No. 60 Group RAF was a group of 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) an ...

. It was established in 1940 with the headquarters in Leighton Buzzard, as part of

RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Brita ...

. It controlled the electronic

Air defence Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

radar network across Britain. It was responsible for all civilian and service personnel involved in the operation, maintenance and calibration of the Chain Home radar stations. The group was formally established within the Directorate of Signals on 23 February 1940. In June 1944 on the eve of D-Day the group consisted of No. 70 Wing RAF (Inverness, northern signals, including No. 526 Squadron RAF at RAF Inverness carrying out calibration duties); Nos 73, 75, 78, and 80 Wings, twelve separate radar stations, mostly in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and three specialist units, including the RAF Section of the

Telecommunications Research Establishment The Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) was the main United Kingdom research and development organization for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force (RAF) ...

at Malvern. By January 1945 it was still part of Fighter Command. It was amalgamated with No. 26 Group RAF to become together No. 90 (Signals) Group RAF on 25 April 1946. Its last commander was Air Vice-Marshal W E Theak.

Squadrons and stations

''Included:'' * No. 527 Squadron RAF *

RAF Danby Beacon Royal Air Force Danby Beacon or more simply RAF Danby Beacon was an early warning radar Royal Air Force station that formed part of the Chain Home network of radar (or Radio Direction Finding (RDF)) stations built by the Royal Air Force immediat ...

* RAF Yatesbury ''See List of communications units and formations of the Royal Air Force for the Chain Home wings''

References

{{reflist 060 Military communications units and formations of the Royal Air Force Air defence units and formations Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946