Russians downed Usu-2spyplaneon top secret mission

In Stockport I was in a pub named after Wilfred Wood, a local man who was awarded the V. C.. Can you give me any details about him? – I.

Wilfred Wood won one of the last Victoria Crosses of the war, in 1918, “for conspicuous gallantry”.

In Casa Vana, Italy, armed with a Lewis gun, he single-handedly attacked a machine gun nest, capturing 140 enemy soldiers. Then, facing another machine gun nest, he attacked again, capturing a further 160 men. I love to have a good laugh at Everybody Loves Raymond on Channel 4 every morning. It seems to have been on a long time – when did it start? – I.

The first episode aired on September 13, 1996, and ran for nine series and 210 shows until 2005.

New York-born star Raymond Romano is also a stand-up comedian and the voice of Manny the mammoth in the Ice Age movies.

As a long-time fan of U2, I know that the band took their name from the U-2 plane America used in the 1960s to spy on the Soviet Union.

I also know that one of the U-2 planes was shot down by the Russians, which almost led to the start of the Third World War.

But where did the plane come down? – M.

Gary Powers was on a top secret CIA mission over the former Soviet Union on May 1, 1960.

Powers’ aircraft, U-2 A 56-6693, had taken off from a military airbase in Peshawar, Pakistan, with the intention of photographing suspected missile sites.

The planned route would take Powers all the way across the country, from west to east in a near straight line.

Soviet intelligence had been aware of U-2 overflights for many months but lacked effective countermeasures.

However, on the fateful day, they were ready and, as the U-2 flew at 70,000 feet above Aramil, a town almost 900 miles east of Moscow, defenders fired a total of 14

S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missiles.

One hit a MIG-19 jet fighter which was sent to intercept the U-2. Its pilot ejected but died of his injuries.

Three missiles hit Powers’ aircraft, and it broke up.

Amazingly, he was able to bale out of what was left of the U-2 and parachuted to safety.

He was captured and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for espionage, but was released in 1962 in a prisoner exchange for a Russian spy, Rudolf Abel, who had been imprisoned in the US. I’ve been watching reruns of The Mentalist and would like to know if the stars, Simon Baker and Robin Tunney are an item off screen? – K.

They aren’t. Simon, who stars as a fake psychic, has been married to actress Rebecca Rigg since 1998 and they have three children. However, Rebecca did appear in one episode of The Mentalist.

Robin was previously married to Bob Gosse, an actor, director and producer. My granddad was telling me he remembers Third Lanark playing his team, Aberdeen, many years ago. But he can’t recall why they were called the “Hi Hi”. – T.

I believe that, as far back as the 1890s, a defender booted the ball so high into the air that the crowd started to yell: “High! High! ”

The name stuck and Thirds were know as the Hi Hi until their demise in 1967.