No. 18 Group (18 Gp) of the Royal Air Force was a group active from 1918 to 1919, and from 1938 to 1996.

No. 18 Group RAF
Active1 April 1918 - 18 October 1919
1 September 1938 - 1 April 1996
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
TypeRoyal Air Force group
Part ofRAF Coastal Command (1938 - 1969)
RAF Strike Command (1969 - 1994)
HeadquartersRAF Pitreavie Castle
Northwood Headquarters
Motto(s)Constant Endeavour[1]
EngagementsFirst World War

History

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The Group was initially formed on 1 April 1918 in No. 4 Area RAF. It was transferred to North-Eastern Area RAF on 8 May 1918. Disbanded 18 October 1919.

1938–1945

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The group was reformed on 1 September 1938 as No. 18 (Reconnaissance) Group of Coastal Command for operations with the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth and the Orkney & Shetlands Naval Command.[2] Its headquarters were established at Rosyth.

Of the three groups forming Coastal Command's planned dispositions on the outbreak of war, 18 Group was the only one with a fully operational Navy/Air Force Area Combined Headquarters (ACHQ). It covered much of the North Sea and areas to the north and west of Scotland, north of a line running north west from the Mull of Kintyre.

1946–1996

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By October 1946, after the war ended, it was headquartered at RAF Pitreavie Castle and its front-line strength consisted of Nos 120 and 203 Squadrons operating from RAF Leuchars flying Avro Lancaster GR.3s.[3] By 1954 its strength had grown to five squadrons of Avro Shackletons, and Lockheed Neptunes (Nos 120, 204, 217, 240, and 269) at RAF Ballykelly, RAF Kinloss, and RAF Aldergrove as well as No. 202 Squadron RAF flying Handley Page Hastings on meteorological reconnaissance missions from RAF Aldergrove.

With the advent of Strike Command the former 18 Group became the Northern Maritime Air Region, and Coastal Command was renamed 18 Group, both changes happening on 28 November 1969. Within Strike Command the new group's title was No. 18 (Maritime) Group. From that point the Group commander held the NATO post of Commander, Maritime Air, Eastern Atlantic, reporting to CinC, Eastern Atlantic at the Northwood Headquarters in London. The Group commander also held the corresponding post within the NATO Allied Command Channel, and for that reason was a rank higher (Air Marshal) than those commanding other RAF groups.

The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod entered service in late 1970 and early 1971, initially with four squadrons of six aircraft, 120, 201, and 206 at Kinloss and 42 at RAF St Mawgan. Elements also went to Malta; No. 203 Squadron disbanding there at RAF Luqa in 1977 while flying Nimrods. The Kinloss Wing spent thousands of hours tracking Soviet submarines of the Northern Fleet, often after they had been detected by NATO submarines or the Lockheed P-3 Orions of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Keeping track of the submarines was made easier by the aid of SOSUS acoustic listening devices on the sea bed. Also part of the force were Westland Sea King helicopters, flying for a long period in the SAR role with No. 22 and 202 Squadrons.

Blackburn Buccaneers joined the Group in the mid 1970s, and with the retirement of the final Royal Navy Buccaneers in December 1978, Nos 12, 208, and 216 Squadrons began to operate them at RAF Honington, before shifting north to RAF Lossiemouth from July 1980. No. 216 Squadron however disbanded as a Buccaneer unit in late 1980 due to a shortage of airframes following the discovery of fatigue cracks.

In 1985 other units of the Group were Nos 51, 100, and 360 Squadrons at RAF Wyton, as well as No. 231 OCU carrying out Canberra operational conversion at the same station.[4]

The Group was disbanded by being merging with No 11 Group on 1 April 1996 to form No. 11/18 Group RAF.

Structure in 1989

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Commanders

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The following men were the Air Officers Commanding (AOC) of No. 18 Group:

1 April 1918 to 18 October 1919

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  • 1 April 1918 Colonel H A Williamson

1 September 1938 to 1 April 1996

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Notes

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  1. ^ Unit had a nuclear strike role and had twelve British WE.177 tactical nuclear bombs.
  2. ^ Unit had a nuclear strike role and had twelve British WE.177 tactical nuclear bombs.

Citations

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  1. ^ Pine 1983, p. 38.
  2. ^ Roskill 1957, p. 37.
  3. ^ Rawlings 1984, pp. 216–217.
  4. ^ a b Isby & Kamps 1985, p. 313.
  5. ^ "F D Hughes". www.rafweb.org. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  6. ^ "No. 45604". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 February 1972. p. 2201.

References

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