Search
Search Results
Definition
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, also known as the Me 109, was Germany's most important single-seater fighter plane throughout the Second World War (1939-45). Produced in greater numbers than any other German plane, the fighter was a match for the...
Article
The Thousand-bomber Raid on Cologne in 1942
Cologne (Köln) was the first German city to experience a "1,000-bomber raid" by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War (1939-45). The attack took place on the night of 30 May 1942 and was planned as a demonstration of the destruction...
Definition
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seater fighter plane, one of the most important aircraft of the Second World War (1939-45). Employed by the Royal Air Force in such crucial encounters as the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940, the...
Definition
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry (1736-1799) was a Virginian lawyer and politician who played a vital role in the American Revolution (c. 1765-1789). Known for his brilliant oration, including the famous Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech, Henry served...
Definition
Operation Gomorrah
Operation Gomorrah (aka the Battle of Hamburg or Hamburg Air Offensive) was a sustained area bombing campaign of the German port of Hamburg in four night attacks by the Royal Air Force and two daytime attacks by the United States Air Force...
Definition
Lancaster Bomber
The Avro 683 Lancaster bomber was a four-engine heavy bomber flown by the Royal Air Force and allies during the Second World War (1939-45). Lancasters were particularly used in nighttime bombing raids and could carry the heaviest bombs ever...
Image
French Anti-slavery Pamphlet
Front page of the "Address to the National Assembly", an anti-slavery pamphlet written by the French abolitionist group Société des amis des noirs ("Society of the Friends of the Blacks") in 1790.
Definition
Battleship Bismarck
The Bismarck was a German battleship, the largest and most powerful capital ship in the Kriegsmarine. For all its weaponry and armour, the ship was involved in only one major operation which, after the sinking of the British battlecruiser...
Image
Swordfish Planes & Ark Royal
A c. 1939 photograph of the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal and its Swordfish biplanes. (U.S. Navy photo NH 79167 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command)
Definition
Operation Chastise
Operation Chastise, the 'Dambusters' raid, was an attack by a squadron of RAF Lancaster bombers on the dams of the Ruhr basin in Germany in May 1943. Led by Squadron Leader Guy Gibson, the bombers breached two dams causing enormous flooding...