No. 679 (The Duke of Connaught's) Squadron AAC is a British Army Reserve

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

support squadron and is part of the

6 Regiment Army Air Corps 6 Regiment Army Air Corps is the sole Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve regiment of the British Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), Army Air Corps (AAC) falling under the Combat Arm of the British Army. The regiment consists of five Squad ...

. The squadron provides

groundcrew In all forms of aviation, ground crew (also known as ground operations in civilian aviation) are personnel that service aircraft while on the ground, during routine turn-around; as opposed to aircrew, who operate all aspects of an aircraft whilst ...

s to support Apache AH1 helicopters.

History

655 Squadron

655 Squadron traces its lineage to No. 655 Squadron RAF formed on 30 November 1942 at

Old Sarum Airfield Old Sarum Airfield is a grass strip airfield north-north-east of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. The adjacent areas are a mix of vacant land, residential and industrial sites. Residential areas are to the south and east, occupying the old air ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. The squadron's role was to provide targeting and direction information to the artillery on the ground. A large number of the pilots were Army gunnery officers from the 80th (The Scottish Horse) Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery. On 12 August 1943, the squadron deployed in support of the 8th Army to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and subsequently moved to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, where it remained supporting various formations until its disbandment on 31 August 1945. 'A' Flight had served in the Battle of Anzio. 655 Light Aircraft Squadron was formed in April 1962 at

Tofrek Barracks Flugplatz Hildesheim-Drispenstedt is an airfield located near Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. It was formerly Tofrek Barracks a British Army installation used during both the Second World War and the Cold War. The airfield is home to the M'e ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

operating the

Sud Aviation Alouette II Sud or SUD may refer to: Places * Sud (Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg constituency), a constituency in Luxembourg * Sud (department), an administrative subdivision of Haiti * Sud Department (Ivory Coast), defunct administrative subdivision of ...

helicopter. In April 1964, the squadron moved to Hammersmith Barracks at

Herford Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford. Geography Geographic locat ...

and was renamed 655 Aviation Squadron. The squadron was employed by 4 Division Aviation Headquarters from 1964 to 1969. In 1971, the squadron was renamed as 655 (The Scottish Horse) Aviation Squadron in recognition of its historical linkage to The Scottish Horse. On 1 January 1973, the squadron was renamed as 655 (The Scottish Horse) Squadron. The squadron completed four tours in Northern Ireland between 1973 and 1979. In 1978, 666 Squadron AAC had been re-designated as 655 (The Scottish Horse) Squadron based at Topcliffe,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. In 1979, the squadron moved to

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. Northern Ireland's capital city Belfast is 68 m ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

as part of the Northern Ireland Regiment, where it carried out anti-terrorist duties in support of 3 Brigade. The squadron operated the Westland Gazelle AH1 and Westland Scout AH1 helicopter. In the summer of 1982, the squadron moved to

Shackleton Barracks Shackleton Barracks is a former British military installation at Ballykelly in Northern Ireland. History The site formerly known as RAF Ballykelly was handed over to the British Army as Shackleton Barracks on 2 June 1971. Battalion HQ and HQ Co ...

, County Londonderry. The Scout was replaced by the Lynx AH Mk1 helicopter which was faster and had greater endurance. In the summer of 1991, the squadron moved to

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 ...

to collocate with the rest of the Northern Ireland Regiment. The squadron became equipped with the Lynx AH7 which had improved avionics, reduced noise, better hover capability and more advanced composite rotor blades. The Northern Ireland Regiment was renamed as 5 Regiment AAC in 1993. In March 2007, the squadron was disbanded as

Operation Banner Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007, as part of the Troubles. It was the longest continuous deployment in British military history. The British Army was initial ...

was drawing to a close and due to a need to reduce the Lynx fleet set to be retired in 2012. On 1 April 2009, the squadron was reformed as a Territorial Army unit 655 (The Scottish Horse) Squadron (Volunteers) as part of 6 Regiment Army Air Corps (Volunteers) based at the Army Aviation Centre,

Middle Wallop Middle Wallop is a village in the civil parish of Nether Wallop in Hampshire, England, on the A343 road. At the 2011 Census the population was included in the civil parish of Over Wallop. The village has a public house, The George Inn, and a ...

. The squadron's role was to provide

individual reinforcements to army aviation units for exercises and operational deployment.

D Company, 3 PWRR

D Company of 3rd Battalion,

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (or PWRR, also known as 'The Tigers') is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Q ...

(3 PWRR) was formed in 2005. D Company was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

rifle company A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are formed of three to seven platoons, although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure. ...

with a machine gun platoon based at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. D Company had been re-assigned in 2005 from C (Duke of Connaught's) Company of the

Royal Rifle Volunteers Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

. C (Duke of Connaught's) Company had been re-assigned in 1999 from C (DCO) Company of 6th/7th Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Regiment. C (DCO) Company had been re-assigned in 1992 from A (DCO) Company of 2nd Battalion,

Wessex Regiment The Wessex Regiment was a Territorial Army infantry regiment of the British Army, in existence from 1967 to 1995. Initially consisting of a singular battalion, the regiment was later expanded to also have a second. Formation The regiment was fo ...

. A (DCO) Company had been re-assigned in 1971 from B Company of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Territorials. D Company had historical linkage to the 3rd Hampshire Volunteer Battalion formed in 1860 and which in 1908 became the 6th (Duke of Connaught's Own) Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment.

Present day

On 1 April 2014, 679 (The Duke of Connaught's) Squadron was formed following the re-designation of 655 (The Scottish Horse) Squadron and the transfer of a re-roled D Company, 3 PWRR to the squadron as part of the Future Reserves 2020 re-organisation of the Army Reserves. The squadron traces its lineage to No. 679 Squadron RAF formed on 1 December 1943 at

RAF Ipswich Ipswich Airport was an airfield on the outskirts of Ipswich, Suffolk England. It was known as RAF Nacton when No. 3619 Fighter Control Unit of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force were based there. History The site of Ravens Wood was purchased by ...

. The squadron operated the

Miles Martinet The Miles M.25 Martinet was a target tug aircraft of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) that was in service during the Second World War. It was the first British aircraft to be designed specifically for target towing. Work o ...

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracuda ...

and

Vultee A-31 Vengeance The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II, built by Vultee Aircraft. A modified version was designated A-35. The Vengeance was not used operationally by the United States, but was operated as a front-line aircraft by ...

aircraft types for anti-aircraft duties based at East Anglia. 679 Squadron RAF disbanded on 26 June 1945. The squadron is a sub-unit of 6 Regiment AAC and consists of Squadron Headquarters (SHQ) and A Flight based at Duke of Connaught's Barracks in Portsmouth and B Flight based at the Army Aviation Centre. The squadron is paired with the Army Aviation Centre where it provides ground support to the Apache. The squadron is trained in the loading of missiles, rockets, ammunition and the refuelling of the aircraft from a Forward Arming and Refuelling Point (FARP).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:No. 679 Squadron AAC Army Air Corps aircraft squadrons Military units and formations established in 2014

History

655 Squadron

D Company, 3 PWRR

Present day

See also

References