No. 1 Wing was an Australian Flying Corps and Royal Australian Air
Force wing active during World War I and World War II. Established in
September 1917 as the 1st Training Wing, it commanded Australian pilot
training squadrons in England until April 1919, when it was disbanded.
It was re-formed as No. 1 Wing on 7 October 1942 as a fighter unit of
one British and two Australian flying squadrons equipped with
Supermarine Spitfire aircraft, and a mobile fighter sector headquarters.
The wing provided air defence to Darwin and several other key Allied
bases in northern Australia. During its first months at Darwin, its
fighters intercepted several air raids on Northern Australia by the
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force and Imperial Japanese Navy. Although
the wing was hampered by mechanical problems with its Spitfires and
suffered heavy losses in some engagements, it eventually downed a
greater number of Japanese aircraft than it lost in combat. The wing's
two Australian flying squadrons were replaced with British units in July
1944, and it was disbanded after the war.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._1_Wing_RAAF>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1513:
War of the League of Cambrai: A Venetian army under Bartolomeo
d'Alviano was decisively defeated by the Spanish army commanded by
Ramón de Cardona and Fernando d'Avalos.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_La_Motta_(1513)>
1780:
American Revolutionary War: Patriots and Loyalist militias
engaged each other at the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kings_Mountain>
1800:
The French privateer Robert Surcouf led a 150-man crew to
capture the 40-gun, 437-man East Indiaman Kent.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Surcouf>
1958:
Attempting to control the political instability in Pakistan,
President Iskander Mirza suspended the 1956 constitution, imposed
martial law, and dissolved the National Assembly.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskander_Mirza>
1985:
As a result of severe flooding in Puerto Rico, at least 130
people died as a result of the deadliest single landslide on record in
North America.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Puerto_Rico_floods>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
squeeze box:
1. (caving) A box with an adjustable opening used by cavers to practise
crawling through tight spaces.
2. (veterinary medicine) A container that fits tightly around an animal to
immobilize it for medical treatment, transportation, etc. […]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/squeeze_box>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The belief of some governments that nuclear weapons are a
legitimate and essential source of security is not only misguided, but
also dangerous, for it incites proliferation and undermines disarmament.
All nations should reject these weapons completely — before they are
ever used again. This is a time of great global tension, when fiery
rhetoric could all too easily lead us, inexorably, to unspeakable
horror. The specter of nuclear conflict looms large once more. If ever
there were a moment for nations to declare their unequivocal opposition
to nuclear weapons, that moment is now.
--ICAN
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/International_Campaign_to_Abolish_Nuclear_Weapons>
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