Bobby Gibbes (6 May 1916 – 11 April 2007) was an Australian fighter
ace of World War II, and the longest-serving wartime commander of
No. 3 Squadron RAAF. He was officially credited with 10¼ aerial
victories, although his score is often reported as 12, including 2
shared; he commanded No. 3 Squadron in North Africa during 1942–43. A
jackaroo and salesman before joining the Royal Australian Air Force in
1940, Gibbes flew with No. 3 Squadron in the Middle East, and became
commanding officer during the Western Desert Campaign. His leadership
and fighting skills earned him the Distinguished Service Order and the
Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. Posted to the South West Pacific in
1944, he served with No. 80 Wing of the Australian First Tactical Air
Force, and took part in the "Morotai Mutiny" of April 1945. After the
war he spent many years in New Guinea developing local industry, for
which he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2004. He
continued to fly until he was 85..
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_the_Order_of_Australia>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1801:
French Revolutionary Wars: The outmanned and outgunned
HMS Speedy captured the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_6_May_1801>
1954:
At Oxford's Iffley Road Track, English runner Roger Bannister
became the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-minute_mile>
1991:
Time magazine published "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power",
an article highly critical of Scientology, leading to years of legal
conflict.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thriving_Cult_of_Greed_and_Power>
2013:
Amanda Berry escaped from the Cleveland, Ohio, home of her
captor Ariel Castro having been held there with two other women for ten
years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Castro_kidnappings>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
staid:
1. Not capricious or impulsive; sedate, serious, sober.
2. (rare) Always fixed in the same location; stationary.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/staid>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The secret of liberty is to enlighten men, as that of tyranny is
to keep them in ignorance.
--Maximilien Robespierre
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maximilien_Robespierre>