No. 17 Group RAF was a group 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 ...

which was operational during both the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

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 opposi ...

s. During the First World War, the Group was formed during April 1918 in No. 4 Area, it was transferred to North-Eastern Area on 8 May, 1918, with Training being added to the name on 8 August 1918 and was disbanded on 18 October 1919.

Second World War

The group was reformed on 1 Dec 1936 as No. 17 (Training) Group in

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 ...

Units 3 September 1939

;No. 17 Group RAF (T), under command of Air Commodore T.E.B. Howe,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, AFCAshworth 1992, Appendix IIDelve 1994, p. 51.

Units 1 November 1940

;No. 17 Group RAF (T), under command of Air Commodore T.E.B. Howe, CBE, AFCAshworth 1992, Appendix III The Flying Boat Training Squadron was formed on 2 January 1939 at

RAF Calshot Royal Air Force Calshot or more simply RAF Calshot was initially a seaplane and flying boat station, and latterly a Royal Air Force marine craft maintenance and training unit. It was located at the end of Calshot Spit in Southampton Water, Hamp ...

flying

Supermarine Stranraer The Supermarine Stranraer is a flying boat designed and built by the British Supermarine Aviation Works company at Woolston, Southampton. It was developed during the 1930s on behalf of its principal operator, the Royal Air Force (RAF). It wa ...

s and

Supermarine Scapa The Supermarine Scapa was a British general reconnaissance flying boat built by Supermarine that was used by the Royal Air Force between 1935 and 1939. It was developed from the Southampton and formed the basis of the later Stranraer flying boat ...

s. It was disbanded and merged with the Seaplane Training Squadron to form No. 4 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit on 16 March 1941. By 12 February 1942 the group had come under the command of Air Commodore H.G. Smart, CBE, DFC, AFC.Ashworth 1992, Appendix IV No. 131 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit formed in July 1942 at RAF Killadeas as part of No. 15 Group to train crews on the

Consolidated Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wit ...

.Sturtivant 2007, pp. 198-206 Two years later it had shifted into No. 17 Group.

Units 6 June 1944

The following units were under its control: * No. 4 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF ( Shorts Sunderland flying boats) *

No. 5 Operational Training Unit RAF 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 ...

No. 6 Operational Training Unit RAF 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 ...

No. 7 Operational Training Unit RAF 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 ...

* No. 9 Operational Training Unit RAF * No. 131 Operational Training Unit RAF, RAF Killadeas (Catalina flying boats) * No. 132 Operational Training Unit RAF,

RAF East Fortune Royal Air Force East Fortune, or more simply RAF East Fortune, is a former Royal Air Force station located just south of the village of East Fortune. It is a short distance east of Edinburgh, in Scotland. RAF East Fortune was used as a fighter ...

- formed in November 1942 as part of No. 17 Group to train long-range fighter and strike training using the

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

, Bristol Beaufighter, and later, de Havilland Mosquito. * No. 1674 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF,

RAF Aldergrove Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove or more simply JHC FS Aldergrove is located south of Antrim, Northern Ireland and northwest of Belfast and adjoins Belfast International Airport. It is sometimes referred to simply as Alde ...

, Northern Ireland * No. 17 Group Communication Flight RAF - formed August 1938 at Gosport and was disbanded on 18 September 1945 at

RAF Turnhouse Royal Air Force Turnhouse or more simply RAF Turnhouse is a former Royal Air Force Sector Station located in Edinburgh, Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of G ...

. The group disbanded on 1 September 1945.

Notes

References

* Ashworth, Chris. ''RAF Coastal Command: 1936–1969''. Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1992. * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 017 CAtegory:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945