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The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the second independent air force in the world after the Finnish Air Force merging the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has played a significant role in British military history. In particular, during the Second World War, the RAF established air superiority over Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, and led the Allied strategic bombing effort.
The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War, remaining active until integrated into the Royal Navy in 1993. WRNS included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Kevin Burridge, is a retired Royal Air Force officer. A former Nimrod pilot, Burridge was in overall command of British forces under Operation Telic during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Number 56 Squadron, also known as No. 56 Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), nicknamed the Firebirds for their ability to always reappear intact regardless of the odds, is one of the oldest and most successful squadrons of the Royal Air Force, with battle honours from many of the significant air campaigns of both the First and Second World Wars.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Dermot Alexander Boyle, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the Second World War initially as a staff officer with the Advanced Air Striking Force in Reims in which capacity he organised the evacuation of the Force through Brest in May 1940. His war service included tours as a bomber squadron commander, as a station commander and also as an air group commander. He was Chief of the Air Staff in the late 1950s and, in that role, deployed British air power during the Suez Crisis in October 1956 and defended the RAF against the views of Duncan Sandys, the Minister for Defence, who believed that the V bomber force rendered manned fighter aircraft redundant.
No. 60 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1916 at Gosport. It is currently part of No. 1 Flying Training School based at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire flying the Airbus H135 Juno HT.1.
The Central Band of the Royal Air Force is an RAF regular band and is part of Royal Air Force Music Services. The motto of the band is Aere Invicti.
Royal Air Force Music Services is the organization which provides military musical support to the Royal Air Force. Based at RAF Northolt and RAF Cranwell, it forms the central administration of one hundred and seventy musicians divided between The Band of the Royal Air Force College, The Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment, Central Band of the Royal Air Force, the Royal Air Force Salon Orchestra and Headquarters Music Services. These main military bands contain within their ranks the Royal Air Force Squadronaires, Royal Air Force Swing Wing and Royal Air Force Shades of Blue.
The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and is responsible for all RAF recruiting along with officer and aircrew selection. Originally established as a naval aviation training centre during World War I, the College was established as the world's first air academy in 1919. During World War II, the College was closed and its facilities were used as a flying training school. Reopening after the War, the College absorbed the Royal Air Force Technical College in 1966.
The Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force was an official unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF) which provided around-the-clock aeronautical search and rescue cover in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and the Falkland Islands, from 1986 until 2016.
Number 601 Squadron is a squadron of the RAF Reserves, based in London. The squadron took part in the Battle of Britain, during which the first Americans to fly in World War II were members of the squadron.
The Royal Air Force Medical Services is the branch of the Royal Air Force that provides health care at home and on deployed operations to RAF service personnel. Medical officers are the doctors of the RAF and have specialist expertise in aviation medicine to support aircrew and their protective equipment. Medical officers also carry out Aeromedical evacuations, providing vital assistance on search-and-rescue missions or emergency relief flights worldwide.
The Air Secretary and Chief of Staff, Personnel is the Royal Air Force officer with responsibility for appointments, promotions, postings, and discipline of high ranking members of the British air force. From 1978 to 1983 the Air Secretary was more often referred to as "Air Officer Commanding Royal Air Force Personnel Management Centre". It is a senior RAF appointment, held by an officer holding the rank of air vice-marshal and appointed by the sovereign. The Air Secretary's counterpart in the British Army is the Military Secretary and the Royal Navy equivalent is the Naval Secretary.
The Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch provides military chaplains for the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom.
Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supplements to the London Gazette and many are conferred by the monarch some time after the date of the announcement, particularly for those service people on active duty.
The Queen's Birthday Honours 1952 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The Queen, and were published in supplements of the London Gazette on 30 May 1952 for the United Kingdom and Colonies, Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon, and Pakistan.
Raymond Jackson Pentland, is a British Church of England priest. He is a retired military chaplain, having served as Chaplain-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force and head of its Chaplains Branch from 2009 to 2014.
Air Vice Marshal David John Stubbs, is a senior Royal Air Force officer. He previously served as the Commandant of Royal Air Force College Cranwell from 2012 to 2013, and the Air Secretary from 2013 to 2016.
Headquarters Music Services (HQMS) is the entity that oversees all three military bands in the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Central Band with the RAF Salon Orchestra, the Band of the RAF Regiment and the Band of the RAF College. Acting as the RAF's version of the British Army's Royal Corps of Army Music, it is part of Royal Air Force Music Services, which is the larger organizational body for RAF bands.
Air Vice-Marshal Michael John Smeath, is a senior Royal Air Force officer.
References
- ↑ "Royal Air Force Music Services - Principal Director of Music, RAF Music Services". mod.uk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ↑ "No. 52151". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 May 1990. p. 9787.
