title: Tver

text: Formerly a land of woods and bogs, the Principality of Tver was quickly transformed into one of the richest and most populous Russian states. As the area was hardly accessible for Tatar raids, there was a great influx of population from the recently devastated south. By the end of the century, it vied with Moscow for supremacy in Russia. Both Tver and Moscow were recently founded cities, so the outcome of their rivalry was far from certain.


title: Tver

text: Mikhail, the Grand Prince of Tver, who ascended the throne of Vladimir in 1305, was one of the most revered medieval Russian rulers. His policy of open conflict with the Golden Horde led to his assassination there in 1318. His son Dmitry "the Terrible Eyes" succeeded him and, concluding an alliance with the mighty Grand Duchy of Lithuania, managed to raise Tver's prestige even higher.


title: Tver

text: Exasperated by Dmitry's influence, Prince Ivan Kalita of the Grand Duchy of Moscow engineered his murder by the Mongols in 1326. On hearing the news of this crime, the city revolted against the Mongol Horde. The Horde joined its forces with Muscovites and brutally repressed the rebellion. Many citizens were killed, enslaved or deported. This was the fatal blow to Tver's aspirations for supremacy in Russia.


title: Tver

text: In the second half of the 14th century, Tver was further weakened by dynastic struggles between its princes. Two senior branches of the ruling house, those of Kashin and Kholmsky, asserted their claims to the grand ducal throne. The claimers were backed up by Moscow and eventually settled at the Moscow Kremlin court.


title: Tver

text: During the Great Feudal War in the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Tver again rose to prominence and concluded defensive alliances with Lithuania, Novgorod, Byzantium, and the Golden Horde. Grand Prince Boris of Tver sent one of his men, Afanasy Nikitin, to search for gold and diamonds as far as India. Nikitin's travelogue, describing his journey from 1466 to 1472, is probably the first ever firsthand account of India by a European. A monument to Nikitin was opened on the Volga embankment in 1955.


title: Tver

text: On 12 September 1485, the forces of Ivan the Great seized the city. The principality was given as an appanage to Ivan's grandson, only to be abolished several decades later. Last scions of the ruling dynasty were executed by Ivan the Terrible during the Oprichnina. At that turbulent time, Tver was ruled by Simeon Bekbulatovich, a former khan of Kasimov. The only remnant of his ephemeral reign is a graceful tent-like church in the village of Kushalino, northeast of Tver.


title: Tver

text: The city's decline was not irrevocable, however. With the foundation of St. Petersburg, Tver gained importance as a principal station on the highway (and later railway) en route from Moscow. It was much visited by Russian royalty and nobility traveling from the old capital to the new one and back.


title: Tver

text: In the course of the administrative reform carried out in 1708 by Peter the Great, Tver was included into Ingermanlandia Governorate (since 1710 known as Saint Petersburg Governorate). In 1727 it was transferred to the newly established Novgorod Governorate. In 1775, Tver Viceroyalty was formed from the lands which previously belonged to Moscow and Novgorod Governorates, and the whole area was transferred to Tver Viceroyalty, which in 1796 was transformed to Tver Governorate. Tver was the center of Tverskoy Uyezd.


title: Tver

text: Following a devastating fire of 1763, the city was rebuilt in a Neoclassical style. Under Catherine the Great, the central part was thoroughly reconstructed. Crumbling medieval buildings were razed and replaced with imposing Neoclassical buildings. The most important of these are the Travel Palace of the Empress (designed by the celebrated Matvei Kazakov), and the Ascension church (designed by Prince Lvov and consecrated in 1813).


title: Tver

text: In 1809, a committee was established to improve the city. An architect designed the Cathedral of Christ and houses on the waterfront and in the city center (30 buildings), and rebuilt the summer palace. Catherine Pavlovna (a sister of Alexander I) was married to the governor of Tver, and the palace was a social center and literary salon for Tver and visitors from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Writer and historian Nikolay Karamzin read excerpts from his "History of the Russian State" to Alexander. Napoleon was near Tver in 1812.


title: Tver

text: On 12 July 1929, the governorates and uyezds were abolished. Tverskoy District, with the administrative centre in Tver, was established within Tver Okrug of Moscow Oblast. On 23 July 1930, the okrugs were abolished, and the districts were directly subordinated to the oblast.


title: Tver

text: On 20 November 1931, the city was renamed Kalinin after the nominal head of state (1919–1946) and affiliate of Josef Stalin, Mikhail Kalinin, who had been born nearby. Simultaneously, Tverskoy District was renamed Kalininsky District. On 29 January 1935 Kalinin Oblast was established, and Kalininsky District was transferred to Kalinin Oblast.


title: Tver

text: The last vestige of the pre-Petrine epoch, the Saviour Cathedral, was blown up in 1936. In 1940, the NKVD executed more than 6,200 Polish policemen and prisoners of war from Ostashkov camp.


title: Tver

text: The Wehrmacht entered Kalinin on Monday 13 October 1941 according to MI9 photographs, occupied Kalinin for two months from Monday 13 October 1941/Tuesday, 14 October to 19 December 1941, leaving the city in ashes. Kalinin was the first major city in Europe to be retaken from the Wehrmacht.


title: Tver

text: During the Cold War, Kalinin was home to the Kryuchkovo air base, which is no longer in service. The city's historic name of Tver was restored on 17 July 1990.


title: Tver

text: Apart from the suburban White Trinity Church (1564) (, the Temple of the Lifegiving Trinity), there are no ancient monuments left in Tver. The central part is graced with Catharinian and Soviet edifices, bridges, and embankments. Tver's most notable industries are rolling stock manufacturer Tver Carriage Works, opened in 1898, an excavator factory, and a glass factory. Tver is home to Migalovo, which is one of Russia's biggest military airlift facilities.


title: Tver

text: Tver is the administrative centre of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative centre of Kalininsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as Tver Okrug, an administrative unit with a status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, Tver Okrug is incorporated as Tver Urban Okrug.


title: Tver

text: The city was divided into districts in 1936. The districts were updated several times in 1965 and 1976. The final city division, currently in use, divides the city into four districts:


title: Tver

text: The Tver City Duma, the local parliament is composed of 33 deputies. The executive branch is the Administration of Tver. The structure consists of the mayor (since 2017 – Alexey Ogonkov), his deputies, industry bodies (departments of architecture and construction, housing and communal services, health and social policy, property management and land resources; economy, investment and industrial policy, a number of departments and divisions), as well as the administration of the four districts: Zavolzhsky, Moskovsky, Proletarsky and Tsentralny. A considerable part of the government buildings of the city of Tver and the Tver Oblast lay along Sovetskaya Street: the building on the square of St. Michael (Sovetskaya, 44) is the residence of the Governor of the Oblast, and a former Regional Party Committee (Sovetskaya, 33) is The Legislative Assembly of Tver Oblast.


title: Tver

text: Tver City Duma as a representative body of the city existed from 1785 to 1918, was reconstituted after the dissolution of councils and adoption of the new Constitution of Russia in 1993. On 20 March 1994, elections were held in the House of Representatives, which on 26 May was renamed Tver City Duma. On 7 June deputies were able to hold the first meeting, and on 14 June Valery Matitsyn was elected a speaker (later this post was held by Valery Pavlov, Victor Pochtaryov, Dmitry Bazhenov, Igor Serdyuk, Andrei Borisenko, Lyudmila Polosina, Vladimir Babichev). In 1996, deputies adopted the founding document of the city – the Charter of the city of Tver, putting in it the principle of rotation in the Duma elections. Second election based on it was held on 27 October 1996 . In the future years elections held every two years in the "even" and "odd" electoral districts. In 2007, 12 former deputies (including the former chairman of the Duma Victor Pochtaryov) were convicted of taking bribes for decisions in favor of Rosvodokanal and other utilities. In October 2008, the elections of some deputies have already passed on party lists, and in March 2009 the entire City Duma has been transferred to this system, while discontinued the practice of rotation of deputies. In the elections of 2009, the best result (49 % of the vote) was shown by local communists.


title: Tver

text: On 27 October 1996 simultaneously with elections to the City Duma passed the first general elections of the head of the city, won by Alexander Belousov, who led the municipal administration since 1991 and received more than 50 % of the vote. On 30 October 2000 he was reelected to a second term, and on 9 April 2003 he died of a heart attack. On 26 July 2001 in early Mayoral elections opposition candidate Oleg Lebedev won. On 2 December 2007 when he was supported by the pro-government party United Russia, he was re-elected for a second term, receiving more than 70 % of the vote. On 11 April 2008 he was suspended by the Tsentralny District Court in connection with a criminal case opened in 2005, closed in 2006 and renewed by the Prosecutor General of Russia in March 2008 (Lebedev was accused of hindering the work of the investigation against his deputy Oleg Kudryashov). On 2 May Oleg Lebedev was reinstated, and on 3 June, again dismissed, and on 25 June he was taken into custody and transported to Kashin, where he was convicted by visiting college of Tver Regional Court jury to eighteen years’ imprisonment, which automatically meant the termination of his powers. In 2009, he was released on parole, but the position was not restored.


title: Tver

text: In late 2008, Tver City Duma adopted amendments to the charter of the city, under which direct elections of the Mayor were abolished and a new position of head of the city administration introduced. This amendment to the charter of the city was met with a mixed public reaction and local attempts to bring the issue by the Communists to citywide referendum were not supported by City Duma. In March 2009, City Duma elected Vladimir Babichev as the new mayor (now ceremonial post), and in May the same year, Vasily Toloko was appointed as the head of the city administration. He had previously been the first deputy governor of the Tver Oblast. The mayor and the head of the local administration were elected with a thin majority of seventeen votes (United Russia, Fair Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party) against sixteen (Communist Party). On 27 December 2011 by a majority vote (22 for, six against) City Council voted in favor of early termination of Vasily Toloko. On 29 March 2012 the Tver City Duma (25 for, 4 against) appointed Valery Pavlov to the post of Head of the Administration. He had previously held the post of the first deputy head of Cuty Administration.


title: Tver

text: On 2 November 2012 Alexander Korzin was appointed as mayor of the city. In 2014, he left his post, and on May 28, 2014, by the decision of the Tver City Duma, Yury Timofeev was appointed to this post, previously working for 10 years as the head of the Zapadnodvinsky District. On 22 September 2016, immediately after Igor Rudenya assumed the post of governor, Timofeev resigned and Alexey Ogonkov, who claimed this position in 2014, became acting Mayor.


title: Tver

text: In August 2017, the Tver City Duma adopted amendments to the Charter of the city, according to which the Mayor also heads the administration. Thus, the "two-headed management" system introduced in 2008 was abolished. The amendments entered into force on November 2, 2017, after Alexander Korzin's term as Mayor has expired. Thus, from 2 November 2017 Alexey Ogonykov became the Mayor.


title: Tver

text: There is a garment Factory located in Tver, established in 1918. As of 2016, the factory has 300 workers.


title: Tver

text: The Oktyabrskaya Railway linking Moscow and St. Petersburg crosses the city. Since 1850, there has been a railway connection between Tver and Moscow. The primary Tver Railway Station has a locomotive and car shed, allowing it to service both passenger and cargo trains. In addition to the Tver Central Station, there are four minor stations within the city perimeter: Lazurnaya, Proletarskaya, Doroshikha and PPGT. The suburban railway service links Tver to Moscow, Bologoye, Torzhok. Most trains passing from Moscow to the north-west regions make a short stop in Tver. The high-speed train Sapsan, which connects Moscow with St. Petersburg, also makes stops in Tver, as well as the Tolstoy train connecting Moscow to Helsinki, Finland.


title: Tver

text: The newly designed high-speed railway line between Moscow and St Petersburg is expected to have a "New Tver'" station several kilometres southward of the city border.


title: Tver

text: The major M10 Highway linking Moscow and St. Petersburg also crosses the city. This motorway is a part of the Pan-European corridors system. The roads to Rzhev (A112), Vesyegonsk (P84) and Volokolamsk (P90), along with many smaller regional roads, originate in the city. The new highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, that is designed at the present time, will pass close to the northern border of Tver. Tver is notable for a high number of private cars: there are 288 cars per thousand residents, which is well above average among the other regions of Russia.


title: Tver

text: There is a local bus station that interconnects Tver with minor towns of Tver Oblast, neighbouring oblasts, and Moscow.


title: Tver

text: Local public transit consists of trolleybuses, trams, buses, and "marshrutkas" (routed taxis). The latter two have taken priority during recent years.


title: Tver

text: In November 2018, the tram traffic in Tver was completely stopped. On August 7, 2019, all car drivers, as well as track fitters and support staff of the trams, left by "mutual agreement". At the same time, the dismantling of the contact network and the tracks along the last existing route began. The city administration said that it was necessary to completely repair the roadbed.


title: Tver

text: In recent years, there has been a tendency to reduce the route network of trolley buses. During the first quarter of 2020, local authorities plan to introduce a new transport model, which implies the elimination of trolleybus traffic and the duplication of its routes with buses. From April 14, 2020, the last of the existing trolleybus routes (No. 2) was replaced by a bus route 42 on which diesel buses now operate.


title: Tver

text: There are two airfields within the city: Migalovo military air base and Zmeyovo airport; although the nearest airport with regular scheduled commercial service is Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow.


title: Tver

text: The river station is located on the left bank of the Volga River, close to the confluence with the river Tvertsa. There is also a small cargo port in the lower part of the Volga. During the summertime, pleasure boats ply up and down the Volga, with their base off the river station.


title: Tver

text: Tver has a humid continental climate, which is typical for Central Russia. Winters are long, snowy and cold, but extremely severe frosts (below ) are rare, less than 10 calendar days per annum. The summer is generally warm and humid, with the temperature often rising higher than .


title: Tver

text: Tver has four functioning Russian Orthodox cathedrals, fifteen Orthodox churches, a Mormon chapel, a Catholic church, a mosque, and a synagogue.


title: Tver

text: Within Tver, as in other cities of Central Russia, the main religion is Russian Orthodox Christianity. Tver is the centre of Diocese of Tver and Kashin of the Russian Orthodox Church, having the diocesan administration and residence of the ruling bishop. Since 14 July 2018 the Metropolitan of Tver and Kashin has been Savva (Mikheyev).


title: Tver

text: White Trinity Temple in Zatmachye, recently renamed Trinity Cathedral, built in 1564 and since repeatedly reconstructed, is the oldest surviving stone building in Tver. It is subordinate to the ruling bishop. Ascension Cathedral, built in the 1750s, is in the historic centre of the city on Tverskoy Avenue and has the status of an episcopal monastery. Preserved Assumption Cathedral 18th century pre-existing Otroch monastery is in Trans-Volga district, near the mouth of Tvertsa river. Resurrection Cathedral was built in 1912–1913, marking the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, and in the 1990s, after the return of the church, received the status of the cathedral and is directly subordinate to the ruling bishop. Not far from the cathedral is the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ and the monastery, built in the 1810s.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Yousuf Karsh, FRPS (December 23, 1908 – July 13, 2002) was a Canadian-Armenian photographer known for his portraits of notable individuals. He has been described as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: An Armenian genocide survivor, Karsh migrated to Canada as a refugee. By the 1930s he established himself as a significant photographer in Ottawa, where he lived most of his adult life, though he traveled extensively for work. His iconic 1941 photograph of Winston Churchill was a breakthrough point in his 60-year career, through which he took numerous photos of known political leaders, men and women of arts and sciences. Over 20 photos by Karsh appeared on the cover of "Life" magazine, until he retired in 1993.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Yousuf Karsh was born to Armenian parents Amsih Karsh (1872–1962), a merchant, and Bahia Nakash (1883–1958), on December 23, 1908, in Mardin, Diyarbekir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire. His father was Catholic, while his mother was Protestant. He had two brothers: Jamil and Malak; the latter was also a photographer. His illiterate father travelled extensively to trade furniture, rugs, spices, while his mother was "an educated woman, a rarity in those days, and was extremely well read, particularly in her beloved Bible."


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: The city's Armenian population was largely Arabic-speaking. He grew up during the Armenian genocide, during which some of his family were murdered. "My recollections of those days comprise a strange mixture of blood and beauty, of persecution and peace," he later wrote. Karsh and his family escaped to a refugee camp in Aleppo, Syria in 1922 in a month-long journey with a Kurdish caravan. "The Economist" noted in their obituary of Karsh that he "thought of himself as an Armenian" and, according to Vartan Gregorian, "Although he was proud to be Canadian, Karsh was equally proud to be Armenian."


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Karsh was sent to Canada by his family. He arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 31, 1923, by ship from Beirut. He immediately moved to Sherbrooke, Quebec to live with his maternal uncle George Nakashian (Nakash), a portrait photographer. He attended Sherbrooke High School for a year and his "formal education was over almost before it began." By the time he reached Canada, he "spoke little French, and less English" and "had no money and little schooling." Karsh worked for, and was taught photography by his uncle. He gave Karsh a Box Brownie camera. From 1928 to 1931, Karsh apprenticed in Boston, Massachusetts for John H. Garo, the most prominent Armenian photographer in America at the time who had made a name for himself photographing Boston celebrities.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Karsh settled in Ottawa, initially working for photographer John Powis. Karsh opened his first studio in 1932. It was located on the second floor of a building at 130 Sparks Street, which was later named the Hardy Arcade. He remained there until 1972, when he moved to the Château Laurier. He was known professionally as "Karsh of Ottawa", which was also his signature. He achieved initial success by capturing the attention of Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, who helped Karsh arrange photography sessions with visiting dignitaries. Karsh was also introduced into the Rideau Hall social circle, and his portraits of Lord Bessborough, Governor General from 1931 to 1935, and his wife were widely published. Karsh became a member of the Ottawa Camera Club and exhibited works in the International Salon of Photography exhibitions held at the National Gallery of Canada from 1934 onwards.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Throughout his life, Karsh photographed "anyone who was anyone." When asked why he almost exclusively captured famous people, he replied, "I am working with the world's most remarkable cross-section of people. I do believe it's the minority who make the world go around, not the majority." He once also jokingly remarked, "I do it for my own immortality." By the time he retired in 1992, more than 20 of his photos had appeared on the cover of "Life" magazine. Karsh's photos were known for their use of dramatic lighting, which became the hallmark of his portrait style. He had studied it with both Garo in Boston and at the Ottawa Little Theatre, of which he was a member. Before a sitting, Karsh researched his subjects and talked to them.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: His 1941 photo of Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, brought him international prominence. The photograph was taken on December 30, 1941, in the Speaker's chamber of the Speaker of the House of Commons in the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa after Churchill delivered a speech on World War II to the Canadian members of the parliament. It was arranged by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Churchill is particularly noted for his posture and facial expression, which have been compared to the wartime feelings that prevailed in the UK: persistence in the face of an all-conquering enemy. The photo session was short and, just before exposure, Karsh moved towards Churchill and removed the cigar which was in his mouth. Churchill was miffed and showed his displeasure in the portrait.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: The photo, which according to "The Economist" is the "most reproduced portrait in the history of photography", has been described as one of the "most iconic portraits ever shot". USC Fisher Museum of Art described it as a "defiant and scowling portrait [which] became an instant icon of Britain's stand against fascism." It appeared on the cover of the May 21, 1945, issue of "Life", which bought it for $100. One of the first prints of the original currently hangs on the wall in the Speaker's chamber of the Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, where the iconic image was photographed. It is considered Churchill's most famous picture and appears on the Bank of England £5 note. On August 19, 2022, it was discovered that a Karsh-signed portrait residing in the reading room of the Château Laurier, Ottawa, had been stolen and replaced with a fake. A staff member noticed that the frame on the portrait did not match the other five portraits donated by Karsh in 1998. Jerry Fielder, the director of Karsh's estate, immediately recognized that the Karsh signature on the portrait was a forgery. Ottawa Police are investigating the theft.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: During World War II, Karsh photographed political and military leaders and began capturing photos of writers, actors, artists, musicians, scientists, and celebrities in the post-war period. His 1957 portrait of the American novelist Ernest Hemingway, taken at Hemingway's Cuban home Finca Vigía, is another well-known photo by Karsh. According to Amanda Hopkinson it made Hemingway look like the hero of his 1952 novel "The Old Man and the Sea". His other notable portraits include George Bernard Shaw at an old age (1943), Dwight D. Eisenhower as a five-star general and Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (1946), American artist Georgia O'Keeffe in her New Mexico studio (1956), and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev swathed in fur (1963).


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Besides portraits of the famous, Karsh photographed assembly line workers in Windsor, Ontario, commissioned by the Ford Motor Company of Canada. He also photographed landscapes of Rome and the Holy Land to be included in books in collaboration with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, an annual poster for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and other works.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Karsh closed his studio at Château Laurier in June 1992. His penultimate sittings in May 1993 were with President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Karsh's first marriage was to Solange Gauthier (1902−1961) in 1939. He met her at the Ottawa Little Theatre in 1933, where she was a star. Gauthier was born in Tours, France and migrated to Canada as a young girl. They initially moved into her apartment and in 1940, into an Art Deco home called Little Wings on the Rideau River just outside Ottawa. She died in January 1961 of cancer.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: His second marriage was to Estrellita Maria Nachbar, a medical writer 21 years his junior, in August 1962. Their wedding was officiated by Fulton J. Sheen, Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. From 1972 to 1992 they lived in a third-floor suite at Château Laurier, Ottawa and maintained Little Wings and an apartment and studio in Manhattan. They had no children.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Karsh moved to Boston in 1997. He died on July 13, 2002, at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston after complications following surgery. A private funeral was held in Ottawa. He was interred in Notre-Dame Cemetery in Ottawa.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Karsh has been recognized as Canada's leading portrait photographer. In general, he is recognized as one of the best-known and great portrait photographers of the 20th century. "The Economist" wrote upon his death that Karsh was "for half a century perhaps the greatest portrait photographer in the monumental manner." The website of the Governor General of Canada describes him as the "pre-eminent portrait photographer of the twentieth century." The Metropolitan Museum of Art described him as "one of the greatest portrait photographers of the twentieth century [who] achieved a distinct style in his theatrical lighting." "The Canadian Encyclopedia" noted that his portraits "have come to represent the public images of major international figures of politics, science, and culture in the twentieth century."


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: By the time of his death, his work was included in numerous museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art (both in New York), National Gallery of Canada, National Portrait Gallery in London, National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, Art Institute of Chicago, Saint Louis Art Museum, Muscarelle Museum of Art, George Eastman Museum, and elsewhere. In 1987 the National Archives of Canada acquired the complete collection of Karsh items, including the negatives, prints and transparencies produced and retained by Karsh since 1933. The current Library and Archives Canada collection has 355,000 items in its Karsh collection, including all of his 150,000 negatives, kept at a facility in Gatineau, Quebec. Karsh's widow Estrellita gifted more than 100 photographic prints to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and an honorary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society (UK).


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: On June 9, 2017, a bust of Karsh by Canadian-Armenian sculptor Megerditch Tarakdjian was unveiled before Château Laurier, Ottawa. It depicts Karsh with his famous camera and is a gift to Canada from the people of Armenia on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the 150th anniversary of Canada. Among attendees were George Furey, the Speaker of the Senate, and Arif Virani, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: The Karsh Award, dedicated to Yousuf and his brother Malak Karsh, is awarded by the City of Ottawa every two years to an established professional artist for outstanding artistic work in a photo-based medium.


title: Yousuf Karsh

text: Karsh was awarded honorary degrees from Dartmouth College (1961), Ohio University (1968), Tufts University (D.F.A., 1981), Syracuse University (D.F.A., 1986), Ohio State University (Doctor of Humane Letters, 1996), University of Hartford (1980), University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1979), Bishop's University (1969), Emerson College, Queen's University, Carleton University, Mount Allison University, Dawson College.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: Solomon Kane is a 2009 action-adventure film based on the pulp magazine character of the same name created in 1928 by Robert E. Howard. Written and directed by M. J. Bassett, the film stars James Purefoy in the title role. Despite obtaining the rights in 1997, filming did not begin until January 2008.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: The film is an original story for the Kane character and was intended to be the first of a trilogy. The plot follows a redemption story for Kane, from the end of his life as a privateer, through the salvation of his soul by rescuing a Puritan girl and the beginning of his life as the Puritan avenger of the source material. It was produced by a consortium of French, Czech, and British companies and mostly filmed in the Czech Republic. The film was first shown at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. It went on general release in France, Spain, and the UK over the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. It has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 67%.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: In the year 1600, in North Africa, English privateer Solomon Kane leads his ship's crew into battle against the Ottoman defenders of a fortress town. After defeating the defenders, Kane and his men raid the fortress, where most of the crew are killed by demons. Kane fights his way to the throne room, but, before he can loot the riches, he is confronted by a powerful demon, calling itself the "Devil's Reaper", who tells him his soul is forfeit to Satan after his life of sin. Solomon rejects his fate and jumps out of a window to escape.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: One year later, Solomon has returned to England and found sanctuary in a monastery, renouncing violence and donating his wealth to the Church in hopes of finding redemption. After a prophetic dream, the abbot apologetically expels Kane. On the road, Kane is ambushed by robbers who mock his vow of pacifism and leave him for dead. He is found and treated by the Crowthorns, a family of Puritans traveling west to the New World. They find a witch, who marks Meredith Crowthorn. Later, they're ambushed by followers of the evil sorcerer Malachi, who kidnap Meredith and kill her father and brothers. Kane renounces his vows and swears to rescue Meredith.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: Kane battles Malachi's followers across the countryside, rescuing many captives but not finding Meredith. On his journey, he meets a deranged priest who explains Malachi's followers are taking the weaker survivors of their raids as slaves and corrupting the strong into soldiers. The priest tries to feed Kane to his parishioners, who have become ghouls, but Kane escapes, only to face the robbers who attacked him earlier, now corrupted servants of Malachi. He kills two of the robbers and interrogates the survivor, who tells Solomon that Meredith is dead. Kane throws the robber to the ghouls, and, believing his quest for redemption has failed, drinks to excess at a country inn. Former shipmates recognize him and try to recruit him as a leader of a resistance against Malachi, but Kane refuses. The inn is attacked by Malachi's followers, led by his lieutenant the Masked Rider. They crucify the leaders of the resistance, including Kane. As Kane hangs on the cross, Meredith cries out his name from her cage in the back of the raiders' wagon; Kane realizes that he still has a chance to save her and pulls himself free. Before Malachi's remaining men can finish him, they are killed by survivors of the resistance, who take Kane to safety. Kane is healed by a pagan woman and is soon anxious to confront the raiders.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: The rebels explain Malachi's background as a former healer who made a bargain with the Devil. They reveal that he now lives in Kane's ancestral home, from which Kane had been expelled in his youth after defying his father. Kane leads them into the castle via an underground passage, and, as the resistance fights Malachi's minions, Kane heads for the dungeons and frees many of the captives. There he finds not Meredith but his father, who explains that the Masked Rider is Kane's older brother Marcus, whom Kane thought he had accidentally killed after his banishment. Instead, Marcus was rendered comatose, and when healers failed to revive him, his father turned to Malachi. Disfigured and turned to Malachi's will, Marcus became the Masked Rider. Solomon reluctantly kills his father at his request, then heads to the throne room to confront Malachi. Kane finds Meredith in a cage, and as she warns him of a trap, Marcus stabs him in the back. Kane tries to reason with Marcus, but they engage in a duel; Kane wins after setting Marcus on fire and decapitating him. Malachi uses Meredith's blood to release a monstrous demon sent to claim Kane's soul, but Kane shoots Malachi dead and sacrifices himself to close the portal. Both Malachi and the infernal creature are sucked back through the closing portal, leaving Solomon unconscious on the floor. He awakens and explains to Meredith that he has finally redeemed his soul. Kane buries his father and brother and reunites Meredith with her mother. In a final voice-over, he declares his new mission: to roam the Earth combating the forces of darkness.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: Wandering Star optioned the film and book publishing rights to Solomon Kane in 1997 from the Robert E. Howard Estate. In 2001, it was announced that Christopher Lambert was offered the role of Kane and was seriously "considering it as it's a very compelling part". At this point Don Murphy was a producer on the film, with Samuel Hadida of Davis Film and Paul Berrow and Michael Berrow of Wandering Star Pictures, and was attempting to set up the film with New Line Cinema. Murphy left the project in 2003 under a cloud when the negotiations fell apart with New Line. Things went quiet for a while during which time several scripts were developed around the African adventures of Solomon Kane from the classic text. Then Michael J Basset was hired as writer and director of the film, with a brief to write an origin story based loosely on the Howard poems and classic text, and in August 2006 he finished writing the script. Finally on 1 October 2007, it was announced that James Purefoy was cast as the lead. Principal photography began in Prague on 14 January 2008 and was scheduled for a 12‑week shoot. Director Bassett says of James Purefoy that he "is a delight to work with; he is giving his heart and soul to this. He's in brilliant physical shape and his sword fighting is just brilliant to behold and he's finding depth and sophistication within the character in ways I really hoped he would". , sets were still being built for the later part of the production, and Max Von Sydow and Mackenzie Crook had yet to begin shooting. Jan Cileček, a Czech artist produced a number of sculptures for the film and there are some photographs available on his website. Some aerial sequences were shot at Stanhope and St. Abbs in the Scottish Borders. On 16 April 2008, Michael Bassett posted a message on his blog saying "Principal photography is completed on Kane. Now for the long-haul of post-production to get it all into shape". He also says that everything is set up for the future parts of the trilogy, which "will tap more completely into Howard's original stories". Finally he mentioned that "the final scenes of the film were shot in England on the North Devon coast. It was all done on a private estate which used to belong to the real Sir Richard Grenville". On 7 April 2009, Bassett announced that production of the film is complete. On 23 October 2009, Bassett announced on his blog that "Kane is slowly gearing up for its first set of release dates at the end of this year and early 2010". According to Paradox Entertainment CEO Fredrik Malmberg, the film's budget was $40 million.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: "Solomon Kane"s world premiere was on 16 September 2009 at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was featured at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, which Basset and Purefoy both attended. It was released in France on 23 December 2009. It was released in Spain on 1 January 2010.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: The United Kingdom theatrical release was on 19 February 2010; in its first week it opened at seventh place in the UK top ten with a weekend gross of £611,886 across 259 cinemas.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: According to Bassett's blog, the North American wide release of the film was delayed due to legal reasons. The film was eventually released on 28 September 2012 in North America.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: The DVD was released in the UK on 28 June 2010. It was the best selling DVD in week commencing 5 July 2010. The film was released on both Blu-ray and DVD to the home market in North America on 16 July 2013 by Starz/Anchor Bay.


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: The US extras features included: Anamorphic 2.35:1 with a 5.1 English Dolby Digital track, Subtitles in English and Spanish only, Commentary with Michael J. Bassett and James Purefoy, The Making Of Solomon Kane (11:46), Cave Fight deleted scene (2:26), The Creation Of The Fire Demon (2:00), Interview With Writer/Director Michael J. Bassett (8:51), Interview with Actor James Purefoy (8:31) and Original Concept Art (1:15).


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: A 2 disc Collector's Edition was released in France by Metropolitan. French extras features include: English and French audio, optional Subtitles in French, Introduction by the director, Commentary with James Purefoy and Michael J. Bassett, Interactive Diary, Partial interactive movie playback, Comparative film Storyboard of 7 sequences, Cave Fight Deleted Scene (with video introduction of the director), Making Of, Interview with Michael J. Bassett, Interview with James Purefoy, Interview with producers Samuel Hadida and Paul Berrow, Creation of the Fire Demon, Closing sequence Design, Production Drawings and Posters, Music Video, Trailer, Presentation at Comic Con. It was announced on 9 March 2012 that the film would have its Southeast US Regional Premiere as the Opening Night film of "ActionFest 2012" on 12 April 2012. This marks the second year in a row that a film starring James Purefoy and with sword and stunt coordination by Richard Ryan opened "ActionFest" (after 2011's "Ironclad").


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 67% based on reviews from 46 critics, with an average rating of 6 out of 10. The consensus reads: ""Solomon Kane"s formulaic and bleak narrative is overcome by an entertaining, straightforward adherence to its genre, exciting gore, and a gratifying lead performance by James Purefoy." Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 48 out of 100 based on reviews from 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: "Empire" rated the film at 3/5 stars, complimenting writer-director M. J. Bassett as handling the film "with the same level of commitment Peter Jackson brought to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the darker moments of which are an obvious influence on Bassett's film". The review says of the film as a whole: "For less than the effects budget of this year's other sword 'n' sorcery adventures, "" and "Clash of the Titans", Bassett has delivered a dark-as-balls "Highlander" for the 21st century, played with such conviction it's hard not to be swept along". "Total Film" also rated the film at 3/5 stars with the conclusion: "A brutal fusion of angst and action, this mini-epic gives the sword-and-sorcery genre a bleak, brusque new life. Watch it for some terrific limbchopping and a mighty turn by James Purefoy". Sister magazine "SFX" rated the film at 4/5 stars. The review describes the location work as one of the films "great strengths", comparing the film to "Witchfinder General" and "The Blood on Satan's Claw", "a landscape alive with the sense of supernatural forces gathering beneath the frost and the empty fields". Purefoy is also acclaimed, with "a sense of huge faultiness coiling within him [which] makes for a genuinely intriguing hero". He does note though that “it’s a shame that the film stumbles at the very end...[with what] looks...like a Satanic Transformer. [A] clashingly mainstream...’boss level’[-esqe] climax that bedevils every superhero movie these days, puncturing the movie’s careful atmosphere of pre-Enlightenment dread.“


title: Solomon Kane (film)

text: "Variety" gave the film a negative review, stating that the film "just isn't much fun". Bassett's direction is described as being handled "confidently if without much flair" while Purefoy "gamely endures heavy exertion throughout; it's not his fault the script lends his character might and a mission but little personality". Phelim O'Neill at "The Guardian" also gave the film 3/5 stars. Its conclusion was mixed, stating: "There's plenty that's good here: a serious tone, steady pacing, muddy and bloody scenery and a convincing turn by Purefoy in his own west country accent. But Kane is an ill fit into the origins tale template; it's a story with few surprises". "Time Out" awarded the film with 4/5 stars, giving a positive review which praised the originality of the story and sharp 17th-century setting.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: The "Canberra" class is a ship class of two landing helicopter dock (LHD) ships built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Planning to upgrade the navy's amphibious fleet began in 2000, based on Australian experiences leading the International Force for East Timor peacekeeping operation. With a new climate for growing Australian Navy spending, a desire existed for forward defence capability for landing and supporting troops on Asian territory, that had never existed in Australian history, even with the old light fleet carriers, and in the 1970s. In 2004, French company Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) and Spanish company Navantia were invited to tender proposals, with DCN offering the and Navantia proposing the ""Buque de Proyección Estratégica"" design (later commissioned as ). The Spanish design was selected in 2007, with Navantia responsible for construction of the ships from the keel to the flight deck, and BAE Systems Australia handling the fabrication of the combat and communications systems. Finally, Siemens (Germany) supplied and fitted the azimuth thrusters.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: Construction of the first ship, , commenced in late 2008, with the hull launched in early 2011, and sea trials in early 2014. "Canberra" was commissioned in November 2014. Work on the second vessel, , started in early 2010. "Adelaide" was commissioned in December 2015. They are the largest vessels ever operated by the RAN, with a displacement of .


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: The ships are home-ported at Fleet Base East in Sydney (which has prompted complaints from nearby residents about machinery noise, exhaust fumes, and blocked views) and will regularly operate out of Townsville, the location of Lavarack Barracks, home of the Australian Army's 3rd Brigade. In addition to being located in North Queensland close to Asia and the Pacific Islands, one of the 3rd Brigade's infantry battalions, the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR), was selected to become the Army's specialist amphibious infantry battalion.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: Planning to replace the landing platform amphibious ships and , and the heavy landing ship began as early as 2000, with the intention announced in the "Defence 2000: Our Future Defence Force" white paper. The importance of amphibious warfare had been demonstrated during Australia's leadership of the International Force for East Timor peacekeeping operation: the difficulty in supporting an expeditionary force to one of Australia's nearest neighbours demonstrated the need for an improved amphibious sealift capability. In November 2003, the Minister for Defence, Robert Hill, released a Defence Capability Review, which stated that two ships of at least displacement and capable of launching five to six helicopters simultaneously were being sought. The acquisition was included under the procurement designation Project JP2048: although Phase 1 of JP2048 looked at a new type of landing craft for the "Kanimbla" class (the LCM2000), Phases 2 and 4 were to identify, then acquire the new amphibious warfare ships, and Phase 3 covered the design and construction of compatible landing craft (12 LCM-1E, ordered on 27 September 2011). The ships were originally to replace one of the "Kanimbla"-class ships and "Tobruk", with the other "Kanimbla"-class ship later replaced by a strategic sealift ship.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: In January 2006, the Australian government announced the names for the planned ships: and . After the announcement, suggestions for alternate names were expressed in several venues. The Navy League of Australia proposed that "Adelaide" should instead be named "Australia"; using the name of the nation and its capital for the RAN's two most powerful ships, as had been the case with the navy's two World War II-era County-class cruisers, while freeing the name up for the League's proposed fourth "Hobart"-class destroyer. Alternately, a member of the Australian Naval Institute opined that the ships should be named "Gallipoli" and "Guadalcanal"; the first reflecting the landings at Gallipoli, one of the first amphibious operations of the modern era, the second recognising the amphibious campaign to recapture Guadalcanal and the efforts of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in aiding Australia during World War II.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: A Request For Information and invitation for tenders was sent to two European shipbuilders in February 2004; French company Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) and Spanish company Navantia. Shipbuilders from the United States were not included, as American amphibious warfare ships were too large for Australian requirements, and were either too personnel-intensive or could not operate the number of helicopters required. DCN responded with an enlarged version of the ; greater displacement than the vessels active with the French Navy. A design being built by Navantia for the Spanish Navy, the ""Buque de Proyección Estratégica"" (Strategic Projection Ship, later commissioned as ) was offered by the Spanish, partnering with Australian company Tenix Defence. Although larger and with an increased troop, vehicle, and helicopter carrying capability compared to the "Mistral"s, the Spanish ship was still under construction at the time of the offer, and was not due to enter service until late 2008. On 20 June 2007, Minister for Defence Brendan Nelson announced that the A$3 billion contract to build the "Canberra" class had been awarded to Navantia and Tenix. Although an unproven design, the Spanish offer was closer to the RAN's requested requirements, and there were benefits from ordering the "Canberra"s and the new air warfare destroyers from the same company.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: At around the time the decision to purchase the ships was made, many defence analysts advocated for acquiring a larger number of smaller vessels on the grounds that this would be better suited to conditions in Australia's region. However, the Navy's Sea Power Centre argued that large amphibious vessels would provide greater flexibility.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: Hugh White, a former leading defence planner for the Hawke and Howard Governments, ANU Professor and defence writer for the SMH, has long been a critic of the decision to acquire the "Canberra"-class ships. In 2004 he argued that the Australian Defence Force did not need the capacity to conduct a major opposed amphibious operation, as it was unlikely to ever be called upon to do so, and the money needed to purchase the vessels would be better spent on smaller amphibious ships and other defence capabilities. In 2016 White judged the ships to be a 'terrible and heroic, waste of money and nothing more than, 'big, fat... targets in the South China Sea'. which are too vulnerable for deployment in a serious crisis.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: The "Canberra"-class vessels are long overall, with a maximum beam of , and a maximum draught of . Keeping the maximum draught low was an important factor during design, allowing the ships to operate in littoral waters and small harbours. At full load, each ship will displace , making them the largest vessels to serve in the RAN. The "Canberra"s have the same physical dimensions as "Juan Carlos I", but differ in the design of the island superstructure and the internal layout, in order to meet Australian conditions and requirements. Unlike the Spanish vessel, the Australian ships are built to meet Lloyd's Naval Rules.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: Propulsion is provided by two Siemens Navantia azimuth thrusters, each with an onboard electric motor, driving two diameter propellers. The electricity is provided by a combined diesel and gas system, with a single General Electric LM2500 turbine producing , supported by two Navantia MAN 16V32/40 diesel generators providing . The main thrusters are supplemented by two bow thrusters, and a Progener-Mitsubishi S16MPTA diesel generator is fitted as an emergency backup. The vessels have a maximum speed of over , a maximum sustainable full-load speed of , and an economical cruising speed of , with a corresponding range of . The LHDs can maintain full directional control while reversing at up to .


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: HMAS "Canberra" was reported to have completed a major maintenance period in the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island during which the propulsion pods were replaced including new 4 bladed propellers. At the time of reporting (March 2021) "Canberra" was preparing for sea trials and plans were being made for HMAS "Adelaide" to undergo similar maintenance.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: Each ship is fitted with a Saab 9LV Mark 4 combat management system. The sensor suite includes a Sea Giraffe 3D surveillance radar, and a Vampir NG infrared search and track system. For self-defence, the LHDs are fitted with four Rafael Typhoon remote weapons systems (one in each corner of the flight deck), six machine guns, an AN/SLQ-25 Nixie towed torpedo decoy, and a Nulka missile decoy. Planned upgrades include the installation of up to three Phalanx CIWS from 2018. Defence against aircraft and larger targets is to be provided by escort vessels and air support from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The ships' companies consist of 358 personnel; 293 RAN, 62 Australian Army, and 3 RAAF.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: The LHDs are able to transport 1,046 soldiers and their equipment, and can carry 1,600 in overload conditions. The embarked force is called the Amphibious Ready Element Landing Force (ARE-LE) based on an infantry company of up to 220 soldiers. Army planners considered several options for forming an amphibious force including training a dedicated infantry battalion, training several battalions with battalion rotations or creating a brigade size force similar to the U.S. Marines MEU and Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade structure. In December 2011, 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR) was selected to develop the initial amphibious capability with the Chief of Army stating that as the capability is developed a future model for the force will be decided. A special forces capability will be provided by the 2nd Commando Regiment with the potential in the future for elements of 2RAR to be trained in certain special forces skills. Two vehicle decks (one for light vehicles, the other for heavy vehicles and tanks) have areas of and respectively, and between them can accommodate up to 110 vehicles. The heavy vehicle deck may alternately be used for cargo, with a capacity of 196 shipping containers. Each ship has a well deck, that houses up to four LHD Landing Craft (LLC, the RAN designation for the LCM-1E), which can be launched and recovered in conditions up to Sea State 4. Twelve were ordered from Navantia, which delivered them in batches of four during 2014 and 2015. Six LLC are assigned to each LHD, with the additional craft used for training and trials at shore bases, and rotated to their parent ship when embarked craft require maintenance. The well deck also has room for four rigid-hulled inflatable boats (although these will not be carried as standard), and can be used by other nations' landing craft and amphibious vehicles.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: The flight deck is and sits at a height of , with six spots for helicopters up to MRH-90 size to operate simultaneously. Alternately, helicopters up to Chinook size can take off or land simultaneously on four spots on the flight deck. Flight operations can be conducted up to Sea State 5. The standard air group aboard these ships will be a mix of MRH-90 transport helicopters and MH-60R anti-submarine helicopters. The hangar deck can accommodate eight medium-size helicopters, and an additional ten can be carried if the light vehicle deck is used for additional helicopter space. Two aircraft lifts (one large one centre-aft, and a smaller one to starboard and in front of the island superstructure) connect the flight and hangar decks.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: The ski-jump ramp of "Juan Carlos I" has been retained for the RAN ships, although is not intended for use. The Spanish use the ramp to launch Harrier jet aircraft, and although operating STOVL aircraft was decided against early in the Australian procurement process due to cost and detraction from the ships' main role, redesigning the ship to remove the ramp would have added unnecessary cost to the project. The retention of the ski-jump has prompted multiple recommendations that fixed-wing aircraft be operated from the ships (primarily envisaged as a flight group of F-35B Lightning II STOVL aircraft). The RAN has maintained that embarking Australian-operated, fixed-wing aircraft was not under consideration, although has conceded that cross-decking with other nations' aircraft could possibly occur. In May 2014, Minister for Defence David Johnston stated in media interviews that the government was considering acquiring F-35B fighters for the "Canberra"s, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott instructed 2015 Defence White Paper planners to consider the option of embarking F-35B squadrons aboard the two ships. This assessment found that the cost of modifying the ships to operate jets would be very high, and the idea was rejected before the completion of the White Paper.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: Opponents to operating F-35s from the "Canberra" class state that embarking enough aircraft to be an effective force would require abandoning their capability as amphibious warfare vessels, operating as an aircraft carrier would make the ships higher profile targets and need greater escorting forces, existing fuel and ordnance storage would not be able to sustain fixed-wing operations, structural modifications were needed to reinforce and heat-treat the flight deck to withstand F-35B vertical thrust, and the F-35B project itself has been the most expensive and most problematic of the three Joint Strike Fighter variants. Supporters counter that providing fixed-wing air support close to amphibious operations maximises aircraft capability, other nations are already working on solutions to structural and thrust problems for other Harrier-era ships, and the presence of a ski-jump makes the vessels already more suitable for STOVL operations than equivalent amphibious ships with flat flight decks.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: Navantia was contracted to construct the hulls from 104 'blocks' or 'modules', which were fabricated individually at Navantia's facilities in Ferrol and Fene, then combined on the slipway at the Ferrol shipyard. The "Canberra"s were built up to the flight deck, launched, then transported by Dockwise's heavy lift ship, , to Williamstown, Victoria, where the installation of the island superstructure and the internal fitout of the hull was completed by BAE Systems Australia (which acquired Tenix in mid-2008).


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: Construction of "Canberra" began in September 2008, when the first steel was cut. The first three blocks were laid down on 23 September 2010. She was launched on 17 February 2011. The hull was loaded onto the heavy lift ship "Blue Marlin" on 4 August 2012, with "Blue Marlin" departing Ferrol for Williamstown on 17 August, and arriving in Port Phillip on 17 October. "Canberra" commenced sea trials on 3 March 2014. Contractor-run sea trials concluded in early September, and "Canberra" was commissioned into the RAN on 28 November 2014.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: Work on "Adelaide" began during February 2010, when the first steel was cut. The first hull blocks were laid down on 18 February 2011, and "Adelaide" was launched on 4 July 2012. Initially, the ship was due to reach Australia in early 2013 to begin final fitout, but this did not occur. The hull was loaded onto "Blue Marlin" on 10 December 2013 in Vigo Bay. "Blue Marlin" and "Adelaide" arrived at Williamstown on 7 February 2014. Entry into RAN service was originally planned for mid-2015, but as of July 2011, this had been pushed back to sometime in 2016. Fitting out of the ship progressed at a faster rate than expected, which has brought the predicted commissioning date back to late 2015. After sea trials ended in October, "Adelaide" was commissioned on 4 December 2015. Although "Canberra" was identified as "LHD01" and "Adelaide" as "LHD02" during construction, the ships were commissioned with the pennant numbers LHD 02 and LHD 01 respectively. The reversal of the numbers causes the new ships' pennants to correspond to the s with the same names.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: The early decommissioning of the two "Kanimbla"-class vessels in 2011, several years before "Canberra"-class ships would enter service, led to the acquisition of the landing ship dock and the support vessel . The latter was only intended as a stop-gap acquisition, and in mid-2014, "Ocean Shield" was transferred to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: The two LHDs are officially home-ported at Fleet Base East in Sydney. On 4 December 2015, the support centre for the class at Garden Island was named after Captain John Robertson. Robertson was commanding officer of the carrier at the time of the "Melbourne"–"Voyager" collision in 1964, and was widely seen to be a scapegoat after the first Royal Commission found him to be at fault.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: Basing the two ships at Fleet Base East prompted complaints, including a short lived unsuccessful public campaign to have the ships based elsewhere from nearby residents in Potts Point and Wooloomooloo. Issues raised include exhaust fumes and noise pollution from the ships' generators and machinery running around-the-clock, and that the large ships block views of Sydney Harbour. To alleviate concerns, Defence began investigating options to relocate one or both ships to the northern portion of Garden Island, and has installed shore-powered air-conditioning units (allowing the ships' onboard generators to be shut down at night). Such units were, however, not installed or deemed a requirement and local residents objection's considered either incorrect, such as the claim the ship's block views or minor when compared to the decades old Navy base as a whole such as the objections raised about noise.


title: Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

text: The ships regularly operate out of Townsville, the base of 2RAR. To this end, the Department of Defence contributed A$30 million to the A$85 million upgrade of the multi-purpose Berth 10 at the Port of Townsville, which was completed in October 2013. Naval vessels have been allocated 45 days of berthing per year. Defence also spent A$5.3 million to lease and develop a dedicated staging area for equipment and personnel within the Port of Townsville precinct.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Muhammad Ahmad (; 12 August 1844 – 22 June 1885) was a Nubian Sufi religious leader of the Samaniyya order in Sudan who, as a youth, studied Sunni Islam. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi, and led a successful war against Ottoman-Egyptian military rule in Sudan and achieved a remarkable victory over the British, in the siege of Khartoum. He created a vast Islamic state extending from the Red Sea to Central Africa, and founded a movement that remained influential in Sudan a century later.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: From his announcement of the Mahdist State in June 1881 until its end in 1898, the Mahdi's growing number of supporters, the Ansars, established many of its theological and political doctrines. After Muhammad Ahmad's unexpected death on 22 June 1885, his chief deputy, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad took over the administration of the nascent Mahdist State.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Following Ahmad's death, Abdallahi ruled as Khalifa, but his autocratic rule, as well as directly applied British military force, destroyed the Mahdi state following the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan in 1899. Despite that, the Mahdi remains a respected figure in the history of Sudan. In the late 20th century, one of his direct descendants, Sadiq al-Mahdi, twice served as prime minister of Sudan (1966–1967 and 1986–1989), and pursued democratizing policies.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Muhammad Ahmad was born on 12 August 1844 at Labab Island to a humble Arabized Nubian family of boat-builders from Dongola. They trace their descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through the line of his grandson Hassan. When Muhammad Ahmad was still a child, the family moved to the town of Karari, north of Omdurman. There his father, Abdullah, could find an adequate supply of timber for his successful boat-building business.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: While his siblings joined his father's trade, Muhammad Ahmad showed a proclivity for religious study. He studied first under Sheikh al-Amin al-Suwaylih in the Gezira region south of Khartoum, and subsequently under Sheikh Muhammad al-Dikayr 'Abdallah Khujali near the town of Berber in northern Sudan.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Determined to live a life of asceticism, mysticism and worship, in 1861 he sought out Sheikh Muhammad Sharif Nur al-Dai'm, the grandson of the founder of the Samaniyya Sufi sect in Sudan. Muhammad Ahmad stayed with Sheikh Muhammad Sharif for seven years, during which time he was recognized for his piety and asceticism. Near the end of this period, he was awarded the title of Sheikh, and began to travel around the country on religious missions. He was permitted to give tariqa and Uhūd to new followers.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: In 1870, his family moved again in search for timber, this time to Aba Island on the White Nile south of Khartoum. On Aba Island, Muhammad Ahmad built a mosque and started to teach the Qur'an. He soon gained a notable reputation among the local population as an excellent speaker and mystic. The broad thrust of his teaching followed that of other reformers: his Islam was one devoted to the words of Muhammad and based on a return to the virtues of strict devotion, prayer, and simplicity as laid down in the Qur'an.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: In 1872, Muhammad Ahmad invited Sheikh Sharif to move to al-Aradayb, an area on the White Nile neighboring Aba Island. Despite initially amicable relations, in 1878 the two religious leaders had a dispute motivated by Sheikh Sharif's resentment of his former student's growing popularity. As a result, Sheikh Sharif expelled his former student from the Samaniyya order and, despite numerous attempts at reconciliation by Muhammad Ahmad, his mentor refused to make peace.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: After recognizing that the split with Sheikh Sharif was irreconcilable, Muhammad Ahmad approached another respected leader of the Samaniyya order named Sheikh al-Qurashi wad al-Zayn. Muhammad Ahmad resumed his life of piety and religious devotion at Aba Island. During this period, he also traveled to the province of Kordofan, west of Khartoum, where he visited with the notables of the capital, El-Obeid. They were enmeshed in a power struggle between two rival claimants to the governorship of the province.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: On 25 July 1878, Sheikh al-Qurashi died and his followers recognized Muhammad Ahmad as their new leader. Around this time, Muhammad Ahmad first met Abdallahi bin Muhammad al-Ta'aishi, who was to become his chief deputy and successor in the years to come.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: On 29 June 1881, Muhammad Ahmad claimed to be the Mahdiyya so as to prepare the way for the second coming of Jesus. In part, his claim was based on his status as a prominent Sufi sheikh with a large following in the Samaniyya order and among the tribes in the area around Aba Island.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Yet the idea of the Mahdiyya had been central to the belief of the Samaniyya prior to Muhammad Ahmad's pronouncement. The previous Samaniyya leader, Sheikh al-Qurashi Wad al-Zayn, had asserted that the long-awaited-for redeemer would come from the Samaniyya line. According to Sheikh al-Qurashi, the Mahdi would make himself known through a number of signs, some established in the early period of Islam and recorded in the Hadith literature. Others had a more distinctly local origin, such as the prediction that the Mahdi would ride the sheikh's pony and erect a dome over his grave after his death.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Drawing from aspects of the Sufi tradition that were intimately familiar to both his followers and his opponents, Muhammad Ahmad claimed that he had been appointed as the Mahdi by a prophetic assembly or "hadra" (Arabic: Al-Hadra Al-Nabawiyya, الحضرة النبوية). A hadra, in the Sufi tradition, is a gathering of all the prophets from the time of Adam to Muhammad, as well as many Sufi holy men who are believed to have reached the highest level of affinity with the divine during their lifetime. The hadra is chaired by Muhammad, known as Sayyid al-Wujud, and at his side are the seven Qutb, the most senior of whom is known as Ghawth az-Zaman. The hadra was also the source of a number of central beliefs about the Mahdi, including that he was created from the sacred light at the centre of Muhammad's heart, and that all living creatures had acknowledged the Mahdi's claim since his birth.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Muhammad Ahmad framed the Mahdiyya as a return to the early days of Islam, when the Muslim community, or Ummah, was unified under the guidance of Muhammad and his immediate successors. Later, in order to distinguish his followers from adherents of other Sufi sects, the Mahdi forbade the use of the word "darwish" (commonly known as "dervish" in English) to describe his followers, replacing it with the title Ansar, the term which Muhammad used for the people of Medina who welcomed him and his followers after their flight from Mecca.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Despite his popularity among the clerics of the Samaniyya and other sects, and among the tribes of western Sudan, some of the Ulema, or orthodox religious authorities, rejected Muhammad Ahmad's claim as the Mahdi. Among his most prominent critics were the Sudanese Ulema loyal to the Ottoman Sultan and employed by the Turco-Egyptian government. Examples were the Mufti Shakir al-Ghazi, who sat on the Council of Appeal in Khartoum, and the Qadi Ahmad al-Azhari in Kordofan. These critics were careful not to deny the concept of the Mahdi as such, but rather to discredit Muhammad Ahmad's claim to it.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: They pointed out that Muhammad Ahmad's manifestation did not conform to the prophecies laid out in the Hadith literature. In particular, they argued for the political interests of the Turco-Egyptian government and its British rulers, that his manifestation did not conform with the "time of troubles" "when the land is filled with oppression, tyranny, and enmity".


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: When Governor General Muhammad Rauf Pasha in Khartoum learned of the 29 June 1881 declaration by Muhammad Ahmad as the Mahdi, he believed that the man would be satisfied with a government pension, and he sent Ahmad a friendly letter. The Mahdi telegraphed an uncompromising reply, saying, "He who does not believe in me will be purified by the sword."


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Mohammed Rauf Pasha sent a small party to arrest the Mahdi on Aba Island, but on 11 August 1881 it was overwhelmed, and the insurrection on the southern Sudan began to grow. Rauf Pasha downplayed the "affray" in his report to Cairo, and sent the governor of Kordofan to Aba Island with 1,000 soldiers to crush the Mahdi. When they arrived, they found the Mahdi had fled to the southwest. The soldiers marched after him, but gave up the pursuit when the September rains flooded the roads and riverbeds; they returned to El-Obeid. The Mahdi established a new base in the Nuba Mountains.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: The Mahdi and a party of his followers, the "Ansār" (helpers, known in the West as "the Dervishes"), made a long march to Kurdufan. There he gained numerous recruits, especially from the Baqqara, and notable leaders such as Sheikh Madibbo ibn Ali of the Rizeigat and Abdallahi ibn Muhammad of the Ta'aisha tribes. They were also joined by the Hadendoa Beja, who were rallied to the Mahdi in 1883 by Osman Digna, an Ansār captain in east of Sudan.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: The Mahdist revolution was backed by the Northern and western regions of Sudan. It also found great support from the Nuer, Shilluk and Anuak tribes from southern Sudan, in addition to the tribes of Bahr Alghazal. This widespread support affirmed that the Mahdist revolution was a national rather than regional revolution. In addition to unifying different tribes, the revolution cut across religious divides, despite its religious origins. The Mahdi was supported by non-Muslims and Muslims alike. This had important implications for the slave trade. Going against traditional Islamic injunctions, the Mahdi allowed the enslavement of free Muslims, if they did not support him, and forbade the enslavement of traditional victims, non-Muslims, if they supported him.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Late in 1883, the Ansār, armed only with spears and swords, overwhelmed a 4,000-man Egyptian force not far from El-Obeid, and seized their rifles and ammunition. The Mahdi followed up this victory by laying siege to El-Obeid and starving it into submission after four months. The town remained the headquarters of the Ansar for much of the decade.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: The Ansār, now 40,000 strong, defeated an 8,000-man Egyptian relief force led by British officer William Hicks at Sheikan, in the battle of El Obeid. The defeat of Hicks also resulted in the fall of Darfur to the Ansār, which until then had been effectively defended by Rudolf Carl von Slatin. Jabal Qadir in the south was also taken. The western half of Sudan was now firmly in Ansārī hands.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Their success emboldened the Hadendoa, who under the generalship of Osman Digna wiped out a smaller force of Egyptians under the command of Colonel Valentine Baker near the Red Sea port of Suakin. Major-General Gerald Graham was sent with a force of 4,000 British soldiers and defeated Digna at El Teb on 29 February. Two weeks later he suffered high casualties at Tamai, and Graham eventually withdrew his forces.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: After much debate the British decided to abandon the Sudan in December 1883, holding only several northern towns and Red Sea ports, such as Khartoum, Kassala, Sannar, and Sawakin. The evacuation of Egyptian troops and officials, and other foreigners from Sudan was assigned to General Charles George Gordon, who had been reappointed governor general with orders to return to Khartoum and organize a withdrawal of the Egyptian garrisons there.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Gordon reached Khartoum in February 1884. At first he was greeted with jubilation, as many of the tribes in the immediate area were at odds with the Mahdists. Transportation northward was still open and the telegraph lines intact. But the uprising of the Beja soon after his arrival changed things considerably, reducing communications to runners.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Gordon considered the routes northward to be too dangerous to extricate the garrisons and so pressed for reinforcements to be sent from Cairo to help with the withdrawal. He also suggested that his old enemy Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur, a fine military commander, be given tacit control of the Sudan in order to provide a counter to the Ansār. London rejected both proposals, and so Gordon prepared for a fight.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: In March 1884, Gordon tried to stage an offensive to clear the road northward to Egypt, but a number of the officers in the Egyptian force went over to the enemy and their forces fled the field after firing a single salvo. This convinced him that he could carry out only defensive operations, and he returned to Khartoum to construct defensive works.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: By April 1884, Gordon had managed to evacuate some 2500 of the foreign population who had been able to make the trek northwards. His mobile force under Colonel Stewart returned to Khartoum after repeated incidents when the 200 or so Egyptian forces under his command would turn and run at the slightest provocation.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: That month the Ansār besieged Khartoum, and Gordon was completely cut off. But his defensive works, consisting mainly of mines, proved so frightening to the Ansār that they were unable to penetrate the city. Once the waters rose, Stewart used gunboats on the Nile to conduct several small skirmishes and in August managed to recapture Berber for a short time. But Stewart was killed soon after in another foray from Berber to Dongola, a fact Gordon learned only in a letter from the Mahdi himself.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Under increasing pressure from the public to support Gordon, the British Government under Prime Minister Gladstone eventually had ordered Lord Garnet Joseph Wolseley to relieve Gordon. He was already deployed in Egypt due to the attempted coup there earlier, and organized a large force of infantry, but advanced at an extremely slow rate. Realizing they would take some time to arrive, Gordon pressed Wolseley to send forward a "flying column" of camel-borne troops across the Bayyudah Desert from Wadi Halfa under the command of Brigadier-General Sir Herbert Stuart. This force was attacked by the Hadendoa Beja, or "Fuzzy Wuzzies", twice, first at the Battle of Abu Klea and two days later nearer Metemma. Twice the British square held and the Mahdists were repelled with high losses.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: At Metemma, north of Khartoum, Wolseley's advance guard met four of Gordon's steamers, sent downriver to provide speedy transport for the first relieving troops. They gave Wolseley a dispatch from Gordon claiming that the city was about to fall. Moments later a runner brought in another message, claiming the city could hold out for a year. Deciding to believe the latter, the force stopped while they refit the steamers to hold more troops.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: They finally reached Khartoum on 28 January 1885, to find the town had fallen two days earlier during the Battle of Khartoum. After the Nile had receded from flood stage, one of Gordon's pashas (officers), Faraz Pasha, had opened the river gates and let the Ansār in. The garrison was slaughtered, the male population massacred, and the women and children enslaved. Gordon was killed fighting the Mahdi's warriors on the steps of the palace, where he was hacked to pieces and beheaded. When Gordon's head was unwrapped at the Mahdi's feet, he ordered the head to be fixed between the branches of a tree "where all who passed it could look in disdain, children could throw stones at it and the hawks of the desert could sweep and circle above." When Wolseley's force arrived in Khartoum, they retreated after attempting to force their way to the center of the town on ships, where they were met by a hail of gunfire.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: The Mahdi Army continued its sweep of victories. Kassala and Sannar fell soon after and, by the end of 1885, the Ansār had begun to move into the southern regions of Sudan. In all Sudan, only Suakin, reinforced by Indian troops, and Wadi Halfa on the northern frontier remained in Anglo-Egyptian hands.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Six months after the capture of Khartoum, Muhammad Ahmad died of typhus. He was buried in Omdurman near the ruins of Khartoum. The Mahdi had planned for this eventuality and chosen three deputies to replace him.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: After the final defeat of the Khalifa by the British under General Kitchener in 1898, Muhammad Ahmad's tomb was destroyed to prevent it from becoming a rallying point for his supporters. His bones were thrown into the Nile. Kitchener was said to have retained his skull and, in the words of Winston Churchill, "carried off the Mahdi's head in a kerosene can as a trophy". Allegedly the skull was later buried at Wadi Halfa. The tomb was eventually rebuilt.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Muhammed Ahmad's son, Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, born after his father's death, whom the British considered important as a popular leader of the Mahdists, became a leader of the neo-Mahdist movement in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Some Sudanese considered Abd al-Rahman to qualify as future King of Sudan, as the country gained independence, but he declined the title for spiritual reasons.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: 'Abd al-Rahman sponsored the Umma (Nation) political Party in the period before and just after Sudan became independent in 1956.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: In modern-day Sudan, Muhammad Ahmad is sometimes considered to be a precursor of Sudanese nationalism. The Umma party claim to be his political descendants. Their former leader, Imam Sadiq al-Mahdi, was the great-great-grandson of Muhammad Ahmad, and also the imam of the Ansar, the religious order that pledges allegiance to Muhammad Ahmad. Sadiq al-Mahdi was a democratic leader and Prime Minister of Sudan on two occasions: first briefly in 1966–67, and then between 1986 and 1989.


title: Muhammad Ahmad

text: Further, the Mahdi is an ancestor of Sudanese-English actor Alexander Siddig, whose birth name was Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi.


title: Simon Ward

text: Simon Anthony Fox Ward (16 October 194120 July 2012) was a British stage and film actor. He was known chiefly for his performance as Winston Churchill in the 1972 film "Young Winston". He played many other screen roles, including those of Sir Monty Everard in "Judge John Deed" and Bishop Gardiner in "The Tudors."


title: Simon Ward

text: Simon Ward was born on 16 October 1941 in Beckenham, Kent, the son of Winifred and Leonard Fox Ward, a car dealer.


title: Simon Ward

text: From an early age he wanted to be an actor. He received his formal education at Alleyn's School, London, the home of the National Youth Theatre, which he joined at age 13 and stayed with for eight years. He then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.


title: Simon Ward

text: Ward made his professional stage debut with the Northampton Repertory in 1963, and his London theatrical debut one year later in "The 4th of June". He worked in repertory in Northampton, Birmingham and Oxford and occasionally in London's West End.


title: Simon Ward

text: His big break in theatre came in 1966 when he played Dennis in Joe Orton's "Loot", which led to a number of small film and television roles. All of Ward's major film roles were in the 1970s.


title: Simon Ward

text: His first film appearance was probably an uncredited role as one of the sociopathic students in Lindsay Anderson's "If..." (1968). He was primarily a stage actor when selected to play the title role in "Young Winston" in 1971, the role which brought him to national prominence. The in-demand Ward starred in several high-profile films during the remainder of the 1970s.


title: Simon Ward

text: In 1973 he played the Duke of Buckingham in Richard Lester's "The Three Musketeers" and in 1974 appeared in its sequel "The Four Musketeers". Also in 1974 he played author-veterinarian James Herriot in the successful film adaptation of "All Creatures Great and Small". He played one of the lead roles (Lt. Crawford) in the 1976 World War I film "Aces High", then starred as Lt. William Vereker in the 1979 film "Zulu Dawn". He was also seen as Captain Hoffman, a fictional Nazi functionary, in "" (1973). Later film roles included Zor-El in "Supergirl" (1984).


title: Simon Ward

text: In 1986, Ward starred in the title role of "Ross", the first West End revival of Terence Rattigan's play since its original run in 1960. It toured the UK and, after a run at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, opened at The Old Vic, featuring Marc Sinden as Dickinson, with David Langton, Roland Curram, Bruce Montague and Ernest Clark in supporting roles.


title: Simon Ward

text: Ward made few films after the 1970s, although he did have a major role in the Ralph Fiennes version of "Wuthering Heights" (1992), alongside his daughter Sophie Ward.


title: Simon Ward

text: In 1987 he sustained a serious head injury in a street attack, the circumstances of which were obscure. He believed the attack, which left him with a broken skull that needed brain surgery, caused the chronic blood disorder, polycythaemia that affected his career.


title: Simon Ward

text: In 1995, at very short notice, he took over Stephen Fry's role in the play "Cell Mates", after Fry walked out of the play near the start of its run.


title: Simon Ward

text: In 2001–07, he appeared as Sir Monty Everard in the BBC television series "Judge John Deed" and in 2007–10 as Bishop Stephen Gardiner in "The Tudors".


title: Simon Ward

text: In 2010, Ward appeared in the title role in the British tour of Alan Bennett's play "The Madness of George III".


title: Simon Ward

text: Having been afflicted with ill health in his later years, Ward died at the age of 70 on 20 July 2012 in Taunton, Somerset. His body was buried on the East Side of Highgate Cemetery in London.


title: Simon Ward

text: A memorial service was held in his memory at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, London, on 9 July 2013.


title: Simon Ward

text: In 1964, Ward married Alexandra Malcolm, whom he met while they were students at RADA. They had three daughters: Sophie, Claudia and Kitty.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) is a camouflaged combat uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces as their standard combat uniform from the early 1980s to the mid-2000s. Since then, it has been replaced or supplanted in every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: BDU-style uniforms and derivatives still see widespread use in other countries (some of them being former U.S. surplus stocks transferred under U.S. security assistance programs), while others are still worn by some U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement agents who may work in tactical situations, such as the DEA FAST and SWAT teams. The uniforms are also used by urban search and rescue groups such as FEMA USAR task force teams and firefighting agencies when conducting technical rescues or other special operations.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: As late as 2014, BDUs were worn by officers of the U.S. Public Health Service as the prescribed uniform for deployment, but have since been replaced by a variant of the U.S. Coast Guard's Operational Dress Uniform.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: While the Italian Army was the first military organization to issue camouflage clothing, albeit in limited numbers, the Germans were noted for their efforts in this field before the Second World War. After much trial, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (abbrev. OKW) authorized Heeres-Splittermuster 31, more commonly known as "splinter pattern", for use in shelter-quarters ("Zeltbahnen") in the 1930s. In 1940, SS-Verfügungstruppe (abbrev. SS-VT; renamed Waffen-SS) designed, tested, and issued its own distinctive patterns and layout not long after.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The United States Marine Corps received its first military camouflage pattern in 1942, when the reversible, beach-jungle, three- and five-color frog-skin pattern uniform was issued, based on a 1940 trial design. The pattern was mostly employed in the Pacific Theatre but was not found to be particularly effective and in the European Theatre the pattern was withdrawn altogether in 1944—in part because of anticipated friendly fire incidents after D-Day, due to its similarity to the Waffen SS's pattern (not to be confused with Flecktarn, a post-war design). Camouflaged helmet covers and shelters were issued in the 1950s in "wine leaf" and "brown cloud" patterns. The U.S. Army also tried a lesser-known camouflage uniform on D-Day and throughout the Normandy operations, like the Marine Corps uniforms, but it was replaced by the M43 uniform before being used much.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: During the Vietnam War, the United States Armed Forces' four-color ERDL pattern saw limited use among specialist units in the U.S. Army, though most were issued the solid olive green OG107 sateens or jungle fatigues, while the Marines adopted the pattern service-wide after 1968.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The ERDL pattern fatigues were identical in cut to the third-pattern OD jungle fatigues, and were available in both a highland pattern (more brown) and a lowland pattern (more green), though the lowland pattern was eventually phased out. Other, unofficial, patterns utilized in Vietnam included black-dyed or spray-painted jungle fatigues, often used by special purpose forces, and various Vietnamese Tigerstripe patterns (themselves being based on French Army airborne and Foreign Legion patterns and a British design utilized in Malaysia), or commercial "duck hunter" patterns.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The general design and configuration of the U.S. BDU uniform were similar to that of the Vietnam War's jungle fatigues, which were in turn similar in configuration to specialty uniforms worn by U.S. paratroopers during World War II.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: First issued in limited number to garrison leaders, officers, and generals to all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces in September 1981 for replacement of the long worn and aging Olive Drab colored uniforms or OG-107, the following month, the Battle Dress Uniform began field issue military-wide.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: Since 1981, changes included the addition and subsequent elimination of buttoned waist adjustment tabs, the size reduction of the collar, and refinements in stitching and fit.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: BDUs were initially only issued in a 50/50 nylon and cotton twill blend called the Temperate Weather BDU or TWBDU. Complaints regarding the heat retention of these uniforms, especially following the invasion of Grenada in 1983, led to the introduction of the Hot Weather BDU, the HWBDU. The Hot Weather BDU coat and trousers were constructed of 100 percent ripstop cotton, in a four-color woodland camouflage pattern. However, after complaints of shorter wear and frayed cuffs, along with requirements imposed by unit commanders to starch the all-cotton uniform for parade, the Enhanced Hot Weather BDU (EHWBDU) replaced the HWBDU commencing in 1996. The EHWBDU's components are made with a 50/50 ripstop nylon and cotton poplin blend.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: BDUs were printed with infrared-brightened dyes. Near infrared (NIR) Signature Management Technology is used in the uniforms to help prevent detection by NIR Image Converters. These photocathode devices do not detect temperatures, but rather infrared radiation variances. NIR-compliant uniforms use a special fabric that allows soldiers to appear at the same radiation level as the surrounding terrain, thus making them more difficult to detect. It is advised not to use starch when cleaning or ironing BDUs since starch weakens the fabric and ruins the infrared protective coating. A pair of BDUs that has been starched even once should not be worn in combat.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The tropical weight uniform was not as durable as the temperate weight uniform. The tropical uniform would only last for 4–6 months of use when rotating four uniforms for duty, while the temperate uniform would last over a year under the same conditions.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: All United States Army soldiers formally received their first batches of the BDU as its new field and garrison uniform in the temperate weight cut on October 1, 1981. In addition, Patrol caps, Boonie hats, and the M-65 jacket were issued in the new camouflage pattern in time, including a new light brown T-shirt and black webbed belt with brass buckle.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The BDU was the first camouflage uniform approved by the U.S. Army since the Vietnam War, where the ERDL pattern was in limited use. The BDU soon replaced all earlier camouflage pattern uniforms for all wooded, jungle, and tropical environments, and by 1989, had completely replaced the standard olive drab uniforms that had been used since 1952. April 30th 2008 was the final day that the BDU was authorized.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The ERDL-patterned BDU was first introduced to the United States Marine Corps in 1977, as they phased out the olive green OG-107, which had been standard wear since the early 1950s.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: Originally, no nametapes were worn with the USMC's BDUs, which was officially referred to by the USMC as a "camouflage utility uniform" (CCU) during its usage. However, in October 1991, the USMC began the wearing of nametapes on their BDUs (and DCUs and DBDUs) in order to comply with NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), becoming mandatory by October 1992. In the USMC's case, a nametape bearing the wearer's last name was worn embroidered above the right pocket, and a nametape reading "U.S. MARINES" being embroidered was worn above the left pocket. The MCCUU which replaced the BDU continues this.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The USMC's BDU was worn with a stenciled iron-on Eagle, Globe, and Anchor (EGA) centered on the wearer's left breast pocket, below the pocket flap. Early USMC BDUs featured "USMC" lettering below that EGA, however, that was discontinued later on, with only the EGA being used by the end of the BDU's tenure with the USMC. The EGA was ironed onto the BDU blouse pocket by USMC recruits at the end of MCRD upon completion of their training to signify their christening as U.S. Marines. The same was done on the eight-pointed "utility cover" hat that was worn with the USMC's version of the BDU. The BDU's successor, the MCCUU, has the EGA embroidered instead of stenciled on the blouse's chest pocket and all covers.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The U.S. Air Force initially only issued ERDL BDUs to combat arms units stationed overseas, such as United States Air Force Security Forces, Combat Controllers, and United States Air Force Pararescue, as of October 1981, the same time as the Army and Marines. The Air Force did not allow non-combat arms to wear the woodland pattern BDU until the summer of 1987 and mandated them as the only "Fatigue" uniform in 1988. The BDU was no longer authorized for wear in the USAF on November 1, 2011.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: Sailors of the United States Navy started issuing the BDU in the new woodland scheme and temperate cut at the same time as the other branches. The U.S. Navy referred to the uniform as the "Camouflage Utility Uniform" (CUU) during its usage.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: Coast Guardsmen started issuing the new woodland BDU around the same time as the other service branches.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The U.S. military has run trials of many camouflage patterns (some being used by foreign militaries), and issued environment-specific uniforms, notably the six-color Desert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU), nicknamed the "chocolate chip camouflage", designed in 1962, and the "nighttime desert grid" (NCDBDU). Both uniforms were used in 1991, during the Persian Gulf War. These Desert BDUs were discontinued after the war.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU) in three-color desert camouflage was introduced in 1992, and was utilized in operations in Somalia (1993); it was in service in Afghanistan and Iraq from the start of hostilities, but the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps have both replaced the DCU with newer uniforms (ACU and MCCUU, respectively). In testing, U.S. Army researchers found that, as in other environments, the color of desert terrain varies, and can range from pink to blue, depending on the minerals in the soil and the time of the day. Since patches of uniform color in the desert are usually 10 times larger than those in wooded areas, it was decided to alter the existing six-color DBDU pattern. This led to the development of a three-color pattern DCU, which was adopted.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The BDU is made in various camouflage patterns by various manufacturers, such as in the MultiCam camouflage, which is in use today mainly by the public, public service persons, and some foreign military units. BDUs can be purchased from civilian vendors in the UCP pattern analogous to the ACU as well, but these are not authorized for wear by the U.S. Army's soldiers.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The development of modern camouflage patterns and the rising desire of the various U.S. military branches to differentiate themselves from each other has resulted in new patterns for uniforms. The U.S. Marine Corps was the first branch to replace their BDUs. The Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform (MCCUU) uses the computer-generated MARPAT pattern and several other enhancements. It was approved for wear in June 2001, became available for purchase in 2002, and the changeover was completed by October 1, 2004. Beyond that date, the BDU was authorized for wear until April 1, 2005, with limited exceptions for those small numbers of Marine Corps personnel who did not yet have the MCCUU. USMC Special Operations units (MARSOC) have recently issued M81 woodland-patterned uniforms to supplement MARPAT uniforms for special missions.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: In 2004, the U.S. Army unveiled the Army Combat Uniform (ACU), its successor to the BDU. From late 2005 to early 2008, the U.S. Army undertook the process of replacing the BDU with the ACU, with the BDU being formally discontinued by the Army in April 2008 (though most soldiers had been wearing the ACU for years by then). The Army Junior ROTC followed suit thereafter in 2009.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: The original version of the ACU used a pixelated "digital" pattern known as the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP). UCP is similar to MARPAT but uses more neutral, less saturated colors. The neutral colors, primarily foliage green and sand yellow, are designed to work best in the desert, woodland, and urban combat situations. The ACU in UCP was used by the army in all environments except for areas with snow, as the UCP pattern works poorly against white despite the heavy use of grey. An all-white BDU and the ECWCS are used instead for winterized warfare. Beginning in 2014, the Army switched the ACU to use the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP), as UCP was seen as inadequate in many environments.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: Civilian employees of the U.S. Department of Defense in combat zones began wearing the Airman Battle Uniform and Army Combat Uniform in place of the BDU (and its cousin DCU) after it was replaced.


title: Battle Dress Uniform

text: From 2004 to 2007, the U.S. Navy began issuing a pixelated blue and gray "digital" pattern Navy Working Uniform (NWU) in limited quantities to some sailors on an experimental test basis. While the NWU is neither a tactical uniform nor a battle dress uniform, it is intended to take the place of many existing work ensembles (utilities, wash khaki, coveralls, M81 BDU, etc.). The disruptive pattern is primarily intended to complement U.S. Navy ship colors and to hide stains and wear, and supposedly to make the wearer a less obvious visual target for hostile forces while working aboard a naval vessel in port.