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Expeditionary group of the Royal Air Force From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group is a group within the Royal Air Force, currently based at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
| No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group | |
|---|---|
| |
| Active |
|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Type | Operational headquarters |
| Part of | RAF Air Command |
| Home station | Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar |
| Motto(s) | A Deux Plus Forts (French for 'Two heads are better than one')[1] |
| Commanders | |
| CO of 83 EAG and Deputy Air Component Commander, Middle East | Group Captain Bishop |
Originally formed in 1943, during the Second World War it formed part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force (2TAF) and was known as No. 83 (Composite) Group. It provided support to Allied forces during the liberation of Europe. After being disbanded in 1946 it was re-established as No. 83 Group in 1952 to lead the 2TAF's units in Germany, until it disbanded again in 1958.
On 1 April 2006 it was reformed as No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group Headquarters, to lead UK air operations in the Middle East. Activities include Operations Kipion (the UK's maritime presence in the Middle East) and Operation Shader (the UK's part of the military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)).
No. 83 (Composite) Group was formed on 1 April 1943 within the Second Tactical Air Force of the Royal Air Force. By the eve of the D-Day landings in June 1944, No. 83 Group had grown to a strength of twenty-nine fighter, ground-attack and reconnaissance squadrons and four artillery observation squadrons, grouped into ten wings.
At the time of D-Day, the group consisted of:[2]
Other group units can be seen at and included No. 83 Group Support Unit RAF, which was located at RAF Redhill on D-Day.
The Group headquarters was at RAF Eindhoven from 1 October 1944 to 10 April 1945. The group was absorbed into No. 84 Group RAF on 21 April 1946.[3]
No. 83 Group was re-formed on 9 July 1952 within the Second Tactical Air Force in Germany to control its southern area. By 1956, the group controlled five wings with a total of fourteen squadrons equipped with Hawker Hunter day fighters, de Havilland Venom fighter-bombers, Supermarine Swift fighter-reconnaissance aircraft, Gloster Meteor night-fighters and English Electric Canberra interdiction and reconnaissance aircraft. It was disbanded again on 16 June 1958.[3]
During April 1953 the group controlled:[4]
On 1 July 1956, No. 83 Group directed wings at RAF Bruggen, RAF Celle, RAF Geilenkirchen, RAF Wahn, and RAF Wildenrath.[5]
No. 83 Group was re-formed on 1 April 2006 from the UK Air Component Headquarters in the Middle East. It comprised No. 901 Expeditionary Air Wing in the Middle East and Bahrain and No. 902 Expeditionary Air Wing at Seeb in Oman. Since that time it has controlled a varying number of Expeditionary Air Wings. No. 83 Group is based at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.[6]
The Air Officer Commanding No. 83 Group was the Air Component Commander in the Middle East. They were responsible to the Permanent Joint Headquarters for the command and control of all RAF units engaged in Operations Kipion and Shader.[7]
No. 83 Group is currently in charge of:
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