Anglo-Indian commander and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (died 1944)

Guy Gibson

Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, was a distinguished bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was the first Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam Busters" raid in 1943, resulting in the breaching of two large dams in the Ruhr area of Germany. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, in the aftermath of the raid in May 1943 and became the most highly decorated British serviceman at that time.

Born

1918

August 12

Died

1944

Era

1910s

Country

—

About

Guy, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1918 Born
1944 Died

Also on August 12

What else happened on this day, through history

1099 First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid forces led by Al-Afdal Shahanshah. This is considered the last engagement of the First Crusade.
1121 Battle of Didgori: The Georgian army under King David IV wins a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi.
1164 Battle of Harim: Nur ad-Din Zangi defeats the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch.
1323 The Treaty of Nöteborg between Sweden and Novgorod Republic is signed, regulating the border between the two countries for the first time.

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The world in 1918

When Guy arrived

april 1 The Royal Air Force is created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.
april 20 World War I: Manfred von Richthofen, a.k.a. The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims, his final victories before his death the following day.
april 21 World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.
april 23 World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on August 12

Antoine Walker 1976– American basketball player Bruce Matthews 1909–1991 Canadian general and businessman (died 1991) Christy Mathewson 1880–1925 American baseball player and manager (died 1925) GK Barry 1999– social media star and presenter Hayley Wickenheiser 1978– Canadian ice hockey player John Cazale 1935– American actor (died 1978) Marion Lorne 1883–1968 American actress (died 1968) Mary Roberts Rinehart 1876– American author and playwright (died 1958) Matt Thiessen 1980– Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1918

Abdul Haris Nasution 1918–2000 Indonesian general and politician, 12th Indonesian Minister of Defence (died 2000) Arthur Jackson 1918– American lieutenant and target shooter (died 2015) Arthur Kornberg 1918–2007 American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2007) B. K. S. Iyengar 1918–2014 Indian yoga instructor and author, founded Iyengar Yoga (born 1918) Brenda Milner 1918– English-Canadian neuropsychologist and academic Chaim Herzog 1918–1997 Israeli general, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of Israel (born 1918) Dave Bartholomew 1918– American bandleader, composer and arranger (died 2019) George Allen 1918–1990 American football player and coach (died 1990) Henry Wittenberg 1918–2010 American wrestler (born 1918)

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Guy's birthday August 12 Guy's zodiac Leo When Guy arrived 1918