RAF Mountain Rescue Service
badge of the RAF Mountain Rescue Service
Active	1943 – present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Type	Search and rescue organisation
Role	Mountain rescue
Size	Headquarters and three teams
Part of	No. 85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing
Home stations	RAF Valley (HQ) RAF Leeming RAF Lossiemouth
Motto	Whensoever

TheRoyal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (RAFMRS) provides the United Kingdom military's only all-weathersearch and rescue asset for the United Kingdom.Royal Air Force (RAF)mountain rescue teams (MRTs) were first organised during World War II to rescueaircrew from the large number ofmilitary aircraft crashes then occurring due tonavigational errors in conjunction with bad weather and resulting poor visibility when flying in the vicinity of high ground. The practice at the time was to organise ad-hoc rescue parties from station medical sections and other ground personnel.

Experience demonstrated that this could be dangerous. While the mountains of the United Kingdom are not very tall, they contain much formerly glaciated terrain with steep cliffs,talus slopes, high peaks, andcirque basins; and generally experience asub-Arctic climate at relatively low altitudes. Snow and high winds, sometimes in excess of 100 miles per hour (161 kilometres per hour), are possible any month of the year. Rescue operations in these conditions require personnel with specialisedmountaineering training and equipment.

The Royal Air Force mountain rescue teams are credited with some of the earliest development of mountain rescue techniques and teams in the United Kingdom and overseas. RAFMRS teams continue to contribute to life-saving and mountain safety.^[1] Since the closure of military search and rescue (helicopter), RAFMRS moved from2 Group to the newly reformed38 Group in 2015 until its disbandment in 2020, and has now direct oversight byNo. 85 (Expeditionary Logistics) Wing RAF.

Royal Air Force policy from the very early days of 1918 was for the station medical officer to attend all aircraft crashes as, initially at least, the low air speeds meant that many crashes were survivable, and first aid would be given before the crews were moved either into station sick quarters or a hospital. A single RAF medical officer,Flight Lieutenant George Desmond Graham (also known as 'Doc' Graham), is credited with pressuring the Air Ministry into forming the RAF Mountain Rescue Service (MRS). Graham was one of several RAF medical doctors who organised teams atRAF Llandwrog inNorth Wales in 1943, atRAF Millom (southernLake District), and atRAF Harpur Hill (Peak District), where Flt Lt (laterAir Commodore) Dr David Crichton performed a similar role. Graham's team rescued dozens of allied airmen from Snowdonia, before Graham was posted toBurma, where he took part in an early para-rescue operation (strikingly similar to one generally credited as the beginning of United States Air ForcePararescue), saving the life of aRoyal Canadian Air Force navigator,Flying Officer W Prosser.^[1]

Shortly after the war, the fledgling service was reorganised and retrained along professional grounds, through an influx of trained mountaineers, includingSgt Hans Pick, a formerAustrian Army Alpine instructor, and Sergeant J.R. 'Johnny' Lees, whose involvement with the service is recounted by author andmountain guideGwen Moffat in her 1964 book about the early days of the service.^[2] Other notable early team leaders includeSquadron Leader David Dattner OBE, AFC,Flt Sgt J.R. Lees GM, BEM,Corporal Colin Pibworth BEM, andChief Technician John Hinde BEM.^[1]

A mountain rescue operation is known as a 'call-out'. Particularly noteworthy call-outs include the extended search for the remains of the crew ofAvro Lancasterregistration TX264 ofNo. 120 Squadron RAF, which crashed intoScotland's 1,010-metre (3,314 ft)Beinn Eighe on 14 March 1951. Recovering all the remains took several months, and led to public criticism of the fledgling service from mountaineering groups, which helped prod the RAF to provide specialised personnel, better training, and proper equipment. Less than a year later, anAer LingusDouglas DC-3 crashed into a mountain nearPorthmadog inSnowdonia with 23 people on board, and RAFMRS personnel recovered the remains.

Over the 1950s, the service became more professional and better coordinated with civilian authorities. Many noteworthy civilian volunteer mountain rescue teams in the UK began as RAFMRS 'sub-units'. Two air crashes high in the mountains ofTurkey during the 1950s provided call-outs for the first of several overseas teams of the RAFMRS, based atRAF Nicosia inCyprus. Both crashes had a sense ofCold War espionage, involving secret nuclear papers and equipment. To this day, the service's historians feel they lack all the details. Other overseas teams were based inAden,Sharjah,Sultanate of Oman, andHong Kong.^[1] Themiddle eastern teams were characterised as 'desert rescue', andBritish Army personnel were occasionally involved.^[1]

The RAF allowed female RAFMRS team members for the first time in 1994, when the then Inspector of Land Rescue,Squadron Leader Brian Canfer, tired of having to rationalise excluding women to a UK parliamentary all-party group, agreed to a trial of female volunteers. Advice from the Dutch fire service at the time was that they be accepted, but on utterly equal terms regarding physical fitness and mountaineering requirements.

Since their formation, the teams have rescued thousands ofcivilian walkers and climbers, and responded to hundreds of aircraft crashes. Perhaps the most famous call-out of all was for the crash ofPan Am Flight 103 overLockerbie, Scotland in 1988, also known as theLockerbie Air Disaster. This terrorist incident resulted in the scattering of human remains over a wide swath of southern Scotland. The call-out involved four of the six teams then in existence, and "stretched the personnel involved to the limits".^[1] Psychological effects on RAF MR troops that took part in the call-out were described in 'Trauma' by Professor Gordon Turnbull, who was an RAF psychiatrist with personal knowledge of RAF MR.^[3]

Helicopter operations, frequently used in mountain rescue, were until recently conducted in cooperation withNo. 202 Squadron RAF andNo. 22 Squadron RAF. These two squadrons, with the three remaining MRTs and headquarters, and theRescue Coordination Centre at the formerRAF Kinloss, comprisedRAF Search and Rescue. In 2015, the helicopter squadrons were disbanded, and their search and rescue role assigned to the Bristow Group, a private corporation.Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, spent two weeks working with RAF Mountain Rescue in 2005, andBuckingham Palace cites this as background to his later decision to become thepatron ofMountain Rescue England and Wales.^[4]

All RAF MRT members are volunteers. RAFMRS team members are known as 'M.R. Troops' or just 'Troops'. Traditionally, team membership is reserved for enlisted men and women; althoughofficers may serve as either Mountain Rescue Team liaison Officers (MRTLO) or as a Troop, NB this is not at all the same thing as being the team leader but simply a mechanism linking the Team to the station's executives. The position of Team Leader is reserved for a seniornon-commissioned officer (SNCO), generally a seasoned veteran. For some, service on a team is a primary duty, and they are known as the Permanent Staff or PS. For others, it is a part-time activity in addition to their normal RAF trade or branch for which they are granted relief from other normal secondary duties, such as guard duty.

Most training is done 'on the hill', the term for mountaineering training days. The MRS has a training syllabus that must be completed by each 'Troop'. New troops are considered 'novices'. After personnel have completed the first part of the syllabus, they sit a practical and theory test to become 'part trained', and this permits the wearing of the mountain rescue badge on the right fore-sleeve of dress uniform and the RAF blue jumper, one of only two special service badges recognised for RAF enlisted personnel, the other being the badge of a qualified marksman. Walking, mountain navigation, high-angle rescue techniques,rock climbing, and winter mountaineering are the primary training activities, which are carried out in all weathers. After the 'part trained' section 'troops' then complete 'Trained' and 'Party Leader' status, both having theory and practical tests. Alongside these core elements, RAF MRS also have 'Intermediate and Immediate Emergency Care Provider' (IEC), 'Rock Leader', 'Rock Instructor', 'Winter Leader', and 'Winter Instructor'.

A regular 'Troop' is expected to spend upwards of 30 weekends a year training on the hill. Many Himalayan expeditions have been mounted, and troops and ex-troops have participated in other organisations' expeditions. In 1970, ex RAF Kinloss troopIan Clough died when aserac collapsed on him while descendingAnnapurna on an expedition withChris Bonington.^[5] Other sites for expeditions have included Alaska'sDenali, the first RAF single service Everest expedition when Chief Technician ‘Dan’ Carroll and Corporal ‘Rusty’ Bale complete an ascent ofMount Everest in 2001, and alsoAntarctica, where troops have volunteered forBritish Antarctic Survey duties.^[6]

Each year, the service runs several courses to ensure that personnel are sufficiently qualified, and bring forward new 'Troops'. These courses include Summer and Winter mountaineering courses where the focus is on training lead climbers, Technical Rescue courses focusing on new techniques, and a Party Leader course. A special course is held when needed every few years to train team leaders.^[7]

The RAF Mountain Rescue Service comprises three teams, based atRAF Valley in North Wales,RAF Leeming in England, andRAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. A headquarters is based at RAF Valley which provides administration, training, and equipment support.^[8]

The service reports toNo. 85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing, based atRAF Wittering inCambridgeshire.^[9]

The following major UK Forces decorations have been awarded to past and serving members of the RAFMRS:^[1]

• MacInnes, Hamish (1979).Call-out: Mountain Rescue. Hodder & Stoughton.ISBN 978-0-14-004298-6.
• Beaver, Paul; Berriff, Paul (1990).Rescue: True-life Drama of Royal Air Force Search and Rescue. Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN 978-1-85260-291-8.
• Thomson, Ian (1993).The Black Cloud: Scottish Mountain Misadventures 1928-1966. Penguin.ISBN 978-0-948153-20-4.
• Doylerush, Edward (1994).The Legend of Llandwrog: The Story of an Airfield and the Birth of the RAF Mountain Rescue Service.Midland Publishing.ISBN 978-0-904597-88-2.
• Earl, David W. (1999).All In a Day's Work: RAF Mountain Rescue in Snowdonia, 1944-46. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch.ISBN 978-0-86381-554-6.
• Card, Frank (2000).The Alpine Journal 2000: Pages 200-206: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Doc Graham. Vol. 105 (No. 349 ed.). The Alpine Club and the Ernest Press.ISBN 0-948153-62-8.
• Card, Frank (2002).The Alpine Journal 2002: Pages 230-236: Pib: A Memoir of Colin Pibworth. Vol. 107 (No. 351 ed.). The Alpine Club and the Ernest Press.ISBN 0-948153-70-9.
• Nixon, John (2016).The History of RAF Millom and The Genesis of RAF Mountain Rescue. Pixel tweaks publications.ISBN 978-0-9934679-9-8.
• Craig, Jim (April 2015).The Path to Whensoever: Memoir of a RAF Mountain Rescue 'Troop'. Kindle.
• Henry, Eric (March 2013).The Badge Newsletter: pages 6 -8: The Other Badge - Walking in the Footsteps of Legends (No. 3 ed.). The RAF PTI Association.
• Nixon, John (2009).Oh Mother, it's a lovely place!: An illustrated history of RAF Millom and their Mountain Rescue Team.
• Nettleton, Arthur (April 1959).The Meccano Magazine: page 174: S-O-S Calls from the Mountains, How Mountain Rescue Services Work. XLIV (No. 4 ed.). Meccano Ltd.
• Lloyd, Flt Lt J.C. (May 1945).The Alpine Journal 1945: Pages 24-28: Mountain Rescue in War and Peace, R.A.F. Mountain Rescue Service. Vol. 55 (No. 270 ed.). The Alpine Club.
• Hammerton, Sir John (December 1943).The War Illustrated: page 439: R.A.F's Speedy Succour for Crashed Flyers. Vol. 7 (No. 168 ed.). The Amalgamated Press Ltd.

• Official website RAF SAR
• The Meccano Magazine April 1959, page 174 by Arthur Nettleton
• The War Illustrated Vol. 7 No. 169 10 December 1943
• The Badge Newsletter: The Other Badge - Walking in the Footsteps of Legends. The RAF PTI Association
• JOHN HINDE RAF MRT TEAM LEADER diaries

• Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force
• Mountain rescue agencies
• Military units and formations established in 1943

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• Use dmy dates from August 2017