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Brighton hotel bombing

On 12 October 1984 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attempted to assassinate members of the British government, including the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England. Five people were killed, including the Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry; over thirty people were injured. Thatcher was uninjured. The bombing was a key moment in the Troubles, the conflict in Northern Ireland between unionists and republicans over the constitutional position of Northern Ireland, which took place between the late 1960s and 1998.

The IRA decided to assassinate Thatcher during the 1981 Irish hunger strike. Her stance against the return of Special Category Status to republican prisoners—the status that meant they were treated as political prisoners, rather than as criminals—meant the strike was not quickly settled, and ten prisoners died. After two years of planning, including reconnoitring the 1982 and 1983 Conservative Party Conferences, a long-delay time bomb was planted in the hotel by the IRA member Patrick Magee over three weeks before the 1984 conference. The IRA knew the hotel would be occupied by Thatcher and many of her cabinet.

The bomb exploded at 2:54 am when most guests were in bed. The force of the explosion was upwards and broke through the roof, dislodging one of the hotel's chimney stacks, which weighed 5 LT. This crashed through several floors, killing or injuring many of the occupants. Thatcher decided to continue the conference as normal, and was given a standing ovation by delegates as she entered the stage just six and a half hours after the explosion.

The investigation took eight months. A partial palm print was found on the room registration card from when Magee checked in and police surveillance on IRA members led them to him. He was found guilty and sent to prison for eight life sentences, to be run concurrently with the recommendation that he serve at least thirty-five years before being considered for parole, but was released under licence in June 1999 as part of the Good Friday Agreement. Negotiations between the British and Irish governments that had begun in 1980 continued, despite the bombing, although the pace of the talks was slowed to ensure it did not appear that the British government was conceding to pressure because of the bomb. They resulted in the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, which gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Ireland's government.

The Troubles in the late 1970s and 1980s
The Troubles were the conflict in Northern Ireland between unionists (mostly Ulster Protestants) and republicans (mostly Irish Catholics), which began in the late 1960s. The unionists—also known as loyalists—wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the UK; Irish nationalists and republicans wanted Northern Ireland to leave the UK and join a united Ireland. According to the political scientist Stephen Kelly, four events impacted the approach and policies towards Northern Ireland of Margaret Thatcher, the leader of the Opposition and then prime minister: the assassination of Airey Neave; the assassination of Lord Mountbatten and the Warrenpoint ambush, which took place on the same day; and the 1981 Irish hunger strike.

In March 1979 Neave, the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, was assassinated by the Irish National Liberation Army in a car bomb attack in the Palace of Westminster. Neave had been the political mentor and friend of Thatcher and had run her campaign when she was elected to lead the Conservative Party in 1975. Thatcher was described by her biographer Jonathan Aitken as being "numb with shock" at the news.

On 27 August 1979—less than four months after Thatcher became prime minister—Mountbatten was killed by a 50 lb gelignite bomb on his fishing boat, off the cost of Mullaghmore, County Sligo, in the Irish Republic, which was near his summer home of Classiebawn Castle. The device had been planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). On the same day, the IRA also killed eighteen British soldiers at Narrow Water Castle outside Warrenpoint, with two bombs: the first aimed at a convoy, the second at reinforcements arriving to deal with the incident. It was the highest loss of life suffered in a single incident by the British Army during the Troubles.

In March 1981 Bobby Sands, an IRA member who was imprisoned at the Maze prison, Northern Ireland, went on hunger strike. The strike was to have Special Category Status (SCS) returned to prisoners. SCS comprised treating those prisoners under different, more favourable, conditions with the status of political prisoners, rather than as criminals. It included not having to wear prison uniform and being able to freely associate with other prisoners. Other prisoners also joined in the strike at intervals—such staggering was pre-planned. While on hunger strike, Sands stood in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election and won. Thatcher remained unmoved on the point of allowing Special Category Status and said "There can be no question of political status for someone who is serving a sentence for crime. Crime is crime is crime: it is not political, it is crime, and there can be no question of granting political status". Ten men died of starvation before the strike came to an end. Sands was the first to die, which he did on 5 May 1981, after sixty-six days of starvation; his death led to rioting in republican areas of Northern Ireland.

Because of the hunger strikes and the deaths of those involved, Thatcher was reviled by Irish republicans. According to the political scientist Richard English, Thatcher was "a republican hate-figure of Cromwellian proportions". English highlights as examples comments about Thatcher from the IRA member Danny Morrison: "that unctuous, self-righteous fucker" and "the biggest bastard we have ever known". Because of her staunch unionist position and because they considered her responsible for the deaths of the hunger strikers, the IRA leadership decided to try to assassinate her before the hunger strikes had even come to an end.

Thatcher's approach to Northern Ireland, 1979–1984
Thatcher's outlook on Northern Ireland came from an inherently unionist position; she wanted a military victory over the IRA and for "integration", that is, treating Northern Ireland like the rest of the UK, rather than having separate laws and political processes. Her support for integration, however, was abandoned after Neave's death and after she came to power. According to Eamonn Kennedy, the Irish ambassador to the UK between 1978 and 1983, the murder of Neave and the deaths of British soldiers "left deep psychological scars" on what he called her "Irish outlook".

Thatcher's unionist stance was intuitive; in her autobiography she wrote "My own instincts are profoundly Unionist. ... But, then, any Conservative should in his bones be a Unionist too. Our party has always, throughout its history, been committed to the defence of the Union." Kelly considers that "Thatcher's attitude to Northern Ireland was a powerful blend of reactionary policies and personal indifference." She admitted ignorance of the nuances of Northern Irish politics, and said in her memoirs "But what British politician will ever fully understand Northern Ireland?"

According to Kelly, the focal point of Thatcher's hardline approach to Northern Ireland was security and the need to defeat paramilitary—specifically republican—violence. There was flexibility in her approach, however. During the hunger strikes, she personally gave the go-ahead for secret talks with the IRA to bring about a negotiated end to the strike. In 1980, despite saying publicly that the Irish Republic had no right to interfere with the UK's governing of Northern Ireland, in 1980 she met Charles Haughey, the taoiseach (the Irish prime minister), to discuss the relationship.

Patrick Magee
Patrick Magee was born in Belfast in 1951 and moved to Norwich, Norfolk, when he was two. He became involved in petty crime as a teenager. In 1971 he returned to Belfast, and joined the IRA in 1972 after attending a shebeen—an illicit drinking den—in the Unity Flats area of Belfast, raided by British soldiers. He was beaten and detained for thirty-six hours without charge, and in 2001 said that the incident left him with "a sense of anger. Real anger. I felt I just couldn't walk away from this". He was soon assigned to be one of the IRA's "engineering officers", the organisation's term for a bomb maker. He was interned (detained without trial) at Long Kesh prison from June 1973 to November 1975. In the mid-1970s the IRA changed its structure from battalion to cell-based system. Each cell—also called an ASU—comprised four volunteers, of which only the leader was in contact with the level above. At this time Magee joined the England Department, the IRA's active service unit (ASU) that operated in England. He was periodically active there between 1978 and 1979, and in 1983.

In 1983 Magee was part of the ASU that planned to bomb the Eagle and Child pub in Lancashire, popular with soldiers as it was situated next to Weeton Barracks. His IRA handler in England was Raymond O'Connor, who rented a flat for Magee and a comrade, and drove the pair to the location to view the target. O'Connor had been arrested by Lancashire Special Branch the previous year and been identified as a member of the IRA; he had been recruited by police as an informer and was passing details of Magee's mission to them. Magee and his comrade realised they were under surveillance and returned to Dublin. When the pair told their IRA superiors that they had been followed, they were not believed. Magee later wrote that "There was a suspicion at home that we had panicked. No one could credit that we had narrowly escaped a trap. ... It appeared my operational days were over. I remember saying as much to a comrade, who agreed."

Build-up
Having decided to assassinate Thatcher, IRA intelligence officers began to monitor her movements and security arrangements. In 1982 two IRA volunteers went to the Conservative Party conference in Brighton, on Britain's south coast. Magee and another IRA member visited Blackpool, on the north-west coast, where the 1983 conference was scheduled to take place. It was decided to make the attempt in 1984 when the conference would be back in Brighton. After police arrested two members of the England Department—Thomas Quigley and Paul Kavannagh—Magee was selected as the bomb maker.

On 15 September 1984—some four weeks before the Conservative Party Conference—Magee registered at the Grand Hotel in Brighton under the pseudonym "Roy Walsh". He used the name of the IRA bomber who had been convicted for his role in the IRA's 1973 Old Bailey bombing. After completing the hotel's registration card, Magee gave a false address (27 Braxfield Road, London, SE4), stated he was English, omitted his passport details and paid £180 for three nights' stay. He was given room 629, on the sixth floor facing the sea, chosen a high-level room as he thought that would be where Thatcher would stay; a high level for additional security, given striking miners might also occupy rooms in the hotel.

On the day he arrived Magee had lunch at the hotel's restaurant with a man named "The Pope". The man visited Magee over the three days but did not stay overnight. Two female IRA couriers delivered bomb materials to the room; neither they, nor the other man, has ever been identified. The journalist Rory Carroll, who wrote a history of the bombing, considers that "It is unlikely that more than four people were involved". According to Magee, the bomb comprised 105 lbs of gelignite; security forces later erroneously said it was 30 lbs of Semtex. The device was fitted with a long-delay timer, such as the type used in videocassette recorders. The timing unit was battery powered and a Memo Park timer was also incorporated into the device; Carroll considers the timer was probably part of an anti-handling device, designed to counter any interference by a bomb disposal team if the device was found before detonation.

To mask the smell of the explosives—a distinctive aroma similar to marzipan—the device was wrapped in several layers of plastic. Once the bomb was set, Magee removed the side panel of the bath and placed the device within the space. He and his colleagues finished around 10:00 pm on 17 September, and ordered a bottle of vodka and three bottles of Coca-Cola to be delivered to the room. He spent the third night in the room and checked out at around 9:00 am the following day.

Conference and explosion, 9–12 October 1984
The conference began on 9 October 1984 and was scheduled to last four days, with Thatcher's speech on the final day. Thatcher was staying in the hotel's Napoleon Suite, three rooms with a sea view on the first floor. Her staff set up an office in rooms across the corridor. Before her arrival, a police dog and his handler searched the suite and other rooms on the first floor, but none of the rooms on the other floors. The search itself was cursory, with the officer spending only thirty minutes in her rooms. The officer later recalled that the suite had staff and aides walking in and out while he worked. Uniformed and plainclothes police were posted in and outside the hotel.

On the evening of 11 October Norman Tebbit—then the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry—and his wife Margaret attended a reception hosted by Alistair McAlpine, the Treasurer of the Conservative Party; they left at around midnight and returned to their room. A ball was being held in Top Rank, a nearby venue, which Thatcher visited for 45 minutes, returning to the hotel at about 11:45 pm. In her suite, she continued to work on her conference speech. She finished at around 2:45 am and decided to work on some government business with Robin Butler, her Principal Private Secretary, before going to bed. She went to the toilet and returned to her desk at 2:52 am.

The bomb exploded at 2:54 am on 12 October 1984. The occupants of room 629 were Donald Maclean—the president of the Scottish Conservatives—and his wife Muriel; they were in bed at the time. She was blown sideways by the blast; he was blown upwards. In the neighbouring room, 628, Lady Shattock, the wife of Sir Gordon Shattock, the Western Area chairman of the Conservative Party, was bending over the bath; the wall between the bathroom of 629 and 628 disintegrated, and fragments of the ceramic tiles were "driven into her body like bullets", according to Major Peter Maynard, an army explosives expert. She was decapitated and her body was blown across the corridor into room 638. Her husband fell through the collapsing floors down to the basement but survived.

The force of the explosion going upward broke through the roof and dislodged one of the hotel's chimney stacks; 11 foot tall, it weighed 5 LT. It fell through the roof, through the rooms ending in 28 and clipping those ending in 29. The bomb and the falling chimney took out much of the front of the building, creating a hole 30 ft deep and 15 ft wide. In room 528 it destroyed the room of Eric Taylor—the North-West Area Chairman of the Conservative Party—killing his wife Jennifer; in room 428 Roberta Wakeham, the wife of John, the Chief Whip was killed; in room 328 it killed Sir Anthony Berry, the Deputy Chief Whip. The Tebbits were in room 228. Tebbit later recalled:

"the ceiling came crashing down on us and then, in a hail of debris, the floor collapsed, catapulting us down under an avalanche of bricks, timber and plaster. The force of the impact was indescribable—blow after blow as the debris smashed on to my left side. Something tore into my abdomen with a terrible blow and I heard my very guts sloshing inside me. There was a colossal impact tearing a great hole in my side, then I stopped falling—with no idea where, nor even which way up I was, as the debris cascaded down."

Thatcher's room was below the Tebbits'; her bathroom was badly damaged but she, her husband and Butler were all uninjured. According to Carroll, the bomb "did not even scratch her. But it came very, very close." He theorised that if she had still been in the bathroom, "she would have been cut to ribbons, perhaps fatally".

Immediate aftermath, 12 October 1984
Sussex Police and the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service were soon on the scene. One of the first policemen to arrive, Paul Parton, later described what he remembered:

"As we got closer and the dust was starting to settle, you could see [a policeman] laying on the ground, being supported by other policemen, people screaming, hanging off balconies, alarm bells ringing, water pouring out of broken pipes, and you could see the people up on the balcony. It was horrific."

On arrival, station officer Fred Bishop of the Fire brigade requested ten more fire engines and as many ambulances as could be spared. Although Fire Brigade regulations for attending a bomb were that unless there was a fire in progress, the fire engines were to park two streets away, maintain radio silence and wait for the bomb squad, Bishop and his crew entered the hotel. Throughout the night they tunnelled through areas of the debris to rescue the people trapped in the rubble. Muriel Maclean was found with her right leg mangled; she was extracted, but died of her injuries a month later.

Inside the hotel, the Thatchers, Butler, several cabinet ministers with their partners and the Conservative secretarial staff who were still working, made their way downstairs and left the hotel through the rear entrance; they were taken to Brighton police station, which was thought the most secure place for them. Several other cabinet members were also taken to the police station, where Thatcher announced that the party conference would continue at 9:00 am. She, her husband and secretary spent the night at Lewes police college.

After the explosion Tebbit and his wife ended up next to each other, 12 ft above the hotel's reception, both alive but buried under tonnes of rubble; they held hands and talked to each other for comfort. Margaret was rescued first. She had a broken neck and was paralysed from the neck down; she had to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life because of her injuries. At 6:53 am Tebbit was finally taken out of the hotel in his pyjamas and on a stretcher; his extraction was caught on cameras as they were broadcasting live for breakfast television. The images, according to Carroll, "became a defining drama of the Brighton bomb". Tebbit had severe injuries to his ribs, shoulder and pelvis. The final casualty, John Wakeham, was extracted from under timber and rubble in the foyer, having fallen from the fourth floor. Casualties were lighter than expected; only thirty-three people were treated in hospital. Injuries included broken and fractured bones, lacerations and crush injuries.

Magee was staying with republican sympathisers in Cork; he heard the news of the explosion at 6:00 am. Writing in 2019 he recalled that "my immediate emotion was relief. Relief that the device had worked". That morning the IRA Army Council issued a statement:

"The IRA claims responsibility for the detonation of 100lb of gelignite in Brighton against the British cabinet and Tory warmongers. Thatcher will now realise that Britain cannot occupy our country, torture our prisoners and shoot our people in their own streets and get away with it.Today we were unlucky, but remember we have only to be lucky once, you will have to be lucky always. Give Ireland peace and there will be no war."

Many of the conference attendees had lost their clothes in the hotel. With the conference due to restart at 9:00 am that morning, McAlpine hired a coach and several taxis to take them to a local branch of Marks & Spencer at 8:00 am, which he had arranged to be opened early for them. The Conservative Party paid for new clothes for them and had them back at the conference centre for it to open. Observing this, the BBC producer Ivor Gaber said, "If you ever want to understand how the Conservatives always win elections, you just watch the organisation." The conference started at 9:30 am with a standing ovation for Thatcher as she arrived on stage, followed by a two-minute silence. At 2:00 pm she gave her close-of-conference speech, which opened with comments on the bombing:

"The bomb attack on the Grand Hotel early this morning was first and foremost an inhuman, undiscriminating attempt to massacre innocent unsuspecting men and women staying in Brighton for our Conservative Conference. ... [The bomb] was an attempt not only to disrupt and terminate our Conference; it was an attempt to cripple Her Majesty's democratically-elected Government. That is the scale of the outrage in which we have all shared, and the fact that we are gathered here now—shocked, but composed and determined—is a sign not only that this attack has failed, but that all attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail."

Reactions
The attack was condemned by world leaders. This included denunciation from Garret FitzGerald, the taoiseach, who called the bombing "a gross miscalculation of the character of the British people and the nature of British democracy". Thatcher's decision to continue with the conference was supported by her domestic political opponents, including Neil Kinnock, leader of the Labour Party, David Steel of the Liberal Party and David Owen of the Social Democratic Party. Kinnock said "That is the way we must respond such vile acts in this democracy. There can be no concessions to the murdering madness of those who commit crimes like this bombing." The political historians Ioana Emy Matesan and Ronit Berger consider that although there was some domestic condemnation, "overall the public condemnation was fairly weak". They suggest that "it seems as though since the target was the Conservative party, there was no widespread public condemnation and no rise in public fear of being targeted".

The UK press was condemnatory of the attack. Caroll identifies xenophobic references in the reports, including The Sunday Express's rhetorical question "Wouldn't you rather admit to being a pig than to being Irish?" The Sun said the bombers "must be hunted remorselessly and exterminated like rats". An Phoblacht (The Republic)—the republican newspaper published by Sinn Féin, the political party associated with the IRA—ran the headline "IRA Blitz Brits". The bombing was front page news and appeared on news reports globally; most of the leading articles in newspapers were condemnatory of the attack, although Britain's and Thatcher's enemies abroad, such as in North Korea, took the opportunity to attack her. The editorial in The Washington Post highlighted the possibility that the funds for the bombing may have come from the US, and considered that "Americans of conscience must reject this violence and reject association with the killers whose cowardly acts of murder and mayhem are despised on both sides of the Atlantic". Similarly, the editorial of The New York Times stated "the IRA has turned overseas for support it cannot find in Dublin, playing on the gullibility of a small minority among the 40 million Americans of Irish descent". In an editorial condemnatory of the IRA and the bombing, The Irish Times focused on the ongoing talks between the British and Irish governments and wrote of their hope that "no bombs, no horrors, no attempts by nihilists to destroy the hope of peace, must be allowed to deflect the process".

The bombing was celebrated in some quarters. Republican prisoners in the H Block celebrated the news of the explosion with cheers of "Fuck Thatcher" and "Up the 'Ra". While touring Northern Ireland with the Smiths, the singer Morrissey commented "The only sorrow of the Brighton bombing is that Thatcher escaped unscathed." In 1998 the author John O'Farrell wrote "I felt a surge of excitement at the nearness of her demise and yet disappointment that such a chance had been missed. This was me—the pacifist, anti-capital-punishment, anti-IRA liberal—wishing that they had got her."

October 1984 to January 1985
The investigation began at daybreak on the morning of 12 October, with police forensics teams examining the seafront and roadway directly in front of the hotel. They were unable to access the interior until the fire brigade had found the final missing guest. This turned out to be the body of Jeanne Shattock, which was located either in the evening of 12 October, or the following day. Police instructed the firemen to leave her body in situ as the location was a crime scene. Forensic teams went through the rubble, sifting and searching as they went. Over 800 LT of rubble was collected in nearly 3,800 plastic dustbins and sent to the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment at Fort Halstead, Kent. Once there, it was sieved again and forensically analysed.

In the basement of the hotel, the police located the registration cards of the previous guests of the hotel; pre-computerisation of the booking system, these were the only records of those who had stayed at the Grand. After two weeks of searching, a part of the Memo Park Timer was located in the U-bend of the toilet in room 329. The police searches of the hotel lasted until 30 October. The Anti-Terrorist Branch of the police informed the investigation team of an IRA cache found in Salcey Forest which had a missing timer that was possibly set to twenty-four days, six hours and thirty-six minutes. This would have meant placing the bomb on 17 September. Looking at the registration cards for the four rooms at the epicentre of the explosion—rooms 528, 529, 628 and 629—for that day, they investigated the people who had stayed on at date and established that the card for Roy Walsh showed a false name. The registration card was fingerprinted and showed a partial palm print; in January 1985 this matched with prints taken for Magee when he had been arrested in Norwich in 1967.

January to June 1985
With no knowledge of where Magee was, the information that he was the bomber was kept secret within the investigation team. Surveillance by the RUC Special Branch and the Garda Síochána on Magee's wife—the RUC while she was still in Northern Ireland; the Garda when she crossed the border to Eire—had located Magee in Ballymun, an outer suburb in the north of Dublin. Rather than request extradition to the UK, the British government, police and security services decided to wait until Magee returned to the UK. The British government decided not to tell their Irish counterparts that Magee was the bomber, but instead had the police ask the Garda to keep him under surveillance.

In 1985 the IRA planned a series of bomb attacks in British tourist destinations, mainly seaside resorts, over the summer period. The aim was to have sixteen bombs explode within fourteen days. Magee volunteered to be included in the group. A small team of four was formed: Magee; Gerry McDonnell, who was experienced with electronics and had operated in England previously; Martina Anderson, who had been charged with causing an explosion in 1981; and Ella O'Dwyer a newcomer to the IRA's active service who had joined their cause because of the hunger strikes.

In March 1985 Magee gave the Irish police surveillance team the slip and travelled to Britain where he and O'Dwyer rented a flat in Glasgow. On 15 June he and a female partner rented a room at the Rubens Hotel, overlooking the Royal Mews, which is situated on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. They rented room 112 for £70 for one night and planted a pre-assembled bomb that comprised 3 lb of gelignite, set with a long delay timer to explode at 1 pm on 29 July. It was placed behind the bedside table, which had to be unscrewed from the wall for the device to be placed, and then screwed back in place. Soon after Magee rented a flat in Hackney Road to use as the England Department's base in London.

In June 1985 the RUC undertook surveillance on Peter Sherry, the commander of the East Tyrone Brigade. He was followed from his home in Dungannon to Belfast docks, where a tip-off to police had alerted them that a member of the IRA was to be smuggled over to mainland Britain. The surveillance was picked up in Ayr, Scotland, by special branch officers from Strathclyde Police who were joined by a small detachment of RUC officers who had been trailing Sherry. He travelled to Carlisle where he stayed overnight. As he was now in England, Strathclyde Police had no jurisdiction; they contacted the Special Branch of the Metropolitan Police who travelled overnight to Carlisle. The following day, 22 June 1985, Sherry went to the train station where he met Magee, who had travelled up from London. Magee was immediately identified by the surveillance team. A decision was made not to arrest the two men immediately, but to continue following them as the pair returned to the rented flat in Langside, Glasgow, where the rest of the England Department ASU were staying.

Arrest and trial
A decision was made to raid the property, although it was not known which of the building's eight flats the men were in. It was decided that all eight flats were to be raided at the same time, with two officers assigned per flat, at least one of whom should be armed, with other officers on standby to assist. At about 7:00 pm on 22 June 1985, all the doors in the premises were knocked on. On the ground floor Magee and his compatriots were expecting the landlord to come round for the rent. As Magee answered the door he was arrested; other policemen entered the premises and arrested the four other IRA members present: Sherry, McDonnell, O'Dwyer and Anderson.

When searching McDonnell, police found the list of cities in which the England ASU had been intending to plant bombs. A tick was next to the first entry, which read "London, 1st floor, 112, front, The Rubens Hotel, Buckingham Palace Road. BT plus 48". Also found was a schematic of the device, which showed "BT" meant booby trap. The device was soon disabled by members of the Bomb Squad, a specialist unit within the Metropolitan Police.

The trial of Magee, McDonnell, Sherry, Anderson and O'Dwyer opened on 6 May 1986 and lasted until 11 June. Also included with the accused was Shaun McShane, an IRA sympathiser who had assisted the England Department with providing premises where they could stay; he was charged with aiding and abetting.

During the trial the police were accused of planting a firearm on McDonnell. It had been, the police claimed, in McDonnell's waistband when he was arrested; he denied it was his. No fingerprints were found on the weapon. Police denied they had planted evidence on him. The police were also accused of planting Magee's palmprint on the hotel registration card, which they denied. Magee reiterated the claim in 2000, saying "If that was my fingerprint I did not put it there". Sherry, McDonnell, Anderson and O'Dwyer were sentenced to life imprisonment. McShane was sentenced to eight years; this was reduced to six years on appeal. Magee was sentenced to eight life sentences, to be run concurrently, with the recommendation that he serve at least thirty-five years before being considered for parole. After the verdict was announced, Magee spoke his only words of the trial: "Tiocfaidh ar la" ("Our day will come").

Repercussions and legacy
In the early 1980s, and prior to the Brighton bomb, there were several assassinations or assassination attempts in London. The rise in such attempts, and the events at Brixton, changed the approach taken by the British government to turn Britain into a "permanent counter-assassination state", according to the historian Simon Ball. The previously relaxed view of Special Branch close protection officers had already been under review prior to Brighton, and this was implemented by Thatcher a few days after the bombing. In the House of Commons debate on the bomb, Leon Brittan, the Home Secretary, said:

"Total security is impossible in a free, democratic society. Political and other leaders are vulnerable because they must be accessible. Everything that can be done will be done to prevent such outrages and to protect their targets. But we will not be bombed into boltholes by terrorists."

Measures were brought in to protect the political elite, including permanent security after they had left office. Special Branch provided more than a hundred officers for government and diplomatic protection to counter threats and assassination attempts, which cost the Metropolitan Police £59 million a year in 1993. The journalist David Hughes, who was covering the Brighton conference for The Daily Telegraph writes that the bomb, and its subsequent changes in security provision "marked the end of an age of comparative innocence. From that day forward, all party conferences in this country have become heavily defended citadels".

In addition to historical news coverage, the Brighton bomb has been described in books, including histories of what happened and personal memoirs from those involved. The events have also been depicted in music, film and fiction, and been examined in television documentaries.

Northern Ireland policy
Despite the bombing, Thatcher did not call off the ongoing talks with the Irish government. She saw these as important in stopping the political support for Sinn Féin in favour of the constitutional—and peaceful—nationalism of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. Instead she slowed the process and rejected some aspects under negotiation, as she did not want to give the impression that the bomb had resulted in any weakening of the British negotiating position. The bomb, however, left a deep impression on Thatcher and demonstrated that a solution to the violence needed to be found.

In the opinion of the political scientist Feargal Cochrane, the bomb acted as "a catalyst" for the discussions that led to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement on 15 November 1985, despite opposition from within her own party. The agreement gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Ireland's government while confirming that there would be no change in the constitutional position of Northern Ireland unless a majority of its citizens agreed to join the Republic.

Magee's release
In 1997 Magee's sentenced was changed to a whole life order, meaning he would never be released from prison. This was later quashed as part of the Good Friday Agreement and Magee was released under licence in June 1999, despite a challenge by Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, to stop it. The Independent Sentence Review Commission—the body that decided whether paramilitaries should be released—endorsed his discharge.

In 2000 Magee and Jo Berry, the daughter of Sir Anthony Berry, met. Magee described it as "a moment of profound significance to me". Their discussion was at the request of Berry who wanted to understand the conflict from Magee's perspective. He said that about halfway through their three-hour talk:

"the goodness and intelligence and value I perceived in this woman must in some measure have come from her father. And I had killed him. I had killed a fine human being. It had evidently been more comfortable for me to live with the perception that as a Tory he was simply the enemy, a warmonger, driven by greed, without a personal moral code or a rounded background. I too was guilty of demonising the enemy."

The two met again several times and became friends, giving talks together at reconciliation events; in 2009 they formed the organisation Building Bridges for Peace, which aimed to bring divided communities together through dialogue.

title: Brighton hotel bombing


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North American F-86 Sabre

The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Soviet MiG-15 in high-speed dogfights in the skies of the Korean War (1950–1953), fighting some of the earliest jet-to-jet battles in history. Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war, the F-86 is also rated highly in comparison with fighters of other eras. Although it was developed in the late 1940s and was outdated by the end of the 1950s, the Sabre proved versatile and adaptable and continued as a front-line fighter in numerous air forces.

Its success led to an extended production run of more than 7,800 aircraft between 1949 and 1956, in the United States, Japan, and Italy. In addition, 738 carrier-modified versions were purchased by the US Navy as FJ-2s and -3s. Variants were built in Canada and Australia. The Canadair Sabre added another 1,815 aircraft and the significantly redesigned CAC Sabre (sometimes known as the Avon Sabre or CAC CA-27), had a production run of 112. The Sabre is by far the most-produced Western jet fighter, with a total production of all variants at 9,860 units.

Development

North American Aviation had produced the propeller-powered P-51 Mustang in World War II, which saw combat against some of the first operational jet fighters. By late 1944, North American proposed its first jet fighter to the U.S. Navy, which became the FJ-1 Fury. It was an unexceptional transitional jet fighter that had a straight wing derived from the P-51. Initial proposals to meet a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) requirement for a medium-range, single-seat, high-altitude, jet-powered day escort fighter/fighter bomber were drafted in mid-1944. In early 1945, North American Aviation submitted four designs. The USAAF selected one design over the others and granted North American a contract to build three examples of the XP-86 ("experimental pursuit"). Deleting specific requirements from the FJ-1 Fury, coupled with other modifications, allowed the XP-86 to be lighter and considerably faster than the Fury, with an estimated top speed of 582 mph, versus the Fury's 547 mph. Despite the gain in speed, early studies revealed the XP-86 would have the same performance as its rivals, the XP-80 and XP-84. Because these rival designs were more advanced in their development stages, it was feared that the XP-86 would be cancelled.

Crucially, the XP-86 was not able to meet the required top speed of 600 mph; North American had to quickly devise a radical change that could leapfrog its rivals. The F-86 was the first American aircraft to take advantage of flight research data seized from the German aerodynamicists at the end of World War II. These data showed that a thin, swept wing could greatly reduce drag and delay compressibility problems that had bedeviled fighters such as the Lockheed P-38 Lightning when approaching the speed of sound. By 1944, German engineers and designers had established the benefits of swept wings based on experimental designs dating back to 1940. A study of the data showed that a swept wing would solve their speed problem, while a slat on the wing's leading edge that extended at low speeds would enhance low-speed stability.

Because development of the XP-86 had reached an advanced stage, the idea of changing the sweep of the wing was met with resistance from some senior North American staff. Despite stiff opposition, after good results were obtained in wind tunnel tests, the swept-wing concept was eventually adopted. Performance requirements were met by incorporating a 35° swept-back wing, using modified NACA four-digit airfoils, NACA 0009.5–64 at the root and NACA 0008.5–64 at the tip, with an automatic slat design based on that of the Messerschmitt Me 262 and an electrically adjustable stabilizer, another feature of the Me 262A. Many Sabres had the "6–3 wing" (a fixed leading edge with a 6-inch extended chord at the root and a 3-inch extended chord at the tip) retrofitted after combat experience was gained in Korea. This modification changed the wing airfoils to the NACA 0009-64 modified configuration at the root and the NACA 0008.1–64 mod at the tip.

The XP-86 prototype, which led to the F-86 Sabre, was rolled out on 8 August 1947. The first flight occurred on 1 October 1947 with George Welch at the controls, flying from Muroc Dry Lake (now Edwards AFB), California.

The United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command had F-86 Sabres in service from 1949 through 1950. The F-86s were assigned to the 22nd Bomb Wing, the 1st Fighter Wing, and the 1st Fighter Interceptor Wing. The F-86 was the primary U.S. air combat fighter during the Korean War, with significant numbers of the first three production models seeing combat.

The F-86 Sabre was also produced under license by Canadair, Ltd, as the Canadair Sabre. The final variant of the Canadian Sabre, the Mark 6, is generally rated as having the highest capabilities of any Sabre version.

Breaking sound barrier and other records

The F-86A set its first official world speed record of 671 mph on September 15, 1948, at Muroc Dry Lake, flown by Major Richard L. Johnson, USAF. Five years later, on 18 May 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier, flying a "one-off" Canadian-built F-86 Sabre Mk 3, alongside Chuck Yeager. Col. K. K. Compton won the 1951 Bendix air race in an F-86A with an average speed of 553.76 mph (891.19 km/h).

On 2 February 1958, a team of Pakistan Air Force F-86 Sabres called "Falcons" set a world record at PAF Base Masroor by performing a loop while in a 16 aircraft diamond formation. The team was led by then Wing Commander Zafar Masud.

Overview
The F-86 was produced as both a fighter-interceptor and fighter-bomber. Several variants were introduced over its production life, with improvements and different armament implemented (see below). The XP-86 was fitted with a General Electric J35-C-3 jet engine that produced 4000 lbf of thrust. This engine was built by GM's Chevrolet division until production was turned over to Allison. The General Electric J47-GE-7 engine was used in the F-86A-1 producing a thrust of 5,200 lbf, while the General Electric J73-GE-3 engine of the F-86H produced 9,250 lbf of thrust.

The fighter-bomber version (F-86H) could carry up to 2,000 lb of bombs, including an external fuel-type tank that could carry napalm. Unguided 2.75 in rockets were used on some fighters on training missions, but 5 in rockets were later carried on combat operations. The F-86 could also be fitted with a pair of external jettisonable jet fuel tanks (four on the F-86F beginning in 1953) that extended the range of the aircraft. Both the interceptor and fighter-bomber versions carried six 0.50 in M3 Browning machine guns with electrically-boosted feed in the nose (later versions of the F-86H carried four 20 mm cannon instead of machine guns). Firing at a rate of 1,200 rounds per minute, the 0.50 in guns were harmonized to converge at 1,000 ft in front of the aircraft, using armor-piercing (AP) and armor-piercing incendiary (API) rounds, with one armor-piercing incendiary tracer (APIT) for every five AP or API rounds. The API rounds used during the Korean War contained magnesium, which were designed to ignite upon impact, but burned poorly above 35000 ft as oxygen levels were insufficient to sustain combustion at that height. Initial planes were fitted with the Mark 18 manual-ranging computing gun sight. The last 24 F-86A-5-Nas and F-86Es were equipped with the A-1CM gunsight-AN/APG-30 radar, which used radar to automatically compute a target's range, which later proved to be advantageous against MiG opponents over Korea.

Flying characteristics
The transition from typical propeller driven aircraft to the Sabre's swept wings and jet engine saw many accidents and incidents, as even experienced pilots had to learn new handling techniques and flying characteristics. Early on in the jet age, some US manufacturers instituted safety and transition programs where experienced test and production pilots toured operational fighter squadrons to provide instruction and demonstrations designed to lower the accident rate.

As F-86 models continued to be upgraded, the learning curve continued. Some important design changes included switching from an elevator/stabilizer to an all-flying tail, discontinuation of leading edge slats for a solid wing with a small forward-mounted wing fence and increased internal fuel capacity, increased engine power, and an internal missile bay (F-86D). While the solid leading edge and increased internal fuel capacity increased combat performance, they exacerbated a dangerous and often fatal handling characteristic upon take-off if the nose were raised prematurely from the runway. This 'over-rotation' danger is now a major area of instruction and concern for current F-86 pilots. The 1972 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident resulting in 22 fatalities and 28 other casualties was a result of over-rotation on take-off.

Korean War

The F-86 entered service with the USAF in 1949, joining the 1st Fighter Wing's 94th Fighter Squadron and became the primary air-to-air jet fighter used by the Americans in the Korean War. While earlier straight-winged jets such as the P-80 and F-84 initially achieved air victories, when the swept-wing MiG-15 was introduced in November 1950, it outperformed all UN-based aircraft.

Introduction of the MiG-15 and comparisons
In response, three squadrons of F-86s were rushed to the Far East in December. The MiG-15 was superior to early F-86 models in ceiling, firepower, acceleration, turning, rate of climb, and ability to zoom climb. The F-86 was marginally faster, and could out-dive the MiGs. When the F-86F was introduced in 1953, the two aircraft became more closely matched, and by the end of the war, many American combat-experienced pilots claiming a marginal superiority for the F-86F.

The heavier firepower of the MiG, and many other contemporary fighters, was addressed by “Project Gun-Val” which saw the combat testing of seven F-86Fs each armed with four 20 mm T-160 cannons (such F-86s were designated as F-86F-2s). Despite being able to fire only two of the four 20 mm cannon at a time, the experiment was considered a success and signaled the end of the decades-long use of the Browning .50 caliber in the air-to-air role, 20mm being close to .78 caliber.

Although the F-86A could be safely flown through Mach 1, the F-86E's all-moving tailplane greatly improved maneuverability at high speeds. The MiG-15 could not safely exceed Mach 0.92, an important disadvantage in near-sonic air combat. Far greater emphasis had been given to the training, aggressiveness, and experience of the F-86 pilots. American Sabre pilots were trained at Nellis, where the casualty rate of their training was so high, they were told, "If you ever see the flag at full staff, take a picture." Despite rules of engagement to the contrary, F-86 units frequently initiated combat over MiG bases in the Manchurian "sanctuary".

In October 1951, the Soviets managed to recover a downed Sabre, and in their investigation of the type they concluded that the Sabre's advantage in combat was due to the APG-30 gun-sight that facilitated accurate fire at longer ranges.

Deployment of MiGs and Sabres
The needs of combat operations balanced against the need to maintain an adequate force structure in Western Europe led to the conversion of the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing from the F-80 to the F-86 in December 1951. Two fighter-bomber wings, the 8th and 18th, converted to the F-86F in the spring of 1953. No. 2 Squadron, South African Air Force (SAAF) also distinguished itself flying F-86s in Korea as part of the 18 FBW.

The MiGs flown from bases in Manchuria by Chinese, North Korean, and Soviet VVS pilots were pitted against two squadrons of the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing forward-based at K-14, Kimpo, Korea. The North Koreans and their allies periodically contested air superiority in MiG Alley, an area near the mouth of the Yalu River (the boundary between Korea and China) over which the most intense air-to-air combat took place.

On 17 June 1951, at 01:30 hours, Suwon Air Base was bombed by two Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes, who each dropped a pair of fragmentation bombs. One scored a hit on the 802nd Engineer Aviation Battalion's motor pool, damaging some equipment, and two bombs burst on the flightline of the 335th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. One F-86A Sabre (FU-334 / 49-1334) was struck on the wing and began burning, eventually gutting the aircraft. Prompt action by personnel who moved aircraft away from the burning Sabre prevented further loss. Eight other Sabres were damaged in the brief attack, four seriously, and one F-86 pilot was among the wounded. The North Koreans subsequently credited Lt. La Woon Yung with this attack.

Evaluations of the success of the F-86
By the end of hostilities, F-86 pilots were initially credited by American sources with shooting down 792 MiGs for a loss of only 78 Sabres in air-to-air combat, a victory ratio of 10:1. Of the 41 American pilots who earned the designation of ace during the Korean War, all but one flew the F-86 Sabre, the exception being a Navy Vought F4U Corsair night fighter pilot. However, after the war, the USAF reviewed its figures in an investigation code-named Sabre Measure Charlie and downgraded the kill ratio of the North American F-86 Sabre against the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 by half, to 5:1. Internally, the USAF accepted that its pilots had actually downed about 200 MiGs

Soviet data records only 335 MiG-15s in Korea to all causes, including accidents, antiaircraft fire, and ground attacks. Chinese claims of their losses amount to 224 MiG-15s in Korea. North Korean losses are not known, but according to North Korean defectors, their air force lost around 100 MiG-15s during the war. Thus, 659 MiG-15s are admitted as being lost, many of these to F-86 Sabres The Soviets claimed to have downed over 600 Sabres, together with the Chinese claims (211 F-86s shot-down), although these cannot be reconciled with the number of Sabres recorded as lost by the US.

Suggested reasons for the F-86's success include the fact that many of the American pilots were experienced World War II veterans, while the North Koreans and the Chinese lacked combat experience, but United Nations pilots suspected many of the MiG-15s were being flown by experienced Soviet pilots who also had combat experience in World War II. Former Communist sources now acknowledge Soviet pilots initially flew the majority of MiG-15s that fought in Korea, but they also dispute that more MiG-15s than F-86s were shot down in air combat. Later in the war, North Korean and Chinese pilots increased their participation as combat flyers.

The status of many claimed air-to-air victories in the Korean War has been increasingly debated as more data becomes available, showing that instances of over-claiming abounded on both sides. The research by Dorr, Lake and Thompson claimed an F-86 kill ratio closer to 2:1. A recent RAND report made reference to "recent scholarship" of F-86 v MiG-15 combat over Korea and concluded that the actual kill:loss ratio for the F-86 was 1.8:1 overall, and likely closer to 1.3:1 against MiGs flown by Soviet pilots. However, this ratio did not count the number of aircraft of other types (including the B-29, A-26, F-80, F-82, F-84 and Gloster Meteor) shot down by MiG-15 pilots.

Data-matching with Soviet records suggests that US pilots routinely attributed their own combat losses to "landing accidents" and "other causes". According to official US data ("USAF Statistical Digest FY1953"), the USAF lost 250 F-86 fighters in Korea. Of these, 184 were lost in combat (78 in air-to-air combat, 19 by anti-aircraft guns, 26 were "unknown causes" and 61 were "other losses") and 66 in incidents. South African Air Force lost 6 F-86s in the war. This gives 256 confirmed F-86 losses during the Korean War.

1958 Taiwan Strait crisis
The Republic of China Air Force was an early recipient of surplus USAF Sabres. From December 1954 to June 1956, the ROC Air Force received 160 ex-USAF F-86F-1-NA through F-86F-30-NA fighters. By June 1958, the Republic of China on Taiwan had built up an impressive fighter force, with 320 F-86Fs and seven RF-86Fs having been delivered.

Sabres and MiGs were shortly to battle each other in the skies of Asia once again in the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. In August 1958, the Chinese Communists of the People's Republic of China attempted to force the Nationalists off the islands of Quemoy and Matsu by shelling and blockade. ROCAF F-86Fs flying combat air patrol over the islands found themselves confronted by People's Liberation Army Air Force MiG-15s and MiG-17s, and numerous dogfights resulted.

During these battles, the ROCAF Sabres introduced a new element into aerial warfare. Under a secret effort designated Operation Black Magic, the U.S. Navy had provided the ROC with the AIM-9 Sidewinder, its first infrared-homing air-to-air missile, which was just entering service with the United States. A small team from VMF-323, a Marine FJ-4 Fury squadron with later assistance from China Lake and North American Aviation, initially modified 20 of the F-86 Sabres to carry a pair of Sidewinders on underwing launch rails and instructed the ROC pilots in their use flying profiles with USAF F-100s simulating the MiG-17. The MiGs enjoyed an altitude advantage over the Sabres, as they had in Korea, and PLAAF MiGs routinely cruised over the ROCAF Sabres, only engaging when they had a favorable position. The Sidewinder took away that advantage and proved to be devastatingly effective against the MiGs.

Pakistan Air Force
In 1954, Pakistan started receiving the first of a total of 102 F-86F Sabres under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. Many of these aircraft were F-86F-35s from USAF stocks, but some were from the later F-86F-40-NA production block (made specifically for export). Many of the F−35s were brought up to F−40 standards before they were delivered to Pakistan, but a few remained F−35s. The F-86 was operated by nine Pakistan Air Force (PAF) squadrons at various times: Nos. 5, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 26 Squadrons.

Moreover, in April 1959, a PAF F-86F flown by Flight Lieutenant Yunis of the No. 15 Squadron "Cobras" shot down an Indian Canberra Spy Plane over Rawalpindi marking the first aerial victory for the Pakistan Air Force.

In 1966, Pakistan acquired 90 ex-Luftwaffe CL-13 Mk.6s via Iran due to postwar US sanctions. They were known as the F-86E in the PAF, not to be confused with the North American F-86E variants).

The last of the Sabres were withdrawn from PAF service in 1980 and were replaced with the Shenyang F-6 fighters. In total Pakistani pilots flew 320,185 hours in the Sabres out of which about 4,500 hours were flown in wartime operations. They are now on display at PAF Museum and various cities around Pakistan.

1960–1961 Bajaur Campaign
In late 1960, regular and irregular Afghan forces invaded the Bajaur area of North West Frontier Province in an attempt to annex the region. In response, PAF F-86s were sent in order to support the Pakistani Forces and local Pakistani Pashtun tribesmen who were fighting the Afghan infiltrators. The Sabres also executed bombing runs on Royal Afghan Army positions in Kunar which were attacking Frontier Corps border posts. Although the Royal Afghan Air Force had seven MiG-17 squadrons and another MiG-21 squadron being operationalized, no known dogfight has been recorded between the two sides.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
The Sabre was no longer a world-class fighter (due to availability of supersonic jets). However, various sources state the F-86 gave the PAF a technological advantage in 1965.

In the air-to-air combat of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the PAF Sabres claimed to have shot down 15 Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, comprising nine Hunters, four Vampires, and two Gnats. India, however, admitted a loss of 14 combat aircraft to the PAF's F-86s. The F-86s of the PAF had the advantage of being armed with AIM-9B/GAR-8 Sidewinder missiles, whereas none of its Indian adversaries had this capability. Despite this, the Indian Air Force claimed that seven F-86 Sabres were shot down by Folland Gnats and six F-86 Sabres were shot down by Hawker Hunters.
 * Air to air combat

 * Ground attack

The F-86F remained a potent aircraft for use against ground targets. On the morning of 6 September 1965, six F-86s of No. 19 Squadron struck advancing columns of the Indian army using 5-in (127-mm) rockets along with their six .50-in (12.7-mm) M3 Browning machine guns. On the same day, eight F-86 fighters of the same squadron executed airstrikes on the IAF Pathankot. In East Pakistan, F-86s from the No. 14 Squadron struck the Indian airbases of Kalaikunda, Bagdogra, Barrackpore and Agartala which resulted in the destruction of more than 20 Indian aircraft. The airstrikes on kalaikunda in particular were highly successful after which the No. 14 Squadron was nicknamed "Tail Choppers".

In total, Pakistani B-57 Canberras and F-86s destroyed around 39 Indian warplanes on the ground at various IAF airbases. However, India claims of losing 22 aircraft on the ground.

1971 Civil conflict and subsequent Indo-Pakistani war
The CL-13B Mk.6 Sabres (known as the F-86E in PAF) were the mainstay of the PAF's day-fighter operations during the 1971 War, and had the challenge of dealing with the threat from IAF Folland Gnats, Hawker Hunters, Sukhoi Su-7s and Mig-21s.
 * Air to Air combat

At the beginning of the war, PAF had eight squadrons of F-86 Sabres. Along with the newer fighter types such as the Mirage III and the Shenyang F-6, the Sabres were tasked with the majority of operations during the war. In East Pakistan, PAF's only Tail Choppers squadron was equipped with 16 F-86Es out of which 4 were modified to fire AIM-9/GAR-8 missiles.

In the Battle of Boyra Indian Folland Gnats of 22 Squadron IAF shot down two F-86Es and severely damaged one F-86E.

PAF F-86s performed well, with Pakistani claims of downing 31 Indian aircraft in air-to-air combat. These included 17 Hawker Hunters, eight Sukhoi Su-7 "Fitters", one MiG 21, and three Gnats while losing seven F-86s. The most interesting of these was a battle between two Sabres and four MiG-21s. One MiG was shot down, without any Sabres lost. This was achieved due to the greater low-speed performance of the Sabre in comparison to the delta-winged MiG-21.

India, however, claims to have shot down 11 PAF Sabres for the loss of 11 combat aircraft to the PAF F-86s. The IAF numerical superiority overwhelmed the sole East Pakistan Sabres squadron (and other military aircraft) which were either shot down, or grounded by Pakistani fratricide as they could not hold out, enabling complete air superiority for the IAF. In East Pakistan, the F-86Es of the Tail Choppers took active part in several CAS and COIN missions against Mukti Bahini militants and irregular Indian forces.
 * Ground Attack

On 15 April 1971, a formation of 4 Sabres led by Flight Lt. Abbas Khattak strafed and rocketed many rebel strongholds at Bhairab Bazar to support the Pakistan Army's efforts in re-capturing food stocks and silos from the Mukti-Bahini militants.

On 26 April 1971, Flight Lt. Abbass led another Sabre formation at Patuakhali where surviving rebels had regrouped after facing a defeat at Barisal by the hands of the Army. The Sabres struck several rebel strongpoints to soften up resistance after which SSG units were inserted via Mi-8s to clear out the area.

On the Western Front, F-86Es and F-86Fs from various PAF squadrons played a vital role in backing the Pakistan Army's counter attacks at several sectors with Air support.

At Shakargarh and Marala sectors, PAF F-86F/Es from the No. 17, No. 18 and 26 Squadrons alongside Shenyang F-6s took part in air support missions backing Pakistan's I Strike Corps counter attacks against the Indian army's I Corps. Although ill-equipped for anti-tank roles, the Sabres were modified to carry general purpose bombs in an effort to provide as much effective air support as possible.

In the Battle of Chamb, F-86Fs from the No. 26 Squadron "Black Spiders" and F-86Es from the No. 18 Squadron supported Iftikhar Janjua's forces in capturing Chumb flying 146 air support sorties. At one point, the Indian Army suffered a major blow at Akhnur when sabres from the No. 18 Squadron destroyed their ammunition dumps.

At Sulemanki, F-86Es of the No. 17 Squadron "Tigers" flew 55 CAS sorties in support of the IV Corps offensive in which they claimed 6 Indian tanks and a number of military vehicles destroyed.

At Thar, F-86E and Fs belonging to the No. 19 Squadron struck Indian army positions during their Close Air Support missions. In total, they destroyed 8 Indian Tanks and several military vehicles while also damaging 2 Military trains.

Guinea-Bissau War of Independence
In 1958, the Forca Aerea Portuguesa (FAP) received 50 F-86Fs from ex-USAF stocks. A few former Norwegian Air Force F-86Fs were also purchased as spares in 1968–69.

The FAP deployed some of its F-86F Sabres to Portuguese Guinea in 1961, being based at AB2 – Bissalanca Air Base, Bissau. These aircraft formed "Detachment 52", initially equipped with eight F-86Fs (serials: 5307, 5314, 5322, 5326, 5354, 5356, 5361, and 5362) from the Esquadra 51, based at the BA5 – Monte Real Air Base. These aircraft were used in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence, in ground-attack and close-support operations against the insurgent forces. In August 1962, 5314 overshot the runway during an emergency landing with bombs still attached on underwing hardpoints and burned out. F-86F 5322 was shot down by enemy ground fire on 31 May 1963; the pilot ejected safely and was recovered. Several other aircraft suffered combat damage but were repaired.

In 1964, 16 F-86Fs based at Bissalanca returned to mainland Portugal due to U.S. pressure. They had flown 577 combat sorties, of which 430 were ground-attack and close-air-support missions.

Philippine Air Force
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) first received the Sabres in the form of F-86Fs in 1957, replacing the North American P-51 Mustang as their primary interceptor. F-86s first operated from Basa Air Base, known infamously as the "Nest of Vipers", where the 5th Fighter Wing of the PAF was based. Later on, in 1960, the PAF acquired the F-86D as their first all-weather interceptor. The most notable use of the F-86 Sabres was in the Blue Diamonds aerobatic display team, which operated eight Sabres until the arrival of the newer, supersonic Northrop F-5. The F-86s were subsequently phased out of service in the 1970s as the Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter and Vought F-8 Crusaders became the primary fighters and interceptors of the PAF. Antonio Bautista was a Blue Diamonds pilot and a decorated officer. He was killed on 11 January 1974 during a combat sortie against rebels in the south of the country.

Soviet Sabre
During the Korean War the Soviet search for an intact U.S. F-86 Sabre for evaluation and study purposes was largely frustrated due to the U.S. military's policy of destroying disabled or abandoned weapons and equipment, with USAF pilots destroying most of their downed Sabres by strafing or bombing. One F-86 was downed in a tidal area, and subsequently submerged, preventing its destruction. The aircraft was ferried to Moscow and a new OKB (Soviet Experimental Design Bureau) was established to study the F-86, which later became part of the Sukhoi OKB. "At least one F-86… was sent to the Soviet Union, the Russians [sic] admitted, and other planes and prizes such as U.S. G-suits and radar gun sights also went."

The Soviets studied and copied the optical gunsight and radar from the captured aircraft to produce the ASP-4N gunsight and SRC-3 radar. Installed in the MiG-17, the gunsight system was later used against American fighters in the Vietnam War. The F-86 studies also contributed to the development of aircraft aluminum alloys such as V-95.

Feather Duster
The old but nimble MiG-17 had become such a serious threat against the Republic F-105 Thunderchief over North Vietnam that the USAF created project "Feather Duster" to test which tactics supersonic American fighters could use against fighters such as the MiG-17. ANG F-86H units proved to be an ideal stand-in for the Soviet jets. One pilot remarked, "In any envelope except nose down and full throttle", either the F-100 or F-105 was inferior to the F-86H in a dogfight.

North American F-86

 * XF-86: three prototypes, originally designated XP-86, North American model NA-140
 * YF-86A: this was the first prototype fitted with a General Electric J47 turbojet engine.
 * F-86A: 554 built, North American model NA-151 (F-86A-1 block and first order of A-5 block) and NA-161 (second F-86A-5 block)
 * DF-86A: A few F-86A conversions as drone directors
 * RF-86A: 11 F-86A conversions with three cameras for reconnaissance
 * F-86B: 188 ordered as upgraded A-model with wider fuselage and larger tires but delivered as F-86A-5, North American model NA-152
 * F-86C: Original designation for the YF-93A, two built, 48–317 & 48–318, order for 118 cancelled, North American model NA-157
 * YF-95A: Prototype all-weather interceptor, two built, designation changed to YF-86D, North American model NA-164
 * F-86D/L:Production transonic all-weather search-radar equipped interceptor originally designated F-95A, 2,506 built. The F-86D had only 25 percent commonality with other Sabre variants, with a larger fuselage, larger afterburning engine, and a distinctive nose radome. Sole armament was Mk. 4 unguided rockets instead of machine guns. F-86Ls were upgraded F-86Ds.
 * F-86E: Improved flight control system and an "all-flying tail" (This system changed to a full power-operated control with an "artificial feel" built into the aircraft's controls to give the pilot forces on the stick that were still conventional, but light enough for superior combat control. It improved high-speed maneuverability); 456 built, North American model NA-170 (F-86E-1 and E-5 blocks), NA-172, essentially the F-86F airframe with the F-86E engine (F-86E-10 and E-15 blocks); 60 of these built by Canadair for USAF (F-86E-6)
 * F-86E(M): Designation for ex-RAF Sabres diverted to other NATO air forces
 * QF-86E: Designation for surplus RCAF Sabre Mk. Vs modified to target drones
 * F-86F: Uprated engine and larger "6–3" wing without leading-edge slats, 2,239 built; North American model NA-172 (F-86F-1 through F-15 blocks), NA-176 (F-86F-20 and −25 blocks), NA-191 (F-86F-30 and −35 blocks), NA-193 (F-86F-26 block), NA-202 (F-86F-35 block), NA-227 (first two orders of F-86F-40 blocks comprising 280 aircraft that reverted to leading-edge wing slats of an improved design), NA-231 (70 in third F-40 block order), NA-238 (110 in fourth F-40 block order), and NA-256 (120 in final F-40 block order); 300 additional aircraft in this series assembled by Mitsubishi in Japan for Japanese Air Self-Defense Force. Sabre Fs had much improved high-speed agility, coupled with a higher landing speed of over 145 mi/h. The F-35 block had provisions for a new operational role: the tactical nuclear attack using newer, smaller, and lighter nuclear weapons ("second generation" nuclear ordnance). The F-40 had a new slatted wing with a slightly higher span, resulting in a slight decrease in speed, but also much better agility at both high and low speeds and a reduced landing speed of 124 mi/h. The USAF upgraded many previous F versions to the F-40 standard. One E and two Fs were modified for improved performance via rocket boost.
 * F-86F(R): F-86F-30 (52-4608) had a Rocketdyne AR2-3 with 3000 – thrust at 35000 ft, giving a top speed of mach 1.22 at 60000 ft.
 * F-86F-2: Designation for 10 aircraft modified to carry the M39 cannon in place of the M3 .50 caliber machine gun "six-pack". Four F-86E-10s (serial numbers 51-2803, 2819, 2826 and 2836) and six F-86F-1s (serial numbers 51-2855, 2861, 2867, 2868, 2884 and 2900) were production-line aircraft modified in October 1952 with enlarged and strengthened gun bays, then flight tested at Edwards Air Force Base and the Air Proving Ground at Eglin Air Force Base in November. Eight were shipped to Japan in December and seven forward-deployed to Kimpo Airfield as "Project GunVal" for a 16-week combat field trial in early 1953. Two were lost to engine compressor stalls after ingesting excessive propellant gases from the cannons.
 * QF-86F: About 50 former Japan Self-Defense Forces (JASDF) F-86F aircraft converted to drones for use as targets by the U.S. Navy
 * RF-86F: Some F-86F-30s converted with three cameras for reconnaissance; also 18 Japan Self-Defense Forces (JASDF) aircraft similarly converted
 * TF-86F: Two F-86F converted to two-seat training configuration with lengthened fuselage and slatted wings under North American model NA-204
 * YF-86H: Extensively redesigned fighter-bomber model with deeper fuselage, uprated engine, longer wings and power-boosted tailplane, two built as North American model NA-187
 * F-86H: Production model, 473 built, with Low Altitude Bombing System (LABS) and provision for nuclear weapon, North American model NA-187 (F-86H-1 and H-5 blocks) and NA-203 (F-86H-10 block)
 * QF-86H: Target conversion of 29 aircraft for use at United States Naval Weapons Center
 * F-86J: Single F-86A-5-NA, 49-1069, flown with Orenda turbojet under North American model NA-167 – same designation reserved for A-models flown with the Canadian engines but project not proceeded with
 * F-86K:
 * F-86L:

North American FJ Fury

 * See: North American FJ-2/-3 Fury for production figures of U.S. Navy versions.

CAC Sabre (Australia)

Two types based on the U.S. F-86F were built under licence by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) in Australia, for the Royal Australian Air Force as the CA-26 (one prototype) and CA-27 (production variant). The RAAF operated the CA-27 from 1956 to 1971. The CAC Sabres included a 60% fuselage redesign, to accommodate the Rolls-Royce Avon Mk 26 engine, which had roughly 50% more thrust than the J47, as well as 30 mm Aden cannon and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. As a consequence of its powerplant, the Australian-built Sabres are commonly referred to as the Avon Sabre. CAC manufactured 112 of these aircraft. Ex-RAAF Avon Sabres were operated by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM) between 1969 and 1972. From 1973 to 1975, 23 Avon Sabres were donated to the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU); five of these were ex-Malaysian aircraft.

CA-27 marques:
 * Mk 30: 21 built, wing slats, Avon 20 engine.
 * Mk 31: 21 built, 6–3 wing, Avon 20 engine.
 * Mk 32: 69 built, four wing pylons, F-86F fuel capacity, Avon 26 engine.

Canadair Sabre

The F-86 was also manufactured by Canadair in Canada as the CL-13 Sabre to replace its de Havilland Vampires, with the following production models:
 * Sabre Mk 1: one built, prototype F-86A
 * Sabre Mk 2: 350 built, F-86E-type, 60 to USAF, three to RAF, 287 to RCAF
 * Sabre Mk 3: one built in Canada, test-bed for the Orenda jet engine
 * Sabre Mk 4: 438 built, production Mk 3, 10 to RCAF, 428 to RAF as Sabre F-4
 * Sabre Mk 5: 370 built, F-86F-type with Orenda engine, 295 to RCAF, 75 to Luftwaffe
 * Sabre Mk 6: 655 built, 390 to RCAF, 225 to Luftwaffe, six to Colombia and 34 to South Africa

Production summary

 * NAA built a total of 6,297 F-86s and 1,115 FJs,
 * Canadair built 1,815,
 * Australian CAC built 112,
 * Fiat built 221, and
 * Mitsubishi built 300;
 * for a total Sabre/Fury production of 9,860.

Production costs
Note: The costs are in approximately 1950 United States dollars and have not been adjusted for inflation.

Operators

 * Source: F-86 Sabre Jet: History of the Sabre and FJ Fury

 * Argentine Air Force
 * Acquired 28 F-86Fs in 1960. The Sabres were in reserve at the time of the Falklands War but were reinstated to active duty against possible Chilean involvement. Retired in 1986.
 * Acquired 28 F-86Fs in 1960. The Sabres were in reserve at the time of the Falklands War but were reinstated to active duty against possible Chilean involvement. Retired in 1986.

 * Royal Australian Air Force
 * Bangladesh Air Force
 * Captured 8 F-86F-40-NAs from Pakistan.
 * Bangladesh Air Force
 * Captured 8 F-86F-40-NAs from Pakistan.

 * Belgian Air Force
 * 5 F-86F Sabres delivered, no operational unit.
 * 5 F-86F Sabres delivered, no operational unit.

 * Bolivian Air Force
 * Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
 * Colombian Air Force
 * Acquired four F-86Fs from Spanish Air Force (s/n 2027/2028), five USAF F-86F (s/n 51-13226) and other nine Canadair Mk.6; assigned to Escuadron de Caza-Bombardero.
 * Colombian Air Force
 * Acquired four F-86Fs from Spanish Air Force (s/n 2027/2028), five USAF F-86F (s/n 51-13226) and other nine Canadair Mk.6; assigned to Escuadron de Caza-Bombardero.
 * Acquired four F-86Fs from Spanish Air Force (s/n 2027/2028), five USAF F-86F (s/n 51-13226) and other nine Canadair Mk.6; assigned to Escuadron de Caza-Bombardero.

 * Royal Danish Air Force
 * 59 F-86D-31NA(38) F-86D-36NA(21)s in service from 1958 – 1966 ESK 723, ESK 726, ESK 728
 * 59 F-86D-31NA(38) F-86D-36NA(21)s in service from 1958 – 1966 ESK 723, ESK 726, ESK 728

 * Ethiopian Air Force
 * Acquired 14 F-86Fs in 1960.
 * Acquired 14 F-86Fs in 1960.

 * German Air Force (Luftwaffe) – see North American F-86D Sabre and Canadair Sabre
 * Honduran Air Force
 * Acquired 10 CL.13 Mk2 (F-86E) from Yugoslavia.
 * Honduran Air Force
 * Acquired 10 CL.13 Mk2 (F-86E) from Yugoslavia.

 * Imperial Iranian Air Force
 * Acquired an unknown number of F-86Fs.
 * Acquired an unknown number of F-86Fs.

 * Iraqi Air Force
 * Bought some examples but they were never operated and were returned.
 * Bought some examples but they were never operated and were returned.

 * Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF)
 * Acquired 180 U.S. F-86Fs, 1955–1957. Mitsubishi built 300 F-86Fs under license 1956–1961, and were assigned to 10 fighter hikōtai or squadrons. JASDF called F-86F the "Kyokukō" (旭光, Rising Sunbeam) and F-86D the "Gekkō" (月光, Moon Light). Their Blue Impulse Aerobatic Team, a total of 18 F-models were converted to reconnaissance version in 1962. Some aircraft were returned to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, as drones.
 * Acquired 180 U.S. F-86Fs, 1955–1957. Mitsubishi built 300 F-86Fs under license 1956–1961, and were assigned to 10 fighter hikōtai or squadrons. JASDF called F-86F the "Kyokukō" (旭光, Rising Sunbeam) and F-86D the "Gekkō" (月光, Moon Light). Their Blue Impulse Aerobatic Team, a total of 18 F-models were converted to reconnaissance version in 1962. Some aircraft were returned to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, as drones.

 * Royal Norwegian Air Force
 * Acquired 115 F-86Fs, 1957–1958; and assigned to seven squadrons, Nos. 331, 332, 334, 336, 337, 338 and 339.
 * Acquired 115 F-86Fs, 1957–1958; and assigned to seven squadrons, Nos. 331, 332, 334, 336, 337, 338 and 339.

 * Pakistani Air Force
 * Acquired 102 U.S.-built F-86F-35-NA and F-86F-40-NAs, last of North American Aviation's production line, 1954–1960s.
 * Acquired 102 U.S.-built F-86F-35-NA and F-86F-40-NAs, last of North American Aviation's production line, 1954–1960s.

 * Peruvian Air Force
 * Acquired 26 U.S.-built F-86Fs in 1955, assigned to Escuadrón Aéreo 111, Grupo Aéreo No.11 at Talara air force base. Finally retired in 1979.
 * Acquired 26 U.S.-built F-86Fs in 1955, assigned to Escuadrón Aéreo 111, Grupo Aéreo No.11 at Talara air force base. Finally retired in 1979.

 * Philippine Air Force
 * Acquired 50 F-86Fs in 1957. Retired in the late 1970s.
 * Acquired 50 F-86Fs in 1957. Retired in the late 1970s.

 * Portuguese Air Force
 * Acquired 65 Sabres including 50 U.S.-built F-86Fs, in 1958 and 15 ex-Royal Norwegian Air Force airframes. In Portugal, they served in Squadron 201 (formerly Sqn. 50 and later Sqn. 51, before being renamed in 1978) and Squadron 52, both based at Air Base No. 5, Monte Real. In 1961, the Portuguese Air Force deployed some of its F-86Fs to Portuguese Guinea, where they formed Detachment 52, based at Base-Aerodrome No. 2, Bissalanca/Bissau.
 * Acquired 65 Sabres including 50 U.S.-built F-86Fs, in 1958 and 15 ex-Royal Norwegian Air Force airframes. In Portugal, they served in Squadron 201 (formerly Sqn. 50 and later Sqn. 51, before being renamed in 1978) and Squadron 52, both based at Air Base No. 5, Monte Real. In 1961, the Portuguese Air Force deployed some of its F-86Fs to Portuguese Guinea, where they formed Detachment 52, based at Base-Aerodrome No. 2, Bissalanca/Bissau.

 * Republic of China Air Force
 * Acquired 320 U.S.-built F-86Fs,7 RF-86Fs,18 F-86Ds, The 18 F-86Ds back to U.S. military and US send 6 to Republic of Korea Air Force,8 to Philippine Air Force in 1966.
 * Acquired 320 U.S.-built F-86Fs,7 RF-86Fs,18 F-86Ds, The 18 F-86Ds back to U.S. military and US send 6 to Republic of Korea Air Force,8 to Philippine Air Force in 1966.

 * Royal Saudi Air Force
 * Acquired 16 U.S.-built F-86Fs in 1958, and three F-86Fs from Norway in 1966; and assigned to No. 7 Squadron RSAF at Dhahran.
 * Acquired 16 U.S.-built F-86Fs in 1958, and three F-86Fs from Norway in 1966; and assigned to No. 7 Squadron RSAF at Dhahran.

 * South African Air Force
 * Loaned 22 U.S.-built F-86F-30s during the Korean War and saw action with 2 Squadron SAAF.
 * Loaned 22 U.S.-built F-86F-30s during the Korean War and saw action with 2 Squadron SAAF.

 * Republic of Korea Air Force
 * Acquired 112 U.S.-built F-86Fs and 10 RF-86Fs, beginning 20 June 1955; and assigned to ROKAF 10th Wing. It also served with the ROKAF Black Eagles aerobatic team for annual event from 1959 to 1966. The last F-86s retired in 1990.
 * Acquired 112 U.S.-built F-86Fs and 10 RF-86Fs, beginning 20 June 1955; and assigned to ROKAF 10th Wing. It also served with the ROKAF Black Eagles aerobatic team for annual event from 1959 to 1966. The last F-86s retired in 1990.

 * 🇪🇸 Spain
 * Spanish Air Force
 * Acquired 270 U.S.-built F-86Fs, 1955–1958; designated C.5s and assigned to 5 wings: Ala de Caza 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6. Retired 1972.

 * Royal Thai Air Force
 * Acquired 40 U.S.-built F-86Fs, 1962; assigned to RTAF Squadrons, Nos. 12 (Ls), 13, and 43.
 * Acquired 40 U.S.-built F-86Fs, 1962; assigned to RTAF Squadrons, Nos. 12 (Ls), 13, and 43.

 * Tunisian Air Force
 * Acquired 15 used U.S.-built F-86F in 1969.
 * Acquired 15 used U.S.-built F-86F in 1969.

 * Turkish Air Force
 * Acquired 107 ex-RCAF Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk.2 “F-86E(M)„ in 1954, retired 1968.
 * Acquired 107 ex-RCAF Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk.2 “F-86E(M)„ in 1954, retired 1968.

 * United Nations Operation in the Congo
 * Received 5 F-86E(M)s from Italy as MAP redeployment 1963, manned by Philippine pilots; F-86F units from Ethiopia and Iran also used in ONUC.
 * Received 5 F-86E(M)s from Italy as MAP redeployment 1963, manned by Philippine pilots; F-86F units from Ethiopia and Iran also used in ONUC.

 * United States Air Force
 * United States Air Force

 * Venezuelan Air Force
 * Acquired 30 U.S.-built F-86Fs, October 1955 – December 1960; and assigned to one group, Grupo Aéreo De Caza No. 12, three other squadrons.
 * Acquired 30 U.S.-built F-86Fs, October 1955 – December 1960; and assigned to one group, Grupo Aéreo De Caza No. 12, three other squadrons.

 * Yugoslav Air Force
 * Acquired 121 Canadair CL-13s and F-86Es, operating them in several fighter aviation regiments between 1956 and 1971.
 * Acquired 121 Canadair CL-13s and F-86Es, operating them in several fighter aviation regiments between 1956 and 1971.

Civil aviation
According to the FAA there are 50 privately owned and registered F-86s in the US, including Canadair CL-13 Sabres.

Notable pilots

 * Sqn Ldr (later Air commodore) M. M. Alam, Pakistan Air Force, became a flying ace by shooting down five Indian Air Force fighters within one minute in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat ("The star of courage") and bar.
 * Colonel Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, USAF test pilot and NASA astronaut of Apollo 11 fame. Credited with shooting down two MiGs over Korea.
 * Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr. USAF (4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron). Shot down and killed in 1962 while flying a U-2 spy plane over Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
 * Colonel Royal N. Baker (13 victories), commander USAF 4 FIW.
 * Wing Commander John Robert Baldwin DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, AFC was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and the top scoring fighter ace flying the Hawker Typhoon exclusively during the Second World War. He was posted missing, presumed killed, during service with the United States Air Force in the Korean War flying a Sabre.
 * Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Bautista of the Philippine Air Force received the Distinguished Conduct Star for his valor and bravery in providing close air support to ground forces.
 * Major General Frederick C. Blesse (10 victories)
 * Major (later Lt Col) John F. Bolt, US Marine Corps, 6 victories while on exchange duty with the 39th FS, 51st FG, previously 6 victories in World War II and the only Marine to become an ace in two wars.
 * 1st Lieutenant [Later Colonel] John Boyd, USAF, flying 22 missions in the F-86E and F models, with the 25th FIS (51st FIW) June–July 1953.
 * 1st Lieutenant John M. Conroy, completed "Operation Boomerang" on 21 May 1955, a record-setting coast-to-coast and back in one day during daylight hours of 5058 miles in 11 hours, 26 mins, 33 secs.
 * Major George Davis (14 victories), USAF 4 FIW, awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously
 * Lieutenant Commander Theodore H Faller, 13 August 1979 – U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Theodore "Ted" Faller was killed when his QF-86 Sabre suffered an engine failure moments after takeoff. Faller managed to bring the stricken aircraft down in a vacant lot 600 yards south of the Ridgecrest Heights Elementary School, later renamed Theodore Faller Elementary School.
 * Captain Manuel "Pete" Fernandez, (14.5 victories), USAF 4 FIW
 * Colonel Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski (six and one-half victories), USAF 51 FIW commander, top European U.S. ace in World War II
 * Colonel Vermont Garrison (five victories), USAF 4 FIW, ace in World War II and combat veteran of three wars
 * Colonel Ralph "Hoot" Gibson (five victories), USAF 4 FIW
 * Major John Glenn, a U.S. Marine Corps exchange pilot with the USAF 51 FIW (3 victories). First American astronaut to orbit the Earth, later a U.S. Senator from Ohio.
 * Lieutenant Colonel Virgil "Gus" Grissom, astronaut in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, died in a fire during testing for the Apollo 1 mission.
 * Major (later Colonel) James P. Hagerstrom, (8 1/2 victories) World War II ace.
 * 1st Lieutenant Robert A. "Bob" Hoover, USAF 52 FIW, North American Aviation experimental engineering test pilot.
 * Captain James Horowitz (1 victory), USAF 4 FIW, novelist and author of The Hunters under the pen name James Salter
 * Colonel James Jabara (15 victories), USAF 4 FIW
 * Colonel James H. Kasler (six victories), USAF 4 FIW and only three-time recipient of the Air Force Cross
 * Captain Iven Kincheloe (five victories) USAF 51 FIW, test pilot selected to fly the North American X-15
 * Second Lieutenant Gene Kranz, NASA flight director for Gemini and Apollo and assistant flight director on Project Mercury- flew with 69th FBS in South Korea
 * 1st Lt (later Major) James F. Low, only Korean War USAF pilot to reach ace status while still a 2nd Lt; inspiration for the character of 2nd Lt Ed Pell in the novel and movie The Hunters by James Horowitz (a.k.a. James Salter); later a Vietnam War POW
 * Squadron Leader Andy Mackenzie, DFC. RCAF Second World War fighter ace (8.5 victories); taken POW when his F-86 was shot down while flying with the USAF 51 FIW in Korea in 1952.
 * Colonel Walker "Bud" Mahurin, USAF 4 FIG commander and World War II ace
 * Major General Howard Thomas Markey, first chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
 * Captain Joseph C. McConnell (16 victories), USAF 51 FIW, who later died in a crash at Edwards Air Force Base testing the F-86H
 * Colonel (later General) John C. Meyer (two victories), USAF 4 FIW commander, World War II ace, and later Vice Chief of Staff of the USAF.
 * Squadron Leader Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui (two victories), Officer Commanding of PAF's No. 5 Squadron, awarded the Hilal-i-Jur'at and later KIA during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
 * Brigadier General James Robinson Risner (eight victories), USAF awarded the Air Force Cross, later Vietnam War POW
 * Colonel Harrison R. Thyng (five victories), USAF 4 FIW commander
 * Major (later Colonel) William T. Whisner Jr. (5 1/2 victories), World War II ace

title: North American F-86 Sabre


text:
Charles Napier

Charles Napier may refer to:
 * Sir Charles James Napier (1782–1853), British general
 * Sir Charles Napier (Royal Navy officer) (1786–1860), Royal Navy admiral
 * Charles Elers Napier (1812–1847), Royal Navy officer, stepson of the above
 * Charles Ottley Groom Napier (1839–1894), British writer and impostor
 * Charles Napier (RAF officer) (1892–1918), British World War I flying ace
 * Charles Scott Napier (1899–1946), British general
 * Charlie Napier (1910–1973), Scottish footballer
 * Charles Napier (actor) (1936–2011), American actor
 * Charles Napier, former treasurer of the Paedophile Information Exchange
 * Sir Charles Napier Inn, an early 19th-century pub in Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England, named after the 19th-century general

title: Charles Napier


text:
User:Phatsphere

 * is my nickname .. what a surprise
 * represents me on the german page, too: [phatsphere(de)]

wiki bookmarks

 * WikiProject_Stub_sorting/Stub_types

science

 * studying Mathematics ... i love formulas ... ;=)
 * i've also dived into Physics

IT

 * Linux
 * ... and many other geek stuff things and habits

music

 * playing piano
 * electronic music
 * breakcore

other stuff

 * recently discovered Bookcrossing

major contributions
none

created pages

 * Jojo Mayer
 * Enumeration (programming)

I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:

de:User:Phatsphere

drafts which need more research
= double shift key paradoxon = The double shift key paradoxon is an often found anomaly on modern computer keyboards.

Symptom
Press and hold both shift keys and type all letters. Some of them don't work.

Examples
missing keys:
 * HP Pavilion dv8000: T, Z, Y, X, C, V, M, ;, :
 * mitsumi, kpq-e99zc-13: C, M, T, V, Y, Z

Explanation
It could be possibly explained by the electrical circuits of the keyboard, but this only very vague. This explanation doesn't tell why this happens on different keyboards from different vendors and with different keys. There must be some common reason.

title: User:Phatsphere


text:
Robert Ingersoll

Robert or Bob Ingersoll may refer to:

 * Bob Ingersoll (baseball) (1883–1927), American baseball player
 * Bob Ingersoll (born 1952), American comic book writer and lawyer
 * Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899), American politician and agnostic orator
 * Robert H. Ingersoll (1859–1928), American businessman and producer of the first "Dollar Watch"
 * Robert S. Ingersoll (1914–2010), American businessman and diplomat
 * Robert Sturgis Ingersoll (1891–1973), president of Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1948 to 1964

title: Robert Ingersoll


text:
Sheffield Botanical Gardens

The Sheffield Botanical Gardens are Grade II listed botanical gardens situated off Ecclesall Road in Sheffield, England, with 5,000 species of plants in 19 acres (77,000 m2) of land.

History
The Sheffield Botanical and Horticultural Society was formed in 1833 and by 1834 had obtained £7,500 in funding. The money was raised selling shares, permitting the purchase of 18 acre of south-facing farmland from the estate of local snuff manufacturer Joseph Wilson.

The gardens were designed by Robert Marnock and first opened on 29 June 1836. The Sheffield Iris of 5 July 1836 describes the gardens thus: "The walks assume all the intricacy and mystery of a labyrinthine maze, while the monkey cages, the bear’s den, the eagles’ habitation, water-works &c. give a variety and effect to the whole, calculated to interest the visitor for hours together."

12,000 people visited the Gardens on their opening in the summer of 1836. To attract people to continue to visit the gardens, the committee organised balloon launches. The first of these took place in 1837. On Tuesday 3 October, Margaret Graham made a second ascent from the gardens. Initially it was hoped that the gas filled balloon would carry her and Mr Charles Brown, but it would not lift until Mr Brown left the basket. Mrs Graham flew alone. Once aloft she ejected a monkey with a parachute which descended successfully to the ground. Mrs Graham landed near Conisbrough with some difficulty.

Sheffield's Town Trust assumed the management of the gardens in the closing years of the 19th. century, when they repaid the shareholders the nominal value of their £5 shares. The Trust abolished the existing entry charge and since that time entry to the Botanical Gardens has remained free. Though the Town Trust are still the owners, Sheffield Corporation signed a 99-year lease on 18 December 1951, thereby taking over management.

The most notable feature of the gardens are the Grade II* listed glass pavilions by Benjamin Broomhead Taylor, restored and reopened in 2003. Other notable structures are the main gateway, the south entrance lodge and a bear pit containing an 8' tall steel statue of an American Black Bear called Robert the Bear. In the rose garden is a bronze sculpture "Pan: Spirit of the Wood", a gift in 1934 from Sir Charles Clifford, owner of the Sheffield Telegraph and Star, to the city. The sculptor is not known.

The gardens hold the national collection of the genus Sarcococca, Weigela and the closely related Diervilla.

title: Sheffield Botanical Gardens


text:
Dancing Stage

Dancing Stage is a series of music video games developed and published by Konami. It is a spin-off of Dance Dance Revolution for the European market as well as a few Japanese titles. Games were released for arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and Wii.

Dancing Stage
Dancing Stage is a music video game, developed by Konami, released in arcades on March 9, 1999. This game was released as Dance Dance Revolution in North America. It includes 13 songs: nine composed by Naoki Maeda, and four licenses. It uses the Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix engine. In North America, the game received a PlayStation port, which omits "Butterfly" and "Make It Better (So-Real Mix)". Songs in the arcade version include:

 * "AM-3P" by kTz
 * "Boom Boom Dollar" by King Kong & D.Jungle Girls
 * "Brilliant 2U" by Naoki
 * "Brilliant 2U (Orchestra-Groove)" by Naoki
 * "Butterfly" by Smile.dk
 * "Have You Never Been Mellow" by The Olivia Project
 * "Make It Better" by mitsu-O!
 * "Make It Better (So-Real Mix)" by mitsu-O!
 * "My Fire" by X-Treme
 * "PARANOiA" by 180
 * "Put Your Faith In Me" by UZI-LAY
 * "Put Your Faith In Me (Jazzy Groove)" by UZI-LAY
 * "Trip Machine" by De-Sire

180, kTz, mitsu-O! and UZI-LAY and are pen names for Naoki Maeda. Songs with "Groove" or "Mix" in the title require certain criteria to be unlocked by the player.

Dancing Stage Internet Ranking was released exclusively in Europe. It adds another three licensed covers, credited with the original artists:
 * "It's Like That" (cover of Run–D.M.C. vs. Jason Nevins)
 * "Last Thing On My Mind by Step Ahead (cover of Steps)
 * "Uh La La La" by Party All Night (cover of Alexia)

Dancing Stage EuroMix
Dancing Stage EuroMix was released in 2000, and is based on the Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix engine. It includes 28 tracks and can be expanded to a total of 34 tracks with Internet Ranking enabled. Contrary to 3rdMix, EuroMix does not use a PC Card. The game's console port was released for PlayStation on June 1, 2001 and contains 24 songs. It removes the Dancemania licenses and all but one song added in the Internet Ranking version, but adds five Konami Original songs.

Dancing Stage EuroMix 2
Dancing Stage EuroMix 2 was released in 2002, and is based on the DDRMAX2 Dance Dance Revolution 7thMix engine. It includes 68 tracks, of which 52 are new and 16 are Konami originals from EuroMix. EuroMix 2 requires a PC Card and omits the Internet Ranking feature.

In contrast to EuroMix, there is no home version of EuroMix 2. However, Dancing Stage MegaMix features a similar interface. This game features 28 songs, including 11 Konami originals from EuroMix 2 and a remix of "Let the beat hit em!"

Dancing Stage Fusion
Dancing Stage Fusion is the first arcade release to be powered by the PlayStation 2 through a Bemani Python board. Despite the improved hardware, this game has fewer songs than its predecessor. Fusion features 49 songs, of which ten were available in previous Dancing Stage arcade releases, ten are from the arcade release of Dance Dance Revolution Extreme and seven are from older Japanese arcade releases. The remaining 21 songs premiered in Fusion: six are Konami Originals that later appeared in Dancing Stage SuperNova, while 15 are licenses that do not return in later arcade releases, with the exception of "Waiting For Tonight" by P.A.T's reappearance in Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2 and Dance Dance Revolution X.

Dancing Stage SuperNova
Dancing Stage SuperNova used the Bemani Python 2 board.

Console exclusives

 * Dancing Stage Disney Mix is a direct port of Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix, the American equivalent of the Japanese Dancing Stage featuring Disney's Rave. It was released on September 28, 2001 for the PlayStation.
 * Dancing Stage Party Edition is a port of the American Dance Dance Revolution Konamix, with the addition of 5 licensed songs and the removal of 6 Konami Original songs for a total of 51 songs. It was released on November 15, 2002.
 * Dancing Stage Unleashed is the European counterpart to the North American Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix series for the Xbox console. Three games were released annually from 2004 to 2006: Unleashed, Unleashed 2 and Unleashed 3, each with exclusive songs replacing some of the Ultramix songs. No European counterpart to Ultramix 4 was released. These games cannot be played on the Xbox 360 or newer consoles.
 * Dancing Stage Fever is the second European DDR game to be released for the PlayStation 2, although a port for PlayStation was also released. The PS2 edition uses a recolored DDRMAX2 engine with an aqua blue background complemented with star motifs instead of black and gray, while the PS edition uses a recolored DDR 4thMix engine. Also, the PS edition omits freeze arrows and full motion videos.

 * The PlayStation 2 edition has 29 songs: 8 licenses, 16 Konami originals (of which 14 are also on Dancing Stage SuperNova for arcades) and 5 Bemani crossovers (of which 4 are also on Dancing Stage SuperNova for arcades). The PlayStation edition only features 15 of these songs: 5 licenses, 8 Konami originals and 2 Bemani crossovers.

 * All licensed songs, with one exception, are exclusive to Fever. Both Fever releases include "All That She Wants", "Cool for Cats", "One Step Beyond" and "Virtuality" (by VBirds). On the PlayStation 2, these songs feature their music video, except for "Cool for Cats". The "Virtuality" music video notably shows the VBirds members dancing on flying dance pads to the rhythm of the arrows shown on screen. The PlayStation 2 version also exclusively features "Come On Eileen", "Teenage Kicks" (with its music video) and "The Boys Are Back in Town". "Wannabe" was once exclusive to both Fever releases, but it was later included on Dance Dance Revolution Party Collection.

 * Dancing Stage Universe is the European counterpart to the North American Dance Dance Revolution Universe series for the Xbox 360. Dancing Stage Universe was released in 2007 in Europe and Australia, while Universe 2 was released in 2008 for Europe only. Both games feature exclusive songs, replacing some of the North American songs. No European counterpart to Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3 was released, as Konami launched a Chinese edition of Universe 3 in 2009 instead. These games cannot be played on the Xbox One or newer consoles.
 * Dancing Stage SuperNova 2 was originally meant to complement the planned arcade release of the same name. The arcade version was cancelled, however, making this a console exclusive.

Dancing Stage featuring True Kiss Destination
Dancing Stage Featuring True Kiss Destination (ダンシングステージフィーチャリングトゥルーキスデスティネーション) is the first "Dancing Stage" title of the Dance Dance Revolution series released in Japan and other parts of Asia on July 27, 1999. The Dancing Stage games in Japan all deviate away from the main DDR series of games and for True Kiss Destination, it features a themed set of music by the Japanese group of the same name as well as original music from Konami's in house artists.

On December 9, 1999 Konami released the game on the Sony PlayStation. It was part of their "Dance Simulation" series of titles for the PlayStation.

This game notably includes the songs "Celebrate Nite" and "Sexy Planet", credited to aliases of Naoki Maeda, which returned in Dance Dance Revolution Solo 2000 and later Dance Dance Revolution 4thMix Plus. With the exception of DDRMAX Dance Dance Revolution 6thMix, these songs were subsequently kept in every main DDR release, including the current title, Dance Dance Revolution A20.

Dancing Stage featuring Dreams Come True
Dancing Stage featuring Dreams Come True (ダンシングステージフィーチャリングドリームズカムトゥルー) is the second Japanese Dancing Stage video game. The gameplay is similar to Dance Dance Revolution and it has songs performed by the J-Pop group, Dreams Come True.

title: Dancing Stage


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User talk:Yeildlight

i am interested in the coen brothers. i am researching them for a paper i am doing in my English II class. i am researching the brothers as a directing duo. This site has been very helpful as it gives very accurate and detailed information on their directing editing, and writing and also an insight in to some of the techniques they use to get thier style and message across.

Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. If you ever need editing help, see How to edit a page. You can also see how to format pages at Manual of Style. If you need pointers on how we title pages visit Naming conventions. If you have any other questions about the project then check out Help or post a question in my talk page. I would also wnat to ask you to, when inserting persons in the days pages, you should give more specific descriprtions. Genius of all Geniuses? And please dont add non-famous people. Cheers, Muriel Gottrop 17:36, 7 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * For instance: I'm putting Shelby Glover in votes for deletion. Google does not return any entry for her. I'm sure you can find in the wikipedia a topic you can contribute! Muriel Gottrop

title: User talk:Yeildlight