George VI was king of Great Britain and Ireland from 1936 until his death in 1952. George VI was a conscientious and dedicated man, who worked hard to adapt to the royal role into which he was suddenly thrown by the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII. The King paid a State Visit to France in 1938, and to Canada and the United States in 1939, being the first British monarch to enter the USA. His dedication to duty, particularly during the Second World War, when he remained for most of the time at Buckingham Palace, and when he and his wife visited severely bombed areas in the East End of London and elsewhere in the country, gained him great popularity. The King developed a close working relationship with his wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, as most of Europe fell to NaziGermany. Recognising the total nature of modern warfare, in 1940 the King instituted the George Cross and George Medal, to be awarded for acts of bravery by citizens.
Having served in the Navy during the Great War, including at the Battle of Jutland, the King was anxious to visit his troops whenever possible. He went to France in 1939 to inspect the British Expeditionary Force, and to North Africa in 1943 after the victory of El Alamein. In June 1944, the King visited his Army on the Normandybeaches ten days after D-Day, and later that year he visited troops in Italy and the Low Countries. In 1947, the King undertook a major tour of South Africa, accompanied by the Queen and their daughters, PrincessElizabeth and PrincessMargaret - the first time a sovereign had undertaken a tour with his family. When India and Pakistan became independent in 1947, George ceased to be Emperor of India. Changes in the Commonwealth meant that its tie was no longer based on common allegiance to the Crown, but upon recognition of the Sovereign as Head of the Commonwealth. Research George VI
The South Wales Borderers was formed in 1689 as the 24th Regiment of Foot when new regiments were needed to fight in Ireland. When the Duke of Marlborough became the Regiment's Colonel, it fought under his command at the Battles of Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet. The regiment fought in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Chillianwallah, during the Second Sikh War, it gained one of its more famous victories. In the Zulu War of 1879 the regiment was engaged at the Battle of Isandhlwana, at which the entire 1st battalion was wiped out, and a single company was at the Defence of Rorke's Drift. Nine VCs were won by the Regiment in these battles, the most ever awarded to a regiment in a single action. By 1873 the Regiment was recruiting heavily in Wales and had its Depot at Brecon and, in 1881, the 24th became the South Wales Borderers. It fought in the Great War, winning the unique Battle Honour 'Tsingtao'. The Regiment saw much action during the Second World War, with the 2/24th being the only Welsh Battalion to land on the NormandyBeaches on 'D' Day. Research South Wales Borderers
In geology, agglomerate is a collective name for masses consisting of angular fragments ejected from volcanoes. When a rock mass consists largely of fragments worn and rounded by water it is called a conglomerate, and such masses were originally, no doubt, gravels and shingles on sea beaches and river channels. Research Agglomerate
The Beaches Virus is a computer virus which infects .EXE files. The virus is loaded into memory by executing an infected program and then affects the computer's runtime operation and corrupts program or overlay files. Research Beaches Virus
Beaches is a drama starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey in a story about an encounter on a beach which forms the basis for thirty years of friendship for two girls from very different backgrounds. Beaches was directed by Garry Marshall in 1988. Research Beaches
HMS Codrington was a British A class destroyer of 1540 tons built by Swan Hunter and launched in 1929. She was armed with five single 4.7in guns and carried a complement of 185. She served during the Second World War, and helped evacuate troops from the Dunkirkbeaches in 1940, bringing back 5821 men; she assisted in the evacuation of Le Havre in 1940 when she saved 11000 men, bringing them back to England. She was sunk in Dover Harbour by German aircraft while alongside the depot ship Sandhurst having her boilers cleaned in July 1940. Research Codrington
Antigua is the largest of the Leeward islands being 108 square miles. The coast is rugged and contains many bays with many fine white sand beaches. Elsewhere, especially on the west coats, there are small areas of mangroveswamp. A considerable portion of the island is fertile, and the climate is healthy, but there is a scarcity of water, there being no streams and few springs, droughts are not infrequent, and hurricanes are apt to cause serious loss and damage.The island is also surrounded by coral reefs. While the island is generally flat, the landscape is dotted with gently rolling hills with the highest point in the south-west, Boggy Peak, reaching 1,360 ft. The island is divided into seven parishes, with St John's, the capital city, located in the parish bearing the same name. The official language is English and the predominant religion is protestant.
The island was discovered by Columbus in 1493; the first settlement was made by the English in 1632. Since then, except for a short period of occupation by the French, it has been a British possession.
The Cayman are three islands in the Caribbean west and north of Jamaica. They have a total area of 260 km2. The climate is tropical marine with warm, rainy summers (May to October) and cool, relatively dry winters (November to April). The terrain is a low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs. Natural resources are fish, the climate and beaches that foster tourism. The religion is United Church (Presbyterian and Congregational), Anglican, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Church of God, other Protestant denominations. The language is English. They were first settled by military deserters in the 17th century, and became home to pirates in the 18th century. They were then administered along with Jamaica until independence in 1962. Research Cayman
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Raised Beaches
