Dick Cresswell (27 July 1920 – 12 December 2006) was an officer and pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in Tasmania, he joined the RAAF in July 1938. He commanded No. 77 (Fighter) Squadron from April 1942 to August 1943, in Australia's North Western Area Campaign, against Japanese raiders. He claimed the squadron's first victory—the first by an Australian over the mainland—in November 1942. He commanded No. 81 (Fighter) Wing from May 1944 to March 1945, and simultaneously No. 77 Squadron between September and December 1944. In September 1950, during the Korean War, he took command of No. 77 Squadron for the third time. He oversaw its conversion to Gloster Meteors, becoming the first RAAF commander of a jet squadron in war, and earned the Commonwealth and US Distinguished Flying Crosses. Cresswell resigned from the RAAF in 1957, and flew with Bobby Gibbes's Sepik Airways in New Guinea before joining de Havilland Australia in 1959. He retired in 1974.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cresswell

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1955:

The Austrian State Treaty came into effect, ending the Allied occupation of Austria, although the country was not free of Allied troops until October. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied-occupied_Austria

1965:

Mattachine Midwest, a gay rights organization in Chicago, held its first meeting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattachine_Midwest

2007:

While covering a police pursuit in Phoenix, Arizona, two news helicopters collided in mid-air, killing both crews. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_news_helicopter_collision

2020:

A major oil spill from the Colonial Pipeline was discovered in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (system map pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Colonial_Pipeline_oil_spill

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

affiant: (originally US, now Canada, US, law) An individual witness whose statement is contained in an affidavit; (generally) an individual who makes a sworn deposition; a deponent. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/affiant

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Reach inside carefully. Feel my psyche. Make it last. Put this moment under glass.   --Juliana Hatfield https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Juliana_Hatfield