No. 15 Group was a

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

in the British

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 ...

operational in the last year of World War I, and throughout World War II.

World War I

No. 15 Group was first formed on 1 April 1918 as No. 15 (Equipment) Group in the No. 3 Area, which became the Midland Area on 8 May 1918. It was disbanded, and then reformed on 27 September 1918 as No. 15 (Aegean) Group to control 62 and 63 Wings, until finally disbanded on 1 September 1919.

World War II

The unit was reformed on 15 March 1939 as No. 15 (General Reconnaissance) Group as part of

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

. It comprised RAF Squadrons with attached Naval Air Squadrons of the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

operating under RAF control. 15 Group was originally headquartered at Plymouth, with its squadrons flying patrols from bases in Cornwall, principally St Eval, until mid-1941. Its headquarters then transferred to Stranraer, with its squadrons flying from bases in Northern Ireland and western Scotland, to provide support and convoy escorts in the

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

. It was disbanded on 1 August 1945 to join RAF Northern Ireland.

Squadrons

The following squadrons served as part of 15 Group for some time during World War II: * No. 48 Squadron RAF *

No. 53 Squadron RAF No. 53 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron that saw service in both the First and Second World Wars. History No. 53 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at Catterick on 15 May 1916. Originally intended to be a training squadr ...

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 ...

No. 120 Squadron RAF Number 120 Squadron or No. CXX Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which was established as a Royal Flying Corps unit late in World War I, disbanded a year after the end of the war, then re-established as a RAF Coastal Command squadro ...

* No. 143 Squadron RAF * No. 201 Squadron RAF *

No. 204 Squadron RAF No. 204 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit first formed in March 1915 as No.4 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service. First World War No. 4 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service was formed on 25 March 1915 at Dover from the former RNAS Defence Flight.Jeff ...

No. 206 Squadron RAF No. 206 Squadron is a Test and Evaluation Squadron of the Royal Air Force. Until 2005 it was employed in the maritime patrol role with the Nimrod MR.2 at RAF Kinloss, Moray. It was announced in December 2004 that 206 Squadron would disband on ...

No. 209 Squadron RAF Number 209 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force was originally formed from a nucleus of "Naval Eight" on 1 February 1917 at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, France, as No. 9 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS)Rawlings 1978, p. 324. and saw active servic ...

* No. 210 Squadron RAF *

No. 217 Squadron RAF No. 217 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the RAF. It was formed and disbanded four times between 1 April 1918 and 13 November 1959. In World War I it served in a strike role against enemy bases and airfields in Belgium. In World War II as part ...

* No. 220 Squadron RAF * No. 228 Squadron RAF * No. 236 Squadron RAF *

No. 240 Squadron RAF No. 240 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force flying boat and seaplane squadron during World War I, World War II and up to 1959. It was then reformed as a strategic missile squadron, serving thus till 1963. History Formation and World War I No ...

No. 246 Squadron RAF No. 246 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. History World War I The squadron was formed at the former Royal Naval Air Station Seaton Carew, England on 18 August 1918 to provide coastal patrols. It was the only RAF squadron to op ...

No. 281 Squadron RAF No. 281 Squadron was a Royal Air Force air-sea rescue squadron during the Second World War. History No. 281 Squadron was formed at RAF Ouston, England on 29 March 1942Jefford 2001, p. 85. as an air-sea rescue squadron. The squadron was equipped ...

* No. 321 (Dutch) Squadron RAF * No. 502 (Ulster) Squadron RAF * No. 518 Squadron RAF * No. 1402 (Meteorological) Flight RAF * No. 10 Squadron RAAF * No. 407 (Demon) Squadron RCAF *

No. 422 Squadron RCAF No. 422 Squadron RCAF was a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force, formed during World War II. ''422 General Reconnaissance Squadron'' formed at RAF Castle Archdale near Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, in April 1942. It was a flying-boat squadron ...

No. 423 Squadron RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

A number of

squadrons were also attached to 15 Group, usually on a short-term basis: *

829 Naval Air Squadron 829 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Before it was decommissioned in March 2018, it operated the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 helicopter. History 1940–1942 829 Naval Air Squadron first formed on 15 June 1940 as ...

* 812 Naval Air Squadron *

816 Naval Air Squadron 816 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed at the start of the Second World War. The squadron formed aboard in October 1939 with 9 Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers for anti-submarine duty on convoys bet ...

827 Naval Air Squadron 827 Naval Air Squadron was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War. It operated Fairey Barracudas starting in May 1943, becoming the first squadron to receive the Fairey Barracuda in any substantial n ...

* 890 Naval Air Squadron * 811 Naval Air Squadron *

825 Naval Air Squadron 825 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Naval Air Squadron which was re-commissioned on 10 October 2014 and currently flies the AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA2. It was a carrier-based squadron that was formed on 8 October 1934 from the ...

849 Naval Air Squadron 849 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Fleet Air Arm, the Air Arm of the British Royal Navy. It was formed during the Second World War as a carrier based torpedo-bomber, unit, flying missions against Japanese targets in the Far East. Its ...

838 Naval Air Squadron 838 Naval Air Squadron (838 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land a ...

* 842 Naval Air Squadron

Commanding officers

* June 1939 – February 1941 : Air Commodore Rey Griffith Parry * February 1941 – April 1942 :

Air Vice-Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...

James Robb * April 1942 – November 1942 : Air Vice-Marshal Douglas Colyer * November 1942 – February 1943 : Air Vice-Marshal Thomas Langford-Sainsbury * February 1943 – June 1945 : Air Vice-Marshal Leonard Slatter

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 015 015 Military units and formations established in 1918 Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War I Military units and formations disestablished in 1945