Near East Air Force
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The former Royal Air Force Near East Air Force, more simply known as RAF Near East Air Force, was the
Command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...
organisation that controlled all Royal Air Force assets in the Eastern Mediterranean (the Near East).


History

The Command was originally formed as RAF Mediterranean and Middle East (MEDME) on 10 December 1943 to control RAF elements in the Eastern Mediterranean under the command of
Mediterranean Allied Air Forces The Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF) was the major Allies of World War II, Allied air force command organization in the Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres of World War II, Mediterranean theater from mid-December 1943 until the ...
.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Overseas Commands – Middle East & Mediterranean
HQ MEDME was originally located at
Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...
in Italy, where HQ MAAF had been located, but by October 1945 had moved to Cairo. It originally comprised nine subordinate Air Headquarters (AHQs) and four group headquarters. No. 212 (Fighter) Group RAF, subordinate to
AHQ Egypt AHQ often stands for "Air Headquarters" and may refer to * Air H.Q. Air Defences Eastern Mediterranean * Air Headquarters East Africa * Air Headquarters (Pakistan Air Force) * AHQ Iraq * AHQ Levant * AHQ Malta * Desert Air Force * ahq e-Sports Cl ...
, was disbanded on 31 January 1946. AHQ Eastern Mediterranean was absorbed into No. 219 Group RAF on 28 February 1946. As post-war reductions continued, the command was reduced to six AHQs ( AHQ Italy,
AHQ Iraq AHQ Iraq (Air Headquarters Iraq or Air H.Q. Iraq) was a command of the Royal Air Force (RAF). History The command was formed on 1 November 1941 by renaming HQ British Forces in Iraq, the former RAF Iraq Command. AHQ Iraq was renamed AHQ Iraq a ...
, AHQ East Africa, AHQ Greece (under Air Commodore Geoffrey Tuttle in 1944-45),
AHQ Levant Air Headquarters Levant (AHQ Levant) was a command of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) established on 1 December 1941, by renaming the command known as H.Q. RAF Palestine and Transjordan. It controlled RAF units in the Mandate of Palestine and ...
,
AHQ Malta Air Headquarters Malta (AHQ Malta or Air H.Q. Malta) was an overseas command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. It was established on 28 December 1941 by renaming RAF Mediterranean under Air Vice Marshal Hugh Pughe Lloyd, ...
), plus HQ
British Forces Aden British Forces Aden was the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the Aden Protectorate during part of the 20th century. Their purpose was to preserve the security of the Protectorate from both internal threats and external aggressi ...
and
No. 205 Group RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group was a long-range, heavy bomber group of the Royal Air Force (RAF) established on 23 October 1941 by boosting No. 257 Wing RAF, No. 257 Wing to Group status. Tri-force model During the North Africa Campaign in Egypt an ...
at Heliopolis. AHQ Italy was closed in October 1947 and AHQ Greece on 11 January 1947. In Egypt, after the immediate post-war run-down Nos 6 and 213 Squadrons remained flying Tempests at
RAF Shallufa 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 ...
,
No. 13 Squadron RAF Number 13 Squadron, also written as XIII Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which operate the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle from RAF Waddington since reforming on 26 October 2012. The unit first formed as par ...
remained at
RAF Fayid RAF Fayid (LG-211) is a former military airfield in Egypt, approximately south of Ismailia (Al Isma`iliyah) and northeast of Cairo. It was formerly a major Royal Air Force airfield built before World War II, and later used by the Egypti ...
flying Mosquitos, and five transport squadrons with Dakotas (Nos 78, 114, 204, 215, and 216) were at
RAF Kabrit 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 ...
. On 31 July 1945 HQ MEDME was expanded to absorb
RAF Middle East Command Middle East Command was a command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) that was active during the Second World War. It had been preceded by RAF Middle East, which was established in 1918 by the redesignation of HQ Royal Flying Corps Middle East that ha ...
and on 1 June 1949 it was renamed Middle East Air Force. In May 1948 at Kabrit No. 215 Squadron was disbanded by being renumbered No. 70 Squadron RAF. 78 Squadron left Kabrit in 1950 and 114 Squadron was not present after 1951. A Special Communication Squadron was formed at Kabrit in January 1951 but disbanded at Fayid in September 1952. No. 78 Squadron RAF converted to
Vickers Valetta The Vickers Valetta is a twin-engine military transport aircraft developed and produced by the British manufacturing company Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd. Developed from the Vickers VC.1 Viking compact civil airliner, it was an all-metal mid-wing m ...
s in April 1950, before being disbanded at
RAF Fayid RAF Fayid (LG-211) is a former military airfield in Egypt, approximately south of Ismailia (Al Isma`iliyah) and northeast of Cairo. It was formerly a major Royal Air Force airfield built before World War II, and later used by the Egypti ...
in Egypt on 30 September 1954."No 76 - 80 Squadron Histories"
. ''Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation''. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
Rawlings ''Air Pictorial'' April 1961, p. 105. In 1955
No. 216 Squadron RAF Number 216 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, since reforming on 1 April 2020 and is tasked with testing future drone swarm technology. It had previously operated Lockheed TriStar K1, KC1 and C ...
moved from
RAF Fayid RAF Fayid (LG-211) is a former military airfield in Egypt, approximately south of Ismailia (Al Isma`iliyah) and northeast of Cairo. It was formerly a major Royal Air Force airfield built before World War II, and later used by the Egypti ...
in Egypt to
RAF Lyneham Royal Air Force Lyneham otherwise known as RAF Lyneham was a Royal Air Force station located northeast of Chippenham, Wiltshire, and southwest of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The station was the home of all the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transpor ...
. On arrival by ship at Malta in July 1952, No. 78 Wing RAAF, flying Vampires with two additional Meteor Mk. 7s, became part of the MEAF. Wing Commander, later Group Captain
Brian Eaton Air Vice-Marshal Brian Alexander Eaton, (15 December 1916 – 17 October 1992) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in Tasmania and raised in Victoria, he joined the RAAF in 1936 and was promoted ...
commanded the wing. Soon after arrival, the wing came under the Air Officer Commanding Malta. The Wing was at
RAF Hal Far The RAF Hal Far airfield was the first permanent airfield to be built on Malta. It was opened on 1 April 1929 as HMS ''Falcon'', a Royal Navy stone frigate, and was used by Fleet Air Arm crews. It was transferred to the Maltese Government and r ...
(HMS ''Falcon''), and then spent 18 months at
RAF Ta Kali Royal Air Force Ta Kali was a Royal Air Force fighter operations base located on the island of Malta, which started life in 1940 as a diversion airstrip for the main operating bases such as RAF Luqa. Other diversion airstrips similar in functio ...
, moving there in June 1953. As the RAF had previously vacated the station, Takali was 'run like an RAAF base in Australia.' At the end of 1954 the leased aircraft were handed back to the RAF, and the ships back to Australia left in January 1955. At the same time,
No. 14 Squadron RNZAF 14 Squadron RNZAF is a squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. In 2015 the squadron was re-raised and equipped with 11 Beechcraft T-6 Texan II. A new aerobatic display team called the Black Falcons was also formed using the new aircraft. The ...
equipped with sixteen
de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and ...
jets in 1952, was based in
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
from 1952 to 1955. There is a colourful account of Squadron Leader Max Hope, OC 14 Squadron, being cryptically told that the unit was being deployed to Cyprus by the Chief of the Air Staff via
National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
, reported in Bentley's ''RNZAF - A Short History''. On 1 March 1961 the Southern Group of Middle East Air Force became Near East Air Force and was based in
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
. During 1956 the UK had offered to provide a light bomber wing to the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO), and with the acceptance of that offer what was originally known as the MEAF Strike Wing was established at Akrotiri in 1957. During the 1960s NEAF included the NEAF Strike Wing at
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 ...
(four Canberra strike squadrons and
No. 13 Squadron RAF Number 13 Squadron, also written as XIII Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which operate the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle from RAF Waddington since reforming on 26 October 2012. The unit first formed as par ...
flying Canberra PR Mk. 7s), No. 3 (LAA) Wing
RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by royal warrant in 1942, the Corps carries out soldiering tasks relating to the delivery of air power. Examples of such ta ...
( Nos 27, 37, 194 Squadrons), No. 70 Squadron RAF at
RAF Nicosia Royal Air Force Station Nicosia or RAF Nicosia was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station on the island of Cyprus, built in the 1930s. The station served as Headquarters Royal Air Force Cyprus from 8 June to 29 July 1941. The original principal airpo ...
flying Hastings, and
No. 103 Squadron RAF No. 103 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, switching to helicopters in the late 1950s until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975. History Formation in World War I No. 103 S ...
flying Sycamores. 103 Squadron's
Bristol Sycamore The Bristol Type 171 Sycamore was an early helicopter developed and built by the helicopter division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. The name refers to the seeds of the sycamore tree, '' Acer pseudoplatanus'', which fall with a rotating moti ...
HR.14 helicopters operated in
search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
, casualty evacuation and internal security roles. There was also HQ
No. 5 Wing RAF Regiment This is a list of units of the Royal Air Force Regiment. The RAF Regiment is the ground fighting force of the Royal Air Force and is charged mainly with protecting military airfields, among other duties. First formed in 1942 to protect the air ...
, HQ No. 8 Wing RAF Regiment, and three Regiment squadrons at Nicosia ( Nos 26, 28, and 34 Squadrons). No. 103 Squadron was disbanded on 31 July 1963 by breaking the squadron up into Nos. 1563 (at Nicosia) and 1564 (at
El Adem Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase () is a Libyan Air Force ( ar, القوات الجوية الليبية, translit=al-Quwwāt al-Ǧawwiyya al-Lībiyya, Berber: Adwas Alibyan Ujnna) base, located about 16 km south of Tobruk. It is believed to on ...
) flights.Halley 1988, p. 177.Rawlings 1982, p. 98. In 1964
No. 29 Squadron RAF No. 29 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was first raised as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, and is one of the world's oldest fighter squadrons. The second British squadron to receive the Eurofighter Typhoon, it is currently the Operat ...
arrived in the fighter role, to be replaced in 1967 by
No. 56 Squadron RAF Number 56 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Firebirds'' for their ability to always reappear intact regardless of the odds, is one of the oldest and most successful Squadron (aviation), squadrons of the Royal Air Force, with battle honours from many of ...
. Later No. 112 Squadron RAF arrived in the surface-to-air missile role. Equipped with
Bristol Bloodhound The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of f ...
s, the squadron was based at Paramali West, but administered from
RAF Episkopi Episkopi Cantonment ( el, Φρουρά Επισκοπή, tr, Episkopi Kantonu) is the capital of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a British overseas territory on the island of Cyprus, administered as a military base. It is located in the northwestern p ...
. In 1969 the Canberras were retired, with Nos 6,32,73, and 249 Squadrons were all disbanded on parade on 10 January 1969. They were replaced by 9 and 35 Squadrons flying
Avro Vulcan The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) is a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe and ...
s, which arrived respectively in March and January 1969. With the
Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of Cypriot intercommunal violence, intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots, Greek and Turkish ...
in 1974, it was decided that the CENTO nuclear strike role could not be continued from Cyprus, and so in January 1975 9 and 35 Squadrons were withdrawn back to the UK.Lee, 180, 192-193. All other fixed-wing aircraft also left that same month, with the only flying squadron remaining at Akrotiri being
No. 84 Squadron RAF No. 84 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is at present a Search and Rescue Squadron based at RAF Akrotiri, using the Bell Griffin HAR.2 helicopter. It is currently one of the two operational parts of the RAF Search and Rescue Force left in serv ...
flying Westland Whirlwinds. The Command was disbanded and replaced by Air Headquarters Cyprus on 31 March 1976.


Commanders-in-Chief

Commanders-in-Chief included:
Commanders-in-Chief RAF Mediterranean and Middle East *Air Marshal Sir
John Slessor Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Cotesworth Slessor, (3 June 1897 – 12 July 1979) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF), serving as Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom), Chief of the Air Staff from 1950 to 1952. A ...
(14 January 1944 – 16 March 1945) *Air Marshal Sir
Guy Garrod Air Chief Marshal Sir Alfred Guy Roland Garrod, (13 April 1891 – 3 January 1965) was a senior British Royal Air Force officer. RAF career He was born the third eldest son of Herbert Baring Garrod, barrister-at-law and educated at Bradfield Co ...
(16 March 1945 – 1 August 1945) *Air Marshal Sir
Charles Medhurst Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Edward Hastings Medhurst, (12 December 1896 – 18 October 1954) was a First World War Royal Flying Corps pilot on the Western Front and later a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. RAF career Medhurst was awar ...
(1 August 1945 – 1 March 1948) *Air Marshal Sir William Dickson (1 March 1948 – 23 January 1950) Commanders-in-Chief Middle East Air Force *Air Marshal Sir John Baker (23 January 1950 – 7 February 1952) *Air Marshal Sir
Victor Groom Air Marshal Sir Victor Emmanuel Groom, (4 August 1898 – 6 December 1990) was a senior officer in the British Royal Air Force and a flying ace of the First World War credited with eight aerial victories. He rose to become a consequential part ...
(7 February 1952 – 19 May 1952) *Air Marshal Sir Arthur Sanders (19 May 1952 – 15 October 1953) *Air Marshal Sir
Claude Pelly Air Chief Marshal Sir Claude Bernard Raymond Pelly, (19 August 1902 – 12 August 1972) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the middle of the 20th century. RAF career Claude Pelly started his Air Force career at the RAF Colleg ...
(15 October 1953 – 24 September 1956) *Air Marshal Sir
Hubert Patch Air Chief Marshal Sir Hubert Leonard Patch, (16 December 1904 – 18 November 1987) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. RAF career Patch joined the Royal Air Force as a flight cadet in 1923 and served in the Second World War. After the war ...
(24 September 1956 – 26 November 1958) *Air Marshal Sir William MacDonald (26 November 1958 – 16 July 1962) Commanders-in-Chief Near East Air Force *Air Marshal Sir
Denis Barnett Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Hensley Fulton Barnett, (11 February 1906 – 31 December 1992) was a squadron commander and senior officer in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. In the post war years he held high command, serving as t ...
(16 July 1962 – 25 September 1964) *Air Marshal Sir
Thomas Prickett Air Chief Marshal Sir Thomas Öther Prickett, (31 July 1913 – 23 January 2010) was a bomber pilot in the Second World War and a senior Royal Air Force commander in the 1950s and 1960s. He was chief of staff to the air commander, Air Marshal De ...
(25 September 1964 – 21 November 1966) *Air Marshal Sir Edward Gordon Jones (21 November 1966 – 6 May 1969) *Air Marshal Sir
Denis Smallwood Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Graham Smallwood, (13 August 1918 – 26 July 1997) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. RAF career Educated at King Edward VI School in Birmingham, Smallwood joined the Royal Air Force in 1938. Smallwood took p ...
(6 May 1969 – 2 February 1970) *Air Marshal Sir
Derek Hodgkinson Air Chief Marshal Sir William Derek Hodgkinson, (27 December 1917 – 29 January 2010) was a senior Royal Air Force officer. As a bomber pilot in the Second World War, he was shot down and spent time in Stalag Luft III as "Big S", responsible f ...
(2 Feb 1970 – 25 June 1973) *Air Marshal Sir John Aiken (25 June 1973 – 31 March 1976)


See also

*
List of Royal Air Force commands This is a list of Royal Air Force commands, both past and present. Although the concept of a command dates back to the foundation of the Royal Air Force, the term command (as the name of a formation) was first used in purely RAF-context in 1936 w ...


Notes


References

*James J. Halley, ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth 1918-1988''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. . *Sir David Lee, ''Wings in the sun: a history of the Royal Air Force in the Mediterranean, 1945–1986'', Air Force Dept. Air Historical Branch, Great Britain. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1989.


Further reading

* Panagiotis Dimitrakis, "The Value to CENTO of UK Bases on Cyprus," Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 45, 2009 - Issue 4, at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00263200903009676 * Wing Commander C.G. Jefford RAF, ''RAF Squadrons: A Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912.'' Airlife, 1988. * Terry Hayes, ''Abu Sueir Diary: A National Serviceman's Days in the Canal Zone.''


External links

* National Archives, Kew
Records of RAF Middle East
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Royal Air Force overseas commands Military units and formations established in 1961 Military units and formations disestablished in 1976