Jerry Pentland (1894–1983) was an Australian fighter ace of World
War I. He saw action at Gallipoli as a Lighthorseman with the
Australian Imperial Force in 1915. Transferring to the Royal Flying
Corps in 1916, he was credited with 23 aerial victories to become the
fifth highest-scoring Australian ace of the war. He was awarded the
Military Cross for attacking an enemy airfield, and the Distinguished
Flying Cross for engaging four hostile aircraft single-handedly.
Pentland served in the fledgling Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and
later the Royal Air Force, before going into business in 1927. His
ventures included commercial flying around New Guinea goldfields. By the
early 1930s, he was a pilot with Australian National Airways. He re-
joined the RAAF during World War II, commanding rescue and
communications units in the South West Pacific. Perhaps the oldest
operational pilot in the RAAF, Pentland was responsible for several
rescues involving soldiers and civilians, and earned the Air Force Cross
for his bravery and skill. He became a trader in New Guinea after the
war, and later a coffee planter. He retired in 1959.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pentland>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1270:
Yekuno Amlak deposed the last Zagwe king and seized the
imperial throne of Ethiopia, beginning the reign of the Solomonic
dynasty that would last for more than 700 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yekuno_Amlak>
1628:
The Swedish warship Vasa (salvaged wreck pictured) sank after
sailing less than a nautical mile on her maiden voyage from Stockholm on
her way to fight in the Thirty Years' War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)>
1792:
French Revolution: Insurrectionists in Paris stormed the
Tuileries Palace, effectively ending the French monarchy until it was
restored in 1814.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_August_(French_Revolution)>
1953:
First Indochina War: The French Union withdrew its forces from
Operation Camargue against the Viet Minh in central modern-day Vietnam.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Camargue>
1981:
The severed head of kidnapped six-year-old Adam Walsh was found
in a canal in Vero Beach, Florida, prompting his father John to become
an advocate for victims' rights, helping to spur the formation of the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Adam_Walsh>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
keep shtum:
(intransitive, colloquial, idiomatic) Not tell anyone; especially, keep
silent about something that may be sensitive or secret.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/keep_shtum>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The forces going on in the society are not things the media can
prevent or change. But we can and should help understand this crisis and
warn against false solutions. If feelings are trumping arguments — the
pun is fully intended — it doesn’t mean that arguments don’t still
have to be made. It may not win the news cycle. It may not even win this
election cycle. But it’s a critical task.
--Andrew Sullivan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan>