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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0278.PDF
280 FLIGHT, 1 March 1957 BELOW SQUADRON STATUS . . . This unit operated from Prestwick, ferrying V.I.P.s to theHebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands. Basic equipment was the de Havilland Dominie, later supplemented by Dakotas.The next batch of numbers was allocated to Bomber (Defence) Training Flights. These units were employed on fighter affilia-tion duties, usually in conjunction with a conversion unit or operational training unit, and flew various types of fightersincluding Tomahawks, Hurricanes, Spitfires and Beaufighters. No. 1681 B.(D.)T. Flight was stationed at Pershore, Honey-bourne, Long Marston, and Kinloss; 1682 Flight at Moreton-in- the-Marsh and Enstone; 1683 Flight at Market Harborough;1684 Flight at Wing; 1685 Flight at Ossington; 1686 Flight at Hixon and Bourne (with No. 8 Group); and 1687 Flight atHemswell and Ingham, with No. 1 Group (aircraft coded "4E"). No. 1688 B.(D.)T. Flight flew successively from Newmarket,Feltwell, and Wyton, in No. 3 Group. Its aircraft, coded "6H," included Spitfire 5Bs and 5Cs, Martinets, Hurricane 2Cs, anda Tiger Moth. No. 1689 B.(D.)T. Flight flew uncoded Hurricane 2Cs from Holme-on-Spalding-Moor in No. 4 Group, whilst1690 Flight used Scampton, Metheringham, and Swinderby, in No. 5 Group. In No. 100 Group, 1692 B.(D.)T. Flight flewBeaufighter NF.ls, 2s and 6s from Drem, and later Little Snor- ing. The remaining B.(D.)T. Flights were 1693 at Sumburgh,1694 at Great Massingham, 1695 at Dalton and 1696 at Grans- den Lodge. At the end of the war No. 1689 was re-allocated toan offshoot of 20 M.U. at Aston Down. This unit, No. 1689 Ferry Pool Pilot Training Flight, employed a variety of aircraft,all carrying code "9X." These included the Wellington T.10; Proctor C.2 and 3; Harvard T.2B; Argus C.2; Anson CIO, C.12and C.19; Oxford C.2; Spitfire L.F.16E; Lancaster B.7/FE and Mosquito T.3. In May 1944, No. 1697 Air Delivery LetterService Flight was formed at Northolt. As the Second Front got under way, it operated, as its title suggests, an air-deliveryletter service between London and various European capitals. Aircraft, coded "U7," were Hurricane 2s and later Anson IsThe unit was later renamed the A.D.L.S. Squadron. Progress Blocked Thus, with No. 1699 allocated to a (B.S.) C.U. at Oulton, thisseries ended. Unfortunately, further progress in this direction was blocked, as Nos. 1700 to 1899 had been reserved for newsquadrons in the now greatly expanded Fleet Air Arm. Resort therefore had to be made to an earlier block which had not yetbeen allocated—1300/1399. This new series began with yet another set of Met. Flights, this time in India. Numbered1300/1303, they included one at Nagpur (No. 1301), and one at Yelahanka (No. 1302). The second flight moved later to St.Thomas Mount. In the United Kingdom, No. 1315 Flight was employed on Transport duties at Merryneld, flying Dakotas.No. 1316 Flight used code "WK." No. 1318 (Comm.) Flight was based at Nassau, in the Bahamas, and No. 1320 Flight, withTyphoons, formed part of the Air Spotting Pool for 2nd T.A.F. during the Normandy landings. No. 1323 Flight used codeletters "QF." In India appeared two more special-duties flights—Nos.1340 and 1341. The former, using the Harvard T.2 and T.2B and the Vengeance, was formed at Sulur, moving to Cannonoreon October 11, 1945, where it disbanded on March 31, 1946; Mo. 1341 formed at Andby, moving to Digri, Raipur (September1945), and finally to Singapore. No. 1344 Special Signals Flight, with Hurricane 2Cs, formed at Gujrat, moving to Sambre beforedisbanding. There followed a batch of air-sea rescue flights, also in India.Nos. 1347, 1348 and 1349 A.S.R. Flights formed at Agartala from the disbandment of 292 (A.S.R.) Sqn., which had usedWarwicks and Liberators. Of these, 1349 Flight survived until 1946, when it disbanded at Mauripur, having moved there with itsLiberators in the previous October. Nos. 1350 and 1352 A.S.R. Flights also flew in India, the latter being at Mingaladon, inBurma, before moving to St. Thomas Mount in August 1945. In the United Kingdom, the series finally came to a close, amongstthe lasi units being 1353 Flight (code "YE"), and 1359 (Trans- port) Flight, this being the Transport Command V.I.P. Flightat Bassingbourne (code "ZW"). In the post-war period, most of the wartime flights graduallydisappeared, but from time to time new ones arose. The most notable development, however, was the commencement of anew series, 1900 onwards, for A.O.P. flights, consequent on a re-organization of A.O.P. units on a peace-time basis. In thiscountry, 657 Sqn. at Andover was re-organized into two flights, Ncs. 1900 and 1901. No. 1900 Flight was formed from theformer "A" and "B" Flights of 657 Sqn., using Auster A.O P 5s and later A.O.P.6s, whilst 1901 Flight used a number of Hoverfliesin addition. No. 657 Sqn moved to Middle Wallop in 1948, 1900 Flight being affiliated to the 3rd Infantry Division in 1950.In 1951 this flight left 657 Sqn. and was posted to the Middle East as 1900 Independent A.O.P. Flight. In March 1953 it wasagain posted, this time to the Far East, arriving at Hong Kong the following month and being stationed at Shatin, under thecommand of the 40th Infantry Division. In July 1948, 656 Sqn. re-formed at Sembawang with four Flights, Nos. 1902, 1903, 1907and 1914, all with Auster A.O.P.6s. Of these, 1903 Flight moved to Hong Kong in April 1949, transferring to Japan three monthslater, and afterwards taking part in the Korean campaign as an independent A.O.P. flight. On leaving the squadron it wasreplaced by 1911 Light Liaison Flight, the latter operating in support of No. 48 Gurkha Infantry Brigade in Pahang (Malaya)at a later period. No. 1903 Flight returned to the squadron in 1953, as a light liaison flight. No. 1907 Flight also operatedwith the Gurkhas in Malaya, supporting the 26th Gurkha infantry Brigade, whilst 1914 Flight operated from an airstripat Benta in Pahang Province. No. 1910 A.O.P. Flight operated in North Africa, being based at Tripoli, and moving in 1950 toAsmara (Eritrea). Success with the Hoverfly experiments of 1901 Flight led to the more widspread use of helicopters, and inOctober 1951 the first Sycamore flight was formed at Middle Wallop, being designated 1906 A.O.P. Flight. Shortly beforethis, another light liaison flight, No. 1913, had formed at Middle Wallop under the auspices of 657 Sqn., for operationoverseas. It worked up in North Wales, and then embarked for Korea, arriving at Iwakuni (Japan) on October 2, 1951, and latertaking part in the Korean war. Other A.O.P. flights have included 1912 L.L. Flight in Ger-many, and Auxiliary flights in this country now being disbanded. The latter were formed in 1949, grouped into five squadrons.661 Sqn., with H.Q. at Kenley, and also using Henlow (later Horn- church) and Hendon, included 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961Flights; 662 with H.Q. at Colerne and one flight at Middle Wallop comprised 1956, 1962 and 1963 Flights; 663 Sqn. at Hooton Park,with flights at Llandow (later St. Athan), Ringway and Tern- hill (later Castle Bromwich), comprised 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954and 1955 Flights; 664 Sqn. at Hucknall, with flights at Yeadon (later Rufforth), Desford (later Wymeswold) and Ouston, com-prised 1964, 1965, 1969 and 1970 Flights; and 666 Sqn. at Scone, with flights at Turnhouse and Dyce (later Abbotsinch),comprised 1966, 1967 and 1968 Flights. AH used A.O.P.5s and A.O.P.6s, but later equipment has included Tiger Moths, Chip-munks, and Auster T.7s. At one time Reserve Command code markings were carried, 661 Sqn. using code "ROA," 662 Sqn."ROB," 663 Sqn. "ROC," 664 Sqn. "ROD," 666 Sqn. "ROG." These markings were dropped, but recently Fighter Command-type markings have appeared, using variations on the theme of a zig-zag in a rectangle, the colours including red, blue andwhite. In the original series, flights formed since the war include1301 Met. Flight, which reformed at Negombo (Ceylon), in June 1949 with Brigand Met. 3s, and 1312 (Transport Support) Flight,publicized last year as being at Abingdon, and flying Hastings. In accordance with present practice, aircraft of the latter unitnow carry a red and blue diamond on the fin, with the unit number. No. 1340 Flight re-formed at Eastleigh (Nairobi) inMarch 1953 for action against the Mau-Mau. It proved very successful, flying twelve Harvard T.2Bs converted to carry bombs.At Bahrein, 1417 Flight operated Ansons, replacing these in 1955 with Hunting Percival Pembrokes; and at Khormaksar, Aden, 1426Flight is, at the time of writing, operating Lincolns under the command of S/L. D. Smyth. ALLOCATIONS OF FLIGHT NUMBERS: A SUMMARY Block 1- 200 201- 299 300- 352 353- 399 •401- 499 401- 499 400- 499 500- 509 510- 599 600- 620 617- 699 701- 720 700- 799 800- 899 900- 999 1000-1299 1300-1400 1401-1500 1501-1699 1700-17991800-1899 1900-1999 First used 1912 1918 1940 1942 1923 1940 1941 1925 1942 1925 1943 1937 1939 1933 1938 1944 1941 1942 1944 1943 1946 Used by R.F.C. R.A.F. R.A.F. R.A.F. R.A.F. R.A.F. R.A.F. R.A.F. R.A.F. R.A.F. R.A.F. F.A.A. F.A.A. F.A.A. R.A.F. R.A.F. R.A.F. R.A.F. F.A.A.F.A.A. R.A.F. Allocation Normal sqn. series. Ex-naval sqns. Allied sqns. of R.A.F. Certain sqns. formed in India. Naval and coastal flights. Normal flight series. Dominion sqns. of R.A.F. Special Reserve (now Aux.) sqns. Normal service sqns.Auxiliary sqns. Normal sqn. series. Catapult flights. Catapult sqns. and shore- based non-op, sqns. Operational sqns. Balloon sqns. Normal flight series. Normal flight series. Normal flight series. Shore-based non-op, sqns. Operational sqns. A.O.P. flights. Remarks Later taken over by R.^ Later merged into nor series. Only progressed to 358. Replaced by sqns. Later all redesignated 1400 series. Only allotted to 504. Only allotted to 616. Later became sqns. Not used. Followed 1600 series. Replaced 400 series. Followed 1400 series. Followed 700 series.Followed 800 series. Manned by Army person
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