| Royal Air Force Signals Command | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 3 November 1958–1 January 1969 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Type | Command |
| Role | controlling Signals activity |
| Motto(s) | Aetherem Vincere Latin: To conquer the upper air [1] |
Signals Command was the British Royal Air Force's command responsible for control of signals units from 1958 to 1969. It was based at RAF Medmenham near Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
Originally, on 24 April 1946, No. 90 (Signals) Group RAF was formed at Danesfield Court, Medmenham, Marlow, taking over the functions of No 26, 60 (the home air defence radar stations, originally Chain Home and Chain Home Low) and 100 Groups (airborne electronic warfare) and No. 80 Wing RAF (electronic warfare). [2]
Signals Command was formed on 3 November 1958 by raising 90 Group to Command status. [3]
Three De Havilland Comet 2s were modified for RAF use in radar and electronic systems development, initially assigned to No. 90 Group (later Signals Command). [4] In service with No. 192 and No. 51 Squadrons, the 2R series was equipped to monitor Warsaw Pact signal traffic and operated in this role from 1958. [5] The 2R ELINT series was operational until 1974, when replaced by the Nimrod R1, the last Comet derivative in RAF service. [5]
Signals Command was relatively short-lived, lasting only until 1 January 1969, when it was absorbed by Strike Command by being reduced to group status. [3] It had five Air Officers Commanding during its existence.
In 2006, various elements of the RAF Signals trades and sections were combined at RAF Leeming to form No. 90 Signals Unit with the same badge and motto as No. 90 (Signals) Group and Signals Command. [6]
The Royal Air Force's Strike Command was the military formation which controlled the majority of the United Kingdom's bomber and fighter aircraft from 1968 until 2007 when it merged with Personnel and Training Command to form the single Air Command. It latterly consisted of two formations – No. 1 Group RAF and No. 2 Group RAF. The last Commander-in-Chief was Air Chief Marshal Sir Joe French.
The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, and exiles from German-occupied Europe. Renamed as British Air Forces of Occupation in 1945, 2TAF was recreated in 1951 and became Royal Air Force Germany in 1959.
RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967.
Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and 11.6 mi (18.7 km) south east of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Joint Forces Intelligence Group of Joint Forces Command. Other units include the RAF Aerial Erector School, No. 54 Signals Unit and No. 591 Signals Unit.
Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and the station is now under the command of UK Strategic Command.
No. 100 Group was a special duties group within RAF Bomber Command. The group was formed on 11 November 1943 to consolidate the increasingly complex business of electronic warfare and countermeasures in one organisation. The group was responsible for the development, operational trial and use of electronic warfare and countermeasures equipment. It was based at RAF stations in East Anglia, chiefly Norfolk.
No. 11 Group is a group in the Royal Air Force first formed in 1918. It had been formed and disbanded for various periods during the 20th century before disbanding in 1996 and reforming again in 2018. Its most famous service was in 1940 in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War, when it defended London and the south-east of the United Kingdom from attacks by the German Luftwaffe. It was reformed in late 2018 as a "multi-domain operations group" to ensure the service thinks and acts in a networked way.
Number 51 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Since 2014 it has operated the Boeing RC-135W Airseeker R.1, more commonly referred to as the Rivet Joint, from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire.
Air Support Command of the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 August 1967 by the redesignation of Transport Command. Its change of name reflected the change of emphasis of the Command from solely transporting materials and manpower around the world to providing general support to RAF operations around the world.
Intelligence services in the Royal Air Force are delivered by Officers of the Royal Air Force Intelligence Branch and Airmen from the Intelligence Analyst Trade and Intelligence Analyst (Voice) Trade. The specialisation has around 1,200 personnel of all ranks posted to operational air stations, HQs and other establishments of the British Armed Forces, both in the United Kingdom and overseas.
RAF Medmenham is a former Royal Air Force station based at Danesfield House near Medmenham, in Buckinghamshire, England. Activities there specialised in photographic intelligence, and it was once the home of the RAF Intelligence Branch. During the Second World War, RAF Medmenham was the main interpretation centre for photographic reconnaissance operations in the European and Mediterranean theatres.
Royal Air Force Watton or more simply RAF Watton is a former Royal Air Force station located 9 mi (14 km) southwest of East Dereham, Norfolk, England.
No. 192 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron operational during the First World War as a night training squadron and during the Second World War as a radar countermeasure unit. After the war the squadron served again in the Electronic Intelligence role, until disbanded in 1958.
Flying Training Command was an organization of the Royal Air Force; it controlled flight training units. The command's headquarters were at RAF Shinfield Park, Reading in Berkshire.
90 Signals Unit is based at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire and provides information and communication services to deployed units of the Royal Air Force.
No. 18 Group of the Royal Air Force was a group active from 1918 to 1919, and from 1938 to 1996.
Air Marshal Sir Leslie Dalton Morris, was a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) commander in the middle of the twentieth century. He played a leading role in the use of signals in the Air Force both during and after the Second World War.
RAF Home Command was the Royal Air Force command that was responsible for the maintenance and training of reserve organisations from formation on 1 February 1939 as RAF Reserve Command with interruptions until it ceased to exist on 1 April 1959.
No. 60 Group RAF was a group of the British Royal Air Force. It was established in 1940 with the headquarters in Leighton Buzzard, as part of RAF Fighter Command.
At the end of the Cold War in 1989, the Royal Air Force (RAF) structure was as follows:
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