title: Chris Kaman

text: Kaman attended Tri-unity Christian School in Wyoming, Michigan, leading his high school varsity to the state Class D quarterfinals in 2000, before losing to Lenawee Christian School. He went on to play for three seasons at Central Michigan University, leading them to a Mid-American Conference Championship and an NCAA tournament first-round win in 2003. He then garnered Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America honors before declaring for the 2003 NBA draft, where the Clippers selected him sixth overall. Kaman claims he decided to enter the NBA draft a year early so he could fund a chicken farm in his home state of Michigan.


title: Chris Kaman

text: In his rookie year, Kaman averaged 6.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 0.89 blocks and 22.5 minutes in 82 games played (61 starts). He was the only Clipper to play all 82 games. Kaman became only the second rookie in franchise history (Michael Brooks, 1980–81) to play in all 82 games in his rookie season. He finished the season ranked second among all rookies in blocked shots per game (.89 bpg), third in field goal percentage (.460) and fourth in rebounds per game (5.6 rpg), earning the starting Center position on the NBA Rookie All-Star Team. He tallied eight points (4–7 FG) and seven rebounds in 19 minutes played, though the Rookies lost to the Sophomore team.


title: Chris Kaman

text: A year after his rookie season, Chris Kaman improved his play by averaging 9.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 25.9 minutes in 63 games (50 starts). He had missed 12 games due to injury, including the first 11 games of the season due to a left ankle sprain. Kaman continued to create milestones in his career as he scored in double-figures in 30 games and recorded four games with 20 or more points. Kaman recorded 14 point-rebound double-doubles and led the team in rebounds in 16 games and in blocks 19 times. Despite the Clippers missing the playoffs again for the eighth year in a row, Kaman continued to show progress in his play.


title: Chris Kaman

text: By the end of the '05–'06 season, Kaman averaged 11.9 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.38 blocks in 32.8 minutes per game, appearing in 78 games (78 starts). He missed two games with a sprained left ankle (2/27 and March 1) and one game with a sore left knee (4/16) He finished the regular season ranked 9th in the NBA in rebounds per game (9.6), 12th in FG% (.523) and 24th in blocks per game (1.38). Kaman recorded 49 games of scoring in double figures with 10 of those games scoring 20 points or more. Kaman also recorded 36 games with 10 or more rebounds. Kaman finished the season with 29 games having points-rebounds double-doubles.


title: Chris Kaman

text: The Clippers achieved their first winning record in 14 seasons and clinched their first playoff spot since 1997. By the end of the season, the Clippers finished sixth in the Western Conference, with a record of 47–35 (their best finish since the team left Buffalo), set to face the Denver Nuggets in the first round. The Clippers beat the Nuggets, but during the series against Denver, opposing player Reggie Evans reached in and yanked Kaman's testicles. Evans was later fined $10,000 for his actions. The Clippers went on to lose to the Suns in the next round.


title: Chris Kaman

text: Kaman had raised his points and rebounds averages each season since he came into the league, and signed a five-year contract worth $52.5 million in October 2006. Thus 2006–2007, especially after a strong playoff run, was supposed to be a season of high expectations. However, Kaman only managed to average 10.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 29 minutes per game, appearing in 75 games. One possible explanation was that Kaman had been slowed down by a hamstring injury in training camp, limiting his mobility. This had resulted in a difficulty to get into a game rhythm and contribute offensively. The Clippers finished the season 40–42, missing the playoffs by one game.


title: Chris Kaman

text: After losing Shaun Livingston and Elton Brand for the majority of the 2007–08 season due to a dislocated knee and ruptured achilles tendon, respectively, the Clippers had very little expectations to be as competitive as they were two years prior. However, Kaman emerged as one of the most dominant centers in the NBA, averaging 15.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. Although he did not play in enough games to qualify for the league's statistical leaders, his rebound and block averages would have both ranked third in the league. Kaman demonstrated his ability to perform without Brand alongside him.


title: Chris Kaman

text: Kaman was selected to his first All-Star Game as a reserve. Kaman finished the season with almost a double-double, averaging a career high 18.5 PPG and 9.3 RPG. Still, the Los Angeles Clippers finished with one of the worst records in the western conference, with a record of 29–53.


title: Chris Kaman

text: On December 14, 2011, the Clippers traded Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Gordon and a 2012 first-round pick (previously acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves) to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for Chris Paul and two future second-round picks. In his first ever game as a Hornet, Kaman recorded 10 points and 5 rebounds. Five days later he recorded a season-high 15 rebounds.


title: Chris Kaman

text: On January 28, 2012, the Hornets announced that they were looking to trade Kaman, who was their oldest player at the time, to a contending team as they wanted to give more minutes to their younger players. They deactivated him as they searched for a trade partner, but decided to bring him back to the team after a week of being unable to find a suitable deal. In his first game back, he played 22 minutes off the bench, and had 10 points and 12 rebounds against the Kings, and followed that performance up with a 17 points, nine rebounds outing against the Bulls in 30 minutes of action.


title: Chris Kaman

text: On February 14, 2012, Kaman scored 27 points and 13 rebounds in a win over the Utah Jazz, just ahead of the trade deadline. Though observers speculated his recent performances would reopen trade discussions, New Orleans ultimately decided to keep Kaman for the rest of the season.


title: Chris Kaman

text: In July 2012, Kaman signed with the Dallas Mavericks, joining his former Olympic teammate Dirk Nowitzki. Kaman and the Mavericks agreed on a one-year deal worth 8 million dollars. He would average 10.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 20.7 minutes per game in 66 games, starting 52 of them. The Mavericks finished 41-41 and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1999–2000 season.


title: Chris Kaman

text: On July 12, 2013, Kaman signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. He managed just 39 games for the Lakers because of a crowded frontcourt and a few maladies that started (food poisoning) and a (calf strain) which ended his season. He averaged 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.


title: Chris Kaman

text: On July 10, 2014, Kaman signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. Kaman appeared in 74 games for Portland his first season, remaining mostly healthy as the primary backup and occasional starter behind Robin Lopez. In his second season with the Trail Blazers, Kaman played in just 16 games, also logging minutes in Portland's first round playoff victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Kaman made his biggest impact in the locker room, and Head Coach Terry Stotts was complimentary of Kaman's veteran leadership.


title: Chris Kaman

text: Kaman's final NBA game was played in Game 4 of the 2016 Western Conference First Round on April 25th, 2016. In that game, the Trail Blazers would defeat the Clippers 98 - 84 with Kaman recording 1 rebound, 1 turnover and 2 fouls.


title: Chris Kaman

text: Kaman played for the first time for the German national basketball team in the qualifying tournament leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In his debut with Germany, he posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Cape Verde. He was chosen the most valuable player by journalists.


title: Chris Kaman

text: Kaman is a dual citizen; he is a citizen of the United States and of Germany. Although he did not speak any German at the time, he acquired German citizenship in July 2008 (his great-grandparents were German), to play on the Germany national basketball team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Kaman belongs to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.


title: Chris Kaman

text: On December 27, 2014, Kaman's wife, Emilie VilleMonte, gave birth to the couple's first child, a son named Barrett Christopher Kaman.


title: Chris Kaman

text: Kaman started the YouTube channel "Exploring Kaman" where he and his friends go on fishing and hunting adventures.


title: Chris Kaman

text: In January 2008, Kaman revealed that he was misdiagnosed with Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder at age 2½. Kaman spent much of his childhood on a farm and as a child he used to tear shingles off neighbors' rooftops and misbehave in school. His apparent ADHD affected his play in high school, and he took Ritalin to treat the condition.


title: Nucleya

text: In 1998 he co-founded Bandish Projekt with Mayur Narvekar and Mehirr Nath Choppra. In 2007, Udyan left Bandish Projekt after working with Mayur for about 12 years, and rebuilt himself as "Nucleya". After leaving Bandish Projekt his career struggled quite a bit initially. He drew inspiration from South Indian film music and Indian street music, and released his first EP "Koocha Monster" in 2013. In 2015, Nucleya launched his debut album, "Bass Rani", at a Ganpati visarjan on the streets of Mumbai. 2016 marked the release of "Raja Baja", and 2019 marked the release of "Tota Myna". In 2021, he released an EP titled "Baaraat" in collaboration with Ritviz. His songs have been popular in the independent music scene in India.


title: Nucleya

text: Nucleya, in collaboration with AIB, hosted and picked the winners of Bacardi House Party Sessions in 2017. He has also been a judge on the hip hop reality show MTV Hustle. He has performed at EDC Las Vegas and Mexico, the Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Sunburn Festival, Zomaland by Zomato, Vh1 Supersonic and YouTube Fanfest. He has opened for and performed with Skrillex, Major Lazer, DJ Snake and Krewella.


title: Nucleya

text: In 2008, he married his long-term girlfriend Smriti Choudhary. The couple currently live in Goa, with their son Guri, who was born in 2011. Guri has featured on some of Nucleya's tracks as "Guri Gangsta".


title: The Acacia Strain

text: The Acacia Strain is an American metalcore band originally from Chicopee, Massachusetts. They are currently signed to Rise Records. The band has released ten full-length albums.


title: The Acacia Strain

text: Forming in 2001, The Acacia Strain was started by high school friends Vincent Bennett, Christopher Daniele, and Ben Abert. Looking to bring their current band Septic Orgasm to the next level of technicality, they brought in their mutual friend, Karrie Whitfield, and high school student Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz to play bass and guitar respectively. The band began playing local shows around Massachusetts and recorded their demo in 2001.


title: The Acacia Strain

text: After DL received a shoulder injury while playing high school football, Bennett asked friend and current Blood Has Been Shed guitarist, Daniel Daponde, to fill in on guitar while DL healed from his injury. The group felt Daponde brought a heavier and more technical aspect to the band, so when DL returned they wanted Daponde to stay, thus forming the unusual three guitar lineup.


title: The Acacia Strain

text: After countless local shows, including quite a few in Bennett mother's basement, the band was approached by Toby Dutkiewicz, who ran Devil's Head records, if they would join his label. The band agreed and recording for their debut album "...And Life Is Very Long" began in 2002 at Zing recording studio in Westfield, Massachusetts with Adam Dutkiewicz and Jim Fogarty at the helm with Jim doing most of the tracking.


title: The Acacia Strain

text: The Acacia Strain's music has been primarily described as deathcore and metalcore, and has been noted to include heavy influences from sludge, doom metal and death metal along with some punk rock-style aesthetic and sensibilities.


title: The Acacia Strain

text: AllMusic characterizes the band's musical style as "utiliz[ing] a bone-crushing rhythm section, apocalyptic samples, and a unique triple-guitar assault to deliver their signature blend of hardcore punk, noise, death metal and doom metal." The site's review of "Wormwood" elaborates on the band's sound as "an inelegant and unstoppable juggernaut fueled by memories of the unchecked aggression unleashed on the world by the likes of Sepultura and Pantera."


title: The Acacia Strain

text: Vocalist Vincent Bennett and drummer Kevin Boutot have both denied that The Acacia Strain is of the "deathcore genre", going as far as expressing dislike for the label, though Bennett was later more ambivalent towards it, stating "sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't."


title: The Acacia Strain

text: The Acacia Strain's influences include Candiria, Integrity, Dismember, Deftones, Rush, Iron Maiden, Crowbar, Meshuggah, Hatebreed, Slayer, Arch Enemy, and Overcast.


title: The Acacia Strain

text: Written by lead vocalist Vincent Bennett, the band's lyrics generally center around misanthropy and nihilism. Bennett employs misogynistic and sexually deviant imagery in his lyrics, but usually only as metaphors to help get his points across while keeping the songs' overall meanings open for interpretation.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: Wavel Ramkalawan (born 15 March 1961) is a Seychellois politician and Anglican priest who has been serving as the president of Seychelles since 26 October 2020. Ramkalawan was an opposition MP from 1993 to 2011 and 2016 to 2020. He also served as the Leader of the Opposition from 1998 to 2011 and 2016 to 2020. On 25 October 2020, Ramkalawan won the presidential election, the country's first such victory for an opposition candidate since independence, marking its first successful peaceful transition of power.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: Wavel Ramkalawan was born in Mahé, the principal island of Seychelles. He was born into a modest family, the youngest of three children. His grandfather was from Bihar, India. His father was a tinsmith while his mother was a teacher. Ramkalawan's primary and secondary education were at Seychelles College, the elite boys' school of the country. Ramkalawan was ordained as a priest in 1985 following theological studies at St Paul's Theological College, Mauritius, and thereafter followed further studies in theology at Birmingham University. Returning to Seychelles, he worked in several parishes in Seychelles, rising to become priest-in-charge of the parish of The Holy Saviour.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: It was his work as a priest that led Ramkalawan to politics. Through his pastoral work, he came into contact with many people who had been subject to repression and abuses of human and civil liberties by the government. At that time, the Catholic and Anglican churches were the only institutions that could speak on social issues; they were allowed to address these topics in sermons during weekly services, which were broadcast on alternate Sundays.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: In 1990, Ramkalawan preached a sermon, broadcast on the national radio station, in which he questioned the practices of the one-party government and advocated for greater freedom, respect for human rights and observance of the rule of law in the country. Although his broadcast was cut, Ramkalawan distributed copies of sermons criticizing the government. In 1991, while still a priest, he joined fellow dissidents Roger Mancienne and Jean-François Ferrari to form the underground Parti Seselwa. Ramkalawan became its first leader.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: When the government, facing both domestic and international pressure, returned the country to multi-party democracy in 1992, Parti Seselwa was the first political party to register and join the ranks of others in opposition to the government. The party contested the 1992 constitutional commission elections; they polled only 4% of the national vote, failing to qualify for representation on the commission. After the promulgation of the new constitution in 1993, two other opposition parties joined Parti Seselwa to form The United Opposition (UO) and contest the 1993 general elections. The combined party won 9% of the vote, enabling it to appoint one member (Ramkalawan) to the National Assembly.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: In 1998, Ramkalawan led his party into the second multi-party general elections. The party polled 27% of the national vote and increased its National Assembly representation to three, beating the Democratic Party of former President James Mancham into third place. Ramkalawan became the first directly elected member of the party in the Assembly, winning his home constituency of St Louis, which he has represented continuously since. In addition, he succeeded Mancham as Leader of the Opposition, a post he continued to hold until 2020.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: In the 2001 presidential elections, Ramkalawan polled 45% of the vote, losing to the 54% vote won by President René. The next year, Ramkalawan led his party, now renamed the Seychelles National Party (SNP), into the National Assembly elections. The party increased its parliamentary representation from one directly elected member to seven and from two proportionally elected members to four.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: In 2005, Ramkalawan took a sabbatical from his clerical duties in order to devote himself fully to his political life; he considered this time to be a crucial and important point in the country's affairs. However, Ramkalawan lost to James Michel in the 2006 and 2011 presidential elections. Along with other major opposition parties, Ramakalawan and his party boycotted the 2011 parliamentary elections.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: In the 2015 election, Ramkalawan and Michel advanced to a runoff election, which was the first runoff presidential election in Seychelles. Ramkalawan lost with 49.85% of the vote and a 193 votes difference to his opponent Michel.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: In the 2020 presidential election, Ramkalawan defeated incumbent president Danny Faure. According to the election commission, he secured 54.9% of the votes cast. The election marked the first peaceful transfer of power to an opposition since independence in 1976.


title: Wavel Ramkalawan

text: On 4 November 2020, the additional portfolios of Defence, Legal Affairs, Public Administration, National Planning and National Security were assigned to Ramkalawan.


title: Navarro College

text: Navarro College is a public community college in Texas with its main campus in Corsicana and branches in Fairfield, Mexia, Midlothian, and Waxahachie. The college has an annual student enrollment of more than 9,000 students.


title: Navarro College

text: The Corsicana campus has strong ties with Texas A&M University–Commerce which has branches at the Navarro College campuses in Corsicana and Midlothian.


title: Navarro College

text: In spring 1946, a group of local citizens met to form a steering committee for the purpose of establishing a junior college in Navarro County. In a general election held July 16, 1946, voters approved the creation of Navarro Junior College and authorized a county tax to help finance the institution. In that same election, voters chose a seven-member board of trustees to govern the college. The first students began classes in September 1946. Most of the 238 members of that first student body were returning veterans from World War II taking advantage of assistance available under the newly enacted GI Bill of Rights. The first campus of Navarro College was the site of the Air Activities of Texas, a World War II primary flight school located six miles (10 km) south of Corsicana.


title: Navarro College

text: In 1951, the campus was moved to its present location, a tract west of downtown Corsicana on Texas State Highway 31.


title: Navarro College

text: In 1974, the college broadened its philosophy and purpose to encompass the comprehensive community-based educational concept, adding occupational education programs and implementing new education concepts including individualized and self-paced instruction and the use of audio-tutorial instructional media. In keeping with the new educational role, the word "junior" was dropped from the institution's name, and the official name Navarro College was adopted by the board of trustees. In an attempt to address the growing needs of its service area, which consists of Navarro, Ellis, Freestone, Limestone, and Leon counties, the college began offering courses in various locations in those areas in the early 1970s and eventually established two permanent centers, Navarro College South at Mexia and the Ellis County Center at Waxahachie. Later, a third and fourth off-campus centers were added in Midlothian and Fairfield.


title: Navarro College

text: In October 2014, Navarro College received criticism for sending admission rejection letters to two prospective students from Nigeria because the college was "not accepting international students from countries with confirmed Ebola cases." Nigeria was identified by the World Health Organization through the summer of 2014 with multiple confirmed cases of Ebola, but there had been no new Ebola cases (since early September). The rejected applicants lived in Ibadan, Nigeria, approximately 80 miles from Lagos, where the most recent infected cases were identified. The college offered an explanation on October 13, stating that the rejections were not a result of fears of Ebola, but that its international department had recently been restructured to focus on recruiting students from China and Indonesia. On October 16, college Vice-president Dewayne Gragg, issued a new statement, contradicting the previous explanation and confirming that there had indeed been a decision to "postpone our recruitment in those nations that the Center for Disease Control and the U.S. State Department have identified as at risk."


title: Navarro College

text: The Corsicana campus has expanded to with 23 buildings. It is home to the Cook Education Center, which houses a dome planetarium with seating for more than two hundred, tied with the University of Texas at Arlington for the largest planetarium in Texas. The Cook Education Center also contains the Pearce Collections Museum, home to many American Civil War artifacts as well as a western art collection.


title: Navarro College

text: As defined by the Texas Legislature, the official service area of Navarro College includes all of Ellis, Freestone, Leon, Limestone, and Navarro counties.


title: Navarro College

text: Navarro is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The accreditation was given in 1954 and reaffirmed in 1964, 1974, 1985, 1995 and again in 2006.


title: Navarro College

text: Waxahachie Global High School is partnered with Navarro College, and set up in a way that students at Global can take classes at Navarro. Thus they can graduate from high school with an associate degree or transferable credits to a 4-year university along with their high school diploma.


title: Navarro College

text: Navarro's athletics teams, nicknamed The Bulldogs, compete in the Southwest Junior College Conference of the NJCAA. Navarro offers athletic scholarships in the following sports for men: football, basketball, baseball and for women: soccer, softball, volleyball. In 2011, the baseball team won the NJCAA Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado. The Bulldogs beat Central Arizona College, 6–4, on J.T. Files' walk-off home run in the tenth inning.


title: Navarro College

text: The Bulldogs also have a strong reputation for their coed cheer team. Since the year 2000, Coach Monica Aldama has led the program to 15 NCA National Championships in the junior college division, as well as five "Grand National" designations (a status awarded to the team with the highest overall score in competition). In 2020, the squad became the subject of a Netflix docuseries called "Cheer".


title: Chris Janson

text: Christopher Pierre Janson (born April 2, 1986) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Janson has recorded three full-length albums, "Buy Me a Boat", "Everybody", and "Real Friends", through Warner Bros. Records Nashville, along with one extended play each for Bigger Picture Music Group, Columbia Records, and Warner Bros. Nashville. He has charted multiple singles on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, including "Good Vibes" and "Done", both of which went to number one on the latter. In addition to his material, Janson has performed on albums by Holly Williams and Lee Brice and has co-written singles for Tim McGraw, LoCash, Randy Houser and Hank Williams Jr.


title: Chris Janson

text: Christopher Pierre Janson was born on April 2, 1986, in Perryville, Missouri. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee, after finishing high school.


title: Chris Janson

text: In June 2009, Janson co-wrote and recorded two duets with Holly Williams on her album "Here with Me": "I Hold On" and "A Love I Think Will Last." Janson signed to BNA Records in October 2009 and released his debut single, "'Til a Woman Comes Along," in April 2010. Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the single a five-star rating, with his review praising Janson's vocals as well as the arrangement. The song debuted at No. 56 on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs charts dated for the week ending May 1, 2010.


title: Chris Janson

text: After BNA was restructured, Janson left the label. He co-wrote Tim McGraw's 2012 single "Truck Yeah," played harmonica on the track "Beer" from Lee Brice's album "Hard 2 Love," and wrote the title track to Justin Moore's 2013 album "Off the Beaten Path."


title: Chris Janson

text: In 2013, he signed to Bigger Picture Music Group and released "Better I Don't." Janson wrote the song with his wife, Kelly, and Pat Bunch, and Keith Stegall produced it. "Better I Don't" peaked at number 40 on Country Airplay in mid-2013. A second single, "Cut Me Some Slack," peaked at number 60 before Bigger Picture closed in 2014. That same year, Columbia Records released "Take It to the Bank", which included "Til a Woman Comes Along" and other songs that he had recorded while on BNA.


title: Chris Janson

text: Janson self-released the single "Buy Me a Boat" in early 2015. The song debuted at No. 33 on Hot Country Songs after it received airplay on the "Bobby Bones Show". It was officially released as a single via Warner Bros. Records Nashville in May 2015, and became Janson's first top-5 hit by August. In September, Janson announced that his debut studio album (also titled "Buy Me a Boat") would be released on October 30. "Buy Me a Boat" peaked at No. 3 on Country Airplay and No. 1 on "Mediabase." The album also includes the singles "Power of Positive Drinkin'" and "Holdin' Her". Also, in 2015, Janson co-wrote LoCash's "I Love This Life." Also, in 2016, Janson co-wrote Randy Houser's "Song Number 7."


title: Chris Janson

text: Janson's second album for Warner Bros., "Everybody", was released in September 2017. Its lead single is "Fix a Drink", which was followed in 2018 by "Drunk Girl". His next album was 2019's "Real Friends", which accounted for the number-one singles "Good Vibes" and "Done". A fourth Warner album, "All In", was commercially unsuccessful and did not enter the album charts. Due to its failure, Janson departed Warner and signed with Big Machine Records in 2022.


title: Chris Janson

text: Nashville Gab wrote that "He is explosive on stage and completely unpredictable. I compare his live set to a wild horse, it's not meant to be tamed. He brings a blue-collar, redneck edge to every show that seems to be lacking in country music these days. Chris Janson is the future of country music..."


title: Chris Janson

text: Chris Janson is married to Kelly Lynn. They have four children, two of whom are from Lynn's previous marriage.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Operation Tonga was the codename given to the airborne operation undertaken by the British 6th Airborne Division between 5 June and 7 June 1944 as a part of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings during World War II.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The paratroopers and glider-borne airborne troops of the division, commanded by Major-General Richard Nelson Gale, landed on the eastern flank of the invasion area, near to the city of Caen, tasked with a number of objectives. The division was to capture two strategically important bridges over the Caen Canal and Orne River which were to be used by Allied ground forces to advance once the seaborne landings had taken place, destroy several other bridges to deny their use to the Germans and secure several important villages. The division was also assigned the task of assaulting and destroying the Merville Gun Battery, an artillery battery that Allied intelligence believed housed a number of heavy artillery pieces, which could bombard the nearest invasion beach (codenamed Sword) and possibly inflict heavy casualties on the Allied troops landing on it. Having achieved these objectives, the division was then to create and secure a bridgehead focused around the captured bridges until they linked up with advancing Allied ground forces.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The division suffered from a combination of bad weather and poor pilot navigation, which caused many of the airborne troops to be dropped inaccurately throughout the divisional operational area causing a number of casualties and making conducting operations much more difficult. In particular, the 9th Parachute Battalion, which was assigned the task of destroying the Merville artillery battery, was only able to gather up a fraction of its strength before it had to attack the battery, with the result that the depleted force suffered heavy casualties. However, the battery was successfully assaulted and the guns inside it disabled. The division's other objectives were also achieved despite the problems encountered.


title: Operation Tonga

text: A small force of glider-borne troops, from the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, secured two bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne in a coup de main operation. The other bridges were destroyed by the division, and a number of villages were occupied. A bridgehead was formed by the division, and it successfully repulsed a number of German counter-attacks until Allied ground forces from the invasion beaches reached its positions. The actions of the division severely limited the ability of the German defenders to communicate and organise themselves, ensuring that the seaborne troops could not be attacked during the vital first few hours after landing when they were most vulnerable.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Operation Tonga originated in the planning of Operation Overlord, the Allied plan for the eventual invasion and liberation of German-occupied France. Invasion planning begun in May 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met during the Washington Conference. The two Allied leaders decided that all available Allied forces should be concentrated in the United Kingdom, and that planning for the invasion of North-Western Europe should begin. A provisional target date of May 1944 was set with the code-name 'Overlord' decided upon. A joint Anglo-American planning staff was created under lieutenant-general Frederick E. Morgan, who was given the title of Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC).


title: Operation Tonga

text: Early drafts of Overlord called for the commitment of airborne forces to support the ground forces and protect their landing areas. Operation Skyscraper, for example, called for the deployment of two airborne divisions to support the beach landings that would be made by five infantry divisions. One airborne division would land near Caen, and another on the east coast of the Cotentin Peninsula. "Plan C", an ambitious proposal put forward by General George C. Marshall, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, would have involved a large airborne drop on the River Seine, aiming to cut the German forces in half during D-Day itself. Morgan and his staff finally decided that the invasion should take place along a thirty-mile front from the River Orne westwards. The final plan would utilise three divisions in the first assault, with airborne forces being dropped onto the town of Caen early on the first day to seize the first breakout route.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Following the appointment of General Sir Bernard Montgomery to the command of the 21st Army Group and overall command of all ground forces to land in Normandy, the plan underwent a number of further revisions. On 21 January 1944, a revised Overlord plan was presented to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been chosen as the Supreme Allied Commander for the invasion. Montgomery's revised plan widened the landing area to include all of the coastline between the River Orne and the eastern coast of the Cotentin Peninsula; five divisions would land on the beaches, and supported by three airborne divisions to land on either side of the landing areas to secure their flanks and protect the landing troops from counterattack. The British airborne forces were assigned to the eastern flank, and the American airborne forces the west.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The 6th Airborne Division, which was under the command of Major-General Richard Gale, was chosen to conduct the airborne operations on the eastern flank of the invasion area. The division was new, having been activated in April 1943, and Operation Overlord would be its first experience of combat. The division was the first to be established for the sole purpose of undertaking division-level airborne operations rather than contributing to a range of smaller operations, and there was considerable debate over what the unit should do.


title: Operation Tonga

text: As late as January 1944, Gale noted that he had "no indication as yet of a definite airborne task" for his unit and continued to keep all options open, reflecting the ongoing discussions at the strategic level over the wider plan for D-Day. On 17 February 1944, Major-General Frederick Arthur Montague Browning (commander of all British airborne forces) arrived at the 6th Airborne Division's headquarters to brief Gale on what the division was expected to achieve during the invasion; their role codenamed Operation Tonga. The original plan for Tonga did not involve the entire division, instead only called for a single parachute brigade and an anti-tank battery to be attached to the British 3rd Infantry Division. This force would be tasked with seizing bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne near the towns of Bénouville and Ranville. Gale objected to this small-scale operation, arguing that a single brigade would not be able to achieve these objectives with such limited manpower, and asked for the entire division to be deployed. After consultation with his superiors, Browning agreed to the request and ordered Gale to begin planning for the operation.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The division was allotted three specific tasks to achieve as a part of Tonga, apart from protecting the eastern flank of the Allied seaborne landings and taking control of the areas of strategic importance to the east of Caen. First, it was to capture intact the two bridges over the Caen Canal and the Orne River at Bénouville and Ranville. The bridges then would be defended against counterattacks. Gale knew that the capture of the bridges would be critical for the resupply and reinforcement of his division, but he did not know that the bridges were incapable of supporting tanks. Second, the division was to destroy the heavily fortified Merville coastal artillery battery located at Franceville Plage, to ensure that it could not shell the British forces landing in the area codenamed Sword. The third mission was to destroy several bridges which spanned the River Dives, located near the towns of Varaville, Robehomme, Bures and Troarn. The division would then hold the territory that it had seized, until it could be relieved by advancing British ground forces.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Detailed planning for Tonga began in February, starting with the number of transport aircraft assigned to the operation being expanded rapidly to accommodate the entire division. Two Royal Air Force (RAF) air groups were provided for the operation to ensure that the division could be deployed in just two airlifts. The pilots and crew of these transport aircraft then began formation flying training and specialised aircrew training to ensure that they were as familiar with what the operation required of them. The 6th Airborne Division carried out several large-scale airborne exercises, using them to find the most efficient way to deploy a brigade group on one or multiple landing-zones. On 6 February, the 3rd Parachute Brigade undertook an exercise in which the entire brigade was dropped by 98 transport aircraft. At the end of March, 284 aircraft were used in Exercise 'Bizz II' in which the entire division was deployed by parachute or glider. Finally, between 21 April and 26 April, Exercise 'Mush' utilised approximately 700 aircraft to deploy the British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish 1st Parachute Brigade against the 6th Airborne Division, who moved by road, in a simulation of a full-scale airborne operation.


title: Operation Tonga

text: As the date of the operation approached, training became more intensive. Glider units spent hours aloft every day circling over airfields as they practiced the manoeuvers required to land the airborne forces next to the bridges over the Orne River, the Caen canal, the Dives, and the Merville battery. Once the pilots had practiced this sufficiently during the day, they were then switched to night operations. In the landing grounds used by the division for their operations, dozens of poles similar to those in Normandy were erected, with engineering units then timed on how fast they could demolish the obstacles. The battalion assigned to neutralising Merville spent two weeks at a special camp, where they built a replica of the battery and carried out several rehearsal exercises in and around it. The force assigned to the coup-de-main operation, to capture the bridges over the Orne River and Caen canal, were transferred to Exeter. There, they conducted intensive exercises around the River Exe and the nearby canal that stood in place for their real objective. The pilots of the gliders and transport aircraft were also constantly briefed with thousands of maps and photographs of the landing zones and the surrounding areas, as well as dozens of scale models of the zones and the primary objectives, such as the bridges and the Merville battery. A coloured film was produced from aerial reconnaissance photographs which, when played at the correct speed and height over the scale models, realistically simulated the paths the glider pilots would take towards their landing-zones.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The 6th Airborne Division would be opposed by German Army ("Heer") formations stationed in the area around Caen and the River Orne. By June 1944, this consisted of the 711th and 716th Infantry Divisions; both of which were static formations whose manpower consisted of medically downgraded troops and conscripts recruited from the Soviet Union or Eastern Europe. Both divisions also had a miscellaneous collection of anti-tank guns and artillery pieces, as well as a small number of German and French tanks and self-propelled guns. Neither division was rated as being highly efficient, with Allied intelligence rating them at a forty per-cent efficiency compared to a first-class line infantry division in a static role, and fifteen percent in a counter-attack role. Allied intelligence also indicated that two companies of armour were in the area, as were a number of "ad hoc" infantry formations formed from training establishments. Based near Caen, in support of the static divisions, was the 21st Panzer Division. The 125th "Panzergrenadier" Regiment was billeted at Vimont, just east of Caen, and the 2nd Battalion, 192nd "Panzergrenadier" Regiment was based at Cairon to the west of the Caen canal and the River Orne bridges. Although a new formation equipped with an assortment of older tanks and other armoured vehicles, the core of the division were "Afrika Korps" veterans. Further afield was the Panzer Lehr Division, based at Chartres, which was less than a day's march from the area. Also considered a threat to the airborne forces was the "Waffen SS" 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, based at Lisieux and believed capable of arriving in the vicinity of the airborne landings within twelve hours. The division possessed a large number of tanks and self-propelled guns, including the Panther.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Under the orders of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, German forces had constructed a large number of static defensive positions and obstacles. Rommel had been appointed Inspector General of Coastal Defences and commander of Army Group B, in November 1943, by order of Adolf Hitler. On his arrival he had assessed the existing defences in the region and immediately began the process of improving them, particularly those situated inland as he believed no more than thirty percent of the German defences were adequate. These anti-airborne measures consisted of planting a large number of mines to create minefields, as well as the erection of so-called Rommel's asparagus; a system of wire-braced poles up to two metres in height, a great many of which were laced with mines or other booby-traps aimed at destroying gliders and killing or wounding airborne troops. Rommel noted in his diary, following an inspection of one area, that a division had placed over 300,000 stakes in the ground to deter airborne landings, and a corps had erected over 900,000. The Merville artillery battery was a particularly heavily fortified position. From the beach, it was protected by two strongpoints that included approximately thirty bunkers as well as an observation post, and the battery itself consisted of a bunker containing the battery's command post, two blockhouses, a light flak emplacement and four casemates able to contain artillery pieces up to dimensions of 150 mm. The entire battery covered an area roughly four hundred metres in diameter and was surrounded by an inner perimeter of barbed wire, a minefield, and an outer perimeter of barbed wire as well as an anti-tank ditch.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Operation Tonga began at 22:56 on the night of 5 June, when six Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers took off from RAF Tarrant Rushton towing six Horsa gliders carrying the coup-de-main force; this consisted of D Company, 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (part of the 6th Airlanding Brigade, but attached to the 5th Parachute Brigade for the initial invasion) reinforced with two extra platoons from B Company and a party of Royal Engineer sappers under the overall command of Major John Howard, who were tasked with capturing the bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne. A few minutes later, between 23:00 and 23:20, six Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle transports took off carrying pathfinders of the 22nd Independent Parachute Company, who were to mark the three drop-zones to be used by the airborne troops of the division. Another sixteen Albemarles followed the transports carrying the pathfinders, these transported elements of the 9th Parachute Battalion, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, and 3rd Parachute Brigade Headquarters.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Thirty minutes later, the remainder of the transports carrying the division began to take off. This wave was divided into three groups. The first consisted of 239 Douglas Dakota and Short Stirling transports as well as seventeen Horsa gliders, carrying the bulk of the 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigades and their heavy equipment. These forces were due to land in their respective drop-zones at 00:50. The second group was destined to land at 03:20, and consisted of sixty-five Horsa and four Hamilcar gliders transporting the divisional headquarters and an anti-tank battery. The final group was formed of three Horsa gliders carrying sappers and men from the 9th Parachute Battalion, who were to land atop Merville Battery at 04:30.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The first unit of the 6th Airborne Division to land in Normandy, was Howard's coup-de-main force. The coup-de-main force landed in six gliders, over a five-minute period (00:15–00:20); three landing near the Caen canal bridge and two near the Orne River bridge and the third destined for the Orne River bridge some seven miles away due to a navigational error. Once on the ground, the troops emerged and assaulted the German positions. At the Caen canal bridge, troops assaulted German trench positions, attacked sentries, and threw grenades into a concrete bunker believed to hold the triggering equipment for the bridge demolition charges. At the Orne River bridge, a machine-gun nest was suppressed with mortar fire but no other defenders were found, and the two platoons captured the bridge before radioing Howard and informing him of their success. Both bridges had been secured within fifteen minutes, at the cost of only a small number of casualties. It was also discovered that the bridges had not been rigged with explosives as believed.


title: Operation Tonga

text: While the force waited for the rest of the division to land, and for the 7th Parachute Battalion to arrive to reinforce their position, they had to repel several spontaneous attempts by the Germans to re-take the bridges. At 01:30, two German tanks attempted to drive onto the bridge, but were repelled with the loss of one tank to a PIAT anti-tank weapon.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The coup-de-main force had been followed closely by the pathfinders of the 22nd Independent Parachute Company, tasked with marking out the drop-zones and landing-zones to be used by the rest of the division. However, due to a combination of heavy cloud cover and poor navigation, only one pathfinder team was dropped correctly. The aircraft carrying the remainder had to make between two and three runs over their respective drop-zones before their teams jumped. Pathfinders assigned to DZ N were dropped wide, and did not manage to get to the drop-zone for thirty minutes. One of the teams assigned to DZ K accidentally dropped onto DZ N without realising their error, and set up radio beacons and markers that caused a number of airborne troops to drop in the wrong area. The Pathfinders 'stick' on DZ K commanded by Lt Bob Midwood were successful. A pathfinder team belonging to 9th Parachute Battalion, assigned to mark out the drop-zone area for the unit tasked with destroying the Merville artillery battery, was all but wiped out when an air-raid by RAF Avro Lancaster heavy bombers missed the artillery battery itself and bombed the area the team was in.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Due to the above factors, Brigadier Nigel Poett's 5th Parachute Brigade was scattered and dropped incorrectly. The constituent units of 7th Parachute Battalion were so badly scattered that, by 03:00, the battalion's commander could only command around 40 per cent of the battalion, although more men arrived throughout the night and day. Relatively few supply containers had been found by the airborne troops, meaning that they possessed few heavy weapons or radio sets. However, the 7th Battalion managed to rendezvous with 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, and establish a defence against German counter-attacks. The first organised German responses to the capture of the bridges came between 05:00 and 07:00, and consisted of isolated and often uncoordinated attacks by tanks, armoured cars, and infantry that grew in intensity throughout the day. At 10:00, the German Air Force ("Luftwaffe") attempted to destroy the Caen bridge. A lone aircraft dropped a bomb, which failed to detonate. Furthermore, two German coastal craft attempted to attack the bridge and were repelled.


title: Operation Tonga

text: As the day progressed, the 2nd Battalion, 192nd "Panzergrenadier" Regiment counterattacked in the Bénouville area in an attempt to get through to the bridges. The coup-de-main force and the 7th Parachute Battalion held their position, knocking out 13 of the 17 tanks trying to get through. The British troops moved forward into Bénouville and cleared the Germans in house to house fighting. By midday, most of the missing men from the 7th Parachute Battalion had arrived at the bridges. Despite the ferocity of the attacks, the battalion and the coup-de-main force were able to hold the bridges until 19:00, when the leading elements of the British 3rd Infantry Division arrived and began to relieve the airborne troops, a process that was completed around 01:00 7 June.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The brigade's other two battalions, the 12th and 13th, were also badly scattered when they were dropped at 00:50. When both units moved away from their rendezvous points neither had more than sixty percent of their strength, although individual airborne troops and small groups would join the battalions throughout the day. Both of the battalions had been tasked with securing the area around DZ N and the two bridges captured by the coup-de-main force, a task which was made much more difficult by being scattered throughout the area. The 12th Parachute Battalion's mission was to secure the village of Le Bas de Ranville, which it did so by 04:00. The 13th Parachute Battalion was to capture the town of Ranville, which it achieved around the same time albeit against heavier resistance than that encountered by the other battalion. One company from 13th Parachute Battalion was detailed to remain at the battalion drop-zone in order to provide protection for a company of sappers. The latter were to demolish the poles and explosives that were present in the area, so that the 6th Airborne Division headquarters could land safely. The two battalions held their respective areas until relieved by ground forces advancing from the beaches. The 12th Parachute Battalion was bombarded with heavy mortar and artillery fire, and repelled two German counter-attacks by the 125th Panzer Grenadier Regiment; the first was defeated after destroying a tank and taking a number of prisoners, and the second was repulsed with the help of an air-landed anti-tank battery which had recently arrived.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The 3rd Parachute Brigade (Brigadier James Hill) began to land at the same time as the main elements of 5th Parachute Brigade, and suffered from the same problems. All of its constituent units were scattered throughout the area due to poor navigation, heavy cloud cover, and several of the drop-zones either not being marked correctly or marked correctly but incorrectly positioned due to pathfinder error.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The 8th Parachute Battalion, tasked with destroying two bridges near Bures and a third by Troarn, was widely scattered with a number of its paratroopers landing in the operational area of 5th Parachute Brigade. When the commanding officer, Alastair Pearson, arrived at the battalion rendezvous point at 01:20, he found only thirty paratroopers and a small group of sappers with a Jeep and trailer. By 03:30, this number had increased to just over 140 paratroopers yet there were still no sign of the sappers who would be required to demolish the bridges. Pearson therefore decided to send a small force to demolish the bridges at Bures, and lead the rest of the battalion to a crossroad north of Troarn where it would await more reinforcements before it attacked. The force sent to Bures discovered that the two bridges had already been demolished by a group of sappers, who had reached the bridges a few hours earlier, and so rejoined the battalion near Troarn that had now increased in numbers after another fifty men had arrived. A reconnaissance party, and a party of sappers, was sent into Troarn to ascertain the status of the bridge. These troops came under fire, from a German-occupied house near the bridge. After a brief fire-fight, the paratroopers captured a number of Germans from the 21st Panzer Division. The airborne troops then made their way to the bridge, which they discovered had been partially demolished already. Once the sappers had widened the length of the bridge demolished, using their explosives, the reconnaissance force withdrew back to the rest of the battalion at the crossroad. Having achieved its objective, the battalion then moved north and took up positions near Le Mesnail to widen the airborne bridgehead formed by the division.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was allotted, as its primary task, the demolition of two bridges: one at Varaville and another at Robehomme. Much like the rest of the units in the division, the battalion was scattered throughout the operational area. One group of paratroopers landed away from their drop-zone, and another landed only a short distance from the invasion beaches. A number were dropped in flooded areas around Varaville, and several drowned when they were dragged under the surface of the water due to the weight of their equipment. A group of paratroopers moved towards the Robehomme bridge, encountering and gathering together several other groups of airborne troops and sappers en route, before reaching the bridge where they discovered it was still intact. By 03:00, the sappers tasked with the demolition of the bridge had failed to arrive, and so the paratroopers gathered together the small amount of explosives they possessed and set them off, weakening the bridge. The sappers finally arrived at 06:00, and completed the demolition of the bridge whilst the paratroopers protected them. Meanwhile, another company of the battalion had been attempting to complete the tasks it had been ordered to fulfill; it was to clear the enemy garrison from Varaville and destroy a gun emplacement, demolish a bridge over the River Divette, and also destroy a radio transmitter near Varaville. However, the company was severely understrength, with only a fraction of its 100 men available. A small group, led by the company commander, assaulted the fortifications outside Varaville that were manned by approximately ninety-six Germans supported by several machine-gun nests and an artillery piece. The artillery piece inflicted a number of casualties on the small Canadian force, killing the company commander, and a stalemate ensued until 10:00 when the enemy garrison surrendered after being subjected to mortar bombardment. The paratroopers were then relieved by British Commandos from the 1st Special Service Brigade.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The 3rd Parachute Brigade's 9th Parachute Battalion was assigned a number of objectives: the destruction of the Merville artillery battery, the capture of the village of Le Plein, block the roads leading to that village, and capture a German Navy ("Kriegsmarine") headquarters at Sallenelles near the River Orne. However, the battalion was scattered throughout the area with a number of paratroopers landing a considerable distance from the designated DZ. Lieutenant-Colonel Terence Otway, the commander of the battalion, landed with the rest of his stick away from the drop-zone in a farmhouse being used as a command post by a German battalion. After a brief fire-fight and helping other scattered paratroopers, Otway arrived at the drop-zone at 01:30. By 02:35, only 110 paratroopers had assembled with only a single machine-gun and a small number of Bangalore torpedoes recovered. This was a significant set-back for the battalion, as the plan to assault the artillery battery relied on having the entire battalion present with a number of sappers, as well as a large quantity of heavy equipment. Under strict orders that the battery was to be destroyed no later than 05:30, Otway felt that he could no longer wait for any more men to arrive and set off for the battery with 150 paratroopers (following the arrival of another small group of stragglers at 02:45).


title: Operation Tonga

text: The battalion arrived at the battery at 04:00. They linked up with the survivors of the pathfinder group, who had been earlier hit by an RAF raid against the battery, and began readying for an assault whilst the pathfinders marked out areas for the bangalore torpedoes to be placed. The battalion was divided into four assault groups, one for each of the casemates of the battery, and was ready by 04:30, when the gliders carrying the sappers arrived over the battery.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Of the three gliders assigned to the operation, only two arrived in Normandy; one having to abort and land in England. The remaining two were hit by anti-aircraft fire on their run-in. One landed around away, the other at the edge of the battery's minefield. The troops from this glider became involved in a fire fight with German troops heading to reinforce the battery garrison. Otway launched the assault as soon as the first glider overshot the battery, ordering the explosives to be detonated to form two paths through the outer perimeter, through which the paratroopers attacked. The defenders were alerted by the explosions and opened fire, inflicting heavy casualties. Only four men assigned to assault Casemate Four survived long enough to reach it, which they disabled by firing into apertures and throwing grenades into air vents. The other casemates were cleared with fragmentation and white phosphorus grenades as the German crews had neglected to lock the doors leading into the battery. A number of prisoners were taken by the paratroopers, and explosives were then readied to disable the artillery pieces inside the battery. It was discovered that the pieces were not modern 150 mm calibre weapons, but were instead Czechoslovakian First World War-era 100 mm field howitzers. The paratroopers did the best with the explosives they had, using Gammon bombs to disable one gun and jamming shells into the muzzles of the others. However, the job was less than thorough as at least one gun went back into action when the Germans later re-occupied the battery. Having completed the assault, the paratroopers gathered the German prisoners and their wounded and withdrew, having no wish to remain by the battery. The battalion possessed no radio and if no signal were received by the light cruiser HMS "Arethusa", by 05:30, it would begin shelling the battery as a contingency.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The paratroopers had achieved their primary objective, but at a heavy cost, with fifty dead and twenty-five wounded; a casualty rate of exactly fifty percent. The battalion then attacked Le Plein, securing the village by expelling the platoon-sized German garrison. The survivors retired to a planned rendezvous point at 05:30, the battalion too understrength to achieve its other objectives.


title: Operation Tonga

text: At 03:35, the 6th Airborne Division headquarters landed by glider in the landing-zone cleared by sappers. Only a few gliders missed the landing-zone, due to the poor weather and errors in navigation. Once the headquarters staff and accompanying airborne troops had been gathered together, the headquarters was moved to the Le Bas de Ranville area and set up there. Contact was established with the headquarters of 5th Parachute Brigade at 05:00, and with the headquarters of 3rd Parachute Brigade at 12:35, and the division linked up with 1st Special Service Brigade as it advanced from the invasion beaches at 13:53.


title: Operation Tonga

text: At 21:00, Operation Mallard began. Mallard was the final wave of the 6th Airborne Division's landings and consisted of 220 Horsa and Hamilcar gliders, carrying the 6th Airlanding Brigade and other units. The gliders arrived at their landing-zone, coming under heavy small-arms and mortar fire from nearby German positions as they landed. Casualties were light and within ninety minutes the glider-borne troops had gathered at their rendezvous points. By 00:00 7 June, the entire 6th Airborne Division had been fully deployed on the eastern flank of the invasion beaches (with the exception of 12th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment – part of 6th Airlanding Brigade – that was due to arrive by sea on 7 June).


title: Operation Tonga

text: The division ended the day with the 3rd Parachute Brigade holding a front, with 9th Parachute Battalion at Le Plein, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion at Les Mesneil, and the 8th Parachute Battalion in the southern part of the Bois de Bavent. The 5th Parachute Brigade had the 12th Parachute Battalion occupying Le Bas de Ranville, and the 13th Parachute Battalion holding Ranville while the 7th Parachute Battalion had been moved into reserve. The 6th Airlanding Brigade was poised to commit its two battalions to extend the bridgehead. The 1st Special Service Brigade, which had temporarily came under the command of the division, was holding villages to the north and north-east of DZ N.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Operation Tonga was a success, with all of the tasks allotted to 6th Airborne Division being achieved within the time limits imposed on the individual units of the division. These tasks had been achieved despite the problems caused by a large number of the airborne troops being scattered throughout the operational area assigned, due to a combination of bad weather and poor navigation on the part of the pilots of the transport aircraft carrying them. Glider-borne airborne troops also suffered from navigational errors, with ten of the eighty-five gliders assigned to the division landing more than from their landing-zones. However, an unintended but beneficial result of these scattered drops was that the Germans were greatly confused as to area and extent of the airborne landings.


title: Operation Tonga

text: The 6th Airborne Division suffered a total of 800 casualties between 5 June and 7 June, out of the 8,500 men deployed. German losses are estimated to be estimated 400 dead and a further 400 captured. In addition, fourteen tanks were lost during counterattacks around the Orne River and Caen canal bridges. Other losses include one gunboat on the Caen canal.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Between 7 June and 10 June, the 6th Airborne Division repulsed a number of German attacks. The division retained control of the area between the Rivers Orne and Dives until 14 June, when the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division took over the southern part of the Orne bridgehead.


title: Operation Tonga

text: On 10 June, the decision was taken to expand the bridgehead to the east of the River Orne, with 6th Airborne Division tasked with achieving this. However, the division was deemed not to be strong enough to achieve its objective; the 3rd Parachute Brigade was reinforced with the 5th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). On 11 June, the 5th Black Watch launched an attack on the town of Bréville, but was met with extremely heavy resistance and was repulsed after suffering a number of casualties. The next day, the 3rd Parachute Brigade's entire front was subjected to fierce artillery bombardment and assaults by German tanks and infantry, with the Germans particularly focusing on the positions held by 9th Parachute Battalion. Both the 9th Parachute Battalion and the remnants of the Black Watch defended Chateau Saint Come, but were gradually forced to retreat. However, after Lieutenant-Colonel Otway stated that his battalion would be unable to defend its position for much longer, Brigadier Hill gathered together a number of paratroopers from 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and led a counter-attack that forced the Germans to withdraw.


title: Operation Tonga

text: In the weeks that followed, the 6th Airborne Division was reinforced with the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade and the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade. On 7 August, following a period of static warfare, the division began preparations for offensive operations. On the night of 16/17 August, the division began to advance against stiff German opposition. This advance continued until 26 August, when the division reached its objective – the mouth of the River Seine. In nine days of fighting, it had advanced despite, as Gale put it, the infantry units being "quite inadequately equipped for a rapid pursuit". The advanced resulted in the liberation of of German-occupied France, and the capture of over 1,000 German soldiers.


title: Operation Tonga

text: Between 6 June and 26 August, casualties amounted to 4,457 men of which 821 were killed, 2,709 wounded, and 927 were reported missing. The division was finally withdrawn from the frontline on 27 August, and embarked for England at the beginning of September.


title: Indian cricket team in Australia in 2020–21

text: The India cricket team toured Australia from November 2020 to January 2021 to play four Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. The Test series formed part of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, and the ODI series formed part of the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup Super League.


text: In February 2020, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that they wanted to play one of the Test matches as a day/night fixture. On 22 October 2020, the tour was approved by the NSW Government, with Sydney and Canberra confirmed as the hosts of the limited overs matches. Four days later, Cricket Australia confirmed the fixtures for the tour. On 9 November 2020, the BCCI announced that India's captain Virat Kohli had been granted paternity leave, and left the tour after the first Test match. Ajinkya Rahane led the Indian team in Kohli's absence.


text: Australia won the first and second ODI matches to take a lead in the series. India won the third ODI match by 13 runs, with Australia winning the series 2–1. India also won the first and second T20I matches, winning the T20I series with a game to spare, after series victory Virat Kohli becomes first captain to win T20I series in both Australia and England Australia won the third and final match by 12 runs, with India winning the series 2–1.


text: In the first Test, India were bowled out for 36 runs in the second innings, their lowest team total in a Test match. Australia went on to win the match by eight wickets. India then won the second Test by the same margin to level the series. The third Test ended in a draw, with the series remaining at 1–1. India won the fourth and final Test match by three wickets, to win the series 2–1.


text: In April 2020, Kevin Roberts, CEO of Cricket Australia looked at "creative" solutions for the tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These included the possibility of playing five Test matches instead of four, and to play all the Test matches behind closed doors at the Adelaide Oval. The Australian government was also looking at applying international travel exemptions to allow the tour to happen. The following month, the BCCI confirmed that they were willing to put players in a two-week quarantine period to ensure that the tour goes ahead. Kevin Roberts later added that there is a "nine out of 10" chance of the tour taking place. The Test series was scheduled to start in December 2020, with the first Test in Brisbane. The ODI series was scheduled to start in January 2021. On 28 May 2020, Cricket Australia confirmed all of the fixtures for the series. The following day, Kevin Roberts stated that the number of Test venues could be reduced to one or two grounds, depending on any travel restrictions imposed due to the virus.


text: Originally, the tour was also going to start with three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches, commencing on 11 October 2020, ahead of the then scheduled 2020 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. However, in July 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that the tournament had been postponed until 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the T20I matches were postponed, after they clashed with the revised fixtures for the 2020 Indian Premier League. Despite a lockdown in Melbourne in August 2020, Cricket Australia said they would do everything they can to ensure the Boxing Day Test goes ahead as planned. Cricket Australia were also looking at a revised schedule for the tour, including playing all the limited-overs matches before the Test series. On 20 August 2020, Sourav Ganguly, president of the BCCI, said that India's senior men's team would travel to Australia to fulfil their Future Tours Programme (FTP) commitments.


text: In September 2020, Cricket Australia were looking at further contingency plans for the tour, including moving venues if needed, and the possibility of replacing the Test match in Brisbane with white-ball fixtures. It was later announced that no matches of any form of cricket would be played in Perth, due to a major quarantine breach by then-Sydney Swans player Elijah Taylor during the 2020 AFL season.


text: In October 2020, an updated tour itinerary was published, with the ODIs taking place in Brisbane, the T20Is taking place in Adelaide, and the day/night Test match also taking place in Adelaide. Cricket Australia also confirmed that the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Manuka Oval in Canberra were part of their contingency plan to host the limited overs matches of the tour.


text: In October 2020, plans began to emerge to allow crowds back into venues, with Australia slowly coming out of COVID-19 restrictions. The following month, Cricket Australia confirmed the ground capacities for each match on the tour, with the possibility of more tickets being made available closer to the start of each match.


text: In late December 2020, there was a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney, prompting tighter restrictions in New South Wales. As a result, Cricket Australia looked at the contingency of swapping the venues of the third and fourth Tests in Sydney and Brisbane respectively. Other scenarios that Cricket Australia were looking at was to host the last two Tests in Sydney, to avoid travel between states, or to host the second and third Tests in Melbourne. On 29 December 2020, Cricket Australia confirmed that Sydney would host the third Test as scheduled. On 4 January 2021, the crowd capacity of the Sydney Cricket Ground was reduced from 50% to 25%.


text: On 26 October 2020, India named their squad for the tour, with Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kartik Tyagi, Ishan Porel and T. Natarajan named as additional bowlers to travel with the team. Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma were not named in India's squads, after both players suffered injuries during the 2020 Indian Premier League. KL Rahul was named as the vice-captain of India for the limited overs matches, in place of Rohit Sharma.


text: On 9 November 2020, the BCCI made several updates for the squads for the tour. Virat Kohli was granted paternity leave to leave the squad after the first Test match, and Rohit Sharma was added to India's Test squad for the tour. T. Natarajan was added to India's T20I squad, replacing Varun Chakravarthy who was ruled out due to an injury, and Sanju Samson was added to India's ODI squad as an extra wicket-keeper. Kamlesh Nagarkoti, one of the four additional bowlers named for the tour, was also ruled out due to the management of his workload. On 12 November 2020, the Indian squad arrived in Sydney to begin a two-week long quarantine period. On 24 November 2020, the BCCI confirmed that Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma had been ruled out of the first two Test matches. On 26 November 2020, T. Natarajan was added to India's squad for the ODI series. Natarajan was named as cover for Navdeep Saini, who was suffering with a back spasm. Later the same day, the BCCI also confirmed that Ishant Sharma had been ruled out of the tour due to injury.


text: In November 2020, Kane Richardson was withdrawn from Australia's ODI and T20I squads, after he opted to stay at home with his newborn son. Andrew Tye was named as Richardson's replacement. On 30 November 2020, David Warner was ruled out of the remaining limited-overs games after suffering a groin injury in the second ODI. Subsequently, D'Arcy Short was named as Warner's replacement in the T20I series. Additionally, Pat Cummins was rested for the remainder of the white-ball matches to prepare for the Test series. Ashton Agar was ruled out of Australia's squad for the T20I series due to an injury, with Mitchell Swepson replacing him.


text: On 4 December 2020, India's Ravindra Jadeja suffered a concussion during the first T20I match. He was ruled out of the rest of the T20I series, with Shardul Thakur named as his replacement. The following day, Cameron Green was released from Australia's T20I squad, with Nathan Lyon named as his replacement. On 6 December 2020, Mitchell Starc withdrew from Australia's squad for the rest of the T20I series due to personal reasons.


text: On 9 December 2020, David Warner was ruled out of Australia's squad for the first Test in Adelaide, due to an injury. On 12 December 2020, Marcus Harris was added to Australia's squad, after Will Pucovski was ruled out of the first Test in Adelaide due to a concussion. On 14 December 2020, Sean Abbott was ruled out of Australia's squad for the first Test due to an injury, with Moises Henriques named as Abbott's replacement. On 23 December 2020, Cricket Australia confirmed that both David Warner and Sean Abbott had also been ruled out of the second Test. On 30 December 2020, Joe Burns was dropped from Australia's squad for the third and fourth Tests, with David Warner, Will Pucovski and Sean Abbott returning to the Test squad. On 4 January 2021, James Pattinson was ruled out of the third Test, and was not replaced in Australia's squad. Will Pucovski was ruled out of Australia's squad for the fourth Test due to a shoulder injury, with Marcus Harris named as his replacement.


text: On 11 December 2020, the BCCI confirmed that Rohit Sharma had passed a fitness assessment, and would be available for selection for the last two Test matches. On 19 December 2020, Mohammed Shami was ruled out of India's squad for the last three Tests, after suffering a fractured arm in the first Test. T. Natarajan was added to India's squad ahead of the third Test match. Umesh Yadav was ruled out of India's squad for the last two Tests, due to a calf injury. Shardul Thakur was also added to India's squad for the last two Test matches, replacing Mohammed Shami. On 2 January 2021, Rohit Sharma was named the vice-captain of India's squad for the last two Test matches. On 5 January 2021, KL Rahul was ruled out of the last two Test matches due to a wrist sprain. Ravindra Jadeja and Hanuma Vihari were both ruled out of the fourth Test due to injuries they sustained in the third Test. Jasprit Bumrah was also ruled out of India's squad for the fourth Test, following an abdominal strain. On 12 January 2021, Washington Sundar was added to India's squad for the fourth Test, replacing Ravindra Jadeja.


text: Two three-day tour matches were played in Sydney, with both matches having first-class status. The second match was a day/night fixture in preparation for the first Test.


text: Prithvi Shaw was bowled by Mitchell Starc with the second ball of the match. India consolidated by batting slowly, even as multiple chances were created but not taken by the Australians—Pujara had chances while on 0, 2 and 4, all evading fielders. India lost Agarwal with a ball from Cummins that nipped between bat and pad. Kohli and Pujara were not out at the lunch break, with India 2/41 after 25 overs, Pujara 17 and Kohli 5. India continued to bat slowly until tea, even after losing Pujara for 43 from 160 balls, India were 3/107 at the tea break. Just after 9pm, Rahane drove the ball to mid-off and called a run, but sent Kohli back leaving him stranded in the middle of the pitch. Hazlewood fielded the ball and Lyon broke the stumps, with Kohli being run out for 74. Rahane followed shortly after as he was dismissed lbw to Starc for 42 off 92 balls. Vihari was soon dismissed by Hazlewood, also by lbw, for 16 runs. After India were ahead for most of the day, Australia were now even or just in front, with India 6/233 at stumps.


text: India lost their seventh wicket without adding to their overnight score, Ashwin dismissed by Cummins on the 3rd ball of the day. Saha flashed at a wide ball from Starc the next over, but all he could manage was an edge through to Paine behind the stumps. The Indian tail lasted only a few more overs, with Starc and Cummins claiming the final two wickets of Yadav for 6 and Shami for a duck. India was all out for 244, adding only 11 to their overnight score.


text: Australia, like India, batted slowly with four consecutive maidens at the start of the innings. Wade, who was only 8 off 50 balls, was deceived by Bumrah as he fell over his front pad and was trapped in front, a DRS review doing nothing to help his cause. Australia was 1/16 after 14.1 overs. Burns was lbw to Bumrah on the final ball of his next over, which was again reviewed but showed the ball crashing into the stumps. Labuschagne and Smith were at the wicket. Labuschagne was given three chances with two drops by Bumrah and Shaw. Shortly after the Shaw drop, Smith was almost runout at the non-striker's end as he was sent back by Labuschagne. However his luck ran out as he edged one from Ashwin to first slip, scoring just 1 from 29 balls as India dried up his scoring. Australia was 3/45 from 27 overs. Head and Green were skittled by Ashwin for low scores as Australia struggled to 5/92 from 48 overs at tea, Labuschagne was 46* and Paine was 9*. Labuschagne perished soon after tea but Paine rescued Australia's innings slightly as the tail wagged, dragging Australia to 191 from 72.1 overs, Paine stranded on 73* from 99 balls. Australia had 6 overs to bowl at the Indian openers, and managed to capture Shaw's wicket in the 4th over for 4. India sent out Bumrah as a nightwatchman, India 1/9 at stumps with a lead of 62.


text: A remarkable spell of fast bowling followed. Bumrah was caught and bowled by Cummins in the second over of the day for 2. India was now 2/15. Pujara was removed for an eight-ball duck the next over by Cummins. Hazlewood continued, taking Agarwal for 9 and Rahane in the following over, completing a double-wicket maiden. The collapse continued as Kohli came to the wicket and scored a flashy four through gully but as he tried to repeat it, the ball caught the edge and was caught at gully by the debutant Green. India was 6/19 with a lead of just 72. Saha was caught by Labuschagne at midwicket for 4 in the 19th over, the replacement Ashwin being removed for a golden duck, both by Hazlewood. Vihari was taken by Hazlewood in the 21st over taking the score to 9/31. Cummins bowled the next over and hit Shami on his bowling arm. He tried to continue after being treated, but left the field and retired hurt. It was later revealed he had suffered a fractured wrist after undergoing scans. India had been bowled out for 36, their lowest in an innings of a Test match. This was the first time in an innings no batsman or extras had reached double figures.


text: Australia had been set 90 to win. Australia had 5 overs before the lunch break and reached the interval without losing a wicket, 0/15. The openers Burns and Wade reached 70 but then Wade was dismissed in a bizarre runout where the ball bounced off short leg's protective pad, Saha collecting it and flicking it through his legs to dislodge the bails. Labuschagne came to the crease and tried to attack Ashwin, top edging a hit over midwicket, caught by Agarwal at mid on. In what would be the final over of the match, Smith came to the wicket and scored a single off his first ball. Umesh bowled wide to Burns and he hit it through the slips cordon for 4. Burns, looking for his 50, hit the ball down to the fine leg fence, Vihari dropping the catch on the boundary, thus causing the ball to fly over for 6, Burns finishing on 51* along with Smith 1*, Australia winning by 8 wickets.


text: Burns fell for a 10-ball duck in the fifth over of the match. Labuschagne came to the crease and put on a small partnership with Wade, but was broken in the 13th over, when Wade skied a pull shot off Ashwin, dismissed for 30. Smith came and went quickly for a duck in the 15th over. Australia were 3/38. Labuschagne and Head put on an 86 run partnership before Head edged to gully off Bumrah for 38. Labuschagne topscored with 48. The lower order managed to get Australia to 195 after 72.3 overs. Australia had 11 overs to bowl to India, and Starc managed to get Agarwal for a duck on the sixth ball of the innings. India were 1/36 at stumps, trailing by 159.


text: Gill lost his wicket in the 22nd over after making 45 from 65 deliveries. Pujara followed in the 24th over for 17 from 70 deliveries, both wickets being taken by Pat Cummins. India were 3/90 after 37 overs at lunch; Rahane was on 10 and Vihari on 13. Lyon got Vihari on 21 in the 45th over. Pant made 29 at a strike rate of 72.50 as India reached 5/189 at tea. Jadeja then combined with Rahane as they accelerated in the final session of the day to take India to 5/277 with Rahane ending the day on 104*, and Jadeja 40*.


text: Rahane was run out by Labuschagne combining with Tim Paine at the stumps for 112. Jadeja was removed by Starc for 57, and India were 7/306. The tail folded in the next nine overs. India had added just 49 runs in the session, as they were bowled out for 326, creating a first-innings lead of 131. Australia came out to bat after lunch and Burns again fell cheaply to Yadav in the 4th over, however Yadav left soon after with muscle pain and left India with a bowler down. Labuschagne offered some resistance but edged a ball from Ashwin to Rahane at slip, making 28 runs. Australia were 2/65 at tea, Wade was on 27 and Smith was on 6. In the final session, Smith was dismissed for 8, bowled behind his legs by Bumrah causing Australia to be 3/71 after 32.2 overs. Wade fell for 40 in the 44th over, and Head followed shortly after for 17 in the 47th over. Australian captain Paine was controversially given out by the third umpire after the on field umpire ruled not out in the 48th over, falling for 1. Australia ended the day at 6/133, a lead of 2 runs. Green and Cummins were 17* and 15* respectively.


text: The final day of the game ended just after lunch with India achieving victory by eight wickets. Green and Cummins initially resisted the Indian attack, however Cummins fell for 22 to a Bumrah bouncer, and Green, batting with the tail, was caught in the same way as the last match—a mistimed pull shot caught at midwicket. Australia quickly folded for 200, setting India a target of 70 to win. India in their second innings lost Agarwal and Pujara to low scores but captain Rahane and Gill finished on 27* and 35*, achieving the target in 15.5 overs, to level the series 1–1.


text: Warner was gone in the fourth over of the match for 5 runs, edging to Pujara in the slips off Siraj. Labuschagne came out to bat and joined the debutant opening batsman Pucovski. Australia was 1/21 in the 8th over, when play was stopped one ball into the over due to rain. Lunch was taken early, as 35 overs were lost due to rain. The covers were cleared before tea, and Pucovski was dropped on 26 and 32 by Rishabh Pant before reaching his maiden half century off 97 balls. Australia was 1/93 from 31 overs at tea with Pucovski on 54* and Labuschagne on 34*. Pucovski fell for 62, ending a 100-run stand. Australia was 2/106. Smith came to the wicket, as Labuschagne brought up his 50 off 108 balls, with six fours. Australia ended the day on 2/166 with Labuschagne on 67* and Smith on 31*. Australia was generally considered on top at stumps.


text: Rain delays continued, as Australia reached 200 in the 69th over. Labuschagne fell shortly after for 91, caught by Rahane at slip from the bowling of Jadeja. Smith received little support from the rest of the team as Australia collapsed to lose its final eight wickets for 130 runs. Green, Cummins and Lyon were all dismissed for ducks. Despite this, Smith made his 27th Test hundred batting with the tail, but was finally run out for 131 off 226 balls. India came out to bat and the opening pair of Gill and Rohit Sharma put on 70 before Sharma was caught and bowled by Hazlewood for 26, on the final ball of the 27th over. Gill fell shortly after for 50, being caught at gully by Green off the bowling of Cummins. India finished the day on 2/96 from 45 overs, erasing Australia's lead to 242 runs at stumps. Pujara was 9* and Rahane was 5*.


text: Rahane was bowled by Cummins for 22 from 70 balls in the 55th over. Pujara anchored the innings, adding 50 off 176 balls as India collapsed from 3/142 to 244 all out, as Vihari, Ashwin and Bumrah were all run out. Australia had a first innings lead of 94. Australia had 29 overs to bat out in the final session. Pucovski was caught behind off Siraj for 10 in the sixth over, and Warner fell in the tenth over, leg before wicket to Ashwin for 13. Australia was 2/35 but Smith and Labuschagne partnered together to a stand of 68 at stumps, Australia was 2/103 from 29 overs, and Labuschagne was 47* while Smith was 29*. Australia led by 197.


text: Labuschagne again fell short of a hundred as he was caught behind off Saini for 73. Smith, Green and Paine batted Australia to a lead of 406, as they made 81, 84 and 39* respectively. India had a target of 407 to win the match in four sessions. India had another promising first wicket stand, until Gill was claimed for 31 in the 23rd over by Hazlewood. Sharma's wicket was claimed by Cummins in the 31st over as he attempted a pull shot but was caught at backward square leg by Starc. India was 2/98 from 34 overs at stumps, with Pujara on 9* and Rahane 4*.


text: India required 309 on the final day. Rahane was caught by Wade at short leg off the bowling of Lyon in the second over of the day. India was 3/102. Pant was sent out at number five and put on a 148-run partnership with Pujara before Pant fell for 97 in the 80th over. Pujara was bowled by Hazlewood in the 89th over. Vihari and Ashwin survived the rest of the overs without too much trouble, as India played the match out for a draw. They did have a scare in the 123rd over, as Starc caught the edge of Vihari's bat, but the chance was dropped by the keeper Paine. The chance of the match ending in a win for either team was dropping at this point, as the five wickets for Australia and 88 runs proved too difficult for either team to manage. Vihari finished with 23* (161) and Ashwin was 39* (128).


text: The start of the game saw a massive difference in terms of experience between the two sides. Indian bowlers had a combined total of 13 wickets, with T Natarajan and Washington Sundar making their debuts following injuries to Bumrah and Ashwin. However, this did not deter the Indian bowling who started with the session by dismissing both Warner and Marcus Harris in the first hour. This was followed by determined batting by Smith and Labuschagne. Labuschagne finally got his much deserved century late in the day with Australia ending on 5/274. India suffered further injury setbacks when Navdeep Saini left the field owing to groin pain.


text: Day two started with India fighting back and dismissing Paine early. Some lower order resistance resulted in Australia reaching 369 before being dismissed at the stroke of lunch. India lost Gill early in their reply. However, Rohit Sharma and Pujara steadied the innings. However, Sharma fell due to his intention to attack Nathan Lyon, who was playing his 100th Test. Rain wiped out the last session and India finished the day on 2/62.


text: Day three started with Pujara and Rahane leading India's reply. However, Pujara was dismissed by Hazlewood. Rahane fell soon after and with Mayank Agarwal, playing in middle order and Pant falling in the second session India were in trouble at 6/186. This was followed by the most enterprising partnership of the match with debutant Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur, playing only his second Test, counter punching. They both scored sixties and with their 123 run partnership made sure India got as close to Australia's total as possible. Australia ended the day on 0/21.


text: Day four started with Warner and Harris leading the charge for Australia. Runs were scored fairly easily before Thakur got Harris out after an opening wicket partnership of 89 runs. Warner was soon dismissed by Sundar with Australia ending on 4/149 at Lunch. The post-lunch session saw Green and Smith consolidate Australia's position before Smith was dismissed for 55 by Siraj. Rain caused early tea with Australia on 7/243. Post tea session saw Siraj get his maiden five-wicket haul as Australia were finally dismissed for 294 setting India a target of 328 runs, or bat out 114 overs. India ended the day on 0/4 as rain brought an early end to proceedings.


text: India lost Rohit Sharma early on the last day. This was however followed by a 114 run partnership between Gill and Pujara as India set out to chase the target. Gill was dismissed for 91. Rahane hit a quickfire 24 off 22 balls, as India ended the second session on 183/3, meaning they required 145 runs of 37 overs. The post-tea session saw Pant ignite this test match as he in combination with Pujara led India's reply. Pujara fell for 56 immediately after new ball was taken. This was followed by Mayank Agarwal failing for the second time in the match. However, Pant led the charge as India reached the final target with three overs left in the day. The win has been regarded as India's greatest overseas triumph and meant Australia lost a Test at the Gabba for the first time since 1988.


text: In 2022, Voot released a four-episodes documentary miniseries on India's Test series victory called "Bandon Mein Tha Dum" directed by Neeraj Pandey and narrated by Jimmy Shergill. It featured interviews of Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Hanuma Vihari, Mohammad Siraj, Washington Sundar, Tim Paine, Pat Cummins, and several cricket journalists.


title: Disney Sing-Along Songs

text: Disney Sing-Along Songs is a series of videos on VHS, betamax, laserdisc, and DVD with musical moments from various Disney films, TV shows, and attractions. Lyrics for the songs are sometimes displayed on-screen with the Mickey Mouse icon as a "bouncing ball". Early releases open with a theme song introduction (written by Patrick DeRemer) containing footage featuring Professor Owl and his class, seen originally in 1953 in two Disney shorts, "Melody" and "Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom" (voiced then by Bill Thompson). Professor Owl (now voiced by Corey Burton) hosts some of the videos, while either Jiminy Cricket or Ludwig Von Drake host others. Later volumes, as well as the two Christmas videos, do not feature a host at all. Scenes with Jiminy Cricket and Ludwig Von Drake were taken from television programs, including the Walt Disney anthology television series and "The Mickey Mouse Club", which featured the characters in the 1950s and 1960s.


title: Disney Sing-Along Songs

text: The first of four distinct series was issued beginning on December 23, 1986, with "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", which would be followed by five more volumes. The second series released in August 1990 with "Under the Sea" and "Disneyland Fun", featuring a new design and reissued volumes labeled One (1) through Twelve (12) in North America (worldwide, volume numbers). The third series, which began with 1994's "Circle of Life", saw another new package design and the re-release of all previous volumes (excluding "Fun with Music", repackaged as "101 Notes of Fun" along with "Hercules" for markets outside North America). Around 1996 this series incorporated "Mickey's Fun Songs" repackaged as "Sing-Along Songs" (a three volume live-action set in the style of "Disneyland Fun"). Spanish-language editions of some volumes were released (). Some songs moved to newer volumes, newly remixed opening and closing songs appeared. The final release in this format was "Flik's Musical Adventure at Disney's Animal Kingdom" on June 8, 1999. In the remixed opening and closing themes, the remixed opening can be heard on "Friend Like Me", "Circle of Life", "Honor to Us All", and "Collection of All-Time Favorites", and the remixed closing can be heard on the 1993 and 1994 editions of "Heigh-Ho", as well as "Friend Like Me", "Circle of Life", and "Collection of All-Time Favorites". This series abandoned any new volume numbers, included only sporadically on third series volumes. A special three volume set, "Collection of All-Time Favorites", was released in 1997. There have been over 30 titles released to home video. Newly remastered editions began appearing in 2002 on Disney DVD, beginning with "Very Merry Christmas Songs", featuring a new package design, bonus features, and some new songs. Some Disney DVD feature releases include individual songs as bonus features. "Winnie-the-Pooh Sing a Song" volumes are being incorporated into the "Sing Along Songs" series. The DVD series (fourth series) features Sebastian the Crab (from "The Little Mermaid") singing the theme song, replacing Professor Owl.


title: Disney Sing-Along Songs

text: Following the advent of YouTube's online video-sharing platform, Disney has chosen to release individual sing-along videos on their channel, thus discontinuing the video series.


title: Disney Sing-Along Songs

text: Similar plot to the US Disneyland version, but it takes place at the Paris, France Disneyland location.


title: Khamis Gaddafi

text: Khamis Gaddafi (27 May 1983 – 29 August 2011) was the seventh and youngest son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and the military commander in charge of the Khamis Brigade of the Libyan Army. He was part of his father's inner circle. During the Libyan Civil War in 2011, he was a major target for opposition forces trying to overthrow his father.


title: Khamis Gaddafi

text: At age three, Khamis Gaddafi was injured in the 15 April 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya, suffering head injuries when the Bab al-Azizia military compound was attacked in retaliation for the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing. He graduated from the military academy in Tripoli, receiving a bachelor's degree in military arts and science, further graduating from the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia. In 2008, Gaddafi visited Algeria, where he was received by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.


title: Khamis Gaddafi

text: In April 2010, he began a master's degree at the IE Business School (formerly known as Instituto de Empresa), in Madrid. However, he was expelled by the institution in March 2011 for "his links to the attacks against the Libyan population".


title: Khamis Gaddafi

text: In early 2011, Gaddafi worked as an intern at AECOM Technology Corporation. According to Paul Gennaro, AECOM's Senior Vice President for Global Communications, Gaddafi was touring the United States in February 2011 as part of his internship, including visiting military sites and landmarks. This trip was cut short on 17 February after the Libyan Civil War began, and Gaddafi returned to Libya. U.S. government officials later denied any role in planning, advising or paying for the trip.


title: Khamis Gaddafi

text: After hurrying back to Libya to aid his father in the civil war, Khamis Gaddafi commanded the assault on Zawiya, leading the Khamis Brigade, a special forces brigade of the Libyan Armed Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. The battle resulted in pro-Gaddafi forces retaking the city. He also assisted in suppressing anti-regime demonstrations in and around the capital Tripoli in late February-early March. His forces also took part in the Battle of Misrata. In June 2011, he was reported to be commanding pro-Gaddafi forces in Zliten by a soldier captured from his brigade who also reported that Khamis Gaddafi had told his troops to "take Misrata or I will kill you myself. If you don't take Misrata, we are finished."


title: Khamis Gaddafi

text: On 20 March 2011, it was reported by the anti-Gaddafi Al Manara Media that Khamis Gaddafi had died from injuries sustained when pilot Muhammad Mokhtar Osman allegedly crashed his plane into Bab al-Azizia a week earlier. This was not confirmed by any independent news source. The crashing of the plane itself had also not been previously reported or confirmed by any other independent media except Al Manara and the Algerian "Shuruk" newspaper, which is closely connected to Al Manara, and with it there is a possibility of the reports being part of the propaganda operations by the opposition.


title: Khamis Gaddafi

text: The pro-Gaddafi Libyan government subsequently denied that he was killed on 21 March. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that she was aware of reports that one of Gaddafi's sons had been killed in non-coalition air strikes, after hearing them from "many different sources", but that the "evidence is not sufficient" for her to confirm this. On 25 March 2011, Al Arabiya television reported that a source had confirmed the death of Khamis Gaddafi, though others including Al Jazeera continued to call it a rumour.


title: Khamis Gaddafi

text: On 29 March 2011, the Libyan government showed footage of what it said was live footage of Khamis Gaddafi greeting supporters in Tripoli, in an attempt to refute the claims, though it had used false live images before and these images were not verified. On 9 June 2011, a captured pro-Gaddafi soldier in Misrata told the rebels that Khamis Gaddafi was alive in Zliten, and was leading the soldiers there.


title: Khamis Gaddafi

text: On 5 August 2011, citing spies operating among the ranks of forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, Mohammed Zawawi, a spokesman for the United Revolutionary Forces, told the Agence France Press news agency that Khamis Gaddafi had been killed overnight, stating that "there was an aircraft attack by NATO on the Gaddafi operations room in Zliten and there are around 32 Gaddafi troops killed. One of them is Khamis."


title: Khamis Gaddafi

text: This report was officially denied by Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. "It's false news. They invented the news about Mr. Khamis Gaddafi in Zliten to cover up their killing," Ibrahim told Reuters in Tripoli. "This is a dirty trick to cover up their crime in Zliten and the killing of the al-Marabit family." NATO was also unable to confirm the reports of Khamis's death. On 9 August, a man who appeared to be Khamis Gaddafi was on Libyan state television speaking to a woman who had allegedly been severely injured by a NATO airstrike.