Support Command was a

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * command (Unix), a Unix command * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on A ...

of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

between 1973 and 1994. The headquarters was located at RAF Brampton in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

History

It was formed on 31 August 1973 by the renaming of

RAF Maintenance Command RAF Maintenance Command was the Royal Air Force command which was responsible for controlling maintenance for all the United Kingdom-based units from formation on 1 April 1938 until being renamed RAF Support Command on 31 August 1973. Histor ...

,Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - RAF Home Commands formed between 1958 - 2002
with No. 90 (Signals) Group being added to it. Its responsibilities included all logistical and maintenance support requirements of the RAF. Among its first stations assigned may have been RAF Gan, transferred from Far East Air Force. It was renamed as RAF Support Command, and its role further increased, on 13 June 1977 when it absorbed Training Command, making it additionally responsible for all RAF ground and aircrew training. In 1982, Support Command had an inventory of 500 aircraft and 49,000 personnel, which included 14,000 civilians and 8,000 trainees. Support Command undertook training for all officers and other ranks, which was delivered at

Biggin Hill Biggin Hill is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, about south-southeast of Charing Cross. It is separated from London's built-up area by the Metropolitan green belt and is located adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Kent and ...

, Cosford, Cranwell, Digby,

Finningley Finningley is a village and civil parish in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Historically in Nottinghamshire, it lies on the A614 road between Bawtry and Thorne, about 6 miles south-east of Doncaster. In the 2011 census, it h ...

, Halton,

Henlow Henlow is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about south-east of the county town of Bedford. The name Henlow is believed to derive from the old Eng ...

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, Leeming,

Linton-on-Ouse Linton-on-Ouse is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, about eight miles north-west of York. It lies on the north bank of the River Ouse. History The village is mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'' as ''Lucton ...

, Locking, Newton, North Luffenham,

St Athan St Athan () is a village and community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The village and its parish church are dedicated to Saint Tathan. The church dates to the 13th–14th century, though an earlier church was dated t ...

, Sealand, Shawbury, Swinderby, and

Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

. One major function of Support Command was facilitating medical training and delivery of medical services. This involved the control of the RAF Hospitals at Ely, Halton, Nocton Hall and

Wroughton Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 road, A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junc ...

. Support Command was also responsible for the rehabilitation centres at Chessington and

Headley Court Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court (abbreviated to DMRC Headley Court, and more commonly known as Headley Court), formerly RAF Headley Court, was an United Kingdom Ministry of Defence facility in Headley, near Epsom, Surrey, Eng ...

. In the 1980s the bunker at RAF Holmpton was converted to form a new Emergency War Headquarters for RAF Support Command. In the year before it was disbanded (1993), Support Command had 18,144 uniformed personnel under its structure, spread across 40 locations. In October 1985, the HQ building of Support Command at RAF Brampton was destroyed by fire. Staff had to move into temporary accommodation until a new HQ building was built, with the final cost coming in at around £44 million. The new HQ was opened on 7 June 1988 by the Duke of Gloucester. In 1994 the Command was split up, with many of its functions merging with those of the RAF Personnel Management Centre to form RAF Personnel and Training Command, and others being hived off into RAF Logistics Command.

Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief

The following officers have held the appointment of

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

RAF Support Command: *31 Aug 1973 - Air Marshal Sir Reginald Harland *13 Jun 1977 - Air Marshal Sir

Rex Roe Air Chief Marshal Sir Rex David Roe, (4 May 1925 – 3 November 2002) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. RAF career Educated at the City of London School and the University of London, Roe joined the Royal Air Force in 1943 during the Secon ...

*30 Aug 1978 - Air Marshal Sir Keith Williamson *3 May 1980 - Air Marshal Sir John Gingell *27 Apr 1981 - Air Marshal Sir

Michael Beavis Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Gordon Beavis, (13 August 1929 – 7 June 2020) was a Royal Air Force officer who served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Support Command, Support Command from 1981 to 1984. RAF career Educated at Kilburn G ...

*15 Feb 1984 - Air Marshal Sir David Harcourt-Smith *2 Jan 1986 - Air Marshal Sir John Sutton *5 Apr 1989 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon *8 May 1990 - Air Chief Marshal Sir John Thomson *5 Oct 1992 - Air Chief Marshal Sir John Willis

References

Sources

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History

Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief

See also

References

Sources

Further reading