Leonard Cheshire

Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire VC, OM, DSO & Two Bars, DFC (7 September 1917 – 31 July 1992) was a highly decorated Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War and later philanthropist.

Among the honours Cheshire received as a pilot is the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

He was the youngest group captain in the RAF and one of the most highly decorated pilots of the war, but after serving as the British observer on the Nagasaki nuclear attack he resigned from the Air Force. He founded a hospice that grew into the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability, and he became known for his work in conflict resolution; he was created Baron Cheshire in 1991 in recognition of his charitable work.

Early life

Leonard Cheshire was the son of Geoffrey Chevalier Cheshire, a barrister, academic and influential writer on English law. He had one brother, Christopher Cheshire, also a wartime pilot. Cheshire was born in Chester, but was brought up at his parents' home near Oxford. Cheshire was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford, Stowe School and Merton College, Oxford. At Stowe he was taught English by the fantasy novelist T. H. White. Whilst at Oxford he became friends with John Niel Randle. On one occasion at Oxford he was bet half a pint of beer that he could not walk to Paris with no more than a few pennies in his pocket; he won his bet. He went to stay in Germany in 1936 with the family of Ludwig von Reuter in Potsdam and whilst there, witnessed an Adolf Hitler rally. Cheshire caused considerable offence by pointedly refusing to give the Nazi salute. Cheshire graduated in jurisprudence in 1939.

Cheshire

Cheshire (/ˈtʃɛʃər/ or /ˈtʃɛʃɪər/; archaically the County Palatine of Chester; abbreviated Ches.) is a county in North West England, bordering Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south and Wales to the west (bordering Wrexham and Flintshire). Cheshire's county town is Chester; the largest town is Warrington.

Other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Macclesfield, Northwich, Runcorn, Widnes, Wilmslow, and Winsford. The county covers 2,343 square kilometres (905 sq mi) and has a population of around 1 million. It is mostly rural, with a number of small towns and villages supporting the agricultural and other industries which produce Cheshire cheese, salt, chemicals and silk.

History

Toponymy

Cheshire's name was originally derived from an early name for Chester, and was first recorded as Legeceasterscir in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, meaning the shire of the city of legions. Although the name first appears in 980, it is thought that the county was created by Edward the Elder around 920. In the Domesday Book, Chester was recorded as having the name Cestrescir (Chestershire), derived from the name for Chester at the time. A series of changes that occurred as English itself changed, together with some simplifications and elision, resulted in the name Cheshire, as it occurs today.

Cheshire (comics)

Cheshire is a fictional DC Comics supervillain that first appeared in New Teen Titans Annual #2 (1983).

Fictional character biography

Post-Crisis

Born (allegedly, see below) to a French father and a Vietnamese mother, Jade Nguyen had an unhappy childhood and was sold into slavery. As a young adult, after killing her master, Jade was informally adopted by Chinese freedom fighter Weng Chan, who taught her all he knew about guerrilla fighting. She acquired knowledge of poisons from Kruen Musenda, a famed African assassin known as the "Spitting Cobra", whom she was married to for the two years prior to his death.

She is a long-standing rival of the superhero team the Teen Titans. However, when Roy Harper, a.k.a. the archer Speedy, went undercover for the government in a mission to get her confidence and turn her over, the two fell passionately in love. Knowing he would not be able to turn her in, he walked out; Cheshire would not learn his true identity until later. The result of their romance was a daughter, Lian, whom Roy raised.

Cheshire (disambiguation)

Cheshire (/ˈtʃɛʃə/ CHESH-ə) is a county in England.

Cheshire may also refer to:

Places in the United States

Other