No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group is a

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

within the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, currently based at

Al Udeid Air Base Al Udeid Air Base ( ar, قاعدة العديد الجوية) is one of two military bases southwest of Doha, Qatar, also known as Abu Nakhlah Airport (). It houses the Qatar Emiri Air Force, United States Air Force, Royal Air Force, and othe ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. Originally formed in 1943, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it formed part of the

2nd Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...

(2TAF) and was known as No. 83 (Composite) Group. It provided support to Allied forces during the

liberation of Europe The final battle of the European Theatre of World War II continued after the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945 in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German dictator Adolf ...

. After being disbanded in 1946 it was re-established as No. 83 Group in 1952 to lead the 2TAF's units in Germany, until it disbanded again in 1958. On 1 April 2006 it was reformed as No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group Headquarters, to lead UK air operations in the Middle East. Activities include Operations Kipion (the UK's maritime presence in the Middle East) and

Operation Shader Operation Shader is the operational code name given to the contribution of the United Kingdom in the ongoing military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The operation involves the British Army providing ground s ...

(the UK's part of the

military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant In response to rapid territorial gains made by the so-called Islamic State during the first half of 2014, and its universally condemned executions, reported human rights abuses and the fear of further spillovers of the Syrian Civil War, many st ...

(ISIL)).

History

No. 83 (Composite) Group

No. 83 (Composite) Group was formed on 1 April 1943 within the

Second Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...

of the

. By the eve of the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

landings in June 1944 , No. 83 Group had grown to a strength of twenty-nine fighter,

ground-attack In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as Airstrike, air strikes by Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed or rotorcraft, rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration ...

and

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

squadrons and four

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

observation squadrons, grouped into ten wings. At the time of D-Day, the group consisted of: * No. 39 Reconnaissance Wing RCAF *

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and i ...

fighter-bombers ** No. 121 (Rocket Projectile) Wing RAF at Holmsley South ** No. 124 (Rocket Projectile) Wing RAF at Hurn ** No. 129 (Fighter Bomber) Wing RAF at Westhampnett ** No. 143 (RCAF) (Fighter) Wing RAF at Hurn *

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

fighters ** No. 125 (Fighter) Wing RAF at Ford ** No. 126 (RCAF) (Fighter) Wing RAF at Tangmere ** No. 127 (RCAF) (Fighter) Wing RAF at Tangmere ** No. 144 (RCAF) (Fighter) Wing RAF at Ford *

North American Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James H ...

s ** No. 122 (Rocket Projectile) Wing RAF at Funtington Other group units can be seen a

and included

No. 83 Group Support Unit RAF No. 83 Group Support Unit RAF was a "holding unit" for aircraft and pilots in WW2, supplying them to operational RAF combat squadrons. History No 83 SGU was formed in March 1944 at RAF Redhill, and was there until 25 June 1944 later moving to RAF ...

, which was located at

RAF Redhill Redhill Aerodrome is an operational general aviation aerodrome located south-east of Redhill, Surrey, England, in green belt land. Redhill Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P421) that allows flights for the public transport of p ...

on D-Day. The Group headquarters was at

RAF Eindhoven The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

from 1 October 1944 to 10 April 1945. The group was absorbed into No. 84 Group RAF on 21 April 1946.

No. 83 Group

No. 83 Group was re-formed on 9 July 1952 within the

in Germany to control its southern area. By 1956, the group controlled five wings with a total of fourteen squadrons equipped with

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...

day fighters,

de Havilland Venom The de Havilland DH 112 Venom is a British post-war single-engined jet aircraft developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Much of its design was derived from the de Havilland Vampire, the firm's first jet-powered combat ...

fighter-bombers,

Supermarine Swift The Supermarine Swift is a British single-seat jet fighter aircraft that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was developed and manufactured by Supermarine during the 1940s and 1950s. The Swift featured many of the new jet age innova ...

fighter-reconnaissance aircraft,

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

night-fighters and

English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...

interdiction and reconnaissance aircraft. It was disbanded again on 16 June 1958. On 1 July 1956, No. 83 Group directed wings at

RAF Bruggen Royal Air Force Brüggen, more commonly known as RAF Brüggen, in Germany was a major station of the Royal Air Force until 15 June 2001. It was situated next to the village of Elmpt, approximately west of Düsseldorf on the Dutch-German bo ...

RAF Celle Celle Air Base German: ''Heeresflugplatz Celle'' is a military airbase of the German Army. The airfield is situated southwest of the city of Celle, Lower Saxony, Germany. It was opened in 1934 and has been in military use ever since. Today the a ...

RAF Geilenkirchen Royal Air Force Geilenkirchen, more commonly known as RAF Geilenkirchen, was a Royal Air Force station in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, built by the British who used the facility mainly as an airfield for RAF fighter squadrons ...

RAF Wahn Cologne Bonn Airport (german: Flughafen Köln/Bonn 'Konrad Adenauer') is the international airport of Germany's fourth-largest city Cologne, and also serves Bonn, former capital of West Germany. With around 12.4 million passengers passing thro ...

, and

RAF Wildenrath Royal Air Force Wildenrath, commonly known as RAF Wildenrath, was a Royal Air Force (RAF) military airbase near Wildenrath in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, that operated from 1952 to 1992. Wildenrath was the first of four 'clutch' stations ...

Current operations

No. 83 Group was re-formed on 1 April 2006 from the UK Air Component Headquarters in the Middle East. It comprised No. 901 Expeditionary Air Wing in the Middle East and

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and No. 902 Expeditionary Air Wing at

Seeb Al-Seeb, As Seeb or As Sib ( ar, السيب) is a coastal fishing city, located several kilometres northwest of Muscat, in northeastern Oman. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 470,878. Landmarks include the Naseem Garden, the Royal ...

in Oman. Since that time it has controlled a varying number of

Expeditionary Air Wing On 1 April 2006 Expeditionary Air Wings (EAWs) were formed at nine of the RAF's Main Operating Bases. Each EAW has its own identity and is led by the Station Commander, supported by his Station management team. The deployable elements of the st ...

s. No. 83 Group is based at

. The Air Officer Commanding No. 83 Group is the Air Component Commander in the Middle East. He is responsible to the

Permanent Joint Headquarters The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is the British tri-service headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at Northwood Headquarters in Northwood, London. The Permanent Joint Headquarter ...

for the command and control of all RAF units engaged in Operations Kipion and

Shader In computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that calculates the appropriate levels of light, darkness, and color during the rendering of a 3D scene - a process known as ''shading''. Shaders have evolved to perform a variety of spec ...

. It is currently in charge of: 901 Expeditionary Air Wing * Provides support to No. 83 EAG and home to Joint Force Communication and Information Systems (Middle East). 902 Expeditionary Air Wing *

RAFO Musannah RAFO Musannah , is a Royal Air Force of Oman air base located south west of Barka, Al Batinah South, Oman. History Work started on the new air base in 2005 initially with the building of a helicopter apron and hangar to the northwest of the pr ...

. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing *

RAF Akrotiri RAF Akrotiri ( el, Βασιλική Πολεμική Αεροπορία Ακρωτηρίου) is a large Royal Air Force base on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which compr ...

Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 The Eurofighter Typhoon is in service with seven nations: United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Austria. It has been ordered by Kuwait and Qatar, with orders for all eight customers still pending as of September 2017. Th ...

, Lockheed C-130J Hercules,

Airbus A400M Atlas The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military (now Airbus Defence and Space) as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabil ...

and

Airbus Voyager The Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) is a European aerial refuelling and military transport aircraft based on the civilian Airbus A330. A total of 16 countries have placed firm orders for approximately 68 aircraft, of which 51 ha ...

. 906 Expeditionary Air Wing *

Al Minhad Air Base Al Minhad Air Base ( ar, قاعدة المنهاد الجوية, , also just Minhad Air Base) is a military installation in the United Arab Emirates. The base is located approximately south of Dubai and is operated by the United Arab Emirates Air ...

Commanders

1943 to 1946

Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

W F Dickson, 4 April 1943 – 25 March 1944 * AVM H Broadhurst, 25 March 1944 – 1 September 1945 * AVM T C Traill, 9 September 1945 – 21 April 1946

1952 to 1958

* Air Commodore R B Lees, 8 September 1952 – 22 August 1955. * AVM H A V Hogan, 22 August 1955 – 16 June 1958.

2006 to present

* Air Commodore B M North, 1 April 2006 – 13 September 2006 * Air Commodore C A Bairsto, 13 September 2006 – 12 January 2007 * Air Commodore P Oborn, 12 January 2007 – 10 July 2007 * Air Commodore M J Harwood, 10 July 2007 – 16 August 2008 * Air Commodore A S Barmby, 16 August 2008 – 22 May 2009 * Air Commodore S D Atha, 22 May 2009 – 31 January 2010 * Air Commodore K B McCann, 31 January 2010 – 6 January 2011 * Air Commodore A D Stevenson, 6 January 2011 – 15 December 2011 * Air Commodore S D Forward, 15 December 2011 – 21 December 2012 * Air Commodore P J Beach, 21 December 2012 – 14 December 2013 * Air Commodore A Gillespie, 14 December 2013 – 1 December 2014 * Air Commodore M Sampson, 1 December 2014 – 23 October 2016 * Air Commodore John J Stringer, 23 October 2016 – 22 October 2017 * Air Commodore R J Dennis, 22 October 2017 – 21 October 2018 * Air Commodore Justin Reuter, 21 October 2018 – 20 October 2019 * Air Commodore Tim Jones, 20 October 2019 – September 2020 * Air Commodore Simon Strasdin, September 2020 – September 2021 * Air Commodore Mark Farrell, September 2021 –

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

* {{official, https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/groups/no-83-expeditionary-air-group/ *Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation
Groups 70 – 106
accessed 1 June 2008 Military units and formations established in 1943 083 British forces in Germany Royal Air Force groups of the Second World War