No. 1310 Flight RAF

No. 1310 Flight RAF
Active 10 Apr 1944 – 21 Jul 1944
31 Mar 1953 – 7 Dec 1953
23 Jul 1964 – 14 Oct 1966
20 Aug 1983 – 1 May 1986
Dec 1995 – ? (Bosnia)
? – Apr 2005 (Basra)
? – Nov 2014 (Kandahar)
Nov 2014 - Mar 2015 (Kabul)
Role Transport
Garrison/HQ RAF Llandow
RAF Bognor
RAF Lyneham
RAF Mellala
RAF Odiham
Atkinson field, British Guyana
RAF Fairford
RAF Kelly's Garden, Falkland Islands
RAF Mount Pleasant
Split, Croatia
Basrah Airport
Kandahar Airfield
Kabul International Airport
Equipment Avro Anson I
Avro York
Westland Whirlwind HAR.10
Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer CC.2
Boeing Chinook HC.2

No. 1310 (Tactical Support) Flight RAF is a flight of the Royal Air Force.

History

No. 1310 (Transport) Flight was first formed at RAF Llandow on 10 April 1944, equipped with Avro Anson I transport aircraft. The flight was disbanded on 21 July 1944 at RAF Bognor, absorbed by 83 Group Support Wing.

1310 Flight was re-formed at RAF Lyneham with Avro York transport aircraft to provide transport services for the early nuclear weapon tests in Western Australia, disbanding at RAAF station at Mallala on 7 December 1953.

The next incarnation of 1310 Flight was at RAF Odiham, where the Flight prepared to transfer to British Guiana, in South America, to assist the nascent government of the newly independent state. Its first role with helicopters flying Westland Whirlwind HAR 10s, with three helicopters, three pilots and approximately thirty ground crew, then deployed to Atkinson Field. This mission was carried out alongside five Alouette II helicopters of 24 Flt. Army Air Corps, in joint support of the British Army for two years before its helicopters were flown back to RAF Fairford with the Flight disbanding on 14 October 1966.

Following the Falklands War, the Flight was reformed at Kelly's Garden near to Port San Carlos, as 'ChinDet Falkland Islands', flying Boeing Chinook helicopters from Nos. 7 and 18 Squadrons, renamed as No. 1310 (Tactical Support) Flight RAF. Later 1310 Flt was amalgamated with 1564 Flt to form 78 Sqn at RAF Mount Pleasant.

1310 Flt was re-formed again at Split in Croatia in December 1995 for saw service in Bosnia, flying support for British units in the Implementation Force (IFOR) and Stabilisation Force (SFOR).

Most recently it was based at Basra in southern Iraq. It commanded the Chinooks assigned to the British-commanded division based in the area. It was stood down in April 2005 and replaced by 1419 Flt.

From 2005/06 1310 Flight operated Chinooks in Afghanistans Helmand and Kandahar Provinces, supporting the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The Chinook's role in Afghanistan includes air assault, forward operating base resupply, and casualty evacuation.[1]

The flight has eight Chinooks under its control, during November 2014 five of these were returned to the United Kingdom and the three remaining were moved to Kabul to support the personnel training the Afghan Armed Forces.

Three Chinooks were based in Kabul until March 2015 and were replaced by Puma HC.2s.[2]

References

Citations

Bibliography

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