People Web International

By PWI Reporter South East England

SOUTH EAST, UNITED KINGDOM - The Port of London Authority have been recently commissioned by the RAF Museum in Hendon to survey a WWII wreckage of the Kent Coastline. The Aircraft, a 1930’s design Dornier 17 flown by the Luftwaffe in the 2nd World War, went undiscovered until 2 years ago. It is sitting just 15 meters deep at Goodwin Sands, Kent. The plane is thought to have been shot down during the battle of Britain approximately 70 years ago, after taking heavy fire it made an emergency landing at sea, 2 of the 4 crewmen died but 2 survived the crash who became prisons of war.

The RAF museum at Hendon in London are very keen to raise and preserve this extremely rare Dornier 17 as it is thought to be the last of its kind. Surprisingly, the aeroplane is in excellent condition and is still intact. RAF Head of Collections Ian Thirsk was on board the Port of London Authorities high-tech vessel at the end of last month as the sonar scanning took place. He is planning to have it displayed at Hendon in a state of preservation as opposed to having it fully restored. Mr Thirsk believes this aircraft is a unique aeroplane and it's linked to an iconic event in British history, so its importance cannot be overemphasised, nationally and internationally. According to Mr Thirsk “It's one of the most significant aeronautical finds of the century.”

Photo source: http://www.pla.co.uk/display_fixedpage.cfm/id/4040

Contact: south.east.england@peoplewebinternational.com

By PWI Reporter South East England

PORTSMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM - The Aircraft Carrier HMS Invincible set sail for the last time yesterday, it’s destination is Turkey where it will be broken down at a scrap yard. She was decommissioned on the 3 August 2005 following budget cuts.

Invincible’s former captain, now Admiral Sir Jeremy Black, was there at Portsmouth Harbour to pay his respects. Without this ship Britain would not have reclaimed the Falkland Islands.

Invincible was built at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering. Launched by HM Queen Elizabeth in 1977, she was the flagship of the Royal Navy’s fleet and led the South Atlantic campaign during the conflict. Half a million people turned out to welcome her victorious return in 1982, including the Queen herself. HM Prince Andrew served aboard as a Naval Helicopter Pilot. The Invincible was also deployed during the Yugoslavia and Iraq campaigns.

This is the seventh ship to carry the glorious name HMS Invincible whose battle honours include victory over the Spanish at the Battle of St Vincent in 1780 to the Falklands War of 1982. The HMS Illustrious is now the British Navy’s flagship.

-- by PWI Reporter South East England - south.east.england@peoplewebinternational.com

WILTSHIRE - The small town of Wootton Bassett in west Wiltshire became well-known in the UK in recent years, as townsfolk and the streets often stood silent for the funeral corteges of service personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The tradition developed spontaneously, in a county where 20% of the population are military or connected with it making the impact of the war felt widely.  

Now that honour bestowed on the dead by townsfolk is itself being honoured. On 16th March 2011, the Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the Queen will rename the town Royal Wootton Bassett, ‘as an enduring symbol of the nation’s admiration and gratitude’. The re-naming will take place before the nearby Royal airforce base at Lyneham  is closed, with military transports relocated to Brize Norton in nearby Oxford by the end of 2011.  

The town joins Royal Leamington Spa and Royal Tunbridge Wells.  Both of these spa towns petitioned for the honour in recognition of their antiquity and Royal patronage of their facilities.  Leamington Spa was granted the title in 1838 by Queen Victoria, and Tunbridge Wells in 1909 by King Edward VII.  

Military personnel have long been an important part of the community, employment and traditions of Wiltshire. The army camps and training grounds of Salisbury Plain dominate the high chalk downland in the centre of the county. The civil population of the surrounding areas are used to seeing Chinook and Apache helicopters wheeling on manoeuvres, and to hearing the thump of artillery practicing in the distance on the Plain.  

-- by Ken Taylor - PWI Regional Reporter Wiltshire - wiltshire@peoplewebinternational.com

MOLDOVA - Eight officers of the National Army of Moldova will participate in the multinational military exercises named "Viking", which will take place in Sweden on 5-17 April 2011.
Moldovan soldiers will be included in a multinational brigade that will operate on the Swedish territory.

The goal of the training, which is simultaneously organized in eight countries, is to train military personnel, police and local authorities about the organization and implementation of peacekeeping operations in the crisis zones under UN auspices.

More than 1800 soldiers and 500 civilians who are enrolled in this military exercises will be located in Sweden, Germany, Austria, USA, Ireland, Georgia, Finland, and in one of the countries of African Union.

The head of the Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of Moldova, Mr. Alexander Josan said that the exercises are organized by the Program called "Partnership for Peace”.

The Republic of Moldova did join this Program in 1994, by signing a framework document. Thus, Moldova did become the 12-th country in the list.

Currently, in the “Partnership for Peace” Program are enrolled 26 countries from Western Europe, former Soviet republics from Caucasus and Central Asia and other countries from other regions.

-- by Vladislav Railean, PWI Regional Reporter Moldova - moldova@peoplewebinternational.com