Kenneth Walker (1898–1943) was a United States Army aviator and an
Army Air Forces general who had a significant influence on the
development of airpower doctrine. Walker graduated from the Air Corps
Tactical School in 1929, then served as an instructor there. He
supported the creation of a separate air organization, not subordinate
to other military branches, and was a forceful advocate of the efficacy
of strategic bombardment. He published articles on the subject, and
became part of a clique known as the "Bomber Mafia" which argued for the
primacy of bombardment over other forms of military aviation. He
advanced the notion that fighters could not prevent a bombing attack,
and helped develop the doctrine of industrial web theory, which called
for precision attacks against carefully selected critical industrial
targets. In 1942, during World War II, Walker was promoted to brigadier
general and transferred to the Southwest Pacific. He frequently flew
combat missions over New Guinea, for which he received the Silver Star.
On 5 January 1943, he was shot down and killed while leading a daylight
bombing raid over Rabaul, for which he was posthumously awarded the
Medal of Honor.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Walker>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1757:
Louis XV of France survived an assassination attempt by Robert-
François Damiens, who later became the last person to be executed in
the country by drawing and quartering.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert-Fran%C3%A7ois_Damiens>
1925:
Nellie Tayloe Ross was inaugurated as Governor of Wyoming, the
first woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Tayloe_Ross>
1968:
Alexander Dubček came to power in Czechoslovakia, beginning a
period of political liberalization known as the Prague Spring that still
enabled the Communist Party to maintain real power.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Spring>
1975:
The Tasman Bridge (pictured), crossing the Derwent River in
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, was struck by the bulk carrier Lake
Illawarra, killing seven of the ship's crewmen and five motorists on the
bridge.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasman_Bridge_disaster>
2003:
London police arrested six people in conjunction with an
alleged terrorist plot to release ricin on the London Underground,
although only one was eventually convicted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_Green_ricin_plot>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Twelfth cake:
A decorative cake distributed among friends or visitors on the festival
of Twelfth Night (which is either the evening of January 5th or of
January 6th, depending on interpretation).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Twelfth_cake>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Learning does not consist only of knowing what we must or we can do, but
also of knowing what we could do and perhaps should not do.
--Umberto Eco
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Umberto_Eco>
Show replies by date