Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/October 2012/Articles


 * Joseph Desha (Acdixon) : Joseph Desha (1768–1842) was a U.S. Representative and the ninth governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Desha was raised near Gallatin, Tennessee, where his family were involved in many skirmishes with the Indians. Two of Desha's brothers were killed in these encounters, motivating him to volunteer for "Mad" Anthony Wayne's campaign against the Indians during the Northwest Indian War. Desha subsequently parlayed his military record into several terms in the state legislature. In 1807, Desha was elected to the first of six consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and was considered a War Hawk, supporting the War of 1812. In 1813, he volunteered to serve in the war and commanded a division at the Battle of the Thames. He did not seek reelection in 1818, and made an unsuccessful run for governor in 1820. However, he was elected governor by a large majority in 1824. At the expiration of his term, he retired from public life.


 * Ian Fleming ( SchroCat and Cassianto) : Ian Fleming (1908–1964) was an English author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer, best known for his James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst and the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through a number of jobs before he started writing. While working in British Naval Intelligence during World War II, Fleming was involved in the planning stages of Operation Mincemeat and Operation Golden Eye. He was also involved in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. His wartime service and his career as a journalist provided much of the background, detail and depth of the twelve Bond novels. The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming fourteenth on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".


 * Hobey Baker ( Kaiser matias) : Hobart Amory Hare "Hobey" Baker (1892–1918) was an American amateur athlete of the early twentieth century. Considered the first American star in ice hockey by the Hockey Hall of Fame, he was also an accomplished football player. Born into a prominent family from Philadelphia, he enrolled at Princeton University in 1910. Baker excelled on the university's hockey and football teams, and became a noted amateur hockey player for the St. Nicholas Club in New York City. He was a member of three national championship teams, for football in 1911 and hockey in 1912 and 1914, and helped the St. Nicholas Club win a national amateur championship in 1915. Baker graduated from Princeton in 1914 and worked for J.P. Morgan Bank until he enlisted in the United States Army Air Service. During World War I he served with the 103rd and the 13th Aero Squadrons before being promoted to captain and named commander of the 141st Squadron. Baker died in December 1918 after a plane he was test-piloting crashed, hours before he was due to leave France and return to America.


 * HMS Furious (47) (Sturmvogel 66) : HMS Furious was a modified Courageous-class battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy (RN) during the First World War. Lightly armoured and armed with only a few heavy guns, she was modified as an aircraft carrier while under construction. Her forward turret was removed and a flight deck was added in its place, so that aircraft had to manoeuvre around the superstructure to land. Later in the war, she had her rear turret removed and a second flight deck installed aft of the superstructure. She was reconstructed with a full-length flight deck in the early 1920s. After her conversion, she was used extensively for trials of naval aircraft and later as a training carrier once the new armoured carriers like HMS Ark Royal (91) entered service in the late 1930s. During the early months of the Second World War she  spent her time hunting for German raiders in the North Atlantic and escorting convoys. This changed dramatically during the Norwegian Campaign in early 1940 when her aircraft provided air support to British troops ashore in addition to attacking German shipping. After the withdrawal of British troops in May, she made several anti-shipping strikes in Norway with little result before beginning a steady routine of ferrying aircraft for the Royal Air Force. She was given a lengthy refit in the United States and spent a few months training after her return in April 1942. She made several more ferry trips in mid-1942 before her aircraft attacked airfields in Vichy French  Algeria as part of the opening stages of Operation Torch in November 1942. The ship remained in the Mediterranean until February 1943 when she was transferred to the Home Fleet. She spent most of 1943 training, but made a number of attacks on the GERMAN BATTLESHIP Tirpitz and other targets in Norway during the first half of 1944. By September 1944, the ship was showing her age and she was placed in reserve. She was decommissioned in April 1945, and sold for scrap in 1948.


 * Oerip Soemohardjo (Crisco 1492) : General Oerip Soemohardjo (1893–1948) was an Indonesian general and the first chief of staff of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. Born in Purworejo, Dutch East Indies, Oerip graduated from military training in in 1914, and served as an officer in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, the army of the Dutch colonial government. During almost 25 years of service he was stationed on three different islands and promoted several times, eventually becoming the highest-ranking native officer in the country. Oriep resigned from his position in about 1938, but was recalled to active duty in May 1940. When the Empire of Japan occupied the Indies less than two years later, he was arrested and detained in a prisoner-of-war camp for three and a half months. On 14 October 1945, several months after Indonesia proclaimed its independence, Oerip was declared the chief of staff and interim leader of the newly formed army. On 12 November 1945 General Sudirman was selected as leader of the armed forces after two deadlocked votes. Oerip remained as chief of staff, and together the two oversaw almost three years of development during the Indonesian National Revolution, until disgusted by the political leadership's lack of trust in the army and ongoing political manoeuvrings, Oerip resigned in early 1948. Already suffering from a weak heart, his health deteriorated and he died of a heart attack a few months later. A lieutenant general at the time, Oerip was posthumously promoted to full general. He received several awards from the Indonesian government, including the title National Hero of Indonesia in 1964.


 * North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (Jimfbleak) : The North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) comprises 7,700 ha (19,027 acres) of Norfolk's north coast from just west of Holme-next-the-Sea to Kelling. Habitats within the SSSI include reed beds, salt marshes, freshwater lagoons and sand or shingle beaches. The wetlands are important for wildlife, including some scarce breeding birds such as Pied Avocets, Western Marsh Harriers, Eurasian Bitterns and Bearded Reedlings. The location also attracts migrating birds including vagrant rarities. Ducks and geese winter along this coast in considerable numbers, and several nature reserves provide suitable conditions for water voles, natterjack toads, and scarce plants and invertebrates. The area is archaeologically significant, with artefacts dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. The mound of an Iron Age fort is visible at Holkham, and the site of a 23 ha (57 acres) Roman naval port and fort built on the castrum pattern is just outside Brancaster. The site of the medieval "chapel" (probably a domestic dwelling) at Blakeney is no longer accessible. Military remains from both world wars include an armoured fighting vehicle gunnery range, a hospital and bombing ranges, as well as passive defences such as pillboxes, barbed wire and tank traps.


 * Cley Marshes (Jimfbleak and MeegsC) : Cley Marshes is a 176 ha nature reserve on the North Sea coast of England just outside the village of Cley next the Sea, Norfolk. A reserve since 1926, it is the oldest of the reserves belonging to the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT). Cley Marshes protects an area of reed beds, freshwater marsh, pools and wet meadows and has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Area (SPA), and Ramsar Site due to the large numbers of birds it attracts. The reserve is important for some scarce breeding species, such as Pied Avocets on the islands, and Western Marsh Harriers, Eurasian Bitterns and Bearded Reedlings in the reeds, and is also a major migration stopoff and wintering site. It has five bird hides and an environmentally friendly visitor centre, and further expansion is planned through the acquisition of neighbouring land and improvements to visitor facilities. The site has a long history of human occupation, from prehistoric farming to its use as a prisoner of war camp in the Second World War. The reserve attracts large numbers of visitors, contributing significantly to the economy of Cley village. Despite centuries of embankment to reclaim land and protect the village, the marshes have been flooded many times, and the southward march of the coastal shingle bank and encroachment by the sea make it inevitable that the reserve will eventually be lost. New wetlands are being created further inland to compensate for the loss of coastal habitats.


 * SMS Kaiser (1911) (Parsecboy) : SMS Kaiser was the lead ship of the Kaiser-class battleship of battleships of the German Imperial Navy. Kaiser was built by the Imperial Dockyard at Kiel, launched on 22 March 1911 and commissioned on 1 August 1912. The ship was equipped with ten 30.5 cm guns in five twin turrets, and had a top speed of 23.4 kn. Kaiser was assigned to the III Squadron of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of World War I. In 1913, Kaiser and her sister SMS König Albert conducted a cruise to South America and South Africa. The ship participated in most of the major fleet operations during the war. She fought at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, during which she was hit once and suffered negligible damage. The ship was also present during Operation Albion in the Baltic Sea in September and October 1917, and at the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917. During peace negotiations after the end of the war in 1918, she was interned with other ships of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow. On 21 June 1919 the commander of the interned fleet, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, ordered the fleet to be scuttled to ensure that the British would not be able to seize the ships. The wreck was subsequently raised in 1929 and broken up in Rosyth in 1930.

The following images were promoted in September:


 * Norman Frederick Hastings (PunkyNZ) : Major Norman Frederick Hastings, DSO (1879–1915) served as Officer Commanding New Zealand's 6th (Manawatu) Squadron, Wellington Mounted Rifle Regiment.  After serving with British military units during the Second Anglo-Boer War in South Africa, he worked as an engineering fitter with the New Zealand Railways Department workshops at Petone.  He enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of World War I, and served with distinction before dying of wounds after the attack on Chunuk Bair, Gallipoli, in August 1915. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (second only to the Victoria Cross for officers), was mentioned in Despatches, and was one of only 14 members of the New Zealand Army to receive the French Legion of Honour decoration during the war.  The memorial flagstaff at Petone railway station appears to have been erected in his honour, and was the site of New Zealand's first public Anzac Day ceremony on 25 April 1916.


 * USS Lexington (CV-2) (Sturmvogel 66) : USS Lexington (CV-2), nicknamed "Lady Lex",was an early aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy. She was the lead ship of the Lexington-class aircraft carrier, though her only sister ship, USS Saratoga (CV-3), was commissioned a month earlier. Originally designed as a battlecruiser, she was converted into one of the Navy's first aircraft carriers during construction to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, which essentially terminated all new battleship and battlecruiser construction. The ship entered service in 1928 and was assigned to the Pacific Fleet for her entire career. Lexington and Saratoga were used to develop and refine carrier tactics in a series of annual exercises before World War II. On more than one occasion these included successfully staged surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ship's turbo-electric propulsion system allowed her to supplement the electrical supply of Tacoma, Washington, during a drought in late 1929 to early 1930. She also delivered medical personnel and relief supplies to Managua, Nicaragua, after an earthquake in 1931. Lexington was at sea when the Pacific War began on 7 December 1941, ferrying fighter aircraft to Midway Island. Her mission was cancelled and she returned to Pearl Harbor. Lexington rendezvoused with Yorktown in the Coral Sea in early May. A few days later the Japanese began Operation MO, the invasion of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and the two American carriers attempted to stop the invasion forces. They sank the light aircraft carrier JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Shōhō on 7 May during the Battle of the Coral Sea, but did not encounter the main Japanese force of the carriers JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Shōkaku and JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Zuikaku until the next day. Aircraft from Lexington and Yorktown succeeded in badly damaging Shōkaku, but the Japanese aircraft crippled Lexington. Vapors from leaking aviation gasoline tanks sparked a series of explosions and fires that could not be controlled, and the carrier had to be scuttled by an American destroyer during the evening of 8 May to prevent her capture.


 * No. 82 Wing RAAF (Ian Rose) : No. 82 Wing is the strike and reconnaissance wing of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and is headquartered at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. Coming under the control of Air Combat Group, the wing operates F/A-18F Super Hornet multirole fighters and Pilatus PC-9 forward air control aircraft. It is also responsible for training personnel to operate the RAAF's IAI Heron unmanned aerial vehicles. The wing's units include Nos. 1 and 6 Squadrons (Super Hornet), No. 4 Squadron (PC-9), and No. 5 Flight (Heron). Formed in August 1944, No. 82 Wing operated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II. Initially comprising two flying units, Nos. 21 and 24 Squadrons, the wing was augmented by 23 Squadron in 1945.  After the war its operational units became Nos. 1, 2 and 6 Squadrons. It re-equipped with Avro Lincolns in 1948 and, from 1953, English Electric Canberra jets. Both types saw action in the Malayan Emergency during the 1950s; the Canberras were also deployed in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1971. Between 1970 and 1973, as a stop-gap pending delivery of the long-delayed General Dynamics F-111C swing-wing bomber, Nos. 1 and 6 Squadrons flew leased F-4E Phantoms. No. 2 Squadron continued to fly Canberras until it was disbanded in 1982. After taking delivery of their F-111Cs in 1973, Nos. 1 and 6 Squadrons operated the type for 37 years through numerous upgrades, augmented in the mid-1990s by ex-USAF G models. The forward air control unit joined No. 82 Wing in 2002, and the Heron flight in 2010, the same year that the wing retired its F-111s and replaced them with Super Hornets as an interim force until the planned entry into Australian service of the F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter.


 * List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients (F) ( MisterBee1966): The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its variants were the highest awards in the military of the Third Reich during World War II. It was awarded for a wide range of reasons and across all ranks, from a senior commander for leadership of his troops in battle to a low-ranking soldier for a single act of gallantry. A total of 7,322 awards were made between 30 September 1939 and 17 June 1945. Of these, 280 awards were made to members of the three military branches Germany whose last name starts with "F". Author and historian Veit Scherzer has challenged the validity of 12 of these listings. Georg-Wolfgang Feller, a 13th doubted recipient, is listed by the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR); however the AKCR themselves challenge his listing. The recipients are ordered alphabetically by last name. The rank listed is the recipient's rank at the time the Knight's Cross was awarded.