This article lists the order of battle of RAF Coastal Command throughout the Second World War in the European Theatre of World War II.
3 September 1939
- No. 15 Group RAF (GR), under command of Air Commodore R.G. Parry, DSO
- No. 16 Group RAF (GR), under command of Air Commodore R.L.G. Marix, DSO
- No. 17 Group RAF (T), under command of Air Commodore T.E.B. Howe, CBE, AFC
Squadron | Type of aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
Torpedo Training Unit RAF | various | RAF Gosport |
No. 2 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF | various | RAF Gosport |
School of General Reconnaissance RAF | Avro Anson | RAF Thorney Island |
Seaplane Training Squadron RAF | various | RAF Calshot |
- No. 18 Group RAF (GR), under command of Air Vice Marshal C.D. Breese, CB, AFC
1 November 1940
- No. 15 Group RAF (GR), under command of Air Commodore R.G. Parry, DSO
- No. 16 Group RAF (GR), under command of Air Vice Marshal J.H.S. Tyssen, CB, DSO
- No. 17 Group RAF (T), under command of Air Commodore T.E.B. Howe, CBE, AFC
- No. 18 Group RAF (GR), under command of Air Vice Marshal C.D. Breese, CB, AFC
- No. 200 Group RAF (Coastal), under command of Group Captain A.D. Rogers, CBE, AFC
Squadron | Type of Aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
No. 202 Squadron RAF | Saro London/Fairey Swordfish | RAF Gibraltar |
12 February 1942
- No. 15 Group RAF (GR), under command of Air Vice Marshal J.M. Robb, CB, DSO, DFC, AFC
- No. 16 Group RAF (GR), under command of Air Commodore I.T. Lloyd, CBE
- No. 17 Group RAF (T), under command of Air Commodore H.G. Smart, CBE, DFC, AFC
Squadron | Type of Aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
Numerous Training Units | N/A |
- No. 18 Group RAF (GR), under command of Air Vice Marshal A. Durston, CB, AFC
- No. 19 Group RAF (GR), under command of Air Commodore G.R. Bromet, CBE, DSO
- AHQ Gibraltar, under command of Air Commodore S.P. Simpson, CBE, MC
Squadron | Aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
No. 202 Squadron RAF | Short Sunderland/Consolidated Catalina | RAF Gibraltar |
- AHQ Iceland, under command of Air Commodore W.H. Primrose, CBE, DFC
15 February 1943
- No. 15 Group RAF under command of Air Vice Marshal T.A. Langford-Sainsbury, OBE, DFC, AFC
- No. 16 Group RAF, under command of Air Vice Marshal B.E. Baker, CB, DSO, MC, AFC
- No. 17 Group RAF, under command of Air Commodore H.G. Smart, CBE, DFC, AFC
Squadron | Type of Aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
Numerous Training Units | N/A |
- No. 18 Group RAF, under command of Air Vice Marshal A.B. Ellwood, CB, DSC
- No. 19 Group RAF, under command of Air Vice Marshal G.R. Bromet, CB, CBE, DSO
- AHQ Gibraltar, under command of Air Commodore S.P. Simpson, CBE, MC
Squadron | Type of aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
No. 48 Squadron RAF | Lockheed Hudson | RAF Gibraltar (North Front) |
No. 179 Squadron RAF | Vickers Wellington | RAF Gibraltar (North Front) |
No. 202 Squadron RAF | Consolidated Catalina | RAF Gibraltar (Harbour) |
No. 210 Squadron RAF | Consolidated Catalina | RAF Gibraltar (Harbour) |
No. 233 Squadron RAF | Lockheed Hudson | RAF Gibraltar (North Front) |
No. 544 Squadron RAF | Supermarine Spitfire | RAF Gibraltar (North Front) |
- AHQ Iceland, under command of Air Commodore K.B. Lloyd, AFC
6 June 1944
- No. 15 Group RAF under command of Air Vice Marshal Sir Leonard Slatter, KBE, CB, DSC, DFC
- No. 16 Group RAF, under command of Air Vice Marshal F.L. Hopps, CB, CBE, AFC
- No. 17 Group RAF, under command of Air Commodore H.G. Smart, CBE, DFC, AFC
Squadron | Type of Aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
No. 1674 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF | ||
Numerous Training Units | N/A |
- No. 18 Group RAF, under command of Air Vice Marshal S.P. Simpson, CB, CBE, MC
- No. 19 Group RAF, under command of Air Vice Marshal B.E. Baker, CB, DSO, MC, AFC
- No. 106 Group RAF, under command of Air Commodore J.N. Boothman, CB, DFC, AFC
Squadron | Type of aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
No. 540 Squadron RAF | de Havilland Mosquito | RAF Benson |
No. 541 Squadron RAF | Supermarine Spitfire | RAF Benson (Det. at RAF St Eval) |
No. 542 Squadron RAF | Supermarine Spitfire | RAF Benson |
No. 544 Squadron RAF | de Havilland Mosquito | RAF Benson |
- No. 247 Group RAF, under command of Air Vice Marshal G R Bromet KBE, CB, DSO, DL
Squadron | Type of aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
No. 220 Squadron RAF | Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress | RAF Lagens, Azores |
No. 269 Squadron RAF | Lockheed Hudson/Supermarine Walrus/Supermarine Spitfire | RAF Lagens, Azores |
- AHQ Gibraltar, under command of Air Vice Marshal W. Elliott, CB, CBE, DFC
Squadron | Type of aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
No. 202 Squadron RAF | Consolidated Catalina | RAF Gibraltar (New Camp) |
No. 520 Squadron RAF | Handley Page Halifax/Gloster Gladiator (Met) | RAF Gibraltar (North Front) |
- AHQ Iceland, under command of Air Commodore C.G. Wigglesworth, AFC
Squadron | Type of Aircraft | Station |
---|---|---|
No. 162 Squadron RCAF | Consolidated Canso | Skerja Fjord, Reykjavík |
No. 1407 (Meteorological) Flight RAF | Lockheed Hudson | RAF Reykjavik |
References
- Footnotes
- This unit was formed from No. 1401 (Meteorological) Flight in August 1942. One flight was equipped with Spitfire PR.IVs, one of Mosquito PR.IVs and one of Hudsons.
- 541, 542 and 543 Sqns were all formed from 1 PRU on 19 October 1942; each was equipped with the Spitfire PR.Mk.IV.
- Citations
- ^ Ashworth 1992, Appendix II
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 264.
- Delve 1994, p. 51.
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 282.
- ^ Lake 1999, pp. 29-30.
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 182.
- Lake 1999, p. 183.
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 270.
- ^ Lake 1999, pp. 270-271.
- ^ Ashworth 1992, Appendix III
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 256.
- Lake 1999, p. 48.
- ^ Ashworth 1992, Appendix IV
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 87.
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 259.
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 260.
- Lake 1999, pp. 87-88.
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 257.
- ^ "Consolidated PBY Catalina in US Navy Service".
- ^ Ashworth 1992, Appendix V
- name="RCAF Squadron Histories and Aircraft, Kostenuk, Griffin"
- ^ name=RCAF Squadron Histories and Aircraft, Kostenuk, Griffin
- ^ Matusiak 2007, p. 21.
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 262.
- Lake 1999, p. 90.
- ^ Lake 1999, p. 255.
- ^ Lake 1999, pp. 255-256.
- Lake 1999, p. 146.
- See also Order of battle 6 June 1944, including Nos 4,5,6,7,9, 131, 132 OTUs and . .
- Lake 1999, p. 99.
- Bibliography
- Ashworth, Chris. RAF Coastal Command: 1936–1969. Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1992. ISBN 1-85260-345-3
- Blumenson, Martin & Greenfield, Ken. Command Decisions. United States Government Printing. 1984. ISBN 978-0-16-001912-8
- Buckley, John. The RAF and Trade Defence, 1919–1945: Constant Endeavour. Ryburn Publishing. 1995. ISBN 1-85331-069-7
- Buckley, John. Air Power in the Age of Total War. UCL Press. 1998. ISBN 1-85728-589-1.
- Blair, Clay. Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942 Cassel & Co. 1996. ISBN 0-304-35260-8
- Blair, Clay. Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–1945. Cassel & Co. 1996. ISBN 0-304-35261-6
- Bowyer, Chaz. Coastal Command at War. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-7110-0980-5.
- Corum, James. The Luftwaffe: Creating the Operational Air War, 1918–1940. Kansas University Press. 1997. ISBN 978-0-7006-0836-2
- de la Ferté, Philiip Joubert. The Birds and the Fishes: The Story of Coastal Command. Hutchinson. 1960. (No ISBN)
- Delve, Ken. The Source Book of the RAF. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 1994. ISBN 1-85310-451-5.
- Forczyk, Robert. Fw 200 Condor Vs Atlantic Convoys, 1941–1943. Osprey Publications. 2010. ISBN 978-1-84603-917-1
- Goulter, Christina. A Forgotten Offensive: Royal Air Force Coastal Command's Anti-Shipping Campaign, 1940–1945. Frank & Cass. London. 2005. ISBN 0-7146-4147-2.
- Hendrie, Andrew. The Cinderella Service: RAF Coastal Command 1939–1945. Pen & Sword Aviation. 2006. ISBN 978-1-84415-346-6.
- Hyde, H. Montgomery. British Air Policy Between the Wars, 1918–1939. Heineman 1977. ISBN 0-434-47983-7.
- Kostenuk S. Griffin J. RCAF Squadron Histories and Aircraft, Samuel Stevens Hakkert & Company, 1977. ISBN 0-88866-577-6
- Lake, Alan. Flying Units of the RAF: The ancestry, formation and disbandment of all flying units from 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-84037-086-6.
- March, Daniel J. British Warplanes of World War II. Rochester, Kent, UK: Grange Books, 1998. ISBN 1-84013-391-0.
- Matusiak, Wojtek. Merlin PR Spitfires (Classic Warbirds No. 10). Wellington, New Zealand: Ventura Publications, 2007. ISBN 0-9582296-2-7.
- Nesbit, Roy Conyers. Coastal Command in Action, 1939–1945. Budding Books. 2000 (2nd Edition). ISBN 1-84015-112-9
- Rawlings, John D.R. Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London, Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982. ISBN 0-7106-0187-5.
- Saunders, Hilary Aidan St. George and Denis Richards. Royal Air Force, 1939–1945. Volume III: The Fight is Won. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1975. ISBN 0-11-771594-8.
- Terraine, John. Business in Great Waters: The U-Boat Wars, 1916–1945. Leo Cooper. London. 1989. ISBN 0-85052-760-0