No. 205 Group RAF
No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group RAF | |
---|---|
Active | 23 October 1941 - 15 April 1956 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Air Force |
Type | Royal Air Force group |
Motto(s) | Through darkness to light |
Engagements | Second World War |
Insignia | |
Group badge heraldry | In front of a Decrescent Argent a Bomb in bend sinister Sable[1] |
No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group was a long-range, heavy bomber group of the Royal Air Force (RAF) established on 23 October 1941 by boosting No. 257 Wing to Group status.[2]
Tri-force model
During the
This model which separated the command into strategic, coastal, and tactical air forces was presented to the Casablanca planners by Tedder who along with primarily Ritchie, Lloyd, and especially Coningham, implemented and developed the tri-force model in Egypt and Libya during 1942. No. 205 Group contributed significantly to these developments.
At the
1944 operations
Beginning in April 1944, No. 205 Group began
.No. 205 Group units were part of the attempted resupply of the Polish
Order of battle
In the MAC organization following the Casablanca Conference, No. 205 Group was part of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF), an Allied command under Major General James H. Doolittle consisting of American (daytime) and British (primarily nighttime) long-range heavy bomber units.[9] NASAF, along with the Northwest African Coastal Air Force (NACAF) and the Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF), formed a complete tri-force under a single unified command (NAAF). The components of No. 205 Group at various times during World War II are illustrated below.
Unfortunately, many of the records of No. 205 Group are apparently unavailable for the period prior to the air force reorganization in February 1943 (Mediterranean Air Command).[10]
11 November 1941 Operation Crusader A/Cdre Lachlan MacLean |
Summer 1942 Egyptian Defensive A/Cdre MacLean or Ritchie |
27 October 1942 Second Battle of El Alamein A/Cdre A. P. Ritchie |
10 July 1943 John Simpson
|
1944 & 1945 Part of +MASAF A/Cdre |
---|---|---|---|---|
No. 37 Squadron, Wellington No. 38 Squadron, Wellington No. 70 Squadron, Wellington |
No. 37 Squadron, Wellington No. 70 Squadron, Wellington |
No. 231 Wing
No. 37 Squadron, Wellington |
No. 231 Wing
No. 37 Squadron, Wellington |
No. 231 Wing
No. 37 Squadron, Wellington X |
No. 108 Squadron, Wellington No. 148 Squadron, Wellington |
No. 108 Squadron, Wellington No. 148 Squadron, Wellington |
No. 236 Wing
No. 108 Squadron, Wellington |
No. 236 Wing
No. 104 Squadron, Wellington |
No. 236 Wing
No. 40 Squadron, Wellington X |
No. 238 Wing
No. 40 Squadron, Wellington |
No. 330 Wing
No. 142 Squadron, Wellington |
No. 240 Wing
No. 462 Squadron, Halifax II on 3 March 1944.renamed No. 614 Squadron Used some B-24s after August 1944. | ||
No. 160 Squadron, Liberator | No. 242 Wing
No. 147 Squadron, Liberator |
No. 331 Wing RCAF
No. 425 Squadron RCAF , Wellington
|
No. 330 Wing
No. 142 Squadron, Wellington X, to UK, Mosquito | |
No. 245 Wing
No. 14 Squadron (RAF), Marauder, Boston |
No. 2 Wing SAAF (Joined 205 Group in 6/44)
31 Squadron SAAF, B-24 Liberator VI | |||
Special Liberator Flight, Liberator |
Notes:
- A/Cdre = Air Commodore
- RAAF = Royal Australian Air Force
- RCAF = Royal Canadian Air Force
- SAAF = South African Air Force
- MASAF = Nathan Twining was a sub-command of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces.
It is not absolutely certain which RAF squadrons were operating in No. 205 Group during the summer of 1942. American heavy bomber units began arriving in the Middle East at this time. The first was Colonel
- "Between 26 June and 5 July, nine missions were flown, all but one against Tobruk. The B-17's of the 9th Squadron participated in two attacks, one by night, and the B-24's (Halverson's Detachment), sometimes in company with the RAF's Liberator squadron (No. 160 Squadron), also operated both by day and by night."[13]
RAF operational control of the American heavy bomber units continued even after Halverson's Detachment of B-24s and Brereton's 9th Bombardment Squadron of B-17s were consolidated to form the
When MAC was disbanded on 10 December 1943, No. 205 Group was assigned to the
Postwar
Immediately as the war ended the group headquarters was at
Commanders from 1945 were:[2]
- 30 April 1945 : AVM Andrew McKee
- 1 February 1947 : AVM George Stacey Hodson
- 20 October 1949 : AVM Victor Groom
- 6 February 1952 : No appointment
- 6 July 1952 : AVM Harold Vivian Satterley
- 30 June 1954 : AVM Denis Barnett
The group headquarters was established at RAF Fayid in 1947, and appears to have included Nos 13, 39, and 208 Squadrons, respectively flying Spitfire XVIIIs, photo-reconnaissance Mosquitos, and night-fighter Mosquitos, at that time.[17] No. 78 Wing RAAF (Nos 75 and 76 Squadrons) with de Havilland Vampires operated under the group's control from RAF Hal Far, Malta during the early 1950s.
On 7 June 1952, the AOC 205 Group, Air Vice Marshal David Atcherley disappeared during a flight over the eastern Mediterranean.[18]
No. 205 Group was made responsible for supervising the evacuation programme for the RAF from the Canal Zone from 1953. Air Vice Marshal Barnett moved his rear headquarters over to Cyprus in October 1955, and
References
- ^ "No.205 Group". rafht.co.uk. 21 June 2016.
- ^ a b c Barrass, M. B. (2016). "Group No's 200–333". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Archived from the original on 15 April 2007. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- ^ Craven & Cate (1983), p. 497.
- ^ Davis (2006), p. 107.
- ^ Bill Taylor. "A Tight Squeeze". Scottish Saltire Aircrew Association.
- ^ Lucian Dobrovicescu. "Aprilie 1944. Moartea vine din cer: Bombardamentele Aliate asupra României". Historia (in Romanian).
- ^ Möller, Pieter (1997). "The Warsaw Airlift: the initial operations" (PDF).
- ^ Möller, Pieter (30 May 2019). "The Warsaw Airlift, a triumph of South African bravery". defenceweb.co.za.
- ^ Coles (1945).
- ^ Davis (2006), p. viii.
- ^ Richards & Saunders (1953), Figures depicting Orders of Battles.
- ^ "John Herbert Thomas Simpson". Air of Authority.
- ^ Craven & Cate (1983), p. 18.
- ^ Craven & Cate (1983), p. 33.
- ^ Lee (1989), pp. 4 & 39.
- ^ Lee (1989), p. 5.
- ^ Lee (1989), pp. 39 & 41.
- ^ Lee (1989), p. 51.
- ^ Lee (1989), pp. 49–50.
Bibliography
- Coles, Harry L. (1945). Participation of the Ninth & Twelfth Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign, Army Air Forces Historical Study No. 37 (PDF). Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Army Air Forces Historical Office Headquarters.
- Craven, Wesley F. & Cate, James L. (1983) [1949]. The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. 2. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago University Press. ISBN 0-912799-03-X.
- Davis, Richard G. (2006). Bombing the European Axis Powers: A historical digest of the combined bomber offensive, 1939–1945. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press.
- Howe, George F. (1991). Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West. Washington, DC: Center of Military History.
- Kaššák, Peter; Gunby, David (2016). 'Gardening by moonlight'. ISBN 9788097189136.
- Lee, David (1989). Wings in the Sun : A history of the Royal Air Force in the Mediterranean, 1945–1986. London, UK: HMSO. ISBN 978-0-11772-620-8.
- Macdonald, Patrick (1995). Through darkness to light. ISBN 9781897817179.
- Richards, D. & Saunders, H. (1953). The Royal Air Force, 1939–1945. Volumes 1 & 2. London, UK: HMSO.