RAF Second Tactical Air Force
| RAF Second Tactical Air Force | |
|---|---|
 Badge of the Second Tactical Air Force | |
| Active | June 1943 – July 1945 September 1951 - 1 January 1959 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Type | tactical air force |
| Role | air superiority and support ground offensive |
| Motto(s) | Keepers of the peace[1] |
| March | Royal Air Force March Past |
| Insignia | |
| Badge | Winged demi-lion above an astral crown grasping an olive branch[2] |
The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three
Formation
2TAF was formed on 1 June 1943 as HQ Tactical Air Force from
Second World War
2TAF's first commander was
By this late stage in the war, the Luftwaffe was but a pale shadow of the organisation it had once been. Mostly Second TAF spent its time supporting the British and Canadian forces on the left flank of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force's command. One notable exception was the last great attack of the Luftwaffe, Operation Bodenplatte, mounted on New Year's Day 1945, when the Second TAF suffered serious losses on the ground.
On 20 January 1945, four Gloster Meteors jets from 616 Squadron were moved to Melsbroek in Belgium and attached to the Second Tactical Air Force.
In February 1945 No. 87 Group RAF was established, a transport formation. It became part of 2nd TAF/BAFO, but was reduced to No. 87 Wing RAF on 15 July 1946.[5]
Post Second World War
The Second TAF was renamed as the British Air Forces of Occupation on 15 July 1945. It began as a large force of four groups (2, 83, 84, 85 Groups) but 2 Group disbanded on 1 May 1947.
By the end of 1947, the forces had shrunk to ten squadrons at three airfields, all directly under control of the Air Headquarters at Bad Eilsen.[6] In 1951, the British Air Forces of Occupation reverted to their former name with the re-creation of the Second Tactical Air Force on 1 September 1951.
No. 2 Group was transferred again to Second Tactical Air Force on 1 September 1951, but was disbanded on 15 November 1958. No. 83 Group RAF controlled 2TAF's southern area from 1952 to 1958. On 1 July 1956, No. 2 Group appeared to encompass wings at Ahlhorn (No. 125 Wing RAF),
The Second Tactical Air Force was redesignated Royal Air Force Germany on 1 January 1959, at which point C.-in-C. RAF Germany became commander of the NATO Second Allied Tactical Air Force (2 ATAF).
Commanders
Second Tactical Air Force
- 1 June 1943 Air Marshal Sir John D'Albiac
- 21 January 1944 Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham
British Air Forces of Occupation
- 15 July 1945 Air Chief Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas
- 1 February 1946 Air Marshal Sir Philip Wigglesworth
- 30 October 1948 Air Marshal Sir Thomas Williams
Second Tactical Air Force
- 1 October 1951 Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Foster
- 3 December 1953 Air Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst[8]
- 22 January 1956 Air Marshal The Earl of Bandon
- 1 June 1957 – Air Marshal Sir Humphrey Edwardes-Jones
Royal Air Force Germany
- 1 January 1959 – Air Marshal Sir Humphrey Edwardes-Jones
- 7 January 1961 – Air Marshal Sir John Grandy
- 25 June 1963 – Air Marshal Sir Ronald Lees
- 6 December 1965 – Air Marshal Sir Denis Spotswood
- 16 July 1968 – Air Marshal Christopher Foxley-Norris
- 10 November 1970 – Air Marshal Harold Brownlow Martin
- 4 April 1973 – Air Marshal Nigel Maynard
- 19 January 1976 – Air Marshal Sir Michael Beetham
- 25 July 1977 – Air Marshal Sir John Stacey
- 30 April 1979 – Air Marshal Sir Peter Terry
- 2 February 1981 – Air Marshal Sir Thomas Kennedy
- 9 April 1983 – Air Marshal Sir Patrick Hine
- 1 July 1985 – Air Marshal Sir David Parry-Evans
- 13 April 1987 – Air Marshal Sir Anthony Skingsley
- 14 April 1989 – Air Marshal Sir Roger Palin
- 22 April 1991 – Air Marshal Sir Andrew Wilson
See also
- RAF First Tactical Air Force
- RAF Third Tactical Air Force
- List of Royal Air Force commands
References
- ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
- ^ "Second Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) | RAF Heraldry Trust". rafht.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
- ^ Royal Air Force, RAF Narrative on the Liberation of North West Europe (Maxwell AFB, Ala.: AFHRA, USAF Collection, call no. 512.041-38 vol. 1, IRIS no. 00895753, 1946), 8.
- ^ Mersky, Peter (1986). "Naval Aviators in Spitfires". Proceedings. 112 (12). United States Naval Institute: 105&106.
- ^ "Groups 70-106_P". Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
- ^ Group Captain W J Taylor OBE, Historical Background, The RAF in Germany 1945–1993
- ^ "Laarbruch Museum". Archived from the original on 12 March 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
- ^ Biography – Air Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst
External links
