Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He joined the RAAF in 1932, and
gained attention as a cross-country motorist before the war. In 1940 he
became the inaugural commanding officer of No. 13 Squadron, operating
Lockheed Hudsons in Northern Australia. He was raised to temporary wing
commander in 1941, and within a year had taken charge of the RAAF's
first Bristol Beaufort unit, No. 100 Squadron. Appointed an Officer of
the Order of the British Empire in 1942, he led the Beauforts on bombing
and torpedo missions against Japanese targets during the New Guinea
campaign. Posted to England in 1943, Balmer took command of No. 467
Squadron RAAF, flying Avro Lancasters in the air war over Europe. He led
his unit through the Battle of Berlin from November 1943 to March 1944.
In April he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the
following month promoted to temporary group captain. Days later, on the
night of 11 May, Balmer's last scheduled operation as the squadron's
commanding officer, he and his crew were killed when their plane was
shot down. He was buried outside Brussels.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Balmer>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
987:
Hugh Capet was crowned King of France, becoming the first
monarch of the Capetian dynasty, which ruled France continuously until
overthrown during the French Revolution in 1792.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Capet>
1767:
Midshipman Robert Pitcairn sighted Pitcairn Island,
subsequently named after him, during an expeditionary voyage led by
Philip Carteret.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcairn_Islands>
1898:
In one of the key naval engagements of the Spanish-American
War, the United States Navy destroyed the Spanish Navy's Caribbean
Squadron.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santiago_de_Cuba>
1940:
Second World War: The British Navy attacked the French fleet
(French destroyer Mogador pictured), fearing that the ships would fall
into German hands after the armistice between those two nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir>
1970:
The Troubles: The British Army imposed the Falls Curfew on
Belfast, Northern Ireland, which only resulted in greater Irish
republican resistance.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falls_Curfew>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
push factor:
A factor that encourages one to leave one's current home, region,
country, organization, or religion.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/push_factor>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All human errors are impatience, the premature breaking off of
what is methodical, an apparent fencing in of the apparent thing.
--Franz Kafka
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka>
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