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No. 43 Squadron RAF

Number 43 Squadron, nicknamed the Fighting Cocks, was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in April 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It saw distinguished service during two world wars, producing numerous "aces". The squadron last operated the Panavia Tornado F3 from RAF Leuchars, Scotland, in the air defence role, until it was disbanded in July 2009.

First World War
The squadron was formed at Stirling, Scotland, on 15 April 1916, from No. 18 Reserve Squadron as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps, and was equipped with various types, which it used for training until December 1916 when Sopwith 1½ Strutters arrived. These were taken to the Western Front the following month, where it operated as an Army squadron carrying out fighter reconnaissance duties.

In September 1917, Sopwith Camels arrived, and the squadron undertook ground attack duties; the squadron continued in this vein until the end of the war. It was based at La Gorgue in northern France from 15 January until 22 March 1918.

The squadron received Sopwith Snipe in August 1918 and conversion was completed in October, but the Armistice prevented these playing a major part in the conflict, instead they were taken to Germany for occupation duties until August 1919, when the squadron moved to RAF Spitalgate and was disbanded on 31 December 1919.

During the course of the war, ten aces served in the squadron, including Henry Woollett, Cecil Frederick King, John Lightfoot Trollope, Geoffrey Bailey, Harold Balfour, Charles C. Banks, Hector Daniel, George Lingham, and John Womersley, all surviving the war. ( Robert Johnstone Owen).

Between the wars
The squadron was re-formed at RAF Henlow, Bedfordshire, on 1 July 1925, (or 1 July 1923), once again equipped with Sopwith Snipes. In 1926, the squadron converted to Gloster Gamecocks, thus inspiring the squadron badge and the nickname "The Fighting Cocks". The black and white checkered markings also date from this era. The squadron flew Armstrong Whitworth Siskins from 1928 and received the first production Hawker Fury Mk.I in May 1931.

Second World War

Prior to the outbreak of World War II the squadron re-equipped with Hawker Hurricane Mk.Is.

On 3 February 1940, three No. 43 Squadron Hurricanes based at RAF Acklington intercepted and shot down a Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber at Whitby. The formation was led by Flight Lieutenant Peter Townsend. The other two pilots were Flying Officer "Tiger" Folkes and Sergeant James Hallowes. It was the first German aircraft to fall on English soil in World War II (although it was not the first to be shot down in the United Kingdom, that having occurred in Scotland). Townsend visited the German rear gunner in hospital the next day, and visited him again in 1968 when Townsend was writing his highly-successful book about the Battle of Britain, "Duel of Eagles," which recounts the incident in detail.

Still flying Hurricanes, the squadron covered the Dunkirk retreat, and fought in the Battle of Britain.

In November 1942, No. 43 Squadron moved to North Africa, now flying Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vcs.

In 1944, as the tide of war turned in favour of the Allies, the squadron moved to France, where it was known by the local French population as "les coqs Anglais". By then the squadron's main role was ground attack, strafing and occasionally dive bombing enemy targets. On 9 September 1944, Wing Commander Barrie Heath, flying Spitfire Mk.IX MJ628, led a formation on the squadron's first sortie into German territory, strafing motor transport and railway communications.

The squadron ended the war in Austria and was disbanded on 16 May 1947.

Entering the Jet Age and RAF Khormaksar (1949–1967)
On 1 February 1949, No. 266 Squadron was renumbered to No. 43 (Fighter) Squadron, flying Gloster Meteor F.4s from RAF Tangmere, Sussex. The squadron moved to RAF Leuchars, Fife, in 1950 and in 1954 became the first to receive the Hawker Hunter F.1, replacing the Meteor F.8. No. 43 (Fighter) Squadron began receiving its first Hunter F.4s on 24 February 1956, before receiving four Hunter F.6s on 2 November 1956 however these were only operated until early December. The Hunters of No. 43 Squadron featured in the 1957 film High Flight. The squadron began to receive the Hunter F.6 for the second time on 10 January 1958, these were operated until being replaced by the Hunter FGA.9, which began to arrive in May 1960.

The Fighting Cocks relocated to RAF Nicosia, Cyprus, in June 1961, before further relocating to RAF Khormaksar, Aden, on 1 March 1963, becoming part of Middle East Command (MEC). Within five days of arrival, No. 43 (F) Squadron was flying sorties in the Beihan region as a show of force against the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, and by the end of the month had managed 264 flying hours. While based at RAF Khormaksar, No. 43 (F) Squadron operated alongside Nos. 8 and 208 Squadrons as part of the Khormaksar Tactical Wing. On 20 June 1963, the squadron sent a detachment of Hunters to Bahrain, relieving No. 8 Squadron, before returning on 22/23 August. The Fighting Cocks sent another detachment on 24 September, this time to Nairobi, Kenya, with the main purpose being to provide a flying display at the Royal Show, before returning to Khormaksar on 6 October. The squadron briefly relocated to RAF Muharraq, Bahrain, from late December 1963 until late February 1964.

Between April and May 1964, the squadron participated in the Radfan Campaign known as Operation Nutcracker, providing close air support (CAS) for ground troops. On 17 April 1964, Hunter FGA.9 XG136 crashed while carrying out manoeuvres, killing the pilot Flying Officer Herring. In July 1964, the Fighting Cocks had their Hunters pooled with No. 8 Squadron. On 11 August, another Hunter was lost when XE624 suffered an engine flame out shortly after take-off and couldn't be recovered, pilot Fg. Off. Burrows safely ejected. On 18 August, the squadron carried out a strike on the Jabal Fahman mountain where dissidents where supposed to be located. In October 1964 the squadron carried out 15 strikes – 11 in Dhala on the 6th, with the rest in Mudiyah on the 29th. From 8 to 16 October, five pilots from No. 43 (F) Squadron and five from No. 8 Squadron spent a brief deployment with six Hunters at RAF Masirah on Masirah Island, which ended with the loss of Fg. Off. Stephens who was killed after flying into the sea on the return journey to Khormaksar. On 15 November, MEC announced to the squadron that operations in Radfan would be limited to solely providing CAS for the army. Few operational tasks were taken in December 1964, with one of the few sorties being an attack on a gun emplacement at Beihan on the 5th.

In January 1965, sorties increased with an attack being carried out by eight Hunters on 16 January against a dissident camp and supply dump in the Wādī Yahar region. More strikes were carried out on 25, 26 and 29 January. On 11 February, the squadron carried out an 15-ship flypast in the form of a 78 to celebrate No. 78 Squadron being presented its squadron standard. Sorties picked back up in March, with 94 being flown in total, with 80 of these being a response to MiGs from the United Arab Republic Air Force who were entering into Aden's airspace. On 8 May, a pair of Hunters carried out a strike on a dissident position near Al-Khuraybah, with another pair attacking a fort destroying an arms dump in the process. Between 10 and 25 June, the squadron deployed to RAF Masirah to undergo a training exercise which included high level reconnaissance sorties over Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and Muscat, Oman, as well as practising a hypothetical war situation. On 1 September 1965, 13 sorties were flown which saw multiple strikes being carried out against dissidents in the Jabal Khuder region. Operations were briefly suspended for a month on 25 September after the constitution of the Aden Protectorate was suspended by the High Commissioner of Aden Sir Richard Turnbull. The squadron ended the year with a strike being conducted on 31 December in the Wādī Taym area in support of 45 Commando who requested assistance.

On 16 and 29 January 1966, the Fighting Cocks flew naval co-operation exercises with HMS Eagle, which saw 2 versus 2 combat being carried out against de Havilland Sea Vixens. February saw operations being carried out in support of the Special Air Service, with assistance being given on 1st and top cover being provided on 15th. The squadron celebrated its 50th anniversary on 15 April 1966 with three separate flypasts, the first being an 18-ship in the form of a 43. On 11 May, the squadron conducted a strike on two houses in the village of Al-Mazabah which were reported to hold military supplies. On 31 June, four Hunters from No. 43 (F) Squadron launched an attack on dissidents who were preparing to free political prisoners from Jaʿār prison, while caught by surprise the mission was reported as unsuccessful. 106 sorties were flown in August 1966, the most since June 1964, which primarily included shows of force. On 13 September, three strikes were carried out – one on Wādī Bana and a further two on Wādī Yahar, the attacks were launched as a way of dissuasion towards local dissidents. On 28 October, No. 43 (F) Squadron provided top cover for the Irish Guards, HMS Fearless and Westland Wessex HC.2s of No. 78 Squadron as part of Operation Fate, which saw an assault on Hawf. December saw a decrease in sorties, with only 26 border patrols, three scrambles and three shows of force.

January 1967 saw less than 20 sorties being carried out, however February saw an increase to 53 sorties – including a twelve-ship strike being launched in Wādī Bana on 24 February. On 15 May, No. 43 (F) Squadron carried out a preemptive strike on an arms shipment in Jabal Al Urays to prevent it from being received by a local dissident leader. The squadron carried out another attack on Wādī Bana on 21 June, using RP-3 high explosive rockets and the Hunter's gun pack. August saw the Fighting Cocks flying 101 sorties, this included an attack by eight Hunter FGA.9s on the fort at Shurjan, that had been taken over by the National Liberation Movement, which was struck by 89 rockets and 2,940 rounds of ammunition. Sorties ramped up even further in September, seeing 142 missions being flown in total, with up to five air cover sorties being flown each day from the 14 September onwards. On 24 September, six Hunters launched as a show of force to three different forts in Wādī Hadhramaut, which were over 250 miles away from Khormaksar, after the Hadhrami Bedouin Legion called for assistance. October 1967 was the squadron's busiest month while based at RAF Khormaksar with a 159 sorties being flown, with an average of 1 hour 40 minutes each. On 14 October 1967, No. 43 (F) Squadron was formally disbanded, marked by a flypast of six Hunters, however operations officially continued up until November when South Yemen was given independence, with the last No. 43 (F) Squadron sortie being carried out on 9 November against rebels in Kirch.

The Phantom Years (1969–1989)
No. 43 (Fighter) Squadron received its first McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1 (XT874) on 6 June 1969 at RAF Leuchars. The squadron officially reformed at Leuchars on 1 September 1969, operating as part of Northern Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). The Fighting Cocks received the FG.1 (which had an extendable nose wheel oleo strut among a few other differences), as opposed to the FGR.2 operated by other RAF units, due to the cancellation of refit works on HMS Eagle. In November 1970, the squadron deployed eight Phantoms to RAF Luqa, Malta, to participate in Exercise Lime Jug 70, which aimed to improve co-operation between the RAF and Royal Navy.

The Fighting Cocks deployed ten Phantoms to RAF Luqa between February and March 1973 for an Armament Practice Camp (APC), and were later joined by aircraft from HMS Ark Royal. No. 43 (F) Squadron lost its first Phantom on 18 September 1975, when XV580 lost control during a 'Canadian break' manoeuvre and crashed near Forfar, Angus, with both crew ejecting. The squadron deployed once again for an APC at Luqa in November 1975, this time operating alongside Avro Vulcans and Avro Shackletons. Between February and March 1978, No. 43 (F) Squadron participated in another APC at RAF Luqa.

On 9 July 1981, the squadron lost Phantom FG.1 XT866 after an instrument failure on approach to Leuchars which led to a loss of control, both crew safely ejected.

No. 43 (Fighter) Squadron celebrated their 70th anniversary in 1986 by giving Phantom FG.1 XV571 a special commemorative scheme.

The Fighting Cocks briefly operated three Phantom FGR.2s (XV406, XV470 and XV489) between May 1988 and July 1989. No. 43 (F) Squadron's last Phantoms departed Leuchars on 31 July 1989 in preparation for conversion to the Panavia Tornado F.3.

The Tornado Years (1989–2009)
The first Tornado F.3s arrived at Leuchars in September 1989. With the Tornado F.3, the squadron participated in the 1991 Gulf War and maintained a presence in the Iraqi no-fly zones. Later, No. 43 (F) Squadron crew and personnel were tasked with QRA duty (short notice air defence 'scrambles'), both in Fife, and in the Falklands as part of No. 1435 Flight and participated in Operation Telic. The squadron was awarded the "Freedom of the City" of Stirling in 2005, the squadron being Stirling's home squadron in the past.

To mark the 90th anniversary of the Fighting Cocks, the squadron's flagship ZG757 received an all gloss black paint scheme, which was later reduced to just a gloss black spine and tail and 90th anniversary emblem on the tail.

In April 2008, the squadron absorbed No. 56 (Reserve) Squadron to perform the role of Tornado F.3 Operational Conversion Unit, with No. 56 Squadron reforming in the ISTAR role.

No. 43 (F) Squadron stood down on 13 July 2009 for the fourth time in its history, with it initially rumoured that it would reform as the third operational Eurofighter Typhoon squadron.

The Squadron Standard, presented in person by HM The Queen at RAF Leuchars on 4 June 1957, was laid up on Sunday 22 May 2016 in the Church of the Holy Rude, Stirling, after it was understood the unit would not be reformed as a Typhoon squadron. The No. 43 Squadron Standard is emblazoned with a black gamecock badge on a field of sky blue and surrounded with the following honours: Western Front 1917–1918, Ypres 1917, Somme 1918, Dunkirk, Battle of Britain 1940, North Africa 1942–1943, Anzio and Nettuno, and France and Germany 1944.

Notable pilots

 * Flight Lieutenant Peter Townsend (later Group Captain) was one of three Hurricane pilots of ‘B’ flight, 43 Squadron, who shot down a Heinkel 111 of 4./KG26 on 3 February 1940, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, the first enemy aircraft to crash on English soil during World War II. His wartime record was 9 aircraft claimed destroyed (and 2 shared), 2 'probables' and 4 damaged.
 * Barrie Heath shot down four German aircraft between 1940 and 1941. After the war he went on to become the chairman of the engineering giant GKN.
 * S/Ldr Eugeniusz Horbaczewski (Dziubek), Polish Air Force, fought with No. 43 Squadron over Malta, Sicily and Italy 1943. On 4 September he shot down an Fw 190 and on 16 September two Fw 190s. In October, he handed over command and returned to Britain.
 * Squadron Leader (Acting) Peter Parrott, famous for being a poster boy on a recruitment campaign, and who fought in the Battle of Britain
 * Group Captain David Scott: After distinguished service in the operations in Libya, Scott received the only Libya Star presented to a serving officer.
 * Group Captain Thomas Dalton-Morgan, DSO, OBE, DFC & Bar, fought with No. 43 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. Credited with 17 confirmed aircraft destroyed before the end of 1943, the true number may be as much as double this as he regularly flew 'off-the-record' while serving later with the USAAF 4th Fighter Group. Dalton-Morgan is credited with six night kills, the most for an RAF pilot in a single-seat fighter aircraft during the war.
 * Pilot Officer Hamilton Upton was the highest scoring Canadian flying ace during the Battle of Britain, destroying eleven German aircraft, one of which was shared with three other pilots.

Aircraft operated
Aircraft operated include:

 * Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3 (May 1916–Aug 1916)
 * Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c (June 1916–Aug 1916; Nov 1916)
 * Avro 504 (June 1916–Aug 1916; Nov 1916)
 * Bristol Scout (Aug 1916–Sep 1917)
 * Sopwith 1½ Strutter (Dec 1916–Sep 1917)
 * Sopwith Camel (Sep 1917–Oct 1918)
 * Sopwith Snipe (Aug 1918–Sep 1919; July 1925–May 1926)
 * Gloster Gamecock Mk.I (Apr 1926–June 1928)
 * Armstrong Whitworth Siskin Mk.IIIa (June 1928–May 1931)
 * Hawker Fury Mk.I (May 1931–Jan 1939)
 * Hawker Hurricane Mk.I (Dec 1938–Apr 1941)
 * Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIa (Apr 1941–Aug 1942)
 * Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIb (Apr 1941–Aug 1942)
 * Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIc (Dec 1941–Aug 1942; Nov 1942–Mar 1943)
 * Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc (Mar 1943–Jan 1944)
 * Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX (Aug 1943–May 1947)
 * Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VIII (Aug 1944–Nov 1944)
 * Gloster Meteor F.4 (Feb 1949–Sep 1954)
 * Gloster Meteor F.8 (Sep 1950–Sep 1954)
 * Hawker Hunter F.1 (July 1954–Nov 1956)
 * Hawker Hunter F.4 (Feb 1956–July 1958)
 * Hawker Hunter F.6 (Nov 1956–Dec 1956; Jan 1958–July 1960)
 * Hawker Hunter FGA.9 (May 1960–Nov 1967)
 * McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1 (Sep 1969–July 1989)
 * McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2 (May 1988–July 1989)
 * Panavia Tornado F.3 (Sep 1989–June 2009)

title: No. 43 Squadron RAF


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title: User:Lmov/math


text: Category:Romanian scientists

title: Category:Romanian scientists


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Stormtroopers (Imperial Germany)

Stormtroopers (Sturmtruppen or Stoßtruppen ) were specialist infantry soldiers of the German Army. In the last years of World War I, Stoßtruppen ("shock troopers" or "shove troopers") were trained to use infiltration tactics – part of the Germans' improved method of attack on enemy trenches. The German Empire entered the war certain that the conflict would be won in the course of great military campaigns, thus relegating results obtained during individual clashes to the background; consequently the best officers, concentrated in the German General Staff, placed their attention on maneuver warfare and the rational exploitation of railways, rather than concentrating on the conduct of battles. This attitude made a direct contribution to operational victories of Germany in Russia, Romania, Serbia and Italy, but it resulted in failure in the West. Thus the German officers on the Western Front found themselves in need of resolving the static situation caused by trench warfare on the battlefield.

Two concepts can be identified with the attempt to find a solution to the problem. The first was the belief, mainly held by Erich von Falkenhayn, that tactical action alone, the mere killing of enemy soldiers, was a sufficient means to achieve the strategic goal. The second was the idea, emerging from experience of countless "limited target attacks" and forays into the trenches, that combat had become such a difficult task that operational considerations had to be subordinated to tactical ones. The promoter for this last thesis was General der Infanterie Erich Ludendorff who, having become de facto commander of the Imperial German Army after the German defeat at Battle of Verdun, gave decisive support to the development of assault battalions as a solution to resume maneuver warfare.

The creation of these units was the first, and perhaps most innovative, attempt by the German army to break out of the impasse of trench warfare. With the use of well-trained soldiers, commanded by NCOs with autonomous decision-making capacity, an attempt was made to overcome the no man's land and to break through enemy lines in predefined points in order to allow subsequent waves to liquidate the now confused and isolated opponent, opening large gaps in its defensive systems and then resuming maneuver warfare, which would have allowed Germany to win the conflict.

Prior to World War I
Ever since the introduction of breechloaders, there had been a growing realization that the days of close-order infantry assault were coming to an end. For a time, up to the turn of the 19th century, armies tried to circumvent the problem by moving into range in dispersed formations and charging only the last metres, as the French did in the Second Italian War of Independence (1859), the Prussians in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), or the Germans against the French in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71).

The advent of the machine gun and the adoption of hydraulic-recoil artillery was a further setback for close order. The showing of the Boers against the British in the Second Boer War (1899–1902) fanned an enthusiasm for "Boer tactics": open order tactics reliant more on achieving fire superiority and moving quickly when enemy fire was ineffective than on positioning oneself for the final bayonet charge.

World War I assault tactics
In the first part of the war, the standard assault on a trench line consisted of a lengthy artillery barrage all along the line, attempting to smash the enemy positions, followed by a rush forward of infantry in massed lines to overwhelm any remaining defenders. This process either failed, or at most gained only a short distance, while incurring enormous casualties, and the armies settled into trench warfare.

Development of tactics
The first experimental pioneer assault unit of the German army formed in the spring of 1915, founded by Major Calsow and later commanded and refined by Hauptmann Willy Rohr. These methods further evolved war tactics originally developed by the Prussians, to form the basis of German infiltration tactics. The troops involved were identified as Stoßtruppen (literally: "thrust-troops"), and the term was translated as "storm troops" in English.

Allied versions of infiltration tactics were first formally proposed by French Army captain. In 1915, Laffargue published a pamphlet, "The attack in trench warfare", based upon his experiences in combat that same year. He advocated that the first wave of an attack identify hard-to-defeat defenses but not attack them; subsequent waves would do this. The French published his pamphlet "for information", but did not implement it. The British Empire armies did not translate the pamphlet, and the British Army continued to emphasise fire power, although Laffargue's proposals were gradually adopted informally. The U.S. Infantry Journal published a translation in 1916.

The Germans captured copies of Laffargue's pamphlet in 1916, translating and issuing it to units, but by this point they already had their own, more sophisticated infiltration tactics, over two months before Laffargue's pamphlet was published. The distinction between the German and French tactics was that Laffargue recommended using waves of infantry to attack despite the high casualties that would ensue. Soldiers were trained to consider fire as a means to facilitate movement in progress. Movement would be a call for fire. N. R. McMahon advocated using combined arms in the attack, particularly light machine guns (some six light and two heavy MGs per battalion) using a decentralised fire control and tactical command system (known as Auftragstaktik in German). These methods, suggested in 1909, bore a strong resemblance to the Stoßtrupptaktik used by the Germans six years later.

In February 1917, the British Army issued "Manual SS 143" on the subject. The British made the platoon the basic tactical unit rather than the company as in 1916. The platoon was made up of four sections, Lewis Gun, rifle grenade, grenade, and rifle. The new organisation allowed the platoon to make best use of the trench-fighting equipment that had arrived in adequate quantities since the beginning of the Battle of the Somme. They were also supported by sophisticated artillery flash spotting and sound-ranging, something the German Army never perfected, instead relying on the aural method with ever more accurate measuring devices.

Calsow Assault Detachment
The concept of "stormtroopers" first appeared in March 1915, when the Ministry of War directed the Eighth Army to form Sturmabteilung Calsow ("Calsow's Assault Detachment" or SA Calsow). SA Calsow consisted of a headquarters, two pioneer companies and a 37mm gun (Sturmkanone) battery. The unit was to use heavy shields and body armor as protection in attacks.

However, SA Calsow was never employed in its intended role. Instead it was sent into the line in France as emergency reinforcements during heavy Allied attacks. By June, the unit had already lost half its men. Major Calsow was relieved for this, against his protests that it was not his fault that the unit was not used as intended.

Rohr Assault Battalion
The new commander of the Assault Detachment from 8 September 1915 was Hauptmann (Captain) Willy Rohr, previously commander of the Guard Rifle Battalion. The Assault Detachment was reinforced with a machine gun platoon and flamethrower platoon. The old infantry support guns had been shown to be too difficult to move across the battlefield, and a new model was developed based on captured Russian 76.2mm fortress guns and issued to the Assault Detachment.

Captain Rohr (later promoted to Major ), at first experimented with the Assault Detachment's body armor and shields, but realized that speed was better protection than armor. The only item of armor kept was the Stahlhelm, a new model of steel helmet. It later became the standard in all German units by the end of the war, and was used throughout World War II.

The new tactics developed by Captain Rohr, building much on his own previous experiences from the front, was based on the use of squad sized stormtroops ("Sturmtruppen" or "Stoßtruppen"), supported by a number of heavy support weapons and field artillery that was to be coordinated at the lowest level possible and rolling up enemy trenches using troops armed with hand grenades. These tactics were tested the first time in October 1915 in a successful assault on a French position in the Vosges Mountains.

In December 1915, the Assault Detachment started training men of other German units in the new assault tactics. Around this time the Assault Detachment also changed some of its equipment to better fit its new requirements. Lighter footwear was issued, and uniforms were reinforced with leather patches on knees and elbows to protect them when crawling. Special bags designed to carry grenades replaced the old belts and ammunition pouches, and the standard Gewehr 98 rifle was replaced with the lighter Karabiner 98a previously used by cavalrymen. The stocked artilleryman's pistol/carbine, the 9mm Lange Pistole 08, was also used in concert with an extended 32-round drum magazine to increase the close-range firepower of the unit. The long and impractical épée-style Seitengewehr 98 bayonet was replaced by shorter models, and supplemented with trench knives, clubs, and other melee weapons. While continuing to train other units, the Assault Detachment also participated in many small trench raids and attacks with limited objectives.

The first major offensive led by the new Assault Detachment was the initial German attack at Verdun in February 1916. Stormtroops were in the first wave, leading some units into the French trenches, attacking seconds after the barrage had lifted. This generally worked very well, even though it worked much better against the first trenchline than against the less well-known enemy rear-area.

On 1 April 1916, the Assault Detachment was redesignated "Assault Battalion Rohr". Around this time it was expanded from two to four pioneer companies. At the same time, several Jäger battalions began retraining as new Assault Battalions.

Hutier and the last German offensive
General Oskar von Hutier, now commanding Eighth Army, became a champion of the new tactics, which became known as Hutier tactics in Britain and by the allies.

Hutier suggested an alternative approach, combining some previous and some new attacks in a complex strategy:
 * 1) A short artillery bombardment, employing heavy shells mixed with numerous poison gas projectiles, to neutralize the enemy front lines, and not try to destroy them.
 * 2) Under a creeping barrage, Stoßtruppen would then move forward, in dispersed order. They would avoid combat whenever possible, infiltrate the Allied defenses at previously identified weak points, and destroy or capture enemy headquarters and artillery strongpoints.
 * 3) Next, infantry battalions with extra light machine guns, mortars and flamethrowers, would attack on narrow fronts against any Allied strongpoints the shock troops missed. Mortars and field guns would be in place to fire as needed to accelerate the breakthrough.
 * 4) In the last stage of the assault, regular infantry would mop up any remaining Allied resistance.

The new assault method had men rushing forward in small groups using whatever cover was available and laying down suppressive fire for other groups in the same unit as they moved forward. The new tactics, which were intended to achieve tactical surprise, were to attack the weakest parts of an enemy's line, bypass his strongpoints and to abandon the futile attempt to have a grand and detailed plan of operations controlled from afar. Instead, junior leaders could exercise initiative on the spot. Any enemy strong points which had not been overrun by stormtroopers could be attacked by the second echelon troops following the stormtroopers.

Stormtroopers in 1918

With the withdrawal of Russia, Germany moved troops from the Eastern Front to reinforce the Western Front. This allowed them to take units out of the line for retraining as stormtroopers.

On 21 March 1918, Germany launched Operation Michael, a major offensive, using the new tactics. Four successive German offensives followed and for the first time in four years the stalemate of trench warfare was broken. However, the German advance failed to achieve the complete breakthrough necessary for a decisive result and in July the Allies began their Hundred Days Offensive.

Reasons for the failure of the offensive
Apart from suffering heavy casualties, several other reasons for the failure of the stormtroops have been suggested.

 * 1) The initial attack was against the British section of the front, which was the most strongly held.
 * 2) The leading units were not relieved or rotated out of action and became exhausted.
 * 3) The terrain contained many rivers, towns, forests and canals which slowed the advance.
 * 4) The 1918 influenza epidemic.
 * 5) The capture of British stores which contained large quantities of alcohol—"not for lack of German fighting spirit, but on account of the abundance of Scottish drinking spirit!"

3rd and 46th Assault Company
With three infantry battalions, the German 703rd Infantry Battalion, some machine-gun, cavalry, and artillery units, the 3rd Assault Company, and the 46th Assault Company counterattacked the Egyptian Expeditionary Force during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. At the First Battle of Amman, during the First Transjordan attack on Amman at the end of March 1918, the attackers were forced back to the Jordan River.

23rd Assault Detachment
"The assault troops were organised into combined arms assault detachments ... The assault detachment of the 23rd Infantry Division was composed of one infantry company (about 100 men), one engineer (pioneer) platoon (one officer, four NCOs and thirty men), and seven light machine gun teams. The officers assigned to the assault detachments were hand–picked from within the division by the division staff. The assault detachment was given a four–week course in German–style stormtrooper tactics, to which the division sent an additional officer and five NCOs. Eventually the assault detachment was expanded into an assault battalion, giving the 23rd Infantry Division additional combat capability."

24th Assault Company
With the 3rd Battalion 145th Infantry Regiment (24th Infantry Division) and the 8th and 9th Cavalry Regiments (3rd Cavalry Division), the 24th Assault Company (24th Infantry Division) pushed the Egyptian Expeditionary Force back from Es Salt at the end of April 1918 during the Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt.

46th Assault Company
This assault company remained in reserve at Amman during the attack on Es Salt.

Effect on the Weimar Republic
According to Vanguard of Nazism by Robert G. L. Waite and Male Fantasies by Klaus Theweleit, some of the psychological and social aspects of the Stormtrooper experience found their way into the paramilitary wings of every political party during the Weimar Republic, which were largely made up of World War I veterans and younger recruits whom they trained. For example, the formal barrier between officers and enlisted men was largely broken down and replaced by a fierce loyalty. There was also a "brutalization" process owing to the uniquely violent conditions of trench warfare. Such units included the monarchist Stahlhelm, the paramilitary Roter Frontkämpferbund wing of the Communist Party of Germany, and the Sturmabteilung, the name of which was commandeered by the Nazi Party for its own paramilitary wing.

Austro-Hungarian assault units
During the winter of 1914–1915, large parts of the Eastern Front switched to trench warfare. To cope with the new situation many Austro-Hungarian regiments spontaneously formed infantry squads called Jagdkommandos. These squads were named after the specially trained forces of Russian army formed in 1886 and were used to protect against ambushes, to perform reconnaissance and for low intensity fights in no-man's-land.

Austro-Hungarian High army command (Armeeoberkommando, AOK) realised the need for special forces and decided to draw on German experience. Starting in September–October 1916, about 120 officers and 300 NCOs were trained in the German training area in Beuville (near the village of Doncourt) to be the main cadre of the newly raised Austro-Hungarian army assault battalions. The former Jagdkommandos were incorporated into these battalions.

Ottoman stormtroopers
The formation of a storm battalion was ordered by Enver Pasha, the Ottoman Empire's Minister of War, in 1917. In May of that year, a cadre of officers and NCOs were given introductory training in assault techniques at Dubliany in occupied Ukraine, prior to the establishment of the "Constantinople Assault battalion" on 1 July at Maltepe, close to the capital. The first troops to arrive for training were deemed to be too old and many were barefoot, so more suitable recruits were selected from other units. With the aid of German instructors, the troops were trained in the use of weapons such as flamethrowers, known to the Turks as "hellfire machines", and 7.58 cm Minenwerfer mortars. Ottoman troops had never been issued with steel helmets, so German M1916 helmets were ordered but with the visors and neck-guards removed because they were thought to make it difficult to hear orders in the field.

During the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, especially in Sinai and Palestine Campaign, Ottomans utilized this storm battalion which formed part of the Yıldırım Army Group using the latest Western Front infiltration tactics and close combat gear with concentrated fire of artillery and machine guns. A notable action by this unit was at the Battle of El Burj on 1 December 1917, when they dislodged two squadrons of the 3rd Australian Light Horse from their defensive positions on a ridge, but were halted and isolated when British reinforcements arrived.

title: Stormtroopers (Imperial Germany)


text: User talk:65.168.93.11

title: User talk:65.168.93.11


text:
Gaius Matius

Gaius Matius (fl. 1st century BC) (PW 1) was a citizen of ancient Rome notable as a friend of Julius Caesar and of Cicero, who described him in a letter to Trebatius (53BC) as "homo suavissimus doctissimusque". (Cic. Fam. 7,15,2)

A member of the gens Matia, he belonged to the party of Caesar, and helped Cicero in his relationship with Caesar in 49 and 48 BC. After the murder of Caesar, Matius, a dedicated Caesarian, warned of potential for grave repercussions including possible rebellions in Gaul or revolts of Caesar's legions. When Octavian came to Rome, Matius became one of his close associates. Matius and Octavian managed the July 44 BC games honoring the recently assassinated dictator. An exchange of letters between Cicero and Matius later in 44 has been preserved (Letters to Friends, 11.27 f.).

A Gaius Matius (PW 2) is recorded as a friend and assistant of Caesar Augustus, an eques who wrote three volumes on gastronomy (Columella credits him with "mincemeat à la Matius" (minutal Matianum)), and was said by Pliny the Elder to have invented the clipping of shrubs in topiary. It is unclear however if this is the same person, or a later generation: Ronald Syme supposes the later Matius to be the son of the first.

According to the Real Academia Española, the Spanish word for apple, manzana (and thus the related Portuguese maçã and Galician mazá) derives from Matiāna mala, "apples of Matius". which was mentioned by Pliny and others among fruits that had been recently introduced to Roman tables.

title: Gaius Matius


text:
Thomas Kinkade

William Thomas Kinkade III (January 19, 1958 – April 6, 2012) was an American painter of popular realistic, pastoral, and idyllic subjects. He is notable for achieving success during his lifetime with the mass marketing of his work as printed reproductions and other licensed products by means of the Thomas Kinkade Company. According to Kinkade's company, one in every 20 American homes owned a copy of one of his paintings.

Kinkade described himself as a "Painter of Light", a phrase he protected by trademark.

Kinkade was criticized for some of his behavior and business practices; art critics faulted his work for being "kitsch". Kinkade died of "acute intoxication" from alcohol and the drug diazepam at the age of 54.

Early life
William Thomas Kinkade was born on January 19, 1958, in Sacramento County, California. He grew up in the town of Placerville, graduated from El Dorado High School in 1976, and attended the University of California, Berkeley, and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Some of the people who mentored and taught Kinkade prior to college were Charles Bell and Glenn Wessels. Wessels encouraged Kinkade to go to the University of California at Berkeley. Kinkade's relationship with Wessels is the subject of a semi-autobiographical movie released during 2008, Christmas Cottage. After two years of general education at Berkeley, Kinkade transferred to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Career
During June 1980, Kinkade spent a summer traveling across the United States with his college friend James Gurney. The two of them finished their journey in New York and secured a contract with Guptill Publications to produce a sketching handbook. Two years later they produced a book, The Artist's Guide to Sketching, which was one of Guptill Publications' best-sellers that year.

The success of the book resulted in both working for Ralph Bakshi Studios where they created background art for the 1983 animated feature movie Fire and Ice. While working on the movie, Kinkade began to explore the depiction of light and of imagined worlds.

After the movie, Kinkade worked as a painter, selling his originals in galleries throughout California.

Artistic themes and style
Recurring features of Kinkade's paintings are their pastel colors and brilliant illumination of the scene. Rendered with idealistic values of American scene painting, his works often portray bucolic and idyllic settings, such as gardens, streams, stone cottages, lighthouses and Main Streets. His hometown of Placerville (where his works are much displayed) was the inspiration for many of his street and snow scenes. He also depicted various Christian themes, including the Christian cross and churches. His country scenes rarely depict people, a point that he frequently received questions about.

Kinkade said he was emphasizing the value of simple pleasures and that his intent was to communicate inspirational messages through his paintings. A self-described "devout Christian" (even giving all four of his children the middle name "Christian" ), Kinkade believed he gained his inspiration from his religious beliefs and that his work was intended to include a moral dimension. Many pictures include specific chapter-and-verse allusions to Bible passages.

In 2009, he painted a portrait of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the cover of that year's Indianapolis 500 race program that included details of the crowd, hiding among them the figures of Norman Rockwell and Dale Earnhardt. He also painted the farewell portrait for Yankee Stadium. Concerning the Indianapolis Motor Speedway painting, Kinkade said: "The passion I have is to capture memories, to evoke the emotional connection we have to an experience. I came out here and stood up on the bleachers and looked around, and I saw all the elements of the track. It was empty at the time. But I saw the stadium, how the track laid out, the horizon, the skyline of Indianapolis and the Pagoda. I saw it all in my imagination. I began thinking, 'I want to get this energy — what I call the excitement of the moment — into this painting.' As I began working on it, I thought, 'Well you have this big piece of asphalt, the huge spectator stands; I've got to do something to get some movement.' So I just started throwing flags into it. It gives it kind of a patriotic excitement."

Artist and Guggenheim Fellow Jeffrey Vallance has spoken about Kinkade's devout religious themes and their reception in the art world:

"This is another area that the contemporary art world has a hard time with, that I find interesting. He expresses what he believes and puts that in his art. That is not the trend in the high-art world at the moment, the idea that you can express things spiritually and be taken seriously ... It is always difficult to present serious religious ideas in an art context. That is why I like Kinkade. It is a difficult thing to do."

Essayist Joan Didion is a representative critic of Kinkade's style: "A Kinkade painting was typically rendered in slightly surreal pastels. It typically featured a cottage or a house of such insistent coziness as to seem actually sinister, suggestive of a trap designed to attract Hansel and Gretel. Every window was lit, to lurid effect, as if the interior of the structure might be on fire."

Didion compared the "Kinkade Glow" to the luminism of 19th-century painter Albert Bierstadt, who sentimentalized the infamous Donner Pass in his Donner Lake from the Summit. She saw "unsettling similarities" between the two painters and worried that Kinkade's treatment of the Sierra Nevada, The Mountains Declare His Glory, similarly ignored the tragedy of the forced dispersal of Yosemite's Sierra Miwok Indians during the Gold Rush, by including an imaginary Miwok camp as what he calls "an affirmation that man has his place, even in a setting touched by God's glory."

Mike McGee, director of the CSUF Grand Central Art Center at California State University, Fullerton, wrote of the Thomas Kinkade Heaven on Earth exhibition: "Looking just at the paintings themselves it is obvious that they are technically competent. Kinkade's genius, however, is in his capacity to identify and fulfill the needs and desires of his target audience—he cites his mother as a key influence and archetypal audience — and to couple this with savvy marketing ... If Kinkade's art is principally about ideas, and I think it is, it could be suggested that he is a Conceptual artist. All he would have to do to solidify this position would be to make an announcement that the beliefs he has expounded are just Duchampian posturing to achieve his successes. But this will never happen. Kinkade earnestly believes in his faith in God and his personal agenda as an artist."

Authenticity
Kinkade's production method has been described as "a semi-industrial process in which low-level apprentices embellish a prefab base provided by Kinkade." Kinkade reportedly designed and painted all of his works, which were then moved into the next stage of the process of mass-producing prints. It is assumed he created most of the original, conceptual work that he produced. However, he also employed a number of studio assistants to help create multiple prints of his famous oils. Thus while it is believed that Kinkade designed and painted all of his original paintings, the ones collectors were likely to own were printed factory-like and touched up with manual brush strokes by someone other than Kinkade.

Kinkade is reportedly one of the most counterfeited artists, in large part because of advances in affordable, high resolution digital photography and printing technology. Additionally, mass-produced hand-painted fakes from countries such as China and Thailand abound in the U.S. and around the globe. In 2011, the Kinkade studio said that Kinkade was the most collected artist in Asia but received no income from those regions because of widespread forgery.

Business
Kinkade's works are sold by mail order and in dedicated retail outlets. Some of the prints also feature light effects that are painted onto the print surface by hand by "skilled craftsmen," touches that add to the illusion of light and the resemblance to an original work of art, and which are then sold at greater prices. Licensing with Hallmark and other corporations has made it possible for Kinkade's images to be used extensively for other merchandise such as calendars, jigsaw puzzles, greeting cards, and CDs. By December 2009, his images also appeared on Walmart gift cards.

Kinkade was reported to have earned $53 million for his artistic work during the period 1997 to May 2005. About 2000, there was a national network of several hundred Thomas Kinkade Signature Galleries; however, they began to falter during the late-2000s recession. During June 2010, his Morgan Hill, California, manufacturing operation that reproduced the art filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing nearly $6.2 million in creditors' claims. The company, Pacific Metro, planned to reduce its costs by outsourcing much of its manufacturing.

Reception
Although Kinkade was among the most commercially successful painters of the 1990s, his work has been criticized. Soon after news of Kinkade's death in April 2012, author Susan Orlean termed it death of a "kitsch master". During the same month, journalist Laura Miller lampooned Kinkade's work as "a bunch of garish cottage paintings".

Kinkade was criticized for the extent to which he commercialized his art, for example, by selling his prints on the QVC home shopping network. Some academics expressed concerns about the implications of Kinkade's success in relation to Western perceptions of visual art: in 2009, Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club wrote, "To his detractors, he represents the triumph of sub-mediocrity and the commercialization and homogenization of painting [...] perhaps no other painter has been as shameless or as successful at transforming himself into a corporation as Kinkade." Among such people, he is known more as a "mall artist" or a "chocolate box artist" than as a merited painter. Rabin later described Kinkade's paintings collectively as "a maudlin, sickeningly sentimental vision of a world where everything is as soothing as a warm cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows on a cold December day".

In a 2001 interview, Kinkade said, "I am really the most controversial artist in the world."

Business practices
Kinkade's company, Media Arts Group Inc., was accused of unfair dealings with owners of Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery franchises. In 2006, an arbitration board awarded Karen Hazlewood and Jeffrey Spinello $860,000 in damages and $1.2 million in fees and expenses due to Kinkade's company "[failing] to disclose material information" that would have discouraged them from investing in the gallery. The award was later increased to $2.8 million with interest and legal fees. The plaintiffs and other former gallery owners also made accusations of being pressured to open additional galleries that were not viable financially, being forced to accept expensive, unsalable inventory, and being undersold by discount outlets the prices of which they were not allowed to match. Kinkade denied the accusations, and Media Arts Group had defended itself successfully in previous suits by other former gallery owners. Kinkade himself was not singled out in the finding of fraud by the arbitration board. In August 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that the FBI was investigating these issues, with agents from offices across the country conducting interviews.

Former gallery dealers also charged that the company used Christianity to take advantage of people. "They really knew how to bait the hook," said one ex-dealer who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They certainly used the Christian hook." One former dealer's lawyer stated, "Most of my clients got involved with Kinkade because it was presented as a religious opportunity. Being defrauded is awful enough, but doing it in the name of God is really despicable." On June 2, 2010, Pacific Metro, the artist's production company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, one day after defaulting on a $1 million court-imposed payment to the aforementioned Karen Hazlewood and Jeffrey Spinello. A $500,000 payment had been disbursed previously.

From 1997 through 2005, court documents show at least 350 independently owned Kinkade franchises. By May 2005, that number had more than halved. Kinkade received $50 million during this period. An initial cash investment of $80,000 to $150,000 is listed as a startup cost for franchisees.

Personal conduct
The Los Angeles Times reported that some of Kinkade's former colleagues, employees, and even collectors of his work said that he had a long history of cursing and heckling other artists and performers. The Times further reported that he openly fondled a woman's breasts at a South Bend, Indiana, sales event, and alleged his proclivity for ritual territory marking by urination, once relieving himself on a Winnie the Pooh figure at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim while saying, "This one's for you, Walt." In a letter to licensed gallery owners acknowledging he might have behaved badly during a stressful time when he overindulged in food and drink, Kinkade said accounts of the alcohol-related incidents included "exaggerated, and in some cases outright fabricated personal accusations". The letter did not address any incident specifically.

In 2006, John Dandois, Media Arts Group executive, recounted a story that on one occasion six years previously, Kinkade became drunk at a Siegfried & Roy magic show in Las Vegas and began shouting "Codpiece! Codpiece!" at the performers. Eventually he was calmed by his mother. Dandois also said of Kinkade, "Thom would be fine, he would be drinking, and then all of a sudden, you couldn't tell where the boundary was, and then he became very incoherent, and he would start cussing and doing a lot of weird stuff." In June 2010, Kinkade was arrested in Carmel, California, for driving while under the influence of alcohol. He was later convicted.

Related projects and partnerships
Kinkade was selected by a number of organizations to celebrate anniversaries, including Disneyland's 50th anniversary, Walt Disney World Resort's 35th anniversary, Elvis Presley's purchase of Graceland 50 years previously and the 25th anniversary of its opening to the public, and Yankee Stadium's farewell 85th season in 2008. Kinkade also paid tribute to Fenway Park.

Kinkade was the artist chosen to depict the historic Biltmore House; he also created the commemorative portrait of the 50th running of the Daytona 500 during 2008.

In 2001, Media Arts unveiled "The Village at Hiddenbrooke," a Kinkade-themed community of homes, built outside of Vallejo, California, in partnership with the international construction company Taylor Woodrow. Salon's Janelle Brown visited the community and found it to be "the exact opposite of the Kinkadeian ideal. Instead of quaint cottages, there's generic tract housing; instead of lush landscapes, concrete patios; instead of a cozy village, there's a bland collection of homes with nothing—not a church, not a cafe, not even a town square—to draw them together."

Charities and affiliations
Kinkade donated to non-profit organizations concerned with children, humanitarian relief, and the arts, including the Make-a-Wish Foundation, World Vision, Art for Children Charities, and the Salvation Army. During 2002, he partnered with the Salvation Army to create two charity prints, The Season of Giving and The Light of Freedom. Proceeds from the sale of the prints were donated to the Salvation Army for their relief efforts at the World Trade Center site and to aid the victims of the September 11 attacks and their families in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. More than $2 million was donated as a result of this affiliation.

In 2003, Kinkade was chosen as a National Spokesman for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and during the 20 Years of Light Tour in 2004, he raised more than $750,000 and granted 12 wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions.

In 2005, the Points of Light Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging more people more effectively in volunteer service to help solve serious social problems, named Kinkade as "Ambassador of Light". He was the second person in the Foundation's 15-year history to be chosen as Ambassador, the first being the organization's founder, former U.S. President George H. W. Bush. During his Ambassador of Light Tour, Kinkade visited cities nationwide to increase awareness and raise money for the Points of Light Foundation and the Volunteer Center National Network, which serves more than 360 Points of Light member Volunteer Centers in communities across the country.

Archbishop Mitty High School of San Jose dedicated the "Thomas Kinkade Center for the Arts" in 2003.

Kinkade was reportedly a member of the Church of the Nazarene.

Awards and recognition
Kinkade received many awards for his works, including multiple National Association of Limited Edition Dealers (NALED) awards for Artist of the Year and Graphic Artist of the Year, and his art was named Lithograph of the Year nine times.

In 2002, Kinkade was inducted into the California Tourism Hall of Fame as an individual who had influenced the public's perception of tourism in California through his images of California sights. He was selected along with fellow artists Simon Bull and Howard Behrens to commemorate the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and the 2002 World Series. He was also honored with the 2002 World Children's Center Humanitarian Award for his contributions to improving the welfare of children and their families through his work with Kolorful Kids and Art for Children.

In 2003, Kinkade was chosen as a national spokesperson for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2004, he was selected for a second time by the Christmas Pageant of Peace to paint the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C. The painting, Symbols of Freedom, was the official image for the 2004 Pageant of Peace.

In 2004, Kinkade received an award from NALED recognizing him as the Most Award Winning Artist in the Past 25 Years. In 2005, he was named the NALED Graphic Artist of the Year. He was also recognized for his philanthropic efforts by NALED with the Eugene Freedman Humanitarian Award.

In popular culture
In Heath and Potter's 2004 book The Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can't Be Jammed, Kinkade's work is described as "so awful it must be seen to be believed".

In Dana Spiotta's 2011 novel Stone Arabia, the main character's boyfriend, an art teacher at a private school in Los Angeles, gives Kinkade pieces, which are described as "deeply hideous" and "kitschy," to others as gifts, explaining his rationale for this by saying, "Well, he is America's most successful artist. And a native Californian as well." At another point he says, "His name has a trademark — see?' and he would point to the subscript that appeared after his name."

Mat Johnson's 2011 novel Pym includes a parody of Kinkade named Thomas Karvel, "the Master of Light".

A self-produced movie about Kinkade, Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage, was released on DVD in late November 2008. The semi-autobiographical story examines the motivation and inspiration behind his most popular painting, The Christmas Cottage. Jared Padalecki plays Kinkade and Marcia Gay Harden plays his mother. Peter O'Toole plays young Kinkade's mentor, who tells him, "Paint the light, Thomas! Paint the light!."

In "Mother", a fifth season episode of the TV series Veep, Selina Meyer discusses her mother, Mee-Maw, with her daughter, Catherine. Selina makes a disparaging comment about Mee-Maw and Catherine asks, "Mom, why would you want to paint Mee-Maw in such a negative light?" Selina answers, "Oh, Catherine, Thomas fucking Kinkade couldn't paint Mee-Maw in a positive light!"

Bob Odenkirk references Thomas Kinkade on his 2014 comedy album Amateur Hour. On the track "The Kids", Odenkirk includes Kinkade's paintings in a litany of things he encourages his children to appreciate when in reality he wants them to reject when they are older. In June 2012, a month after Kinkade's death, Bob Odenkirk's brother, Bill Odenkirk, wrote a poem, "Lights Out", in acknowledgement of his passing.

Personal life
Kinkade married Nanette Willey in 1982, and the couple had four daughters: Merritt (b. 1988), Chandler (b. 1991), Winsor (b. 1995) and Everett (b. 1997), all named for famous artists. He and his wife had been separated for more than a year before his death in 2012.

Death and legacy
Kinkade died in his Monte Sereno, California, home on April 6, 2012, at age 54. He is buried at Madronia Cemetery in Saratoga, California.

Kinkade's family said initially that he appeared to have died of natural causes. It was reported after an autopsy that he died of "acute intoxication" from alcohol and diazepam (Valium). In corroboration with the autopsy, according to Amy Pinto-Walsh, his girlfriend of 20 months, Kinkade had been at home drinking alcohol the night prior to his death. Pinto-Walsh stated that the artist "died in his sleep, very happy, in the house he built, with the paintings he loved, and the woman he loved."

After Kinkade's death, his wife sought a restraining order against his girlfriend to prevent her from publicly releasing information and photos with respect to Kinkade, his marriage, his business, and his personal behavior that "would be personally devastating" to Kinkade's wife. By the end of the year, in December 2012, Nanette Kinkade and Amy Pinto-Walsh announced they had reached a private agreement.

title: Thomas Kinkade