No. 240 Operational Conversion Unit 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 ...

Operational conversion unit which was formed by a series of mergers, it then became

No. 27 Squadron RAF No. 27 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook from RAF Odiham. History First World War 27 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps formed at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome on , being split off from 24 Squadron. Initially using air ...

in 1993.

240 OCU

240 OCU was formed on 5 January 1948 within

No. 4 Group RAF No. 4 Group was a Royal Air Force group, originally formed in the First World War, and reformed in the wake of the Second World War, mostly part of RAF Bomber Command, but ending its days in RAF Transport Command. History Formation in the Firs ...

using

Douglas Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

II & IV's by merging 1333 Transport Support Training Unit and 1382 (Transport) Conversion Unit at

RAF North Luffenham RAF North Luffenham was a Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, 1940 - 1998. It is near to the villages of Edith Weston and North Luffenham. History Second World War The station was built as a training airfield, opening in 1940. It w ...

. The unit was moved to

No. 38 Group RAF No. 38 Group RAF was a group of the Royal Air Force which disbanded on 31 December 2020. It was formed on 6 November 1943 from the former 38 Wing with nine squadrons as part of Transport Command. It was disbanded on 31 January 1951, but re-forme ...

on 2 February 1948 with a detachment at

Wunstorf Air Base Wunstorf Air Base is a German Air Force military airfield (air base), located south-southwest of Neustadt am Rübenberge and north-northwest of Wunstorf in Lower Saxony, Germany. Wunstorf Air Base is the home to Air Transport Wing 62 (), a unit o ...

during June 1948. From October 1948

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

's were added with

Vickers Valetta The Vickers Valetta is a twin-engine military transport aircraft developed and produced by the British manufacturing company Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd. Developed from the Vickers VC.1 Viking compact civil airliner, it was an all-metal mid-wing m ...

's and

de Havilland Devon The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report which, ...

s being added from December 1948. The unit moved to

RAF Dishforth Royal Air Force Dishforth or more simply RAF Dishforth is a former Royal Air Force station near to Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. Opened in 1936, the base was used as a bomber airfield during the Second World War with both British and Canad ...

on 28 March 1951 and it was disbanded for the first time on 16 April 1951 and merged with 241 OCU to become 242 OCU. 240 OCU was then reformed 20 years later for helicopter training at RAF Odiham still under No. 38 Group RAF using

Westland Wessex The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34 (in US service known as Choctaw). It was developed and produced under licence by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters). One of the main changes ...

HC.2's,

Westland Puma 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, ...

HC.1's and

Boeing CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, Ch ...

HC.1's. The training of Wessex crews moved to the Wessex Training Flight RAF at RAF Benson from 3 November 1980 (until 1982 when this new unit was disbanded). 240 OCU was disbanded on 1 October 1993. Air Training Squadron The Air Training Squadron was formed at

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 1 May 1971 using

's and

's until 1 January 1972, when it was used to reform 240 OCU. Helicopter Operational Conversion Unit The Helicopter Operational Conversion Unit was formed at RAF Odiham on 1 July 1967 with the Wessex and Puma until 1 May 1971 when it became the ATS. Short Range Conversion Unit The Short Range Conversion Unit was formed on 5 August 1964 at RAF Odiham and used both fixed wing and rotary aircraft such as the

Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer The Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer was a British STOL transport aircraft built by Scottish Aviation Limited at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, during the 1950s. It was designed for both civil and military operators. It was conceived as a twin-engi ...

and the Wessex. It was disbanded on 1 July 1967 to become the HOCU. Twin Pioneer Conversion Unit The Twin Pioneer Conversion Unit was formed on 1 January 1963 at RAF Odiham by redesignating the Twin Pioneer element from

No. 230 Squadron RAF No. 230 Squadron is an RAF squadron, currently based at RAF Benson. The squadron was part of Royal Air Force Germany, operating the Puma HC.1 there from 1980. Following the drawdown at the end of the Cold War, the squadron disbanded on 30 April ...

. It was disbanded on 5 August 1964 still at Odiham to become the SRCU.

Previous identities

No. 1333 Transport Support Training Unit

1333 Transport Support Training Unit RAF was previously No. 1333 (Transport Support) Conversion Unit RAF, that unit was previously 107 OTU. 133 (TS) CU was formed on 12 March 1945 at Leicester East, it was similar to 107 OTU and renamed to 1333 TSTU on 6 July 1946. 1333 TSTU was disbanded on 5 January 1948 to become 240 OCU. No. 107 OTU 107 OTU was formed at

RAF Leicester East Royal Air Force Leicester East, more commonly known as RAF Leicester East , is a former Royal Air Force station, near the village of Stoughton, east southeast of Leicester, Leicestershire, England. It was constructed in 1942 and formally ...

on 3 May 1944 and primarily used

's to train crews. It was disbanded on 12 March 1945 to become 1333 (TS) CU. No. 1385 (Heavy Transport Support) Conversion Unit 1385 (HTS)CU was formed at

RAF Wethersfield MDP Wethersfield is a Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence facility in Essex, England, located north of the village of Wethersfield, Essex, Wethersfield, about north-west of the town of Braintree, Essex, Braintree. Origin ...

on 1 April 1946 by redesignating the Operational and Refresher Training Unit. The conversion used transport aircraft and gliders to train transport crews for operational missions. It was disbanded on 6 June 1946 and absorbed by the 1333 (Transport Support) Conversion Unit. Operational and Refresher Training Unit ORTU was formed at

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 1 December 1943 by redesignating the Glider Pilot Exercise Unit which used a variety of aircraft including

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

's,

de Havilland 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. ...

's and

Waco Hadrian Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

gliders to train glider and transport pilots. It was disbanded on 1 April 1946. Glider Pilot Exercise Unit GPEU was formed at

Netheravon Airfield Netheravon Airfield is a Ministry of Defence grass strip airfield on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, England. Established in 1913 by the Royal Flying Corps, it became RAF Netheravon from 1918 until 1963, then AAC Netheravon (Army Air Corps) until ...

on 12 August 1942 by redesignating No. 296B Squadron, it operated

Hawker Hart The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircraf ...

's,

Hawker Hind The Hawker Hind was a British light bomber of the inter-war years produced by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force. It was developed from the Hawker Hart day bomber introduced in 1931. Design and development An improved Hawker Hart bomber d ...

's and

Airspeed Horsa The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British troop-carrying glider used during the Second World War. It was developed and manufactured by Airspeed Limited, alongside various subcontractors; the type was named after Horsa, the legendary 5th-century c ...

's amongst others until 1 December 1943 when it was disbanded to become the ORTU.

No. 1382 (Transport) Conversion Unit

1382 (Transport) Conversion Unit was previously 108 OTU, it was formed at

RAF Wymeswold RAF Wymeswold is a former Royal Air Force station located north-east of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. The airfield is situated between Hoton, Wymeswold and Burton on the Wolds, lying in the current district of Charnwood. History It ...

on 10 August 1945 and was similar to the previous unit. It disbanded on 5 January 1948 to become 240 OCU. No. 108 OTU 108 OTU was formed at

on 10 October 1944, it was used

Miles Magister The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat monoplane basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the United Kingdom, British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was affectionately known as the ''Maggie''. It was authorised to perform aerobatics ...

's and

's to train personnel until 10 August 1945 when it was disbanded to become 1382 (T)CU.

Notes

References

* * {{RAF Conversion units Conversion units of the Royal Air Force Military units and formations disestablished in 1993

240 OCU

Previous identities

No. 1333 Transport Support Training Unit

No. 1382 (Transport) Conversion Unit

See also

Notes

References