John Balmer (3 July 1910 – 11 May 1944) was a bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He joined the RAAF in 1932, and gained attention as a cross-country motorist before the war. In 1940 he became the inaugural commanding officer of No. 13 Squadron, operating Lockheed Hudsons in Northern Australia. He was raised to temporary wing commander in 1941, and within a year had taken charge of the RAAF's first Bristol Beaufort unit, No. 100 Squadron. Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1942, he led the Beauforts on bombing and torpedo missions against Japanese targets during the New Guinea campaign. Posted to England in 1943, Balmer took command of No. 467 Squadron RAAF, flying Avro Lancasters in the air war over Europe. He led his unit through the Battle of Berlin from November 1943 to March 1944. In April he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the following month promoted to temporary group captain. Days later, on the night of 11 May, Balmer's last scheduled operation as the squadron's commanding officer, he and his crew were killed when their plane was shot down. He was buried outside Brussels.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Balmer
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
987:
Hugh Capet was crowned King of France, becoming the first monarch of the Capetian dynasty, which ruled France continuously until overthrown during the French Revolution in 1792. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Capet
1767:
Midshipman Robert Pitcairn sighted Pitcairn Island, subsequently named after him, during an expeditionary voyage led by Philip Carteret. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcairn_Islands
1898:
In one of the key naval engagements of the Spanish-American War, the United States Navy destroyed the Spanish Navy's Caribbean Squadron. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santiago_de_Cuba
1940:
Second World War: The British Navy attacked the French fleet (French destroyer Mogador pictured), fearing that the ships would fall into German hands after the armistice between those two nations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir
1970:
The Troubles: The British Army imposed the Falls Curfew on Belfast, Northern Ireland, which only resulted in greater Irish republican resistance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falls_Curfew
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
push factor: A factor that encourages one to leave one's current home, region, country, organization, or religion. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/push_factor
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
All human errors are impatience, the premature breaking off of what is methodical, an apparent fencing in of the apparent thing. --Franz Kafka https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka