RAF Gibraltar
RAF Gibraltar AMSL | |||||||
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Airfield shared with a civilian terminal Source: RAF Gibraltar Defence Aerodrome Manual[1] |
Royal Air Force Gibraltar or more simply RAF Gibraltar (also formerly known as North Front) is a
A total of 16 personnel were reported assigned to RAF Gibraltar as of 2023.[2]
History
Early history
A Royal Naval Air Service seaplane base was opened at Gibraltar during the First World War.[3]
The airport was constructed during
On 25 September 1939, No. 200 (Coastal) Group RAF was formed as a subordinate formation to HQ RAF Mediterranean in control of No. 202 Squadron RAF.[5] The Group's function was the control of Royal Air Force units operating from Gibraltar.[5] In late 1940 the Group was transferred to Coastal Command.[5] Later a joint RN/RAF Area Combined Headquarters was formed which commenced operations in early 1942.[6]
RAF North Front opened in 1942 and RAF New Camp opened around the same time. RAF New Camp was built on reclaimed land in the harbour next to Montagu Bastion[7] and was the site for a slipway and hangar for flying boats and RAF motor launches.[8][9]
The airfield played a major part in Operation Torch, the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa (French colonial possessions in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco) in November 1942.[7]
Following the major reorganization of the Allied air forces at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, RAF Gibraltar became a major sub-command of the Mediterranean Air Command under Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder in February 1943.[10]
Post-war
On 29 May 1945 the Area Combined Headquarters was shut down and most of the personnel sent home.[14] Weather flights from Gibraltar were maintained at the end of the war by No. 520 Squadron RAF flying Halifaxes. This was superseded by a detachment of No. 518 Squadron RAF from Aldergrove, and then by the arrival of No. 224 Squadron RAF. Initially the squadron dispatched a detachment in May 1948, but the whole squadron moved to Gibraltar in August 1951.[15] It was re-equipped with Avro Shackletons. The station officially became "RAF Gibraltar" in 1966.[16]
The RAF camp, now known as Devil's Tower Camp, which was increasingly used by the British Army in the 1960s and 1970s, became the home of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment.[17]
By the 1980s RAF Gibraltar was increasingly being used as a Forward Operating Base for middle east operations.[7]
On 4 February 2011, the new RAF headquarters in Gibraltar was officially opened by The Chief of Joint Operations, Air Marshal Sir Stuart Peach.[18]
In 2016 a major runway resurfacing project was completed ensuring both military and civilian flights could continue.[19]
Units stationed
RAF Units | Aircraft |
---|---|
No. 48 Squadron | Lockheed Hudson |
No. 179 Squadron | Vickers Wellington |
No. 202 Squadron | Consolidated Catalina
|
No. 210 Squadron | Catalina |
No. 233 Squadron | Hudson |
No. 248 Squadron Detachment | Bristol Beaufighter |
No. 544 Squadron Detachment | Supermarine Spitfire |
No. 813 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm | Fairey Swordfish |
No. 1403 (Meteorological) Flight | Handley Page Hampden, Gloster Gladiator |
Commanding officers
- Air Vice-Marshal Sturley Simpson – AOC, AHQ Gibraltar, December 1941 to Feb 1944
- Air Vice Marshal William Elliot – AOC, RAF Gibraltar, Feb 1944 to June 1944
- Air Vice Marshal Alick Stevens – AOC, RAF Gibraltar, June 1944 to August 1945
Gibraltar squadrons
- No. 224 Squadron RAF (Disbanded)
Gallery
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The modern day control tower of RAF Gibraltar/Gibraltar Airport
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The runway of RAF Gibraltar/Gibraltar Airport looking from East to West
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A Lockheed Hudson of No. 233 Squadron RAF leaves its dispersal at Gibraltar for a reconnaissance sortie, in August 1942.
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Goodyear ZNP-K ships of United States Navy Blimp Squadron ZP-14 coordinated their anti-submarine warfare operations with RAF Gibraltar in 1944.
Panoramic view
See also
References
- ^ "RAF Gibraltar Defence Aerodrome Manual (DAM)" (PDF). RAF Gibraltar. Military Aviation Authority. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- ^ "Some 14,000 British servicemen pass through Gibraltar each year". The Diplomat. 25 April 2023.
- ^ "Stations-G". www.rafweb.org.
- ^ "History of Gibraltar Airport". Gibraltar Tourist Board. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "Air of Authority—A History of RAF Organisation". Royal Air Force Organisation. Archived from the original on 15 April 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
- ^ "The History of RAF Gibraltar". Royal Air Force—Gibraltar. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
- ^ a b c "Government motion to confer freedom of the city on RAF Gibraltar". The Gibraltar Magazine. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Royal Air Force operations in Malta, Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, 1940-1945". Imperial War Museums.
- ^ "Royal Air Force operations in Malta, Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, 1940-1945". Imperial War Museums.
- ^ "Order of Battle, Mediterranean Air Command, 10th July, 1943". History of the Second World War. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Blimp Squadron 14: Craw Field, Port Lyautey, French Morocco".
- ^ "Blimp Squadron 14: First transatlantic crossing by non-rigid airships".
- ^ "That time the Goodyear blimb hunted Nazi subs". Mighty History. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ Lee, 1989, 197.
- ^ Lee, Wings in the Sun, 1989, 197, 198.
- ^ "British Military Aviation in 1966". RAF Museum. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Trip down Rock memory lane for Royal Green Jackets". Panorama. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "Official opening of the new RAF headquarters Gibraltar". Forces.tv. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Future of flights at RAF Gibraltar secured following £8 million runway resurfacing". Ministry of Defence. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ Richards, D. and H. Saunders, The Royal Air Force 1939–1945 (Volume 2, HMSO, 1953)
Further reading
- Fairbairn, Tony (2002). RAF Gibraltar. The History Press. ISBN 978-0752423524.
- "Journal 30" (PDF). RAFMuseum.org.uk. ISSN 1361-4231.