Signals Command was the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
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 ...
's
command
Command may refer to:
Computing
* Command (computing), a statement in a computer language
* COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS
* Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards
* ...
responsible for control of signals units from 1958 to 1969. It was based at
RAF Medmenham
RAF Medmenham is a former Royal Air Force station based at Danesfield House near Medmenham, in Buckinghamshire, England. Activities there specialised in photographic intelligence, and it was once the home of the RAF Intelligence Branch. During ...
near
Marlow,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
.
History
Originally, on 24 April 1946,
No. 90 (Signals) Group RAF was formed at
Danesfield Court,
Medmenham
Medmenham () is a village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the River Thames, about southwest of Marlow and east of Henley-on-Thames. The parish also includes Danesfield, a housing estate predominantly for RAF ...
, Marlow, taking over the functions of No 26,
60 (the home air defence radar stations, originally Chain Home and Chain Home Low) and
100 Groups (airborne electronic warfare) and
No. 80 Wing RAF
No. 80 Wing RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during both World Wars and briefly in the 1950s. In the last months of World War I it controlled RAF and Australian Flying Corps (AFC) fighter squadrons. It was reformed in 1940 to operate e ...
(electronic warfare).
Signals Command was formed on 3 November 1958 by raising 90 Group to Command status.
[Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - RAF Home Commands formed between 1958 - 2002]
Three
De Havilland Comet
The de Havilland DH.106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four d ...
2s were modified for RAF use in radar and electronic systems development, initially assigned to No. 90 Group (later Signals Command).
[Swanborough 1962, p. 48.] In service with
No. 192 and
No. 51 Squadrons, the 2R series was equipped to monitor
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...
signal traffic and operated in this role from 1958.
The 2R ELINT series was operational until 1974, when replaced by the Nimrod R1, the last Comet derivative in RAF service.
[Walker 2000, p. 159.]
Signals Command was relatively short-lived, lasting only until 1 January 1969, when it was absorbed by
Strike Command by being reduced to group status.
[ It had five Air Officers Commanding during its existence.
In 2006, various elements of the RAF Signals trades and sections were combined at RAF Leeming to form No. 90 Signals Unit with the same badge and motto as No. 90 (Signals) Group and Signals Command.]
Aircraft
* Avro Lincoln
The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed Lincoln I and ...
Mk.4
** No. 116 Squadron RAF
No. 116 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron first formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. Reformed as part of the RAF during the Second World War it served as an anti-aircraft calibration unit and also operat ...
** No. 151 Squadron RAF
(Translation: "Fidelity unto duty" or "Faith for duty" or "Fidelity into duty")
, colors=
, colors_label=
, march=
, mascot=
, equipment=
, equipment_label=
, battles=
, decorations=
, battle_honours=
, commander1=
, commander1_label=
, command ...
** No. 192 Squadron RAF
No. 192 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron operational during the First World War as a night training squadron and during the Second World War as a radar countermeasure unit. After the war the squadron served again in the Electronic Intell ...
** No. 199 Squadron RAF
No. 199 Squadron was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron that operated during the Second World War and later in the 1950s as a radar countermeasures squadron.
History
No. 199 Squadron was formed at Rochford on 1 June 1917 with Royal Aircraf ...
** No. 527 Squadron RAF
No. 527 Squadron RAF was a radar calibration unit of the Royal Air Force between 1943 and 1958.
History
Formation
No. 527 Squadron was formed from various calibration flights at RAF Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire on 15 June 1943 for radar calibra ...
Commanders in Chief
*3 November 1958 - 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 u ...
Sir Leslie Dalton-Morris
*1 March 1961 - Air Vice-Marshal A Foord-Kelcey (temporary appointment)
*9 June 1961 - Air Vice-Marshal Sir Walter Pretty
*1 February 1964 - Air Vice-Marshal Sir Thomas Shirley
*7 May 1966 - Air Vice-Marshal Sir Benjamin Ball
See also
*
* List of Royal Air Force commands
This is a list of Royal Air Force commands, both past and present. Although the concept of a command dates back to the foundation of the Royal Air Force, the term command (as the name of a formation) was first used in purely RAF-context in 1936 w ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
External links
History of the RAF Signals Service, 1945 - 1975
Purported book in preparation.
, -
Signals Command
Air force communications units and formations
Military units and formations established in 1958
Organisations based in Buckinghamshire
1958 establishments in the United Kingdom
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