No. 663 Squadron RAF ('' pl, 663 Polski Szwadron Powietrznych Punktów Obserwacyjnych'') was an

Air Observation Post Air Observation Post (AOP) is an aeroplane or helicopter used in the role of artillery spotter by the British Army and Commonwealth forces. In this role, either the pilot of the aircraft or another crew member acts as an observer watching for ta ...

(AOP) unit 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) and ...

(RAF), manned with

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

personnel, which was officially formed in Italy on 14 August 1944. Numbers 651 to 663 Squadrons of the RAF were Air Observation Post units working closely with

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

units in artillery spotting and liaison. A further three of these squadrons, 664–666, were manned with Canadian personnel. Their duties and squadron numbers were transferred to the Army with the formation of the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

on 1 September 1957.

History

Formation and wartime history

Volunteer

officers had been sent by ship to South Africa in June 1944 for initial training as pilots and then for operational training in the very low-level AOP role. The squadron was officially formed at San Basilio in Italy on 14 August 1944 as 663 Polski Szwadron Powietrznych Punktów Obserwacyjnych. The fifteen successful officers reached Italy on 28 October. All squadron personnel were drawn from Polish artillery units. The squadron's primary role was to observe enemy ground targets and to help direct artillery fire on them. After further advanced training, the squadron was declared operational on 30 January 1945. The squadron's HQ was at Villa Carpena, with three flights, two of which were detached elsewhere as needed to support No. 2 Polish Corps artillery units on the progressing "front line".

Auster AOP Auster AOP may refer to: * Taylorcraft Auster - Taylorcraft Auster I, II, III, IV and V * Auster AOP.6 * Auster AOP.9 The Auster AOP.9 was a British military air observation aircraft ("Air Observation Post") produced by Auster Aircraft Limited ...

IV and V "spotter" aircraft were flown in the unit's close support operations. After meritorious service with some pilots being killed, the unit left for the UK on 10 October 1946 and was formally disbanded on 29 October 1946.

Post-war service

No. 663 Squadron was reformed on 1 July 1949 as an AOP unit of the

Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...

equipped with

Auster AOP.5 The Taylorcraft Auster was a British military liaison aircraft, liaison and observation aircraft produced by the Auster, Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited company during the World War II, Second World War. Design and development The Aus ...

s and

Auster AOP.6 The Auster AOP.6 was a British military air observation aircraft produced by Auster Aircraft Limited to replace the numerous wartime Taylorcraft Auster aircraft then in-service. History The Auster AOP.6 (Auster Model K) was designed as a succe ...

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

and DHC-1 Chipmunk aircraft were used for training and proficiency flights. The squadron headquarters was at

RAF Hooton Park Royal Air Force Hooton Park or more simply RAF Hooton Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, is a former Royal Air Force station originally built for the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 as a training aerodrome for pilots in the First World War. D ...

, Wirral, Cheshire with dispersed flights at

RAF Ringway 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 ...

RAF Llandow Royal Air Force Llandow or more RAF Llandow is a former Royal Air Force station situated near the village of Llandow, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, 15 miles west of Cardiff. It opened in 1940 and closed in 1957. It was while training at this ...

, South Wales, and Wolverhampton (Pendeford) – the latter flight moving on to

Castle Bromwich Aerodrome Castle Bromwich Aerodrome was an early airfield, situated to the north of Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands of England. The site now falls within the City of Birmingham. History Creation to 1937 A large piece of Warwickshire grassland (Cast ...

near

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. For the next eight years, No. 663 flew very low-level 'spotting' sorties in co-operation with Territorial Army artillery units, often based for the weekend in a friendly farmers field – for example near

Tarporley Tarporley is a large village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. The civil parish also contains the village of Rhuddall Heath. Tarporley is bypassed by the A49 and A51 roads. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,614. History Tarporle ...

, Cheshire. No. 1952 Air Observation Post Flight was formed within 663 Squadron along with No. 1953 Air Observation Post Flight, No. 1954 Air Observation Post Flight and No. 1955 Air Observation Post Flight. The squadron disbanded on 10 March 1957, at the same time as all other Royal Auxiliary Air Force flying units.

Army Air Corps history and operations

The unit was reformed as an army air unit called 663 Aviation Squadron in October 1969 at

Netheravon Netheravon is a village and civil parish on the River Avon and A345 road, about north of the town of Amesbury in Wiltshire, South West England. It is within Salisbury Plain. The village is on the right (west) bank of the Avon, opposite Fit ...

, Wiltshire. Its allocated mission was to support army formations in the

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

area. The unit's initial equipment was the Bell Sioux AH.1 helicopter, with these being later replaced by the

Westland Scout The Westland Scout is a light helicopter developed by Westland Helicopters. Developed from the Saro P.531, it served as a land-based general purpose military helicopter, sharing a common ancestor and numerous components with the naval-orientat ...

AH.1 turbine helicopter. On 1 January 1973 the unit was renamed No. 663 Squadron Army Air Corps. The Squadron again disbanded in July 1977. 663 AAC Squadron Scout AH

Following a restructuring of Army Air Squadrons, 660 Squadron was redesignated as 663 Squadron, part of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps. From 1993 it has been based at the ex-

RAF Wattisham Royal Air Force Station Wattisham or more simply RAF Wattisham is a former Royal Air Force station located in East Anglia just outside the village of Wattisham, south of Stowmarket in Suffolk, England. During the Cold War it was a major front- ...

Airfield near Stowmarket, Suffolk. In recent years it has replaced its

Westland Gazelle Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila ...

s with Westland-assembled

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

AH-64 Apache The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vis ...

attack helicopters.

Aircraft operated

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

Squadron Histories and more for Nos. 651–670 Squadron on RAFweb

History of 663 Squadron

Personnel of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940-1947
{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 663 Squadron Raf Military units and formations established in 1944 663 Squadron

663 __NOTOC__ Year 663 ( DCLXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 663 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

Aircraft squadrons of the Royal Air Force in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 Military units and formations established in 1949