No. 33 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) strategic
transport and air-to-air refuelling squadron. It operates Airbus KC-30A
Multi Role Tanker Transports from RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. The
squadron was formed in February 1942 during World War II, operating
Short Empire flying boats and a variety of smaller aircraft until 1944,
and flying Douglas C-47 Dakota transports in New Guinea before
disbanding in May 1946. The unit was re-established in February 1981 as
a flight, and re-formed as a full squadron in July 1983. By 1988 it was
operating six Boeing 707s, four of which were later converted for
aerial refuelling (pictured). The 707s saw active service during
operations in Namibia, Somalia, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan.
No. 33 Squadron relocated to Amberley, and in June 2011 began re-
equipping with KC-30As. One of its aircraft has been deployed to the
Middle East since September 2014, as part of Australia's contribution to
the military coalition against ISIS.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._33_Squadron_RAAF>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1864:
American Civil War: Union Army General William T. Sherman began
his "March to the Sea", inflicting significant damage to property and
infrastructure on his way from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman>
1922:
During a general strike in Guayaquil, Ecuador, police and
military fired into a crowd, killing at least 300 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1922_Guayaquil_general_strike>
1959:
Two men murdered a family in Holcomb, Kansas; the events became
the subject of Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, a
pioneering work of the true crime genre.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood>
2012:
After ten years as General Secretary of the Communist Party of
China, Hu Jintao stepped down and was replaced by Xi Jinping (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
unwearied:
1. Not wearied, not tired.
2. Never tiring; tireless.
3. Not stopping; persistent, relentless.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unwearied>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Where there is much pretension, much has been borrowed: nature
never pretends.
--Johann Kaspar Lavater
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Kaspar_Lavater>