Vultee Vengeance dive bombers operated in Australian service between
1942 and 1950, and saw combat during World War II. A total of 400 of the
type were ordered for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1942.
Large-scale deliveries commenced in 1943, and 342 arrived before the
order was cancelled. RAAF Vengeance-equipped units entered combat in
mid-1943. The main frontline deployment of the type began in January
1944, but ended after only six weeks as the Vengeance was considered
inferior to other available aircraft. All combat units equipped with
Vengeances were converted to operate heavy bombers. The type remained in
RAAF service for training and support purposes until 1946, and some were
used by the Royal Australian Navy until 1950. While there is consensus
among historians that the Vengeance was obsolete at the time it entered
Australian service, some argue that it proved successful. Others,
including the RAAF's Air Power Development Centre, have judged that the
type was unsuitable.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vultee_Vengeance_in_Australian_service>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
324:
Roman emperor Constantine the Great defeated former colleague
Licinius in the Battle of Adrianople.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adrianople_(324)>
1754:
French and Indian War: George Washington surrendered Fort
Necessity in Pennsylvania, the only military surrender in his entire
career.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Necessity>
1938:
On the 75th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Gettysburg,
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Eternal Light Peace
Memorial (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Light_Peace_Memorial>
1970:
The Troubles: The British Army imposed the Falls Curfew on
Belfast, Northern Ireland, which resulted in greater Irish republican
resistance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falls_Curfew>
1988:
United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air
Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
mythos:
1. A story or set of stories relevant to or having a significant truth or
meaning for a particular culture, religion, society, or other group; a
myth, a mythology.
2. (by extension) A set of assumptions or beliefs about something.
3. (literature) A recurring theme; a motif.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mythos>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All writers in some insane place believe that to write is a holy
chore — that what one wishes to do is speak to one’s time, to make a
difference, to say: "I was here. I was a force for good in some way."
--Harlan Ellison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison>