Caesar Hull, DFC (1914–1940) and Paterson Hughes, DFC (1917–1940)
were Royal Air Force (RAF) flying aces of the Second World War. They
were killed in action in the Battle of Britain on the same day, 7
September 1940. Raised in Southern Rhodesia, South Africa and Swaziland,
Hull joined No. 43 Squadron in Sussex, England in 1935, and took part in
the fighting for Narvik during the Norwegian Campaign in 1940. Hull was
the RAF's first Gloster Gladiator ace and the most successful RAF pilot
of the Norwegian Campaign. He later saw action as a Hawker Hurricane
pilot during the Battle of Britain, in which he was killed while diving
to the aid of an RAF comrade. Hughes was born and raised in Australia
and took a commission with the RAF in 1937. Posted to No. 234 Squadron
following the outbreak of war, he flew Supermarine Spitfires and was
credited with seventeen victories during the Battle of Britain. His
tally made him the highest-scoring Australian of the battle, and among
the three highest-scoring Australians of the war. Hughes is generally
thought to have died after his Spitfire was struck by flying debris from
a German bomber that he had just shot down.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paterson_Clarence_Hughes>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1571:
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, was arrested for his
involvement in a plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I and replace her
with Mary, Queen of Scots.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridolfi_plot>
1652:
Chinese peasants on Formosa (Taiwan) began a rebellion against
Dutch rule before being suppressed four days later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guo_Huaiyi_Rebellion>
1778:
American Revolutionary War: France invaded the island of
Dominica and captured the British fort there before the latter even knew
that France had entered the war as an ally of the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Dominica>
1940:
Second World War: The German Luftwaffe changed their strategy
in the Battle of Britain and began bombing London and other British
cities and towns for over 50 consecutive nights.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz>
1999:
Three weeks after an earthquake struck northwestern Turkey, a
major earthquake struck Athens, causing Greece and Turkey to initiate
"earthquake diplomacy".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek%E2%80%93Turkish_earthquake_diplomacy>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
interstice:
1. A small opening or space between objects, especially adjacent objects or
objects set closely together, as between cords in a rope or components
of a multiconductor electrical cable or between atoms in a crystal.
2. (figuratively) A fragment of space.
3. An interval of time required by the Roman Catholic Church between the
attainment of different degrees of an order.
4. By extension, a small interval of time free to be spent on activities
other than one's primary goal.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/interstice>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Still falls the Rain — Dark as the world of man, black as our
loss — Blind as the nineteen hundred and forty nails Upon the Cross.
--Edith Sitwell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edith_Sitwell>