No. 123 Wing RAF is a former

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 ...

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 ...

that was operational 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 ...

Second World War

No. 123 (Rocket Projectile) Wing RAF was formed on 12 May 1944 under

No. 83 Group RAF No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group is a group within the Royal Air Force, currently based at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Originally formed in 1943, during the Second World War it formed part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force (2TAF) and was known as No ...

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, ...

RAF Thorney Island Royal Air Force Thorney Island or more simply RAF Thorney Island is a former Royal Air Force station located on Thorney Island, West Sussex, England, west of Chichester and east of Portsmouth, Hampshire. Station history The airfield was bu ...

, moving to RAF Funtington on 17 June 1944 then across the Channel to France and B.10 Plumelot on 1 July 1944. It moved to B.7 Martragny, B.67 Ursel, B.77 Gilze-Rijen, A.84 Chievres, B.77 Gilze-Rijen, B.91 Kluis, B.103 Plantlunne, B.116 Wunstorf, B.155 Dedelstorf and

RAF Wunstorf Wunstorf () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km west of Hanover. The following localities belong to the town of Wunstorf: Blumenau (with Liethe), Bokeloh, Großenheidorn, Idensen ...

. By January 1945 the wing was transferred to No. 84 Group RAF. It was disbanded at Wunstorf during October 1947. Squadrons controlled: * No. 198 Squadron RAF (12 May 1944 to ?) * No. 609 (West Riding) Squadron RAuxAF (12 May 1944 to ?) * No. 164 (Argentine–British) Squadron RAF (26 July 1944 to ?) * No. 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF (26 July 1944 to ?) * No. 451 Squadron RAAF (17 June 1945 to 14 September 1945) *

No. 453 Squadron RAAF No. 453 Squadron is an air traffic control unit of the Royal Australian Air Force. It was established at Bankstown, New South Wales, in 1941 as a fighter squadron, in accordance with Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme for overseas se ...

(17 June 1945 to 4 September 1945) * No. 349 (Belgian) Squadron RAF (29 June 1945 to 15 November 1945) *

No. 322 (Dutch) Squadron RAF No. 322 (Dutch) Squadron of the Royal Air Force was a fighter squadron during the Second World War. Formed with Dutch personnel already flying with the RAF, during the war it formed part of the Air Defence of Great Britain and formed part of th ...

(2 July 1945 to 7 October 1945) * No. 350 (Belgian) Squadron RAF (13 July 1945 to 15 November 1945) *

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 ...

(24 January 1946 to ?) *

No. 41 Squadron RAF No. 41 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the RAF's Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron ("TES"), based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Its official title is "41 TES". The squadron was formed in 1916 during First World War as part of the Royal ...

(31 January 1946 to 1 April 1946) became No. 26 (South African) Squadron RAF (1 April 1946 to 13 April 1946) *

No. 80 Squadron RAF No. 80 Squadron RAF was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force squadron active from 1917 until 1969. It was operative during both World War I and World War II. Establishment and early service Founded on 1 August 1917 at RAF Montrose, equipped ...

(31 January 1946 to ?) * No. 2 Squadron RAF (15 April 1947 to ?)

Cold War

The wing was reformed on 1 April 1953 within

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 ...

at Wunstorf controlling local units. It was disbanded on 16 November 1957. Squadrons controlled: *

No. 5 Squadron RAF Number 5 (Army Co-operation) Squadron (although His Majesty the King awarded No. V (Army Cooperation) Squadron) was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It most recently operated the Raytheon Sentinel R1 Airborne STand-Off Radar (ASTOR) aircraf ...

(1 April 1953 to 12 October 1957) * No. 11 Squadron RAF (1 April 1953 to 16 November 1957) * No. 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF (1 April 1953 to 16 November 1957) *

No. 541 Squadron RAF No. 541 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed as a photographic reconnaissance squadron in World War II. History Formation in World War II The squadron formed at RAF Benson on 19 October 1942 from 'B' and 'F' flights of No. 1 PR ...

(7 November 1955 to 6 September 1957)

History of No. 123 Airfield Headquarters

The unit was formed on 1 April 1943 at

RAF Stoney Cross Royal Air Force Stoney Cross or more simply RAF Stoney Cross is a former Royal Air Force station in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. The airfield is located approximately northwest of Lyndhurst and west of Southampton. Opened in 1942 ...

within No. 35 Wing RAF. It moved to RAF Gatwick on 7 April 1943, moving to

RAF Odiham RAF Odiham is a Royal Air Force station situated a little to the south of the village of Odiham in Hampshire, England. It is the home of the Royal Air Force's heavy lift helicopter, the Chinook, and of the King’s Helicopter Flight (TKHF) . I ...

on 23 June 1943. It was reformed on 10 July 1943 at Odiham, moving to

RAF Hutton Cranswick Royal Air Force Hutton Cranswick or more simply RAF Hutton Cranswick is a former Royal Air Force station located to the south of Driffield and immediately south west of the village of Hutton Cranswick in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. T ...

on 20 September 1943 then to

RAF Huggate Huggate is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north-west of Beverley town centre and west of Driffield town centre. The village of North Dalton lies to the south-east. Accordin ...

on 10 October 1943. The unit then moved to

RAF Thruxton Royal Air Force Thruxton or more simply RAF Thruxton is a former Royal Air Force station located west of Andover, Hampshire and about southwest of London. Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air F ...

on 15 October 1943, then to

RAF Sawbridgeworth Royal Air Force Sawbridgeworth or RAF Sawbridgeworth is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Harlow, Essex and east of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The airfield was used during the First World War as a night landing ground ...

on 12 November 1943 and to

RAF Manston Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airpo ...

on 27 February 1944. It then moved to

on 1 April 1944 and was disbanded to become No. 123 Wing RAF on 12 May 1944. Squadrons controlled: * No. 26 (South African) Squadron RAF (1 April 1943 to 21 June 1943) *

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 ...

(1 April 1943 to 7 April 1943) replaced by No. 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF (8 April 1943 to 10 July 1943) *

No. 239 Squadron RAF No. 239 Squadron RAF was an anti-submarine squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War I. During World War II the squadron performed as an army co-operation squadron and later as a night intruder unit. After the war the squadron was disbande ...

(1 April 1943 to 21 June 1943) Airfield HQ reformed on 10 July 1943 *

No. 168 Squadron RAF No. 168 Squadron RAF was a Second World War Royal Air Force squadron that operated the North American Mustang on missions over occupied Europe and in support of the D-Day landings. History The squadron was formed on 15 June 1942 at RAF Snailwel ...

(12 July 1943 to 30 November 1943) *

No. 268 Squadron RAF No. 268 Squadron RAF was a Second World War Royal Air Force squadron that operated the North American Mustang on missions over occupied Europe and in support of the D-Day landings. History First World War No.268 Squadron Royal Air Force was orig ...

(13 July 1943 to 15 September 1943) replaced by No. 2 Squadron RAF (15 September 1943 to 12 May 1944) *

No. 170 Squadron RAF No. 170 Squadron RAF was a Second World War Royal Air Force squadron that operated the North American Mustang in the fighter-reconnaissance role and later the Avro Lancaster as part of Bomber Command. History The squadron was formed at RAF We ...

(14 July 1943 to 15 January 1944) replaced by No. 418 Squadron RCAF (20 January 1944 to 12 May 1944) *

(15 October 1943 to 7 November 1943) replaced by

No. 63 Squadron RAF Number 63 Squadron was a bomber aircraft and training squadron of the Royal Air Force that was active during various periods from 1916 to 1992. Originally using De Havilland DH4 aircraft in World War I, it was last equipped with BAe Hawk jet ...

(8 November 1943 to 30 November 1943) replaced by

No. 4 Squadron RAF No. 4 Squadron, normally written as IV Squadron, of the Royal Air Force operates the BAE Hawk T2 in the training role from RAF Valley. History Formation and First World War IV Squadron formed at Farnborough in 1912 as part of the Royal Fly ...

(30 November 1943 to 3 January 1944) * No. 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF (4 March 1944 to 17 March 1944) (3 April 1944 to 12 May 1944) * No. 198 Squadron RAF (4 March 1944 to 10 March 1944) replaced by No. 609 (West Riding) Squadron RAuxAF (10 March 1944 to 16 March 1944) * No. 197 Squadron RAF (15 March 1944 to 1 April 1944) replaced by No. 198 Squadron RAF (3 April 1944 to 12 May 1944) * No. 164 (Argentine–British) Squadron RAF (3 April 1944 to 12 May 1944)

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