No. 1419 (Tactical Support) Flight RAF was a

flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

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 ...

History

Second World War

No. 419 (Special Duties) Flight was formed at

RAF North Weald North Weald Airfield is an operational general aviation aerodrome, in the civil parish of North Weald Bassett in Epping Forest, Essex, England. It was an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain, when it was known as the RAF Stati ...

on 21 August 1940. It moved to

RAF Stradishall Royal Air Force Stradishall or more simply RAF Stradishall is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, station located north east of Haverhill, Suffolk, Haverhill, Suffolk and south west of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Part of th ...

where it was disbanded to form No. 1419 (Special Duties) Flight on 1 March 1941, continuing to fly

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

aircraft,

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the Second World ...

bombers and

Martin Maryland The Martin Model 167 Maryland was an American medium bomber that first flew in 1939. It saw action in World War II with France and the United Kingdom. Design and development In response to a December 1937 United States Army Air Corps requiremen ...

reconnaissance bombers on

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

clandestine operations. The flight was disbanded at

RAF Newmarket RAF Newmarket was a Royal Air Force station located near Newmarket, Suffolk, England, near the border with Cambridgeshire. It was opened in 1939 and closed in 1945. History The RAF station was actually a grass-strip on Newmarket's Rowley Mil ...

on 25 August 1941 to form

No. 138 Squadron RAF No. 138 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force that served in a variety of roles during its career, last disbanded in 1962. It was the first 'V-bomber' squadron of the RAF, flying the Vickers Valiant between 1955 and 1962. History ...

which continued flying clandestine support missions for the remainder of World War II.

Iraq War

No. 1419 (Tactical Support) Flight RAF was resurrected at

Basra, Iraq Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

from elements of No. 28 Squadron RAF and

No. 78 Squadron RAF No. 78 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, is the squadron number plate of RAF (Unit) Swanwick based at London Area Control Centre, Swanwick, Hampshire, Swanwick, Hampshire. The squadron was allocated the role in early 2021. Between January 2008 and ...

from

RAF Benson Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located at Benson, near Wallingford, in South Oxfordshire, England. It is a front-line station and home to the RAF's fleet of Westland Puma HC2 support helicopters, use ...

flying AgustaWestland Merlin HC.3 helicopters in support of

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

as part of Joint Helicopter Force (Iraq) until the British drawdown in Iraq, the flight then being relocated to Afghanistan, in support of

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assis ...

Afghanistan

The flight was relocated to

Camp Bastion Camp Shorabak (formerly Camp Bastion) is a former British Army airbase, located northwest of the city of Lashkargah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The camp was situated in a remote desert area, far from population centres. The camp was built ...

as part of

Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan) Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) is a tri-service organisation uniting battlefield military helicopters of the British Armed Forces for command and coordination purposes. History Background Over the years, the grouping of all battlefield suppor ...

in 2009. The flight was disbanded in May 2013 when the aircraft were returned to the UK.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Lake, Alan. ''Flying Units of the RAF''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1999. . * Sturtivant, Ray,

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

and John Hamlin. ''RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. . 1419 Flight Military units and formations established in 2005 Military units and formations established in 1957 Royal Air Force 2005 establishments in the United Kingdom {{RAF-stub