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How Not to Deal With Ice

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28/02/1795

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A nationwide extreme cold spell thawed suddenly and unexpectedly on this Sunday. Thick, broken ice was washed down and formed a complete bank across the rive at the bridge. It stopped the current, threatening major flooding in the town. One man attempted to resolve the situation by blowing up the ice with gunpowder wrapped in oilskins. However, he became stuck on an ice floe close to the explosive with his boat adrift. To save himself he plunged into the river and was eventually rescued by four men in a boat. Soon after, the gunpowder exploded, blowing ice everywhere and generating a massive flood which caused a great disaster for hundreds of families living on the banks of the Nene. What they did to 'gunpowder man' is not recorded! (Currie, Ian, Frost, Freezes and Fairs: Chronicles of the Frozen Thames and Harsh Winters in Britain from 1000AD, Frosted Earth, 1996)

Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.

WWII , RAF , Royal Air Force

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Start of the Battle of Britain

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1940

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The Battle of Britain was a major air campaign fought over southern England in the summer and autumn of 1940.  Germany aimed to invade Britain but in order to do so they had to secure control of the skies over Southern Britain and remove the treat of the Royal Air Force (RAF), this they failed to do. The battle for control lasted from July 1940 until October 1940 and airfields around Peterborough were much involved.

The men of the RAF who fought were named 'The Few' by Winston Churchill. They numbered nearly 3,000 and while most of the pilots were British, Fighter Command was an international force, men came from all over the Commonwealth and occupied Europe, from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Belgium, France, Poland and Czechoslovakia. There were even some pilots from the neutral United States and Ireland.

References:

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/8-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-britain


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