Former command of the Royal Air Force
Military unit
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 Britain
in 1940, when
the Few
held off the
Luftwaffe
attack on
Britain
. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when it was disbanded and the RAF fighter force was split into two categories; defence and attack. The defensive force became
Air Defence of Great Britain
(ADGB) and the offensive force became the
RAF Second Tactical Air Force
. Air Defence of Great Britain was renamed back to Fighter Command in October 1944 and continued to provide defensive patrols around Great Britain.
[2]
It was disbanded for the second time in 1968, when it was subsumed into the new
Strike Command
.
Origins
[
edit
]
On 20 May 1926, the forerunner of Fighter Command was established as a
group
within
Inland Area
. On 1 June 1926, Fighting Area was transferred to the
Air Defence of Great Britain
. Fighting Area was raised to Command status in 1932 and renamed Fighter Command on 1 May 1936. On 23 February 1940,
No. 60 Group RAF
was established within Fighter Command to control
Chain Home
radar
detection and tracking units.
Second World War
[
edit
]
Battle of Britain
[
edit
]
Over the next few years, the Command expanded greatly and replaced its obsolete
biplane
squadrons ? generally outfitted with
Bristol Bulldog
,
Gloster Gauntlet
and
Hawker Fury
biplane fighters leading up to, and through the period of its founding ? with two of the most famous aircraft ever to fly with the RAF, the
Hawker Hurricane
and the
Supermarine Spitfire
. The supreme test of Fighter Command came during the
Battle of Britain
in the summer of 1940 when the
German
Luftwaffe
launched an offensive aimed at attaining air superiority over the
Channel
and the
UK
as a prerequisite to the launch of a seaborne invasion force (codenamed
Operation Sea Lion
). Fighter Command was divided into a number of Groups, each defending a different part of the UK.
11 Group
took the brunt of the German attack, as it controlled southeast England and
London
. It was reinforced by
10 Group
, which covered southwest England,
12 Group
, which covered the
Midlands
and
East Anglia
and
13 Group
which covered the North of England and Scotland.
14 Group
was established on 26 June 1940.
60 Group
was established to run the
Chain Home
radar stations in early 1940. In the end, the Germans failed to attain air superiority, although the RAF had been eating severely into its reserves during the battle, as had the
Luftwaffe
.
1941 air offensive
[
edit
]
By May 1941, the squadrons based at all the main fighter airfields operated in wings, under the tactical control of the new post of
wing leader
, a survivor of 1940 with the rank of
wing commander
. Fighter Command began a campaign to gain air superiority over northwestern
France
. Various types of short-penetration fighter operations were used to draw the
Luftwaffe
into a war of attrition and keep as many German fighters in the west, particularly after the
Operation Barbarossa
, the German attack on the Soviet Union began in June 1941. Large Spitfire formations were sent out with small numbers of medium bombers to lure the German fighters into combat. The
Luftwaffe
left
Jagdgeschwader
2
(JG 2) and
Jagdgeschwader 26
(JG 26) in western Europe, comprising 180 fighters at most.
The advantages enjoyed by Fighter Command during the
Battle of Britain
were reversed, the short range of the Spitfire becoming a tactical disadvantage and British pilots became
prisoner of war
if shot down. Fighter Command claimed 711
Luftwaffe
fighters shot down but only 236 were lost from all causes, 103 in combat, for a loss of 400 RAF fighters.
[3]
As 1941 ended, the appearance of the new
Focke-Wulf Fw 190
, considerably superior to the
Spitfire Mk V
, put the British fighters at a worse disadvantage.
The
Blitz
of 1940 continued against civilian and industrial targets. Fighter Command night defences improved considerably in the new year; the
Bristol Beaufighter
supplanted the
Bristol Blenheim
as the principal
night fighter
, equipped with improved
Airborne Interception radar
and became increasingly effective in
ground-controlled interception
(GCI). More
anti-aircraft
guns and
searchlights
were fitted with radar sets, which improved accuracy.
Luftwaffe
losses mounted from 28 in January 1941 to 124 in May, when transfers of German bomber units to eastern Europe for the forthcoming
Operation Barbarossa
ended the Blitz in May 1941.
1942?45
[
edit
]
The difficult task of slowly grinding down the Germans continued into 1942 and 1943. Squadrons also found themselves on tiring defensive patrols as small formations of Fw 190s flew 'hit and run' nuisance raids all along the south coast and the
Hawker Typhoon
came into squadron service. On 19 August, during the
Dieppe Raid
, the RAF had an opportunity to engage large numbers of
Luftwaffe
aircraft. The Spitfire squadrons (42 with Mark Vs, and four with Mark IXs) flew ground-attack, escort and air-superiority sorties and prevented the
Luftwaffe
from interfering in the ground and sea battle, claiming 106 victories. Postwar analysis showed that the RAF lost 106 aircraft, including 88 fighters and 18 bombers; 29 fighter losses were from flak, one ran out of fuel, two collided and one was a victim of friendly fire.
[4]
The real
Luftwaffe
loss was 48 aircraft were lost, 28 being bombers, half of them
Dornier Do 217s
from
KG 2
. JG 2, lost 14 Fw 190s and eight pilots killed, JG 26 lost six Fw 190s with their pilots.
[5]
Spitfire losses stood at 70 destroyed and damaged to all causes; the number lost to Fw 190s is unknown.
[6]
[7]
The
Luftwaffe
claimed 61 of the 106 RAF machines lost, which included all types, JG 2 claiming 40 and JG 26 claiming 21.
[5]
In 1942 Fighter Command claimed 560 victories against a true loss of 272 German fighters from all causes, for 574 RAF day fighters destroyed.
[8]
By the autumn of 1942, the arrival of the
United States Army Air Forces
(USAAF)
8th Air Force
and its daylight bombers would add bomber escort to Fighter Command's tasks. Until American
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
fighter groups were operational in May 1943, the Command's Spitfires performed a vital role in protecting the increasing numbers of
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses
and
Consolidated B-24 Liberators
operating over Occupied Europe. The Spitfire's chronic lack of operational range ? not entirely unlike
the Bf 109E's similar dilemma
during the Battle of Britain ? however meant such protection was limited to the Channel and the European coast.
In February 1944, Fighter Command was split into the
Air Defence of Great Britain
(ADGB), the former name of Fighter Command, to defend Britain and the
Second Tactical Air Force
to support ground forces after the invasion of Europe.
[9]
The same year,
No. 14 Group RAF
(established 26 June 1940) was disestablished, on 15 July. In 1944 ADGB made the greatest effort in its history during
Operation Overlord
, the invasion of France which began on 6 June 1944. RAF and Allied fighter units suppressed the meagre German air opposition and supported ground forces by strafing German positions and transport. Later in the year, the final test of ADGB (renamed Fighter Command in October 1944) in the war occurred against the
V-1 flying bomb
during
Operation Crossbow
.
[10]
RAF fighters also flew long-range night intruder operations against German airfields and aircraft (e.g., at take-off/landing) at the time the
Luftwaffe
night fighters would be scrambled against
RAF Bomber Command
(see
Operation Hydra
).
[11]
In January 1945, the command included 10, 11, 12 and 13 Groups, plus
38 (Airborne Forces) Group
,
60 Group
, and
70 (Training) Group
.
[12]
10 Group was disestablished on 2 May 1945, and 70 Group on 17 July 1945.
[13]
In 1946, 60 Group was amalgamated with
26 Group
to become
90 (Signals) Group
and transferred to Transport Command/British Air Force of Occupation. From 1939 to 1945, RAF Fighter Command lost 3,690 killed, 1,215 wounded and 601 POW; 4,790 aircraft were lost.
[14]
Royal Observer Corps
[
edit
]
As a direct result of their efforts during the Battle of Britain the
Observer Corps
was granted the title Royal by
King George VI
and became a uniformed volunteer branch of the RAF from April 1941 for the remainder of its existence, retitled the
Royal Observer Corps
(ROC). The corps would continue as a civilian organisation but wearing a
Royal Air Force uniform
and administered by Fighter Command.
With their headquarters at
RAF Bentley Priory
, the ROC remained administered by Fighter Command until 31 March 1968, when responsibility was handed over to the newly formed
RAF Strike Command
.
The ROC was a defence warning organisation operating in the
United Kingdom
between 1925 and 31 December 1995, when it was stood down. Initially established for an aircraft recognition and reporting role that lasted through both world wars, the organisation switched to a
Cold War
nuclear reporting role during the 1950s. The 10,500 ROC volunteers were trained and administered by a small cadre of 69 uniformed full-time professional officers under the command of a
serving RAF Air Commodore
.
Cold War years
[
edit
]
In the aftermath of World War II, the role of Fighter Command was still to protect the UK from air attack. Only the threat had changed, from Germany to the
Soviet Union
. The
Cold War
saw the threat of
Soviet
bombers attacking the United Kingdom loom large. A Canadian fighter wing,
No. 1 Wing
, arrived at
RAF North Luffenham
in late 1951 to bolster NATO's strength, and was in a position to assist Fighter Command until it relocated to bases in
France
and
West Germany
in 1954?55.
[15]
After 1949, those Soviet bombers could be carrying nuclear weapons, and so intercepting them was crucial if the United Kingdom was to be saved during a war. A long succession of fighter aircraft saw service with Fighter Command during the 1950s and 1960s. Particularly notable types were the
Gloster Meteor
,
Hawker Hunter
, Gloster Javelin and the
English Electric Lightning
.
The Lightning was the only purely British supersonic aircraft to enter service. That was due to a disastrous defence review in 1957. During the mid-1950s, the performance of the new surface to air missiles was improving at an enormous rate.
Duncan Sandys
, the
Minister of Defence
at the time needed to find cuts in the British defence budget, since the UK was in serious danger of being bankrupted by its defence spending. The rate of improvement of surface to air missiles seemed to indicate that they would soon be able to shoot any manned aircraft out of the sky. Consequently, in an infamous statement in the
1957 Defence White Paper
the Sandys review declared that manned aircraft were obsolescent and would soon become obsolete. All programmes for manned aircraft that were not too far along were cancelled. The Lightning was the only one of a number of new supersonic aircraft that was too far along to cancel. That decision, combined with the increasing costs of developing aircraft crippled the British aircraft industry and made Fighter Command and the RAF reliant on foreign or jointly developed aircraft.
[
citation needed
]
In 1961, RAF Fighter Command was assigned to
NATO
's air defence system. On 1 May, Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Fighter Command, Air Marshal Sir Hector McGregor assumed the additional title of Commander United Kingdom Air Defence Region.
[16]
The ADR itself stretched some hundreds of miles to the north, west and south of the country and almost to the continental coastline in the east.
[17]
In organisational terms, Nos
11
(14 July 1936 ? 31 December 1960, 1 January 1961 - 1 April 1963) and
12
Groups (1 April 1937 ? 31 March 1963) continued in almost unbroken service until 1963.
No.13 Group
(15 March 1939 ? 20 May 1946) was reformed on 16 May 1955 and then disbanded 31 December 1961 at
RAF Ouston
(becoming 11 Group). From 1 April 1963 three sectors,
No. 11 Sector RAF
;
No. 12 Sector RAF
; and
No. 13 Sector RAF
were maintained. 13 Sector disbanded by amalgamation with No. 11 Sector on 17 March 1965.
[18]
Strike Command
[
edit
]
As the 1960s dawned, the RAF continued to shrink. The three functional commands, Fighter Command,
Bomber Command
, and
Coastal Command
had all been formed in 1936 to help command an expanding RAF. It was now becoming clear that the RAF was simply becoming too small to justify their continued existence as separate entities. Consequently, in 1968, Fighter Command and Bomber Command were joined together to form
Strike Command
, both becoming groups within the new command.
[19]
Coastal Command was disbanded and subsumed into the new Strike Command in November 1969.
[20]
Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief
[
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]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Pine, L.G. (1983).
A dictionary of mottoes
(1 ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p.
160
.
ISBN
0-7100-9339-X
.
- ^
Franks 1998, p. 7.
- ^
'The JG 26 War Diary' (Volume 1), Caldwell (1996) page 199.
- ^
Franks 1998, pp. 56?62.
- ^
a
b
Weal 1996, p. 26.
- ^
Franks 1998, p. 56-62.
- ^
Delve 2007, p. 73.
- ^
The JG 26 War Diary (Volume 1), Caldwell (1996)
- ^
Dildy, Douglas (2016). "Fighter Command: the Original IADS".
RAF Salute 2016
. Stamford: Key Publishing: 57.
ISBN
9781910415672
.
- ^
Eden, Paul E (2016). "Fighter Command...Again".
RAF Salute
. Stamford: Key: 75.
ISBN
9781910415672
.
- ^
Irving 1964
, pp. 214, 249.
- ^
https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/documents/carl/nafziger/945BARB.pdf
[
bare URL PDF
]
- ^
Air of Authority, List of Groups 70 - 106
, accessed September 2020.
- ^
'Fighter Command' Chaz Bowyer, 1980
- ^
Rawlings 1984
, p. 204.
- ^
"British Military Aviation in 1961"
. Archived from
the original
on 21 November 2008.
- ^
Flight International, UK Air Defence Region, 27 June 1974, p.840
- ^
"Groups 10-19_U"
.
- ^
Delve 1994, pp. 98?99.
- ^
Ashworth, Chris (1992).
RAF Coastal Command : 1936?1969
(1 ed.). Yeovil: Patrick Stephens. p. 222.
ISBN
1-85260-345-3
.
- ^
Rawlings 1978
, p. 522.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Austin, A.B.
Fighter Command
. London: Victor Gollancz, 1941.
- Bowyer, Chaz.
RAF Fighter Command, 1936?1968
. BCA/J.M. Dent, 1980.
ISBN
0-460-04388-9
.
- Delve, Ken.
Fighter Command 1936?1968: An Operational and Historical Record
. Pen & Sword Aviation, 2007.
ISBN
1-84415-613-3
.
- Delve, Ken.
The Source Book of the RAF
. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 1994.
ISBN
1-85310-451-5
.
- Franks, Norman L.R.
RAF Fighter Command, 1936?1968
. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 1992.
ISBN
1-85260-344-5
.
- Franks, Norman L.R.
Royal Air Force Losses of the Second World War, Volume 2. Operational Losses: Aircraft and crews, 1942?1943
. London: Midland Publishing Limited, 1998.
ISBN
1-85780-075-3
.
- Franks, Norman L.R.
Royal Air Force Losses of the Second World War, Volume 3. Operational Losses: Aircraft and crews, 1944?1945 (Incorporating Air Defence Great Britain and 2nd TAF)
. London: Midland Publishing Limited, 1998.
ISBN
1-85780-093-1
.
- Irving, David
(1964).
The Mare's Nest
. London: William Kimber and Co.
- James, T.C.G. and Sebastian Cox.
Growth of Fighter Command, 1936?1940: v. 1: Air Defence of Great Britain: v. 1 (Royal Air Force Official Histories)
. Routledge, 2001.
ISBN
0-7146-5118-4
.
- Jefford, C.G.
RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912
. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1998 (second edition 2001).
ISBN
1-84037-141-2
.
- Rawlings, John D. R. (1978) [1969].
Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft
(2nd rev. ed.). London: Macdonald and Jane's.
ISBN
0-354-01028-X
.
- Rawlings, John D. R. (1984).
The History of the Royal Air Force
. Feltham: Temple Press Aerospace.
ISBN
978-0-600-34990-7
.
- Wykeham, Peter
.
Fighter Command
. London: Putnam, 1960.
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Overview
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People
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Organisation
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Campaigns and
operations
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Aircraft
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Technology
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Related topics
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RAF strategic bombing during the Second World War
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Overviews
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Leaders
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Campaigns
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Operations
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Aircraft
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Technology
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Tactics
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Units
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See also
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formations
and units
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branches and
components
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reserve forces
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equipment
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personnel
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appointments
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symbols and uniform
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associated civil
organisations
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Preceded by
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Fighter Command
1936?1968
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Succeeded by
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