Thornhill High School opened on the air force base in Gwelo, Rhodesia (now Gweru, Zimbabwe) in January 1955. In January 1958, the school moved to its present site in Gweru.
The first Headmaster was Phil Todd who retired in 1961. He was followed by Geoff Lambert, John Eadie, John Drinkwater and Noel Gocha. The school has both boarders and day pupils. The boarding hostels are Cranwell House and Halton House. The school motto Per Spinas Ad Culmina (Through the thorns to the hilltop) was composed by Frank Taylor, based on the air force motto Per Ardua Ad Astra (Through effort to the stars).
The school has had a pass rate of over 70% every year. The school also offers sport, including hockey, cricket, soccer, volleyball, netball and rugby.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain.
Gweru is a city in central Zimbabwe. Near the geographical centre of the country, it is the capital of Midlands Province. Originally an area known to the Ndebele as "The Steep Place" because of the Gweru River's high banks, in 1894 it became the site of a military outpost established by Leander Starr Jameson. In 1914 it attained municipal status, and in 1971 it became a city.
RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It houses Headquarters Air Command, and was originally designed to house RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s. The station is also the headquarters of the European Air Group and the United Kingdom Space Command.
Falcon College is an independent boarding school for boys and girls aged 12–18 in the southern Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe. It was founded in 1954 near Essexvale, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, 55 km southeast of Bulawayo on the remains of the Bushtick Mine. The college's graduates include a British member of parliament, surgeons and doctors, leaders of industry and commerce, soldiers and educators.
Vanastra is a dispersed rural community and unincorporated place in the municipality of Huron East, Huron County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) southeast of the community of Clinton. It is located on the former property of a top secret Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) station used to train and supply over 7,000 radar technicians and support staff for American, British and Canadian forces during World War II.
Ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote in his Aeneid: "sic itur ad astra" and "opta ardua pennis astra sequi". Another origin is Seneca the Younger, who wrote in Hercules: "non est ad astra mollis e terris via".
Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose is a Royal Navy airbase near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall UK, and is one of the largest helicopter bases in Europe. Its main role is serving the Fleet Air Arm's front line AgustaWestland Merlin helicopter squadrons.
Kwekwe High School is a high school in the city of Kwekwe, in the Midlands Region of Zimbabwe. It was known until 1982 as Que Que High School. The school motto is Non Sibi Sed Omnibus. Kwekwe High is an co-ed interracial school that offers education from Form 1 up to Form 6 and offers sports such as rugby, cricket, tennis, basketball, swimming, field hockey, netball and volleyball. The school was founded in the early twentieth century, and was a combined primary and secondary school until the late 1920s when it was separated. At its inception the school mainly served the children of white employees of the Globe and Phoenix Gold Mine and of industries based on nearby deposits of iron and chromite, along with the children of local white farmers and ranchers. The school was opened to students of all races in 1980. It has some 1,500 students and 50 teachers, with six of them teaching mathematics. The class sizes are usually between 40 and 43 students per class.
Per ardua ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "through adversity to the stars" or "through struggle to the stars" that is the official motto of the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces such as the Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force, as well as the Royal Indian Air Force until 1947. The Royal Canadian Air Force used it until 1968, when it adopted the motto sic itur ad astra, a similar phrase meaning "such is the pathway to the stars". It dates from 1912, when it was adopted by the newly formed Royal Flying Corps.
Gweru-Thornhill Air Base is one of the two main air bases of the Air Force of Zimbabwe located near the central city of Gweru,
"Fortune favours the bold", "Fortune favours the brave" and "Fortune favours the strong" are common translations of a Latin proverb. The slogan has been used historically by people in the military in the Anglosphere, and it is used up to the present on the coats of arms of individual families and clans.
Per aspera ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "through hardships to the stars" or "Our aspirations take us to the stars". The phrase is one of the many Latin sayings that use the expression ad astra, meaning "to the stars".
Bridlington School is a secondary school and sixth form located on Bessingby Road (A165), in Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
The Royal Air Force Memorial is a military memorial on the Victoria Embankment in central London, dedicated to the memory of the casualties of the Royal Air Force in World War I. Unveiled in 1923, it became a Grade II listed structure in 1958, and was upgraded to Grade II* in 2018. It is considered to be the official memorial of the RAF and related services.
The badge of the Royal Air Force is the heraldic emblem used to represent the RAF which features an eagle superimposed on a circlet which is surmounted by a crown.
The Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch provides military chaplains for the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom.
Pierrepont School, Frensham, originally known as Pierrepont House School, was a private school in Surrey, England, with day pupils as well as boarders. Founded in 1947 as a school for boys, it became co-educational in 1983 and closed in 1993.
Pakefield Lighthouse is a decommissioned 19th century lighthouse which was built near Pakefield a suburb of Lowestoft in Suffolk. The lighthouse tower has been used for a variety of maritime, civilian and military roles, and is currently used as a Coastwatch lookout post.
Gweru District is a district in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe.
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