"Ensign flies alongside the Union Jack in South Georgia. God Save the Queen."" The Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, broke the news to the media, telling them to ""Just rejoice at that news, and congratulate our forces and the Marines!"" On 1 May, British operations on the Falklands opened with the ""Black Buck 1"" attack (of a series of five) on the airfield at Stanley. A Vulcan bomber from Ascension flew on an round trip dropping conventional bombs across the runway at Stanley and back to Ascension. The mission required repeated refuelling, and required several Victor K2 tanker aircraft operating in"
"in 1966 for short-wave broadcasts to Africa and South America. In 1982 the British task force used Ascension Island as a staging post during the Falklands War. The Royal Air Force deployed a fleet of Vulcan bombers and Victor tankers at the airfield. Vulcans launched the opening shots of the British offensive from Ascension in Operation Black Buck. The RAF also used the base to supply the task force. Because of the increase in air traffic during the war, Wideawake, with up to 400 movements of all types each day, was one of the busiest airfields in the world for"
"radio station covering trade routes. Wideawake Airfield (named for a noisy colony of sooty terns nearby) was built by the US military in 1942 by arrangement with the British government. The airfield was built using a US task force. The first aircraft to land on Ascension Island was a Fairey Swordfish from HMS ""Archer"" in June, 1942 and it went on to be used by more than 25,000 aircraft as a staging point during the war. The airfield was abandoned at the end of the war and fell into disuse. An USAF tracking station was officially activated as a satellite"
"August 1942, to the newly constructed and secret Wideawake Airfield on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. Their function was to patrol the sea around the island, to detect and destroy any enemy submarines and surface raiders, and to protect Allied ships in the vicinity of the island. Wideawake Airfield was a key refueling base on the only air resupply route in 1942-1943 connecting the United States to the Allied Western Desert Campaign raging in North Africa and the Soviet forces through the Persian Gulf and the Caucuses. The air route stretched from Florida and Texas across the Caribbean"
"needed to be transported to Wideawake Airfield. Tanker trucks found the island's steep and rough road heavy going. The compacted volcanic rock used to surface the roads was abrasive, and tyres soon wore out. New sets had to be flown in. Sappers of 1 Troop, 51 Field Squadron, Royal Engineers, built a pipeline to connect the fuel farm with the storage tanks at the airfield. Meanwhile, 12 Petroleum Operations Section, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, had taken over management of the fuel farm. Fuel storage at Wideawake Airfield was increased by by the addition of fuel bladders. The RAF presence sharply"
"RAF Ascension Island RAF Ascension , also known as Wideawake Airfield or Ascension Island Auxiliary Field, is a military airfield and facility located on Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean. The airfield is jointly operated by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF). The facility is home to a USAF ground tracking station in support of the Eastern Range and rocket launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Ascension Island forms part of a British Overseas Territory together with Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha. In 1939 Ascension became important as a high-frequency direction finding"
"1982. The airfield was used by the US military as a stopping point for American aircraft crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the way to theatres of operation in Europe and Africa. American bombers based at Wideawake were engaged in the Laconia incident. After the end of World War II, and American departure, the airbase fell into disuse. The only local military action during World War II occurred on 9 December 1941. At around mid-day, the approached Georgetown on the surface with the intention of sinking any ships at anchor or shelling the cable station. Fort Bedford, a two-gun shore battery"
"Islands earthquake generated a tsunami that swept clean Tern Island, and the Navy closed the naval air facility. In 1952, the United States Coast Guard built a Long Range Navigation (LORAN) beacon tower on the island alongside a 20-man supporting facility. The Coast Guard used the airfield for a weekly mail-and-supply flight. The Coast Guard installation continued in operation until 1979. French Frigate Shoals Airport French Frigate Shoals Airport is a private use airport on Tern Island in French Frigate Shoals, a coral atoll, in Hawaii, United States. It is owned by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, as"
"as Navy Point, effectively divides Port William from Stanley Harbour. As such this is the busiest waterway of the Falkland Islands and frequently visited by cruise ships, freighters and navy vessels, although this has lessened since the building of the two airports at RAF Mount Pleasant and Stanley Airport. It was enlarged as the result of glacial action. It is heavily mined due to the Falkland Crisis. At a meeting of the Executive Council of the Falkland Islands (ExCo) on 24 October 2012 Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands (MLAs) instructed officials of the Falkland Islands Government"
"to more observable sizes and colours. In May 1982, three Phantoms from 29 Squadron were forward deployed to RAF Wideawake on Ascension Island to provide air cover for the RAF's operations during the Falklands War, replacing Harriers of 1 Squadron, which were transiting to the war zone. In August 1982, following the end of the conflict and the reconstruction of the runway, 29 Squadron detached a number of its aircraft to RAF Stanley to provide air defence for the Falkland Islands. Late the following year, 23 Squadron took up the role, remaining stationed there until October 1988, when they were"
"Airlink started a scheduled weekly charter from Jamestown St Helena to the island. RAF Ascension Island RAF Ascension , also known as Wideawake Airfield or Ascension Island Auxiliary Field, is a military airfield and facility located on Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean. The airfield is jointly operated by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF). The facility is home to a USAF ground tracking station in support of the Eastern Range and rocket launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Ascension Island forms part of a British Overseas Territory together with Saint Helena and"
"Atoll in the recently captured Gilbert Islands. Arriving on the early morning of 24 January they were catapulted off the ship to fly to Hawkins Field. Major MacLaughlin was met by the Chief of Staff of the Fourth Marine Base Defense Air Wing (MBDAW) Colonel Lawrence Burke., who informed him that VMF-422 was to fly to the island of Funafuti, 820 miles to the southeast to await their role in Operation Flintlock, the invasion of the Marshall Islands, scheduled for 3 February. MacLaughlin was provided with weather, navigational and radio code information for the flight. An escort plane was standard"
"East Falkland East Falkland () is the largest island of the Falklands in the South Atlantic having an area of or 54% of the total area of the Falklands. The island consists of two main land masses, the more southerly of which is known as Lafonia, joined by a narrow isthmus that was the scene of the Battle of Goose Green during the Falklands War. The two main centres of population in the Falklands, Stanley and Mount Pleasant, both of which are in the northern half of East Falkland are home to three quarters of the island's population. East Falkland,"
"the first recorded landing on the main islands of the Falklands was on West Falkland, it was settled remarkably late. In 1867 there were no settlers on West Falkland. The government issued a proclamation offering leases of grazing stations on very moderate terms and in 1868 all the available land was occupied. Modern West Falkland is also home to two RAF Remote Radar Heads: Mount Alice, which is near Port Albermarle in the south of the island, and Mount Byron in the north. In early 2007 the Falkland Islands Government awarded a contract to supply an East-West ferry to Workboat"
"now reformed, enlarged and renamed Royal Falkland Islands Police. By that time, the Falklands force had re-opened their investigation and were able to discount that particular rumour. They did nevertheless concluded that Addis had been murdered and identified four local islanders as prime suspects. In 1995, having reached an impasse, the Falklands force passed the enquiry to Devon and Cornwall Police, and a team of detectives flew out from the UK. In September of that year, in an operation involving Chinook helicopters from the Royal Air Force base at RAF Mount Pleasant, officers from the Devon and Cornwall Police and"
"ground clearance at takeoff. Boeing's answer to the problem was the first wide-body airliner—the Boeing 747. The 707's first-generation engine technology was also rapidly becoming obsolete in the areas of noise and fuel economy, especially after the 1973 oil crisis. In 1982, during the Falklands War, the Argentine Air Force extensively used 707s for long-range maritime patrol, with some of them being intercepted and shepherded away by Royal Navy Sea Harriers, it also led to the conversion of British Nimrods to carry Sidewinder air-to-air missiles after a casual encounter. Trans World Airlines flew the last scheduled 707 flight for passengers"
"work in Auckland - complaining of poor parking arrangements at Matiatia, unfair price increases and generally poor ferry services. This led to the launch of a Ferry User's Group (or FUG) and a ""Fuller's Watch"" group, with the objective of giving a voice to the island's ferry passengers whilst lobbying local politicians and working with the ferry companies to improve the overall experience. There is one airport on the island, Waiheke Island Aerodrome, served via fixed-wing aircraft by Flight Hauraki and via helicopter by a number of operators. Waiheke is also accessible via a regular seaplane service. The island has"
"the Falkland Islands are Polwarth and Corriedale. During the 1980s, although ranch under-investment and the use of synthetic fibres damaged the sheep-farming sector, the government secured a major revenue stream by the establishment of an exclusive economic zone and the sale of fishing licences to ""anybody wishing to fish within this zone"". Since the end of the Falklands War in 1982, the islands' economic activity has increasingly focused on oil field exploration and tourism. The port settlement of Stanley has regained the islands' economic focus, with an increase in population as workers migrate from Camp. Fear of dependence on fishing"
"Force under an agreement with the U.S. Department of the Interior. The center of activity on the atoll is at Wake Island Airfield , which is primarily used as a mid-Pacific refueling stop for military aircraft and an emergency landing area. The runway is the longest strategic runway in the Pacific islands. South of the runway is the Wake Island Launch Center, a missile launch site of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site operated by the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Missile Defense Agency. The Base Operations Support contractor at Wake is Chugach"
"recapturing the territory in June 1982, the UK invested heavily in the defence of the islands, the centrepiece of which was a new airfield at RAF Mount Pleasant, west of Stanley. The base was opened in 1985, and became fully operational in 1986. The Falkland Islands maintains its own part-time volunteer force, the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF), previously known as the Falkland Islands Volunteer Corps. Although this unit existed in 1982 as a reinforcement for the Governor's detachment of Royal Marines, it did not play any part in the main conflict during the war of 1982, its members having"
"to Britain via the North Atlantic island ""stepping stones."" Again, the United Kingdom and Canada pressed for an operation to establish an airfield near Cape Farewell. This forced the United States and the Greenland government to formalize an American protectorate in order to preserve the island's neutrality. Following surveys in 1940 and 1941, two locations for air bases were located, and a naval base established close to Ivigtut. The American bases and stations were codenamed under the Bluie West and Bluie East moniker. President Franklin D. Roosevelt took a strong personal interest in Greenland's fate. On 9 April 1941, the"
"by the ""Hingitaq 53"" group. That decision was later appealed in the European Court of Human Rights. The Court unanimously Declared the application inadmissible. Internal debate in Greenland also involved demands to force the airbase to pay lease fees for its utilization of the land. Pituffik Pituffik is a former settlement in northern Greenland, located at the eastern end of Bylot Sound by a tombolo known as ""Uummannaq"", near the current site of the American Thule Air Base. The former inhabitants were relocated to the present-day town of Qaanaaq. The relocation and the fallout from the 1968 Thule Air Base"
"Services Ltd. The service runs between Port Howard and New Haven. West Falkland saw some activity during the Falklands War in 1982; Fox Bay, Port Howard and Pebble Island were all occupied by Argentine troops during the hostilities and were subjected to occasional British naval bombardment and air attacks. The most significant skirmish on West Falkland was perhaps the skirmish at Many Branch Point, near Port Howard. Shag Cove saw several Argentine helicopters downed after British Harrier jump jets attacked them. The raid on Pebble Island has gone down in British Special Forces history. West Falkland West Falkland () is"
"in northern Greenland. In 1951, it was agreed that Denmark and the United States would jointly oversee the airbase. Although it closed in 1958, but it was reopened the following year by the Danish government after the loss of the vessel ""Hans Hedtoft"" and all crew south off Cape Farewell. The hospital was destroyed by a fire in 1972, although the ruins remain. Narsarsuaq Airport serves as the principal airfield in southwestern Greenland, with seasonal international flights from Iceland operated by Air Iceland and Denmark operated by Jet Time for Air Greenland, feeding the commuter flights from communities of southern"
"1944, all of the surviving aircraft were transferred to the USAAF. At Midway Island, United States Marine Corps fighter squadron VMF-221 operated a mixed group of 20 Brewster F2A-3 Buffalos and seven Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats. They were originally assigned to the as part of a relief force bound for Wake Island, but were diverted to Midway instead after the force was controversially recalled on 22 December 1941. Wake Island fell on the following day. The squadron first saw action on 10 March 1942 when a Kawanishi H8K ""Emily"" flying boat was shot down by Captain James L. Neefus near Midway,"
"at Cross Hill, above Georgetown, fired on the submarine. The guns scored no hits but the U-boat submerged and retreated. The battery remains largely intact to this day, together with its guns, BL 5.5 inch Mark I naval guns removed from during a refit in Malta in 1938. With the Space Race and the Cold War, the Americans returned in 1956. Wideawake Airfield expanded in the mid-1960s. The runway, with its strange hump, was extended, widened, and improved to allow its use by large aircraft, and later to act as an emergency runway for the Space Shuttle, although the Shuttle"
"and the airbase was closed. In January 1959 M/S ""Hans Hedtoft"" of Denmark and all on board were lost near the southern tip of Greenland. The Danish Authorities decided to reopen the airport soon after. From November 1959 Danish Air Force had 3 PBY Catalinas stationed at Narsarsuaq with the assignment to make ice-observations along the coast of Greenland, and these observations was broadcast to ships in the area. In the 1960s and 1970s Greenlandair and SAS both served Narsarssuaq with Douglas DC-6 propliners while Icelandair operated Boeing 727 jets. During the 1980s SAS operated Douglas DC-8 jets at Narsarsuaq."
"board the escort carrier USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) just after the New Year. Their destination was Hawkins Field on the island of Betio in Tarawa Atoll in the recently captured Gilbert Islands. Arriving on the early morning of 24 January they were catapulted off the ship to fly to Hawkins Field. Major MacLaughlin was met by the Chief of Staff of the Fourth Marine Base Defense Air Wing (MBDAW) Colonel Lawrence Burke., who informed him that VMF-422 was to fly to the island of Funafuti, 820 miles to the southeast to await their role in Operation Flintlock, the invasion of"
"airstrips and harbours. In 1986, the population was 265, in 2001, it had fallen to 144. Because West Falkland is outside Stanley or RAF Mount Pleasant on East Falkland it is considered part of the ""camp"", a Falklander term for the area outside the main settlement. West Falkland is hillier on the side closest to East Falkland. The principal mountain range, the Hornby Hills, runs parallel with Falkland Sound. Mount Adam, the highest hill in the islands, is above sea level. Formerly it was thought that Mount Robinson at above sea level was the highest point. However, a later survey"
"bombarded the Gasmata area during the night of 29/30 November. The Director Task Force was concentrated at Goodenough Island in early December 1943. The 112th Cavalry was notified that it had been selected for the Arawe operation on 24 November, and departed Woodlark for the short voyage to Goodenough Island in two convoys that sailed on 30 and 31 November. All elements of the regiment were ashore at Goodenough by 2 December. A full-scale rehearsal of the landing was held at the island on 8 December; this revealed problems with coordinating the waves of boats and demonstrated that some of"
"Atlantic Airways Atlantic Airways (, Faroese: Atlantsflog) is the national airline of the Faroe Islands, operating domestic helicopter services and international passenger services as well as search and rescue responsibilities from its base at Vágar Airport, on the Faroese island of Vágar. Most of its pilots are members of the Faroese Pilot Association. Regular air links to the Faroes had been in operation since 1963, between the islands and Denmark. Although the airport at Vágar had been constructed by the British Army during World War II, air traffic to the islands was practically non-existent between the departure of the British"
"Wake Island Airfield Wake Island Airfield is a military air base located on Wake Island, which is known for the Battle of Wake Island during World War II. It is owned by the U.S. Air Force and operated by the 611th Air Support Group. The airfield primarily serves military flight activity within the Wake Island region; however, military presence is minimal at the current time. The runway can be used for emergency landings by commercial jetliners flying transpacific routes. The first intention to build an air base surfaced in 1935, when Pan American World Airways (PAA) selected Wake Island as"
"Pituffik Pituffik is a former settlement in northern Greenland, located at the eastern end of Bylot Sound by a tombolo known as ""Uummannaq"", near the current site of the American Thule Air Base. The former inhabitants were relocated to the present-day town of Qaanaaq. The relocation and the fallout from the 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash in the vicinity are a contentious issue in Greenland's relations with Denmark and the United States. Pituffik was a hunting village of the Greenlandic Inuit. The Qaanaaq region of northern Greenland in which it is located was inhabited for several thousand years, first"