706 Naval Air Squadron (706 NAS) was a

Naval Air Squadron A naval air squadron (NAS) is the title of naval aviation squadrons in some countries. Poland The Polish ''Morski Dywizjon Lotniczy'' #Naval Air Squadron# was formed in 1920 with two ''Escadrille''s# United Kingdom The squadrons of the Fleet Air ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

. Established as a fighter and torpedo-bomber training unit in Australia at the end of World War Two, it was briefly reformed as a helicopter squadron in the early 1950s, before becoming a helicopter training unit in 1962, and operating until 1998.

First formation

The squadron was formed in the UK in January 1945 and sailed for Australia where it was officially commissioned on 10 April 1945 at RNAS Schofields () near

Schofields, New South Wales Schofields is a suburb on the fringe of Sydney's urban sprawl, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Schofields is located north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Blacktown local government area. It is part of Greater ...

. It operated as a refresher training and conversion unit for the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships ...

, flying the

Grumman Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracuda ...

, Vought Corsair,

Fairey Firefly The Fairey Firefly is a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft that was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was developed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviatio ...

Grumman Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

and

Supermarine Seafire The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised version of the Spitfire's stablemate, the Hawker Hurri ...

. In late August, following the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

, the unit was transferred to a base at

Maryborough, Queensland Maryborough ( ) is a city and a suburb in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Maryborough had a population of 15,287. Geography Maryborough is located on the Mary River in Queensland, Australia, approximate ...

, and in October moved again to at

Nowra, New South Wales Nowra is a city in the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated popula ...

. In January 1946 the unit returned to Schofields, and was disbanded on 31 May 1946.

Second formation

The squadron was reformed at RNAS Gosport on 7 September 1953 flying the Westland Whirlwind HAS.22 ASW helicopter and the Hiller HT.1. In October 1953 it moved to Northern Ireland, firstly to RNAS Sydenham near Belfast, then in February 1954 to

RNAS Eglinton Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton or RNAS Eglinton was a Royal Naval Air Station located north east of Eglinton, County Londonderry, Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It opened as a Royal Air Force Station (RAF Eglinton) in 1941, be ...

, being occasionally based aboard . The squadron was disbanded on 1 March 1954, and its aircraft were transferred to

845 Naval Air Squadron 845 Naval Air Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Part of the Commando Helicopter Force, it is a specialist amphibious unit operating the AgustaWestland Commando Merlin HC4 helicopter and provides troop transport and load ...

Third formation

In January 1962 the squadron was reformed for a second time as a helicopter training unit at

RNAS Culdrose Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (RNAS Culdrose, also known as HMS ''Seahawk''; ICAO: EGDR) is a Royal Navy airbase near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall UK, and is one of the largest helicopter bases in Europe. Its main role is ser ...

flying the Westland Wessex HAS.1. 706 Squadron's B Flight was formed at Culdrose on 7 January 1964 and equipped with the Wessex and Hiller HT.2 to operate in the Commando Assault role, but was incorporated into 845 Squadron when it arrived in Borneo to take part in the

Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation (also known by its Indonesian / Malay name, ''Konfrontasi'') was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the Federation of ...

. In November 1964 the squadron received

Westland Wasp HAS.1 The Westland Wasp is a small 1960s British turbine powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter. Produced by Westland Helicopters, it came from the same Saro P.531, P.531 programme as the British Army Westland Scout, and is based on the earli ...

's for advanced training. In January 1970 it converted to the Westland Sea King HAS.1, and in February 1975 Wasp training was transferred to 703 Squadron. From February 1978 until April 1993 it was administrative host for the Royal Air Force's Sea King Training Unit. The squadron continued with Sea King flying training, with sea training conducted aboard , until disbanded in February 1998.

Aircraft flown

The squadron operated a variety of different aircraft and versions: *

I, II & III *

II * Vought Corsair II & IV *

I *

I & II *

III & XV * Hiller HT.1 *

Westland Whirlwind Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila, ...

HAS.2 *

Westland Wessex The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34 (in US service known as Choctaw). It was developed and produced under licence by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters). One of the main changes ...

HAS.1 & HAS.3 *

Westland Wasp The Westland Wasp is a small 1960s British turbine powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter. Produced by Westland Helicopters, it came from the same P.531 programme as the British Army Westland Scout, and is based on the earlier piston-e ...

HAS.1 *

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engin ...

HAS.1, HAS.2/2A, HAR.3, HAS.5 & HAS.6

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Air squadrons of the Royal Navy in World War II Military units and formations established in 1945