No. 663 Squadron AAC

No. 663 Squadron AAC
663 Aviation Squadron
Active 24 October 1969 - present
Country United Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch United Kingdom Army Air Corps
Part of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps
16 Air Assault Brigade
Base Wattisham Airfield
Motto We fly for the guns.
Equipment AgustaWestland Apache
Insignia
Squadron badge heraldry An Eagle displayed holding a snaffle bit

No. 663 Squadron AAC is a flying unit of the British Army's Army Air Corps (AAC).

Previous history

No. 663 Squadron RAF had been formed in northern Italy on 14 August 1944, as an Air Observation Post (AOP) unit, manned by Polish officers and men, to spot for allied artillery units located in that war zone. The unit left for the UK on 10 October 1946 and it was formally disbanded on 29 October.[1] 663 Squadron was reformed as a Royal Auxiliary Air Force (R.Aux.A.F.) AOP unit on 1 July 1949, manned by Territorial Army artillery officers and men. It was based at RAF Hooton Park, Cheshire, with detached flights. The R.Aux.A.F was disbanded on 10 March 1957.[2]

Army Air Corps history and operations

663 Squadron AAC Westland Scout AH.1 in 1969

The unit was reformed as 663 Aviation Squadron in October 1969 at AAC Netheravon, Wiltshire. Its allocated mission was to support army formations in the Salisbury Plain area. The unit's initial equipment was the Bell Sioux AH.1 helicopter, with these being later replaced by the Westland Scout AH.1 turbine helicopter. On 1 January 1973 the unit was renamed No. 663 Squadron AAC. The Squadron again disbanded in July 1977.

Following a restructuring of Army Air Squadrons, 660 Squadron was redesignated as 663 Squadron, part of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, based at Soest. From 1993 it has been based at Wattisham Airfield near Stowmarket, Suffolk. In recent years it has replaced its Westland Gazelles with Westland-assembled Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. More recently, the squadron has served in the Iraq War (Operation Telic) and in Afghanistan (Operation Herrick).

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Halley 1988, p. 450
  2. ↑ Scholefield 1998, p. 51

Bibliography

  • Halley, James J. (1988), The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988, Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, ISBN 0-85130-164-9
  • Scholefield, R.A. (1998), Manchester Airport, Sutton Publishing, ISBN 0-7509-1954-X

External links