First Battle of St Albans First Battle of St Albans The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles (35 km) north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses in England. Richard, Duke of York, and his allies, the Neville earls of Salisbury and Warwick, defeated a royal army commanded by Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, who was killed. With King Henry VI captured, a subsequent parliament appointed Richard of York Lord Protector. The incapacitation of Henry VI by mental illness in 1454 had led to the recall to court of Richard of
Wars of the Roses (air race) Wars of the Roses (air race) The Wars of the Roses was an air race organized by the Yorkshire Evening News between the Yorkshire-built Blackburn Type I monoplane and the Lancashire-built Avro 504 biplane which was staged around Leeds on 2 October 1913. In the summer of 1913 the Lancashire firm of A. V. Roe designed an advanced biplane called the Avro 504. The machine was built in secret and entered into the Aerial Derby, causing a sensation when it arrived at Hendon for the race on 20 September. Piloted by F. P. Raynham, the untried 504 finished fourth in