No. 5 Wing of 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 ...
was a
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
of aircraft squadrons which was originally established as the Fifth Wing of the
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
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. Currently inactive, the wing has been formed and disbanded five times over the course of its history.
First World War
The Fifth (Corps) Wing of the
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
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was one of the earliest
wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
to be established. On 15 April 1915
No. 8 Squadron and
No. 13 Squadron of the RFC were grouped together at
Fort Grange
Fort Grange is one of the Palmerston Forts, in Gosport, England. After Gomer and Elson forts had been approved in 1852, further consideration led to a decision to fill the gap between them by three more forts, and Grange is the most southerly of ...
,
Gosport
Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...
to form the 5th Wing. Major
L.E.O. Charlton, No. 8 Squadron commander, temporarily took command of the Wing until he travelled to France.
Middle East
In November 1915 the 5th Wing, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
W. G. H. Salmond, arrived in the Middle East. At this time it consisted of
No. 14 Squadron,
No. 17 Squadron and an aircraft park. Between June 1916 and October 1917,
No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps – which was known as 67 Squadron in British military circles (to avoid confusion with similarly named RFC and RNAS units) – was also part of the wing.
In February 1916, 5th Wing HQ was at Ismailia, with auxiliary aerodromes for Nos 14 and 17 Squadrons (flying mostly
BE2c aircraft) at
Heliopolis,
El Qantara
El Qantara ( ar, القنطرة, al qantara, the bridge) is a northeastern Egyptian city on both sides of the Suez Canal, in the Egyptian governorate of Ismailia, northeast of Cairo and south of Port Said. The two parts of the city are connec ...
and
Suez
Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...
. X Aircraft Park for repair and supply was at
Abbasia. Unusually, the Qantara flight of No. 14 Sqn was made self-sufficient by being given 80 camels to transport petrol, and a number of sand carts for hauling tents and aircraft spares.
At the opening of the
Second Battle of Gaza
The Second Battle of Gaza was fought on 17-19 April 1917, following the defeat of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) at the First Battle of Gaza in March, during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. Gaza was defended by t ...
(19 April 1917), 5th Wing was disposed as follows:
![IWMQ15841AerodromeIsmailia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/IWMQ15841AerodromeIsmailia.jpeg)
* Wing HQ at
Rafah
Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestinian ...
* Advanced HQ at
Deir al-Balah
Deir al-Balah or Deir al Balah ( ar, دير البلح, , Monastery of the Date Palm) is a Palestinian city in the central Gaza Strip and the administrative capital of the Deir el-Balah Governorate. It is located over south of Gaza City. The ci ...
* No 14 Sqn, HQ and A Flight at Rafah
** B Flight at Deir el Balah
* No 67 Sqn, AFC, at Rafah
* X Aircraft Park at Abbasia
* Advanced Aircraft Park at El Qantara
The wing had 25 aircraft at its disposal: 17 BE2s and 8
Martinsyde
Martinsyde was a British aircraft and motorcycle manufacturer between 1908 and 1922, when it was forced into liquidation by a factory fire.
History
The company was first formed in 1908 as a partnership between H.P. Martin and George Handasyde ...
s. A further 5 aircraft were detached to Arabia. Although the Martinsydes were the best fighting machines available, they were prone to overheating in the hot climate, and were inferior to the two German
Halberstadts that had caused several casualties during the
First Battle of Gaza
The First Battle of Gaza was fought on 26 March 1917 during the first attempt by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), which was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from th ...
.
In October 1917, before the
Third Battle of Gaza
The Third Battle of Gaza was fought on the night of 1–2 November 1917 between British and Ottoman forces during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I and came after the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) victory at the ...
, 5th Wing consisted of Nos 14 (16 BE2e) and 113 Sqn (8 BE2e, 5
RE8) and was now under the command of Palestine Brigade, RFC. In September 1918, at the time of the victory of
Megiddo Megiddo may refer to:
Places and sites in Israel
* Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley
* Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel
* Megiddo church (Israel)
* Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel
* Megiddo Junction, ...
, it comprised:
* Wing HQ at
Er-Ramleh
Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations.
The city was f ...
* No 14 Sqn at Junction Station – 16 RE8s, 3
Nieuport Scout
The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier ...
s
*
No 113 Sqn at Sarona – 16 RE8s, 5 Nieuports
*
No 142 Sqn at Sarona – 7
Armstrong-Whitworth F.K.8
The Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 was a British two-seat general-purpose biplane built by Armstrong Whitworth during the First World War. The type served alongside the better known R.E.8 until the end of the war, at which point 694 F.K.8s remained ...
s
** Detached flight at
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
– 5 RE8s
When hostilities ended the Fifth Wing was headquartered at RAF Ramleh in Palestine. The 5th Wing was disbanded on 1 April 1920.
[Wings 1–50 at Air of Authority.]
/ref>
Commanders
*15 April 1915 L E O Charlton
*November 1915 Lieutenant-Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
W G H Salmond
*1 July 1916 Lieutenant-Colonel P B Joubert de la Ferté
*5 February 1917 Lieutenant-Colonel A E Borton
*8 October 1917 Lieutenant-Colonel C S Burnett]
1923 to 1924
No. 5 Wing was reformed on 1 April 1923 and its function was to control all RAF fighter squadrons north of the River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
. On 30 April, Wing Commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...
John Tyssen
Air Vice-Marshal John Hugh Samuel Tyssen, (20 June 1889 – 4 January 1953) was a British Royal Flying Corps pilot during the First World War and a senior Royal Air Force commander during the first half of the Second World War
Wor ...
was appointed as the Officer Commanding.[Tyssen at Air of Authority.]
/ref> However, this period of the Wing's existence was short-lived and it was disbanded in April 1924.[
]
Commanders
*30 April 1923 Wing Commander J H S Tyssen[
]
1935 to 1936
Following the tensions surrounding the Abyssinia Crisis
The Abyssinia Crisis (; ) was an international crisis in 1935 that originated in what was called the Walwal incident during the ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia (then commonly known as "Abyssinia"). The Leag ...
, the Wing was reformed on 26 October 1935. The Officer Commanding was Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...
Raymond Collishaw
Raymond Collishaw, (22 November 1893 – 28 September 1976) was a distinguished Canadian fighter pilot, squadron leader, and commanding officer who served in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and later the Royal Air Force. He was the highest ...
.Collishaw at Air of Authority.
/ref> It controlled No. 3 Squadron RAF
Number 3 Squadron, also known as No. 3 (Fighter) Squadron, of the Royal Air Force operates the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, since reforming on 1 April 2006. It was first formed on 13 May 1912 as one of the first squ ...
, No. 35 Squadron RAF, No. 47 Squadron RAF and No. 207 Squadron RAF
("Always prepared")Halley 1988, p. 268.
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during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...
. The Wing was disbanded on 14 August 1936.[
]
Second World War
During the first year of 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 ...
(13 December 1939 to 6 July 1940, after the Dunkirk evacuation
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...
) No. 5 Wing was responsible for controlling radar units based in France.[
]
1953 to 1966
No. 5 Wing was a Signals Wing within the RAF 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, ...
based in West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, its last base was RAF Butzweilerhof
Royal Air Force Station Butzweilerhof, commonly known as RAF Butzweilerhof was a Royal Air Force station in the middle west of Germany situated in the northern suburbs of Cologne (german: Köln). The station's motto was ''Per Vires Pax'', and the ...
.[
]
See also
* List of Wings of the Royal Air Force
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
* David L. Bullock, ''Allenby's War: The Palestine-Arabian Campaigns 1916–1918'', London: Blandford Press, 1988, .
* Lt-Gen Sir George MacMunn & Capt Cyril Falls
Cyril Bentham Falls CBE (2 March 1888 – 23 April 1971) was a 20th Century British military historian, journalist, and academic, noted for his works on the First World War.
Early life
Falls was born in Dublin, Ireland, on 2 March 1888, the eld ...
, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, Egypt and Palestine'', Vol I, ''From the Outbreak of War with Germany to June 1917'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1928/Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, 1992, .
External sources
Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation
RAF Museum
No 8 Squadron
{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 5 Wing Raf
Royal Flying Corps wings
Royal Air Force wings
Military units and formations established in 1915
Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War I
1915 establishments in England