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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0277.PDF
FLIGHT, 1 March 1957 279 BELOW SQUADRON STATUS Amter A.O.P.6 ofNo. 7960 Flight. An Outline History of R.A.F. and F.A.A. "Flights"—Part 2* By R. C. STURT1VANT AS the 1400 series came to a close, in 1942, the 1500 series and£\ 1600 series began. It must be realized, however, that the •*- -*- numbers were not always used in sequence. Reservation ofblocks for specific types of units resulted in new units having several possible numbers. Another factor was that, in accordancewith the policy of avoiding duplication of unit numbers, no flights were given numbers corresponding with those of ConversionUnits, i.e., 1331/1336, 1380/1385, 1584, 1651/1675 and 1699. Moreover, even where numbers were allocated in sequence, thedelay between conception and realization often resulted in some numbers being taken up apparently out of turn. The 1500 series started as a continuation of the 1400 series,1508 being an acclimatization flight, aircraft being coded "UQ." Then came a large block reserved for beam approach trainingflights and, later, radio-aids training flights. These were all equipped with Oxfords, carrying yellow-triangle identificationmarkings. The majority of these units were attached to a larger training unit, such as a (pilot) advanced flying unit, and in somecases originated as part of one. Latterly, some of these units had their Oxfords supplemented by Ansons. Amongst the longest-lived of wartime units, the last of these flights did not close down until 1947. Such B.A.T. and R.A.T. Flights as survived in thepost-war period adopted the code markings of the particular Command in which they served. These flights included 1509B.A.T. Flight at Dyce (1942); 1510 B.A.T. Flight at Leuchars (1941) and Bircham Newton (1947—code "RF"); 1511 B.A.T.Flight (1946—code "FKA"); 1513 R.A.T. Flight with 1381 T.C.U. at Bramcote (1945/6—code "LL"); 1514 B.A.T. Flight at Con-ingsby (1943); 1516 R.A.T. Flight at Snaith (1946—code "QW"); 1517 B.A.T. Flight at Chipping Norton with 6(P)A.F.U. (1943); 1518 B.A.T. Flight with 8 S.F.T.S. at Edzell (1944); 1521 R.A.T.Flight C1946—code "J6"); 1523 B.A.T. Flight at Great Rissington; 1525 B.A.T. Flight at Docking (1944/5); 1527 B.A.T. Flight atPrestwick (1945), later an R.A.T. Flight (code "PY"); 1528 R.A.T. Flight at Wittering (code "YM"); 1529 R.A.T. Flight at St.Mawgan (1944/5—code "GL"); 1531 B.A.T. Flight with 12(P)A.F.U. at Cranage (1944); 1532 B.A.T. Flight with15(P)A.F.U. at Babdown Farm (1943); 1537 B.A.T. Flight at Little Rissington (1946—code "FKD"); 1542 B.A.T. Flight with14(P)A.F.U. at Dallachy; 1546 B.A.T. Flight with 20(P)A.F.U. at Kidlington, Weston-on-the-Green and Snitterfield (1943/4);1547 B.A.T. Flight with No. 1 Beam Approach School at Watch- field (1945/6—code "FKF"); 1552 B.A.B.S. Flight or R.A.T.Flight at Membury and Wratting Common (1945/6—codes "ER," "PN" and "SS"; aircraft SS-J to SS-M detached to Merryfield);1555 R.A.T. Flight (code "DR"); 1556 R.A.T. Flight (1946—code "VT"); and 1557 R.A.T. Flight (1946—code "AB"). Sequence -Resumed Ths normal sequence was then resumed with a block (Nos.1561 to 1566) allocated to a further series of Met. Flights. Nos. 1561 and 1562 were based in the United Kingdom, being coded"VM" and "B9" respectively, whilst the remaining four served in the Far East, 1565 Met. Flight having Hurricanes and theother three Gladiators. Nos. 1563 and 1564 Flights were attached to 212 Group in North Africa in 1942/43, 1563 Flight eventuallyreceiving Spitfires (Mk 5B and 8). No. 1565 Met. Flight formed part of 259 Wing in the Levant, whilst 1566 Flight came underH Q. British Forces, Aden, and was stationed at Hiswa. The remaining flights in the 1500 series were formed in the MiddleEast and Far East, the majority of them in India. Three ground gunnery flights in India were numbered 1571/1573, of which1572 Flight at St. Thomas Mount (Madras) eventually became No. 21 Armament Practice Camp. Nos. 1575 and 1576 wereboth Special Duties Flights. No. 1575 S.D. Flight formed in the summer of 1943 from a detachment of 138 Son. at Blidaunder the command of F/L. J. Austin, D.F.C. and Bar. Its purpose was to open up resistance in Corsica, equipment beingmainly Halifax B.2 Series 1 and B.5 Series 1, but Venturas were also flown. A rapid increase in this unit's work soon resultedin its redesignation as 624 Sqn. In India, its opposite number, 1576 S.D. Flight, was formed around the same period with four or five Hudsons at Chaklala. Commanded by F/L. J. King, itdivided its time between dropping agents deep in Burma and helping to train supply-droppers at Chaklala. It was eventuallyredesignated 357 Sqn. No. 1577 Airborne Experimental Flight served at Mauripur,Dhamial, and Chaklala and in Southern India. Two calibration Flights were numbered 1580 and 1583. No. 1580 formed atYelahanka, moving to Cholavarum on September 1, whilst the latter was based successively at Akyab, Sambre (from August1945), and Trichinopoly. Yet another S.D. Flight, No. 1586, was manned exclusively by Polish personnel. Operating with 334Wing, it flew from Derna, and afterwards Brindisi, flying Liber- ators, and later Halifax C.8's, coded "GR." At one period itabsorbed 301 (Polish) Sqn, and when that unit eventually returned to full strength in England, 1586 operated as a detachedflight of it, remaining in Italy. No. 1587 A.O.P. Refresher Flight was attached to the Army at Deolali, whilst 1588 Heavy FreightFlight flew Stirling C.5 transports (carrying Transport Com- mand code "ORT") from Santa Cruz (Bombay) and in Malaya. Special-duty Units Simultaneously, the 1600 series was in use, largely for specific-duty blocks. In November 1942, a re-organization of anti- aircraft training units resulted in the disbandment of the variousflights of No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit and their replacement by independent flights. These flights of No. 1A.A.C.U. had been formed early in the war and were designated "A" Flight, "B" Flight, etc., extending to "X" Flight. Basicequipment was the Hawker Henley T.T.3, but other types in use included the Defiant, Queen Bee, Battle, Magister, TigerMoth, Lysander and Blenheim. The new flights were numbered from around 1600 onwards, and were designated target-towingflights. Typical of them were 1611 and 1612 T.T. Flights. These started life as "K" and "M" Flights respectively of No. 1A.A.C.U., the former originating at Weston Zoyland early in the war. It soon moved to Bircham Newton, where it was joinedby the newly formed "M" Flight. In December 1941 both flights moved to Langham. Markings were various, but for alengthy period the Henleys and Defiants, in common with air- craft of die other flights of No. 1 A.A.C.U., carried markingsdenoting their unit identity, "K" Flight aircraft being coded "Kl," and those of "M" Flight "Ml." Soon the flights moved back to Bircham Newton, andOxfords and Hurricanes were added to their equipment. A few months later, a further re-organization took place; the T.T.Flights were disbanded and their places taken by A.A.C. squad- rons. Under this change, 1611 and 1612 T.T. Flight were amalga-mated to become 695 (A.A.C.) Sqn. Owing to the extremely short period of their existence, details of the numbers of theseflights are obscure, but the following flights of No. 1 A.A.C.U. probably became 1600 series T.T. flights:—"A" Flight (WestonZoyland and Cleave), "B" Flight (Carew Cheriton and Bodorgan) became 1606 T.T. Flight, "E" Flight (West Freugh), "F" Flight(Squires Gate and Cark), "H" Flight (Ipswich and Martlesham Heath), "J" Flight (Twinwood Farm), "L" Flight (Aberporth),"N" Flight (West Hartlepool), "R" Flight (Cark; used code "T7" on its Martinets after becoming a T.T. Flight), "T" Flight(Towyn and Weybourne), "X" Flight (Weybourne and Watchet), and other flights stationed at Greetham, Manorbier, Merston andTurnhouse. No. 1641 Flight existed in the United Kingdom at the end ofthe war, aircraft being coded "MW" and No. 1677 T.T. Flight, based at Netheravon, flew Martinets and used code "HM."No. 1678 Heavy Conversion Flight was formed at Foulsham in September 1943, using Lancaster 2s coded "SW," and wasattached to 514 Sqn. On November 23, 1943, it moved to Water- beach, where it became "A" Flight of 514 Sqn. in the followingApril. No. 1680 Flight was formed at Coleme for transport duties, using Harrows coded "BJ." It was later redesignated271 Sqn., and the number re-allocated to 1680 Comm. Flight. * Part 1 appeared in "Flight" of February IS.
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