| No. 83 Group | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1943 - 1946 1952 - 1958 2006 - present |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Garrison | Al Udeid Air Base |
| Motto | A Deux plus Forts (French: Two are stronger than one)[1] |
| Commanders | |
| Air Officer Commanding 83 EAG | Air Commodore S D Atha |
No. 83 Group was a group within the Royal Air Force's 2nd Tactical Air Force (2TAF) during the Second World War and the post-war era. In 2006, the group was re-established as No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group, and is currently based out of Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
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No. 83 (Composite) Group was formed on 1 April 1943 within the Second Tactical Air Force. By the eve of the D-Day landings, 83 Group had grown to a strength of 29 fighter, ground-attack and reconnaissance squadrons and four artillery observation squadrons, grouped into ten wings. At the time of Operation Market Garden it consisted of the RCAF's 39 Reconnaissance Wing, 121, 122, 123 and 143 Wings flying Hawker Typhoon fighter-bombers, 125 Wing with Supermarine Spitfire fighters, and the RCAF 126 and 127 Wings also flying Spitfires. No 401 (Ram) Squadron with Spitfires was one of its squadrons from 1943. The Group HQ was at RAF Eindhoven from 1 October 1944 to 10 April 1945. It was absorbed into No. 84 Group RAF on 21 April 1946.
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 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.
No. 83 Group was re-formed on 1 April 2006 from the UK Air Component Headquarters at Al Udeid, Qatar. It comprises No. 901 Expeditionary Air Wing at Al Udeid and Bahrain and No.902 Expeditionary Air Wing at Seeb.
The Air Officer Commanding No. 83 Group is the Air Component Commander in the Middle East. He is responsible to the Permanent Joint Headquarters for the command and control of all RAF units engaged in Operations Telic and Herrick. The group has a small number of headquarters staff.