercules XXII radials was on display and was frequently flown. Two Avro 700 Ashton twelve passenger light airliners were also exhibited and Avro announced orders during the week for ten aircraft from British operators. The second aircraft featured the 540hp Alvis Leonides III radial engine option and flew twice during non-public days. Gloster was able to amaze the crowds with two jet-propelled aircraft on display, the third prototype Gloster G.40 Pioneer and a production Gloster G.41A Meteor fighter in RAF markings.




Airco had a wide variety of aircraft as well. Two De Havilland D.H.103 Hornet fighters were displayed and flown during the week. A reconnaissance variant was confirmed by Air Ministry officials but no specific details were forthcoming. The Hornets were paired by two Fairey-built D.H.103 Sea Hornets and all four made an impressive low-level flypast on the final public day. The prototype D.H.98 Mosquito B.Mk.VI bomber was displayed for three days, but not flown. The Mk. VI is powered by two 1,770hp Rolls-Royce Merlin IX V-12 engines for a reported maximum speed of over 400mph. A production De Havilland DH.100 Vampire was on display and was flown during the non-public days. The prototype DH.97 Ambassador airliner, which only flew for the first time on 10 July 1944 made two flying appearances during the week but was not on display. Instead there was a full-size mock-up of the spacious passenger cabin. A production D.H.104 Dove was exhibited both on the ground and in the air and two more in differing luxury cabin fits for private owners were also on display. De Havilland hinted that work might soon begin on a scaled-up four-engined Dove. To challenge Avro, Handley Page had their prototype H.P.74 Hermes II, a stretched development of the H.P.66 Hermes seating 63 passengers. BOAC confirmed production has begun on their order for twenty Hermes II. The aircraft was flown several times alongside the second production Hastings transport variant of the H.P.66 for the RAF. Fairey displayed their new Spearfish torpedo-bomber and a company Barracuda Mark 2 painted in Greek colours to illustrate the recent export order for the improved aircraft and modification kits to Greece. The prototype Fairey Firefly Mark 2, converted into the Mark 3 with a Rolls-/Royce Griffon III V-12 to meet another Greek order was also on static display.


BCAC made an impressive line-up of new aircraft as well. The first production BCAC (Vickers-Supermarine) Spiteful fighter of the RAF was on static display but the second prototype did perform a flypast during a press day. A prototype BCAC (Vickers) Type 447 Windsor heavy bomber made an impressive flypast on the opening day and the second production aircraft was on static display during the week. It was the first time the press could get close to the innovative remote-control barbettes armed with twin 20mm cannon. Two BCAC (Vickers) VC.1 Viking airliners were exhibited, one on loan from BEA straight from the Weybridge factory. These flew several times during the week and several orders were placed. A BCAC (Bristol) Type 170 Freighter large freight carrier also attended the show and BCAC began a series of consultations with airline representatives about a rugged passenger conversion seating over thirty passengers for overseas use. A scale model of the forthcoming Wayfarer variant for the RAF was on display.



Boulton-Paul and Martin-Baker had their prototype navalised Sea M.B.5 fighter on display. Shortly before Farnborough opened, the Fleet Air Arm rescinded its order for these fighters and now the companies are trying to secure an export order. Blackburn displayed their B.48 Firecrest naval ‘strike-fighter’ and it flew several breath-taking displays including mock diving attacks. The Fleet Air Arm hopes to introduce the Firecrest into service next year and 200 are on order. Percival had their prototype Prentice three-seat basic trainer at Farnborough and the company was advertising its recent order for 370 production aircraft for the RAF to replace the Tiger Moth fleet over the next three years and several possible exports were also discussed. The prototype Percival P.48 Merganser 5-seat feederliner was also displayed and flown. Alongside was a model of a proposed larger 8-seat version that should fly next year. Miles had a large stand as ever and their stars this year were the M.28 Messenger for the RAF, the four seat twin-engined Miles M.65 Gemini touring aircraft, the prototype Miles M.57 Aerovan small cargo carrying aircraft with clamshell doors and the second prototype Miles M.60 Marathon 20-seat feederliner in BEA colours. An export order for a single Marathon for the King of Jordan was publicly revealed during a press day. Auster Aircraft Limited had a wide array of aircraft on display including the modified Auster with split flaps and larger cabin windows, the three-seat Auster J-1 Autocrat and its four-seat J-1A variant and the two-seat aerobatic Auster J-2 Arrow and J-4 Arrow with a 90hp Cirrus Minor I. Also on display was the prototype Auster A.2/43 developed for an RAF requirement. A Short S.45 Solent flying boat made an flying appearance as did the huge prototype S.35 S Class flying boat. A Sunderland Mk.V made a single flypast during a non-public day. The newly formed General Aviation (UK) Ltd. had a large stand for their debut appearance and several exhibits of Nash & Thompson Ltd. powered turrets. No aircraft were on display but several models of the forthcoming Project 109 twin-boom light aircraft were on show. The prototype should fly next year. Heston Aircraft drew a large crowd with their Napier-Heston Type 5 racer G-AFOL designed to break the World Speed Record (for piston-engines at least). It is powered by a 2,500hp Napier Sabre IV and a series of record attempts should begin within the next couple of months. Chrislea displayed their CH.3 Super Ace high-wing four-seat cabin monoplane fitted with Chrislea’s unusual steering wheel control system.

Quoted

British Battleships Since 1906 by Norman Preston (Conway Maritime Press, 1994)
The Admiral Class
Widely regarded as the pinnacle of British capital ship design, this class was developed in secrecy under a cloak of deception. Design work by the DNC began during 1937 when the Admiralty began looking at new battleships to replace the Queen Elizabeth Class. As noted in the previous chapter, HMS Lion had been built as a modified Saint Vincent Class ship. The DNC initially looked at building five more Lions, which was the cheapest option. However, naval intelligence had uncovered Japanese and German plans to begin building battleships with guns over 17in and initially the armour scheme of the Lion was improved to defeat 18in shells. The Gunnery Department began looking at newer and heavier guns to compete. Vickers already had a 16.5in gun in production for coastal batteries in twin turrets. In early 1938 contracts were placed with Vickers to construct a new gun of immense power. The stored 18in barrel from the monitor HMS General Wolfe was reactivated for tests and design work began on an impressive 19in gun firing 3,700lb shells. This armed the first of the DNC’s super-battleship designs. Displacing some 50,300 tons (standard) Design A was armed with six of these impressive weapons in three twin turrets along with a 16in thick belt and 5.5in thick layered deck armour. The secondary armament of ten automatic 4.5in Mk V mounts and heavy 6pdr AA guns remained unchanged right to the final design. The Mk V mounts and much of the proposed radio-location equipment and fire-control gear was only theoretical at this stage, these equipments would develop alongside the construction of the hulls. The hull was sized at 850 x 120 x 32.8 feet. Speed would be 30 knots. By 1939 Vickers had constructed the first proof barrel and test firings began in December 1939, by then the armament was no longer required but the tests continued until 1941 with the two barrels eventually completed.
The DNC then, naturally turned to the 16.5in gun already in production due to concerns over volume of fire. The 16.5in gun actually had slightly better penetration over some distances. Design B1 displaced some 52,400 tons (standard), armed with nine 16.5in guns in three triple turrets along with a 16in thick belt and an extra 0.5in of deck armour, now totalling 6in. The hull was identical to Design A. Design B3 of mid-1938 was identical but added another 0.5in of deck armour on 52,590 tons (standard).
Then came the four turret designs. Due to likely Treasury pressures the Admiralty directed the DNC to study a 15in armed ship but with an additional turret to offer increased firepower over the previous fast battleship classes. Four triple 15in turrets on Design C1 on a new 881 x 125 x 32.8 foot hull raised the standard displacement to 55,000 tons. The 16in belt and 6in thick decks were retained as was the speed of 30kts. The ship was not cost effective and was under-armed for its size. The DNC found the same dimensions could fit four triple 16.5in turrets on 60,355 tons (standard) in Design C2, which had the 6.5in thick deck armour scheme of Design B3. In March 1938 the Admiralty Planning Committee confirmed the 16.5in triple turret would be the preferred armament for whatever design was chosen and Vickers began work on the new turret.
During this time intelligence was playing a leading role. On 23 May 1937, the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alfred Ernle Chatfield, led a group of senior naval officers including the Commander in Chief Home Fleet, Admiral of the Fleet Roger Backhouse, to Kiel in Germany for talks to witness the launching Germany’s newest battleship Sachsen along with their Nordmarkian allies. This began a series of high-level meetings during 1937 and 1938 with the Kriegsmarine in which data on the Sachsens and the preliminary Admirals were shared. It is thought much of the torpedo-bulkhead system owed its origins to German plans. In addition the Teapot spy-ring based in Hamburg was supplying additional data via Heinrich Eichenlaub, a design draughtsman at the Deschimag shipyards at Hamburg working for the ring. This allowed the Admiralty to check their German information and uncover a few other design features.
Pressures to begin construction in 1939 forced the Admiralty to decide quickly whether the three or four turret design would be built. Design C2 was refined as Design C3, which was almost identical but with a revised AA layout. The superior firepower of four turrets allowed the Admiralty to build a super-battleship without very-large calibre guns and which provided a full battle squadron the equivalent of an extra battleship in terms of additional firepower over a squadron with three turret ships. Work began on the five hulls in January 1939 and all five were commissioned on 28 September 1944. Design changes during construction had replaced the planned multiple 0.661in machine-gun mounts with the new 40mm 2pdr AA gun which had not been designed when the programme was begun.
The Admiralty wanted to keep the details of the class secret; it is believed the Germans were aware of the three turret 16.5in design and the early 19in designs but not the final four turret design. An early worry was when Jane’s All the World’s Fighting Ships in 1937 stated the new class would displace 54,000 tons on a hull 850 x 120 x 32 and armed with nine 16.5in guns, twenty 4.5in guns and sixteen 6pdr AA guns with a speed of 30kts which led to an internal security hunt. It transpired that the editorial team had simply assumed the new 16.5in guns would be used and scaled a ship around them. When the ships were laid down, publically no details were released only the five names, most of which also proved fictitious. They were called HMS Nelson, Rodney, Howe, Anson and Beatty, two were existing heavy cruisers and during 1941 HMS Beatty became HMS Jellicoe and shortly before completion the hull was again renamed, HMS Pound, after Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alfred Dudley Pound died. Whether all the names were deception choices or not is not clear but the finally names on commissioning were; HMS Nelson, Rodney, Fisher, Duke of York and Pound. During 1940 it was released that the ships were repeat Lion class battleships. Then in April, during King Edward VIII’s visit to Germany, a chance remark hinting at the true scale of the Admiral Class began another round of public questions and curiosity. Jane’s yearbook had not been updated, at Admiralty request including a rather dubious official sketch. In the hunger for copy several papers sent reporters to towns where the five battleships were being built in an effort to prise some secrets from the workers themselves. The loyal dockyard workers at the Royal Chatham Yard divulged nothing; however the workers at Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow proved much more talkative but and much of what they said that entered the newspapers was good-humoured exaggeration. One journalist charted a Dragon Rapide from Blackpool airport to fly him over the Vickers yard at Barrow; he soon found himself escorted back by two Hawker Hurricanes and was arrested on landing. He was later released, but his glass plates were confiscated. Unofficial reports got wind of Vickers 19in and 18in gunnery trials which further fuelled speculation. At the end of April one Labour MP questioned the difference between the official statements that seemed to show repeat Lion Class vessels and something more akin to 65,000 tons with 18in guns claimed in the newspapers. The First Lord of the Admiralty, The Earl Stanhope, replied that the battleships were equal to the latest foreign ships and an Admiralty source pointed out to the press that the Sachsen Class were good pointers to the new class. However, Earl Stanhope the following week gave information that suggested the ships were repeat Lion Class vessels with improved armour. Political interest waned and the rest of the construction time was mainly taken up with speculations over the names. After the ships were launched anyone who saw the 881 foot long hulls knew the official cover was false.

Quoted

Britain is leading the world in jet-turbine technology

Quoted from "BruceDuncan"

Quoted

Britain is leading the world in jet-turbine technology

I shall so advise the boys in Dessau, Eisenach and Rostock...

Quoted

Palestine
The main complaint is that the British have continued enforcing the Peel Report provisions, including; a ban on the sale of land (except for some exceptions), no further immigration during 1942-46 without Arab approval, new legislation to preserve both Jewish and Islamic rights, introduction of a full dual-nationality system and a planned plebiscite to be held during 1946 on issue of the creation of an independent state if the new co-habiting state can be made to work well to benefit each side. Part of the reason all land sales were banned to anyone, not just Jews, was the confused state of the post Ottoman land registry making it difficult to determine who actually owned the land that was for sale.

Within the ranks of the Irgun the Peel Report had created much disappointment and unrest, at the centre of which was disagreement between the leader of the New Zionist Organization, David Raziel and the Irgun Headquarters. On June 18 1939, Avraham Stern and others of the leadership were released from prison and a rift opened between them and the Irgun leadership. The controversy centred on the issues of the underground movement submitting to public political leadership and fighting the British. On his release from prison Raziel resigned from the Headquarters and in his place, Stern was elected to the leadership. Other members of smaller factions resented his appointment because Stern was in favour of removing the Irgun from the authority of the New Zionist Organization, whose leadership urged Raziel to return to the command of the Irgun. He finally consented and Stern was sent a telegram with an order to obey Raziel, who was reappointed. However, these events did not prevent the splitting of the organization as suspicion and distrust were rampant among the members. Out of the Irgun a new organization was created on July 17 1940, The National Military Organization in Israel, later the Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel).

The primary difference between the Irgun and the Lehi are operational and ideological differences that contradict some of the Irgun's guiding principles. For example, the Lehi support a population exchange with local Arabs, the Irgun's fight against the British was only intended to expel them from the area, and the option of future diplomatic ties with Britain was not discounted but the Lehi declared total war against imperialism and the British Empire. Unlike Irgun fighters, Lehi fighters travel with their weapons on them at all times. The Irgun has concentrated its operations against British centres of government and its facilities in Palestine and sometimes pre-warned the British about planted bombs. The Lehi concentrates its attacks on people and the assassination of political leaders, military and police. These splits have damaged the Irgun’s organization and morale. The British took advantage of this to gather intelligence and arrest Irgun activists. This period was also marked by more cooperation between the Irgun and the Jewish Agency; however David Ben-Gurion's demand that Irgun accept the Agency's command halted any further cooperation.

Avraham Stern, the leader of the Lehi, was killed in Tel Aviv during his arrest by police after his group committed a series of murders on February 12 1942. In late 1943 a joint Haganah – Irgun initiative was developed, to form a single fighting body, unaligned with any political party called Fighting Nation. The new body's first plan was to kidnap the British High Commissioner of Palestine, Sir Harold MacMichael, however, the Haganah leaked the planned operation and it was thwarted by British intelligence.

In October 1944 the British began expelling arrested Lehi members to detention camps in East Africa. 71 detainees from Latrun were transported to Kenya.
On November 6, 1944, Lord Moyne, British Deputy Resident Minister of State in Cairo was assassinated by Lehi members Eliyahu Hakim and Eliyahu Bet-Zuri. This act raised concerns within the Yishuv about the British regime's likely reaction and possible removal of promises to a Plebiscite in 1946. The Jewish Agency began a Hunting Season. People suspected of belonging to or supporting the Lehi were removed from schools and work places. Most of the people involved were members of the Haganah and the Palmach carrying out surveillance, kidnapping, investigation and either turning them over to the British or providing details regarding their whereabouts. The Hunting Season managed to hinder the Lehi and over 300 members were arrested and interred in British camps.

Quoted

Avraham Stern, the leader of the Lehi, was assassinated by British Intelligence officers in Tel Aviv after his group committed a series of murders on February 12 1942.