| No. 11 Group RAF | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1 Apr – 17 May 1918 22 Aug 1918 – May 1920 1 May 1936 – 31 Dec 1960 1 Jan 1961 – 1 Apr 1963 1 Apr 1968 – 1 Apr 1996 1 Nov 2018 – present |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Type | Group headquarters |
| Role | Air and Space Command |
| Part of | RAF Air Command |
| Headquarters | Hillingdon House,Uxbridge (World War II) RAF High Wycombe |
| Motto(s) | Tutela cordis (Latin for 'Guardians of the heart')[1] |
| Commanders | |
| Air Officer Commanding | Air Vice-MarshalTom Burke |
| Notable commanders | Air Vice-MarshalKeith Park |
| Insignia | |
| Group badge | Depicts the clock tower of thePalace of Westminster surrounded by anastral crown. The tower indicatesLondon, the heart of theEmpire, with whose safety the Group was charged during theSecond World War. The hands of the clock are at 11 o'clock to represent the time of theArmistice of theFirst World War and the number of the Group. Awarded in 1940. |
No. 11 Group is agroup in theRoyal 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 theBattle of Britain during the Second World War, when it defended London and the south-east of the United Kingdom from attacks by the GermanLuftwaffe. It was reformed in late 2018 as a "multi-domain operations group" to ensure the service thinks and acts in a networked way.[2]
No. 11 Group was first formed on 1 April 1918 inNo. 2 Area asNo. 11 (Equipment) Group, and was transferred toSouth-Western Area the next month on 8 May. The Group was disbanded on 17 May 1918.
The next incarnation of the Group occurred on 22 August 1918 when it was formed as part of theNorth-Western Area. On 6 February 1920,Group captainIan Bonham-Carter took command and three months later, in May 1920, 11 Group was reduced in status toNo. 11 Wing. The Group was reformed on 1 May 1936 asNo. 11 (Fighter) Group by renamingFighting Area. On 14 July 1936, 11 Group became the firstRAF Fighter Command Group responsible for the air-defence of southernEngland, includingLondon.[3]
No.11 Group was organised with theDowding System of fighter control. Group Headquarters was atHillingdon House, located atRAF Uxbridge in theLondon Borough of Hillingdon. The Group operations room was underground in what is now known as theBattle of Britain Bunker. Commands were passed to the sector airfields, each of which was in charge of several airfields and fighter squadrons. The sector airfields were:
Sector A:[4]
Sector B:
| Sector C:
Sector D:
| Sector E:
Sector F:
| Sector Y:
Sector Z:
|
The most famous period of the Group was during theBattle of Britain when it bore the brunt of the German aerial assault. Pilots posted to squadrons in 11 Group knew that they would be in constant action, while pilots and squadrons transferred from No.11 Group knew that they were going to somewhere comparatively safer. During the Battle of Britain, the Group was commanded by New ZealanderAir vice-marshalKeith Park.[6] While supported by the commanders (AOCs) ofNo. 10 Group andNo. 13 Group, he received insufficient support from the AOC of12 Group, Air Vice MarshalTrafford Leigh-Mallory, who used theBig Wing controversy to criticise Park's tactics. Leigh-Mallory's lack of support compromised Fighter Command at a critical time and the controversy caused problems for Park. When the Battle of Britain was over, Leigh-Mallory, acting withAir marshalSholto Douglas, conspired to have Park removed from his position (along with the Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command,Air chief marshalHugh Dowding). Leigh-Mallory then took over command of 11 Group.
After the war in December 1951, No.11 Group consisted of the Southern and Metropolitan sectors. The Southern Sector included1 Squadron and No. 29/22 Squadrons atRAF Tangmere and54 Squadron and247 (China-British) Squadron atRAF Odiham. The Metropolitan Sector had25 Squadron atRAF West Malling, 41/253 Squadron atRAF Biggin Hill, 56/87 Squadron and63 Squadron atRAF Waterbeach,64 Squadron and65 (East India) Squadron atRAF Duxford,72 Squadron atRAF North Weald, 85/145 at RAF West Malling withGloster Meteor NF.11s, and257 (Burma) Squadron and263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Squadron atRAF Wattisham.[7] Denoted by a '/', a short-lived RAF postwar scheme saw several squadrons linked, where two squadron numbers' heritage was carried on within one single unit.
From 1951 11 Group also had operational control of the U.S.81st Fighter-Interceptor Wing for several years.
In 1960 Fighter Command was re-organised and 11 Group was disbanded on 31 December 1960, to reform one day later when13 Group was renamed 11 Group. On 1 April 1963, the Group was replaced byNo. 11 (Northern) Sector at RAF Leconfield which controlled Fighter Command airfields and units within Northern England. On 17 March 1965 the sector absorbedNo. 13 (Scotland) Sector RAF which was formed on 1 April 1963 at Boulmer and 11 Sector moved to Boulmer.[8] This incarnation lasted until Fighter Command was absorbed into the newStrike Command on 30 April 1968 and became 11 Group. 11 Sector becameSector South andNo. 12 Sector RAF was absorbed and becameSector North. Group Headquarters shifted toRAF Bentley Priory in north-west London and took responsibility for the UK Air Defence Region (UK ADR). TheEnglish Electric Lightning F.1 entered service in 1960 and theMcDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2 in 1969, with43 (China-British) Squadron atRAF Leuchars.[9]
The group was renamed 11 (Air Defence) Group in January 1986. In the early 1990s, the front-line force consisted of56 Squadron and74 (Trinidad) Squadrons flying Phantoms from RAF Wattisham,5 Squadron and29 Squadron flying thePanavia Tornado F3 fromRAF Coningsby,11 Squadron,23 Squadron, and25 Squadron flying the Tornado F3 fromRAF Leeming and43 Squadron and111 Squadron atRAF Leuchars;8 Squadron flewBoeing E-3D Sentry AEW1 fromRAF Waddington, 5 Squadron and 11 Squadron had been the last units flying theEnglish Electric Lightning F.6 fromRAF Binbrook until 1988; 25 Squadron and 85 Squadron had been operatingBristol Bloodhound surface-to-air missiles and re-equipped with the Tornado and disbanded in 1989 and on 10 July 1991 respectively. The Wattisham Phantom Wing was disbanded relatively quickly following the end of the Cold War; 23 Squadron was disbanded in March 1994.[10]
On 9 January 1992, Sector's South and North combined.[8] On 1 April 1996, 11 Group amalgamated with18 Group to form11/18 Group. Air Vice MarshalAnthony Bagnall, who took over on 15 July 1994, was the Group's last commander.[11]
On 11 July 2018,Air Chief Marshal SirStephen Hillier announced at the Air Power Conference that 11 Group would reform as a "multi-domain operations group", to ensure the RAF thinks and acts in a networked way and combiningair,space andcyber-warfare elements to create an integrated force. No increase in the number of senior officers or staff at headquarters was proposed as part of the reformation.[2] The group reformed at a ceremony atRAF High Wycombe inBuckinghamshire on 1 November 2018, whenAir Vice-MarshalIan Duguid took command.[12]
No. 11 Group includes the capabilities of the Chief of Staff Operations and the Air Battle Staff, comprising the deployableJoint Force Air Component (JFAC), the National Air & Space Operations Centre (NASOC) and the Executive Team. The group also includes the RAF Battle Management Force. The Group is to ensure that the large amounts of data, intelligence and information contributes to the planning and execution of operations in the domains of air, space and cyber.[13]
No. 11 Group is based at the NASOC, located atRAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.[14] The group is also responsible for the following RAF stations.[13]
Notes
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