No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group facts for kids
Quick facts for kids No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group |
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Group badge
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| Active | 1 April 1943 – 21 April 1946 9 July 1952 – 16 June 1958 1 April 2006 – present |
| 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') |
| Commanders | |
| Air Officer Commanding and UK Air Component Commander |
Air Commodore Nikki Thomas |
The No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group is a special part of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It's like a main office that helps manage air operations. Currently, it is based at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
This group was first created in 1943 during the Second World War. Back then, it was called No. 83 (Composite) Group. It helped support Allied forces as they freed Europe.
After the war, it was closed down in 1946. But it was brought back in 1952 as No. 83 Group. This time, it led RAF units in Germany until 1958.
On April 1, 2006, it was started up again. Now, it's known as No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group Headquarters. Its job is to lead UK air missions in the Middle East. This includes important operations like Operation Kipion and Operation Shader. These operations are part of the UK's efforts against groups like ISIL.
Contents
History of No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group
No. 83 (Composite) Group: World War II
The No. 83 (Composite) Group was formed on April 1, 1943. It was part of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force. This was a major air force group during World War II.
By June 1944, just before the D-Day invasion, the group had grown very large. It included 29 squadrons of different types of aircraft. These included fighters, ground-attack planes, and reconnaissance planes. It also had four squadrons that helped spot for artillery.
During D-Day, the group had several important wings:
- No. 39 Reconnaissance Wing RCAF
- Wings with Hawker Typhoon fighter-bombers:
- No. 121 (Rocket Projectile) Wing RAF
- No. 124 (Rocket Projectile) Wing RAF
- No. 129 (Fighter Bomber) Wing RAF
- No. 143 (RCAF) (Fighter) Wing RAF
- Wings with Supermarine Spitfire fighters:
- No. 125 (Fighter) Wing RAF
- No. 126 (RCAF) (Fighter) Wing RAF
- No. 127 (RCAF) (Fighter) Wing RAF
- No. 144 (RCAF) (Fighter) Wing RAF
- A wing with North American Mustangs:
- No. 122 (Rocket Projectile) Wing RAF
Other units were also part of the group, like No. 83 Group Support Unit RAF. The group's main base was at RAF Eindhoven for a time. On April 21, 1946, the group became part of No. 84 Group RAF.
No. 83 Group: Post-War Germany
No. 83 Group was re-formed on July 9, 1952. It was part of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force in Germany. Its job was to control the southern area of operations.
By 1956, the group managed five wings. These wings had 14 squadrons in total. They flew various aircraft, including:
- Hawker Hunter day fighters
- de Havilland Venom fighter-bombers
- Supermarine Swift planes for fighting and reconnaissance
- Gloster Meteor night-fighters
- English Electric Canberra planes for attacking and reconnaissance
The group was disbanded again on June 16, 1958.
In April 1953, the group controlled units at several RAF bases:
- RAF Wahn:
- No. 83 Group Communications Flight
- No. 68 Squadron RAF (Meteor planes)
- No. 87 Squadron RAF (Meteor planes)
- RAF Celle:
- No. 16 Squadron RAF (Vampire & Meteor planes)
- No. 94 Squadron RAF (Vampire & Meteor planes)
- No. 145 Squadron RAF (Vampire & Meteor planes)
- RAF Wildenrath:
- No. 3 Squadron RAF (Vampire & Meteor planes)
- No. 67 Squadron RAF (Vampire & Meteor planes)
- No. 71 Squadron RAF (Vampire & Meteor planes)
- Sabre Conversion Flight (Sabre planes)
By July 1, 1956, No. 83 Group directed wings at RAF Bruggen, RAF Celle, RAF Geilenkirchen, RAF Wahn, and RAF Wildenrath.
Current Operations
No. 83 Group was re-formed on April 1, 2006. It took over from the UK Air Component Headquarters in the Middle East. It first included No. 901 Expeditionary Air Wing and No. 902 Expeditionary Air Wing.
Since then, it has managed different numbers of Expeditionary Air Wings. Today, No. 83 Group is based at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
The Air Officer Commanding No. 83 Group is also the Air Component Commander for the Middle East. This person is in charge of all RAF units involved in Operations Kipion and Shader.
Currently, No. 83 Group is in charge of these units:
- 901 Expeditionary Air Wing
- This wing supports No. 83 EAG. It is also home to the Joint Force Communication and Information Systems (Middle East).
- 902 Expeditionary Air Wing
- This wing is located at RAFO Musannah.
- 903 Expeditionary Air Wing
- Based at RAF Akrotiri, this wing operates Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4, Airbus A400M Atlas, and Airbus Voyager aircraft.
- 906 Expeditionary Air Wing
- This wing is located at Al Minhad Air Base.
Commanders of No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group
1943 to 1946
- Air Vice Marshal W F Dickson, April 4, 1943 – March 25, 1944
- AVM H Broadhurst, March 25, 1944 – September 1, 1945
- AVM T C Traill, September 9, 1945 – April 21, 1946
1952 to 1958
- Air Commodore R B Lees, September 8, 1952 – August 22, 1955
- AVM H A V Hogan, August 22, 1955 – June 16, 1958
2006 to present
- Air Commodore B M North, April 1, 2006 – September 13, 2006
- Air Commodore C A Bairsto, September 13, 2006 – January 12, 2007
- Air Commodore P Oborn, January 12, 2007 – July 10, 2007
- Air Commodore M J Harwood, July 10, 2007 – August 16, 2008
- Air Commodore A S Barmby, August 16, 2008 – May 22, 2009
- Air Commodore S D Atha, May 22, 2009 – January 31, 2010
- Air Commodore K B McCann, January 31, 2010 – January 6, 2011
- Air Commodore A D Stevenson, January 6, 2011 – December 15, 2011
- Air Commodore S D Forward, December 15, 2011 – December 21, 2012
- Air Commodore P J Beach, December 21, 2012 – December 14, 2013
- Air Commodore A Gillespie, December 14, 2013 – December 1, 2014
- Air Commodore M Sampson, December 1, 2014 – October 23, 2016
- Air Commodore John J Stringer, October 23, 2016 – October 22, 2017
- Air Commodore R J Dennis, October 22, 2017 – October 21, 2018
- Air Commodore Justin Reuter, October 21, 2018 – October 20, 2019
- Air Commodore Tim Jones, October 20, 2019 – September 2020
- Air Commodore Simon Strasdin, September 2020 – September 2021
- Air Commodore Mark Farrell, September 2021 – September 2022
- Air Commodore N S Thomas, September 2022 –
