No. 121 Expeditionary Air Wing is a deployable

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 ...

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) an ...

based at

RAF Coningsby Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south-west of Horncastle, and north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and ho ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, England. The current wing was established on 1 April 2006 the wing has history dating back to May 1944:

Second World War

No. 121 (Rocket Projectile) Wing within No. 22 (Fighter) Sector RAF, No. 83 Group RAF,

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, ...

(2 TAF) operating

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 ...

s was formed on 12 May 1944 at

RAF Holmsley South Royal Air Force Holmsley South or more simply RAF Holmsley South is a former Royal Air Force station in Hampshire, England. The airfield is located approximately northeast of Christchurch, Dorset; about southwest of London Opened in 1942, ...

controlling: *

No. 174 Squadron RAF No. 174 (Mauritius) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a fighter-bomber unit in World War II. History Formation in World War II The squadron formed on 2 March 1942 at RAF Manston and equipped with Hawker Hurricane, Hurricanes ...

No. 175 Squadron RAF No. 175 Squadron RAF was a part of 121 Wing; 83 Group; 2nd Tactical Airforce; RAF in support of World War II Normandy landings, and supported the allied advance through France Holland and Belgium on into Germany. The squadron was active from un ...

No. 245 Squadron RAF No. 245 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It flew as an anti-submarine squadron during World War I and as a fighter squadron during World War II. After the war it was first a jet-fighter squadron and its last role was as a radar-cal ...

The wing moved to France on 16 June 1944 with No. 184 Squadron RAF joining on 15 July 1944, moving to B.24 St Andre-De-L'Eure, B.70 Antwerp, B.80 Volkel, B.100 Goch, B.110 Achmer, B.150 Hustedt, B.164 Schleswig-Holstein, B.160 Kastrup and B.166 Flensburg before returning to England and

RAF Dunsfold Dunsfold Aerodrome (former ICAO code EGTD) is an unlicensed airfield in Surrey, England, near the village of Cranleigh. It extends across land in the villages of Dunsfold and Alfold. It was built by the Canadian Army and civilian contracto ...

and being disbanded on 30 September 1945.

History of No. 121 Airfield

No. 121 Airfield Headquarters was formed on 22 February 1943 under No. 83 Group RAF at RAF Wrexham, the unit moved to

RAF Middle Wallop Middle Wallop is a village in the civil parish of Nether Wallop in Hampshire, England, on the A343 road. At the 2011 Census the population was included in the civil parish of Over Wallop. The village has a public house, The George Inn, and a pe ...

on 28 February 1943. The unit had a short 5 day stay at

RAF Membury Royal Air Force Membury or more simply RAF Membury is a former Royal Air Force station built in the civil parish of Lambourn in Berkshire, England. The airfield is located approximately north-northwest of Hungerford, at the Membury services ...

from 8 March 1943, it moved to RAF Fairlop on 5 April 1943 then to RAF Selsey on 31 May 1943. It further moved to

RAF Lydd Royal Air Force Lydd or more simply RAF Lydd is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground located north-west of Lydd, Kent and south of Ashford, Kent, England. History The following units were here at some point: * No. 121 Airfield RAF ...

on 1 July 1943 then

RAF Attlebridge Royal Air Force Attlebridge or more simply RAF Attlebridge is a former Royal Air Force station located near Attlebridge and northwest of Norwich, Norfolk, England. History Attlebridge airfield had runways of 1,220, 1,120 and 1,080 yards len ...

on 7 August 1943. The unit moved to

RAF Westhampnett Royal Air Force Westhampnett or more simply RAF Westhampnett is a former Royal Air Force satellite station, located in the village of Westhampnett near Chichester, in the English County of West Sussex. It was built as an emergency landing ...

on 9 October 1943 then to

finally on 1 April 1944. On 12 May 1944, the unit was renamed on No. 121 Wing RAF. Squadrons: *

No. 19 Squadron RAF Number 19 Squadron (sometimes written as No. XIX Squadron) is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was the first squadron to operate the Supermarine Spitfire. It currently operates the UK's Control and Reporting Centre from RAF Boulmer. No. 1 ...

(1 March 1943 to 18 May 1943) replaced by No. 65 Squadron RAF (18 May 1943 to 1 July 1943) * No. 182 Squadron RAF (1 March 1943 to 29 April 1943) replaced by No. 602 Squadron RAF (29 April 1943 to 31 May 1943) * No. 247 Squadron RAF (1 March 1943 to 26 May 1943) replaced by

(26 May 1943 to 12 May 1944) *

(1 July 1943 to 12 May 1944) *

(1 July 1943 to 5 August 1943) (12 August 1943 to 12 May 1944) * No. 247 Squadron RAF (7 August 1943 to 12 August 1943)

Post war

The wing was reformed on 1 April 1953 as No. 121 (Day Fighter) Wing still under 2 TAF control at

RAF Fassberg Fassberg or Faßberg may refer to * Faßberg – a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany * RAF Fassberg – a Royal Air Force air base between 1945 and 1957 in the vicinity of Faßberg * Faßberg Air Base Faßberg Air ...

controlling: No. 14 Squadron RAF, No. 98 Squadron RAF and

No. 118 Squadron RAF No. 118 Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Air Force. Originally formed in 1918, it served as a fighter squadron in the Second World War, flying Spitfires and Mustangs. It flew jet fighters as part of RAF Germany in the 1950s, and Bristol ...

. The wing was disbanded on 1 November 1956 while under the control of

No. 2 Group RAF No. 2 Group is a group of the Royal Air Force which was first activated in 1918, served from 1918–20, from 1936 through the Second World War to 1947, from 1948 to 1958, from 1993 to 1996, was reactivated in 2000, and is today part of Air Comm ...

. No. 121 Wing was reformed on 1 November 1956 at

RAF Gütersloh Royal Air Force Gütersloh, more commonly known as RAF Gütersloh, was a Royal Air Force Germany military airfield, the nearest Royal Air Force airfield to the East/West German border, in the vicinity of the town of Gütersloh. It was const ...

with

No. 59 Squadron RAF No. 59 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force, based in Norfolk, England. History No.59 Squadron was formed at Narborough Airfield in Norfolk on 1 August 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. On 13 February 1917, the Squadro ...

and No. 79 Squadron RAF until 1 September 1957 when it was disbanded. The wing reformed again one year later on 1 September 1958 still at Gutersloh with No. 14 Squadron RAF,

No. 20 Squadron RAF ("Deeds not Words") , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , battles = , anniversaries = , decora ...

No. 26 Squadron RAF No. 26 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1915 and was disbanded for the last time in 1976. The squadron's motto is ''N Wagter in die Lug'' (Afrikaans) (A guard in the sky), and the badge is a springbok's head couped. History 1915 ...

Second World War

History of No. 121 Airfield

Post war

References

Citations

Bibliography