Introduction Reginald Joseph Mitchell CBE, FRAeS, (20 May 1895 to 11 June 1937) was a British aircraft designer who worked for the Southampton aviation company Supermarine from 1920 to 1936. He is best remembered for designing racing seaplanes such as the Supermarine S.6B, and the Supermarine Spitfire. Born in Butt Lane, Staffordshire, Mitchell attended Hanley… Read More
Introduction Alpo Kullervo Marttinen (04 November 1908 to 20 December 1975) was a Finnish-American colonel. Background During World War II he served in the Finnish Army. Following the war he immigrated to the United States and served as an officer in the United States Army, retiring as a colonel. Marttinen was one of the key… Read More
Introduction Josip Broz (07 May 1892 to 04 May 1980), commonly known as Tito, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various roles from 1943 until his death in 1980. During World War II, he was the leader of the Partisans, often regarded as the most effective resistance movement in occupied Europe. He… Read More
Introduction John Alexander Cruickshank, VC (born 20 May 1920) is a Scottish banker, former Royal Air Force officer, and a Second World War recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Cruickshank was awarded the VC for… Read More
Introduction A duty to escape is a requirement that military personnel attempt to escape from captivity if taken prisoner of war. It is referred to in Second World War prisoner of war films including 1963’s The Great Escape but was not actually a duty imposed on British officers at the time. The duty was formally… Read More
Introduction Temporary gentlemen (sometimes abbreviated to TG) is a colloquial term referring to officers of the British Army who held temporary (or war-duration) commissions, particularly when such men came from outside the traditional “officer class”. Historically the officers of the British Army were drawn from the gentry and upper middle classes and the expensive uniforms… Read More
Introduction The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women’s branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 09 September 1938, initially as a women’s voluntary service, and existed until 1 February 1949, when it was merged into the Women’s Royal Army Corps. The ATS… Read More
Boot Camp & Military Fitness Institute 