List of Wings of the Royal Air Force

Wings within the Royal Air Force have both administrative and tactical applications. Over the years, the structure and role of wings has changed to meet the demands placed on the RAF. Many of the RAF's numbered wings were originally Royal Flying Corps units.

Wings can be found at every station in the RAF and also abroad, deployed on operations.

Wings by number

No. 1 Wing – No. 99 Wing

Wing	Date of establishment	Date of disestablishment	Notes
No. 1 Wing RAF	29 November 1914	September 1961	Originally Royal Flying Corps
No. 2 Wing RAF	29 November 1914		Originally Royal Flying Corps
No. 3 Wing RAF	1 March 1915	August 1919	Originally Royal Flying Corps
No. 4 Wing RAF	29 November 1914		Originally Royal Flying Corps
No. 5 Wing RAF	29 November 1914	1966	Originally Royal Flying Corps
No. 6 Wing RAF	20 August 1915		Originally Royal Flying Corps
No. 11 Wing RAF			Originally Royal Flying Corps Irish Wing
No. 15 Wing RAF			Originally Royal Flying Corps Fighter Wing
No. 18 Wing RAF			Originally Royal Flying Corps Training Wing
No. 19 Wing RAF			Originally Royal Flying Corps Training Wing, later Fighter Wing in 2TAF
No. 20 Wing RAF			Originally Royal Flying Corps Training Wing - Egypt
No. 29 Wing RAF	June 1917	1920	Originally a RFC Flying Training Wing based at Shawbury (No. 9 TDS) ^[1]
No. 32 Wing RAF			Originally Royal Flying Corps Training Wing - Egypt
No. 34 Expeditionary Air Wing			(EAW (ISTAR) RAF Waddington)
No. 38 Expeditionary Air Wing			(EAW (Air Transport) RAF Lyneham)
No. 39 Wing RAF
No. 40 Wing RAF	5 October 1917	1 April 1920
No. 41 Wing RAF	11 October 1917	15 February 1919
No. 42 Wing RAF
No. 43 Wing RAF
No. 44 Wing RAF
No. 45 Wing RAF
No. 46 Wing RAF
No. 47 Wing RAF
No. 48 Wing RAF
No. 49 Wing RAF
No. 50 Wing RAF			Army Co-operation in France 1939–40 – No.s 4, 13, and 16 Squadrons flying Westland Lysanders.^[2]
No. 51 Wing RAF
No. 52 Wing RAF	October 1939	May 1940
No. 53 Wing RAF
No. 54 Wing RAF
No. 55 Wing RAF
No. 56 Wing RAF
No. 57 Wing RAF
No. 58 Wing RAF
No. 59 Wing RAF
No. 60 Wing RAF
No. 61 Wing RAF
No. 62 Wing RAF
No. 63 Wing RAF
No. 64 Wing RAF
No. 65 Wing RAF
No. 66 Wing RAF
No. 67 Wing RAF
No. 68 Wing RAF
No. 69 Wing RAF
No. 70 Wing RAF			in September 1939, comprised Nos. 18 and 57 Squadrons at RAF Upper Heyford as part of No. 2 Group RAF
No. 71 Wing RAF
No. 72 Wing RAF			Bomber
No. 73 Wing RAF
No. 74 Wing RAF
No. 75 Wing RAF			when with the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force in May 1940, consisted of No. 88 Squadron RAF at Mourmelon, No. 103 Squadron RAF at Betheniville, and No. 208 Squadron RAF at Auberive, all three equipped with Fairey Battles.
No. 76 Wing RAF
No. 77 Wing RAF
No. 78 Wing RAF			Chain Home technical control wing at RAF Ashburton in Devon.^[3]
No. 79 Wing RAF
No. 80 (Signals) Wing RAF			^[4]
No. 81 Wing RAF
No. 82 Wing RAF
No. 83 Wing RAF			the Wing consisted of Nos 107 and 110 Squadrons flying Bristol Blenheims from RAF Wattisham, forming part of No. 2 Group RAF at the outbreak of the Second World War
No. 84 Wing RAF
No. 85 Wing RAF			HQ, 85 Wing was at Uetersen, Germany from 1 September 1947 – 31 October 1948.
No. 86 Wing RAF
No. 87 Wing RAF
No. 88 Wing RAF
No. 89 Wing RAF
No. 90 Wing RAF
No. 91 Wing RAF
No. 96 Wing RAF

No. 100 Wing – No. 199 Wing

Wing	Date of establishment	Date of disestablishment	Notes
No. 100 Wing RAF
No. 101 Wing RAF
No. 102 Wing RAF
No. 103 Wing RAF
No. 104 Wing RAF
No. 105 Wing RAF
No. 106 Wing RAF
No. 107 Wing RAF
No. 108 Wing RAF
No. 109 Wing RAF
No. 110 Wing RAF
No. 111 Wing RAF
No. 112 Wing RAF
No. 113 Wing RAF
No. 114 Wing RAF
No. 115 Wing RAF
No. 116 Wing RAF
No. 117 Wing RAF
No. 118 Wing RAF
No. 119 Wing RAF
No. 120 Wing RAF
No. 121 Expeditionary Air Wing			Multi Role – RAF Coningsby
No. 122 Expeditionary Air Wing		2012	Later Fighter/Ground Attack (Harrier) – RAF Cottesmore
No. 123 Wing RAF
No. 124 Wing RAF
No. 125 Expeditionary Air Wing		2013	Fighter – RAF Leuchars
No. 126 Wing RAF
No. 127 Wing RAF
No. 128 Wing RAF
No. 129 Wing RAF
No. 130 Wing RAF
No. 131 Wing RAF			1st Polish Fighter Wing, consisting of 302, 308, and 317 Squadrons, attacked by Jagdgeschwader 1 during Operation Bodenplatte
No. 132 Wing RAF			Norwegian Wing
No. 133 Wing RAF			2nd Polish Fighter Wing
No. 134 Wing RAF
No. 135 Wing RAF			Later; Fighter – RAF Leeming
No. 136 Wing RAF
No. 137 Wing RAF
No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing			Fighter / Ground Attack – RAF Marham
No. 139 Wing RAF
No. 140 Wing RAF	20 September 1943	14 December 2014	Originally a Mosquito wing of 21,464(RAAF), 487(RNZAF) Sqns, later a Fighter EAW– RAF Lossiemouth, deployed to RAF Akrotiri
No. 141 Wing RAF
No. 142 Wing RAF
No. 143 Wing RAF			RCAF (Fighter) Wing
No. 144 Wing RAF			RCAF (Fighter) Wing
No. 145 Wing RAF
No. 146 Wing RAF
No. 147 Wing RAF
No. 148 Wing RAF
No. 149 Wing RAF
No. 150 Wing RAF
No. 151 Wing RAF			Fought alongside the Soviets on the Kola Peninsula during the first months of Operation Barbarossa during the Second World War. After the war, an air defence missile formation.
No. 152 Wing RAF
No. 153 Wing RAF
No. 154 Wing RAF
No. 155 Wing RAF
No. 156 Wing RAF
No. 157 Wing RAF
No. 159 Wing RAF
No. 160 Wing RAF
No. 164 Wing RAF
No. 165 Wing RAF
No. 166 Wing RAF
No. 167 Wing RAF
No. 168 Wing RAF
No. 169 Wing RAF
No. 170 Wing RAF			Redesignated No. 902 Wing RAF whilst fighting the Burma Campaign in the Far East.
No. 171 Wing RAF
No. 172 Wing RAF
No. 173 Wing RAF
No. 174 Wing RAF
No. 175 Wing RAF
No. 177 Wing RAF
No. 179 Wing RAF
No. 180 Wing RAF
No. 181 Wing RAF
No. 182 Wing RAF
No. 183 Wing RAF
No. 183 Wing RAF
No. 184 Wing RAF
No. 185 Wing RAF
No. 186 Wing RAF
No. 187 Wing RAF
No. 188 Wing RAF
No. 189 Wing RAF
No. 190 Wing RAF
No. 191 Wing RAF
No. 192 Wing RAF

No. 200 Wing – No. 299 Wing

Wing	Date of establishment	Date of disestablishment	Notes
No. 215 Wing RAF
No. 231 Wing RAF
No. 232 Wing RAF
No. 233 Wing RAF
No. 234 Wing RAF
No. 235 Wing RAF
No. 236 Wing RAF
No. 237 Wing RAF
No. 238 Wing RAF
No. 239 Wing RAF
No. 240 Wing RAF
No. 241 Wing RAF
No. 242 Wing RAF
No. 243 Wing RAF
No. 244 Wing RAF
No. 245 Wing RAF
No. 246 Wing RAF
No. 247 Wing RAF
No. 248 Wing RAF
No. 249 Wing RAF
No. 250 Wing RAF
No. 251 Wing RAF
No. 252 Wing RAF
No. 253 Wing RAF
No. 254 Wing RAF
No. 255 Wing RAF
No. 256 Wing RAF
No. 257 Wing RAF
No. 258 Wing RAF
No. 259 Wing RAF
No. 260 Wing RAF
No. 261 Wing RAF
No. 262 Wing RAF
No. 263 Wing RAF
No. 264 Wing RAF
No. 265 Wing RAF
No. 266 Wing RAF
No. 267 Wing RAF
No. 268 Wing RAF
No. 269 Wing RAF
No. 270 Wing RAF
No. 272 Wing RAF
No. 273 Wing RAF
No. 274 Wing RAF
No. 275 Wing RAF
No. 276 Wing RAF
No. 280 Wing RAF
No. 281 Wing RAF
No. 282 Wing RAF
No. 283 Wing RAF
No. 284 Wing RAF
No. 285 Wing RAF
No. 286 Wing RAF
No. 287 Wing RAF
No. 292 Wing RAF
No. 293 Wing RAF
No. 294 Wing RAF
No. 295 Wing RAF
No. 296 Wing RAF
No. 297 Wing RAF
No. 298 Wing RAF			Included 26 Squadron SAAF

No. 300 Wing – No. 499 Wing

No. 300 Wing RAF
No. 301 Wing RAF
No. 302 Wing RAF
No. 303 Wing RAF
No. 321 Wing RAF
No. 322 Wing RAF
No. 323 Wing RAF
No. 324 Wing RAF
No. 325 Expeditionary Air Wing

(a) 14/9/42 – 30/6/43 – (Naval Co-operation) (b) 25/8/43 – 12/8/44 – (General Reconnaissance)links (c) 1 Apr 2006 – c.2009(?) – Expeditionary Air Wing – RAF Kinloss – Maritime Patrol and Surveillance

No. 326 Wing RAF
No. 328 Wing RAF
No. 329 Wing RAF
No. 330 Wing RAF
No. 332 Wing RAF
No. 333 Wing RAF
No. 334 Wing RAF
No. 335 Wing RAF
No. 336 Wing RAF
No. 337 Wing RAF
No. 338 Wing RAF
No. 339 Wing RAF
No. 340 Wing RAF
No. 341 Wing RAF
No. 342 Wing RAF
No. 343 Wing RAF
No. 344 Wing RAF
No. 345 Wing RAF
No. 346 Wing RAF
No. 347 Wing RAF
No. 348 Wing RAF
No. 349 Wing RAF
No. 350 Wing RAF
No. 351 Wing RAF

No. 500 Wing – No. 999 Wing

No. 500 Wing RAF
No. 551 Wing RAF – would have been part of Tiger Force, scheduled to be operational by 1 January 1946 at RAF Coningsby, as of August 1945.^[5] Formation does not seem to have been completed. Later served as part of Second Tactical Air Force at RAF Gutersloh in Germany in the mid 1950s.
No. 552 Wing RAF
No. 553 Wing RAF
No. 554 Wing RAF
No. 700 Wing RAF
No. 701 Wing RAF
No. 900 Wing RAF
No. 901 Expeditionary Air Wing
No. 902 Expeditionary Air Wing
No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing
No. 904 Expeditionary Air Wing
No. 905 Expeditionary Air Wing
No. 906 Expeditionary Air Wing
No. 907 Expeditionary Air Wing
No. 908 Wing RAF
No. 909 Wing RAF
No. 910 Wing RAF

Expeditionary Air Wings

Main article: Expeditionary Air Wing

Formed on 1 April 2006, Expeditionary Air Wing's (EAW) are established at the following RAF Flying Stations:

RAF Waddington – No. 34 EAW (ISTAR)
RAF Brize Norton – No. 38 EAW (Air Transport)
RAF Coningsby – No. 121 EAW (Fighter)
RAF Marham – No. 138 EAW (Ground Attack)

Deployed EAWs

No. 901 EAW
- Current:
  - A Flight:
    - Unknown deployed location.^[6]
  - C Flight:
    - Bahrain International Airport:^[7]
- Previous: RAF Al Udeid, Qatar.

No. 902 EAW
- Current: Unknown deployed location.^[8]
- Previous: Muscat International Airport, Oman.

No. 904 EAW
- Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.^[9]
- Previous: Unknown

No. 905 EAW
- RAF Mount Pleasant, Falklands Islands^[10] – 1 April 2006 – Current.
- Previous: Unknown

No. 906 EAW
- Al Minhad Air Base, United Arab Emirates since 15 January 2013.^[11]
- Previous: Gioia del Colle Air Base, Italy for Operation Ellamy^[12]

Disbanded EAWs

No. 122 EAW
- RAF Cottesmore

No. 125 EAW
- RAF Leuchars

No. 135 EAW
- Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania - Typhoon Quick Reaction Alert as part of NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission

No. 140 EAW
- RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus

No. 903 EAW
- Contingency Operating Base Basra/Basra Airport, Iraq – Stood down May 2009.^[13]
- Camp Bastion, Afghanistan – Stood down October 2014.^[13]

No. 907 EAW
- RAF Akrotiri^[12]

Force Protection Wings

Main article: RAF Force Protection Force Headquarters

Formed from RAF Regiment field squadrons and RAF Police components, Force Protection (FP) Wings are responsible for defending aircraft and personnel whilst deployed on operations. the overarching Force Protection Force HQ is located at RAF Honington. Each FP Wg is parented by an RAF Station with whom it is usually deployed:

No 1 Force Protection Wing – RAF Wittering
No 2 Force Protection Wing – RAF Leeming
No 3 Force Protection Wing – RAF Marham
No 4 Force Protection Wing – RAF Lyneham
No 5 Force Protection Wing – RAF Lossiemouth
No 6 Force Protection Wing – RAF Leuchars
No 7 Force Protection Wing – RAF Coningsby

RAF Force Protection Wings were, until April 2004, were known as Tactical Survive To Operate Headquarters (Tac STO HQs).

Miscellaneous Wings

No 1 Air Mobility Wing – RAF Lyneham -HQ Squadron,44 Mobile Air Movements Squadron and 45 Mobile Air Movements Squadron.This is UK Mobile Air Movements Squadron (UKMAMS) expanded to wing strength.
No. 42 (Expeditionary Support) Wing - RAF Wittering
No. 85 (Expeditionary Logistics) Wing – RAF Wittering

Station-based Wings

A typical Royal Air Force flying station (not training) will have the following integrated wing-based structure:

Administrative Wing / Base (Station) Support Wing
Depth Support Wing
Forward Support Wing
Operations Wing

On a smaller RAF Station, these functions may be termed squadrons but their role is identical.

Specialised Station-based Wings

Some stations has Wings which are customised to their particular role with the RAF:

Airport of Embarkation Wing – RAF Brize Norton

Tactical Wings

Wings termed 'Tactical' within the Royal Air Force provide are cohesive, specialised teams.

Tactical Communications Wing – RAF Leeming
Tactical Imagery-Intelligence Wing – RAF Marham
Tactical Medical Wing – RAF Lyneham This unit has the Latin motto "Summum Bonum" which means 'for the highest good'.It became operational on 1 April 1996 and its CO is currently Wing Commander Alan Cranfield.Some of its sub-units are Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron,Deployable Aeromedical Response Teams (DARTS),Operational Training Squadron and Operations and Logistics Squadron.
Tactical Provost Wing – RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow
Tactical Supply Wing – MOD Stafford

References

↑ http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafshawbury/aboutus/history.cfm. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ "Royal Air force, Order of Battle, France, 10th May 1940". free.fr. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
↑ "Subterranea Britannica: Sites:RAF Hayscastle Cross Chain Home & Rotor Radar Station". subbrit.org.uk. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/54/a5897154.shtml
↑ "Lancaster Main Page". lancaster-archive.com. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
↑ "901 EAW". RAF. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
↑ "901 EAW C Flight". Royal Air Force (RAF). Retrieved 8 December 2013.
↑ "902 Expeditionary Air Wing". RAF. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
↑ "904 Expeditionary Air Wing". RAF. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
↑ "Falklands Garrison still going strong". MoD. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
↑ "New RAF unit strengthens relationship with United Arab Emirates". MoD. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
1 2 "Coalition operations in Libya to continue". Ministry of Defence (MoD). 21 March 2010.
1 2 "903 Expeditionary Air Wing". RAF. Retrieved 30 July 2014.

External links

Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force portal

Formations and units	Commands Groups Stations Wings Squadrons Flights Conversion units Operational Training units Schools / Training units Ferry units Glider units Misc units Regiment squadrons

Branches and components	RAF Regiment RAF Chaplains Branch RAF Intelligence RAF Legal Branch Princess Mary's RAF Nursing Service RAF Police Search and Rescue Force Mountain Rescue Service RAF Marine Branch

Reserve forces	Royal Auxiliary Air Force RAF Volunteer Reserve

Associated civil organizations	Air Training Corps RAF Association RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine RAF Football Association

Equipment	List of RAF aircraft List of RAF missiles

Personnel	Officer ranks Other ranks List of personnel

Appointments	Chief of Air Staff Assistant Chief of the Air Staff Air Member for Personnel Air Secretary Air Member for Materiel Commandant-General of the RAF Regiment Chief of the Air Staff's Warrant Officer

Symbols and uniform	Ensign Badge Roundels Uniform

History Timeline Future

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.