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No. 3 Group
No. 3 Group
	No. 3 Group badge
Active	10 May 1918 - 31 August 1921; 1 April 1923 - 12 April 1926; 1 May 1936 - 1 November 1967; 1 April 2000 - 1 April 2006
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Type	Royal Air Force group
Role	Strategic and tactical bombing
Part of	RAF Bomber Command; RAF Strike Command
Base	RAF Mildenhall (1936–1938)
Motto(s)	Dutch: Niet zonder arbyt; ("Nothing without Labour")
Royal Air Force Ensign
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph Alexander Cochrane
Insignia
Group badge	Three swords in pile, the points upwards, and each enfiled by an astral crown

No. 3 Group RAF (3 Gp) of the Royal Air Force was an RAF group first active in 1918, again between 1923 and 1926, then as part of RAF Bomber Command from 1936 to 1967, and recently part of RAF Strike Command from 2000 until it disbanded on 1 April 2006.

First World War

No. 3 Group was first formed on 10 May 1918 as part of South-Eastern Area. No. 13 Group RAF was merged into No. 3 Group on 18 October 1919. Group Captain U J D Bourke took command on 30 November 1919. The Group was disbanded on 31 August 1921.

1920s

Reformed in 1923, 3 Group was disbanded on 12 April 1926 at RAF Spitalgate by renumbering it No. 23 (Training) Group.

The 1930s and the Second World War

The Group was reformed at Andover, Wiltshire on 1 May 1936, under Air Vice-Marshal Patrick Playfair.^[4] Ten months later Group HQ moved to RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, a direct result of the Air Ministry's decision to form two new bomber groups and reorganise its existing groups. No. 3 Group was initially equipped with the ungainly Vickers Virginia and Handley Page Heyford, which was the RAF's last biplane heavy bomber.

With the arrival of the then revolutionary twin engined Vickers Wellington it was decided that No. 3 Group would be tasked with introducing the type into front line service. The first squadron in Bomber Command to be equipped was No. 99 Squadron RAF based at Mildenhall, on 10 October 1938. Air Commodore A A B Thomson, Playfair's successor, was killed on 8 August 1939 while viewing the bombing up of a Vickers Wellington of No. 115 Squadron RAF.^[5] While under the fuselage, he slipped and was struck on the head by the rotating airscrew. Air Vice-Marshal J E A Baldwin took over the Group on 29 August 1939. By September 1939 the entire group (totalling six front line squadrons and two reserve squadrons) was fully equipped with an all-Wellington force totalling over 100 aircraft located at five East Anglian airfields. 3 Group continued to be primarily based in East Anglia for the rest of WWII. 3 Group's first wartime operations were attacks against German warships at Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel.

Group HQ moved to Harraton House, Exning, Suffolk, in March 1940. On 2 April 1940, two squadrons were temporarily transferred to RAF Coastal Command and advanced bases in Northern Scotland, and they had hardly settled in before the Germans invaded Denmark and Norway.^[6] The squadrons went into action immediately and on 11/12 April one of them (115 Sqn) became the first RAF unit to bomb deliberately a mainland target (Stavanger Airport, Sola) during the Second World War. In September 1940 3 Group Bomber Command assumed administrative control of No. 419 Flight, the first of the Royal Air Force Special Duties Service units. The group provided administrative support for all the Special Duties squadrons til the end of the war.^[7]

In 1942 the Group’s strength was almost halved when 7, 156, and 109 Squadrons were transferred to the newly created No. 8 Group – the Pathfinder Force.

3 Group Headquarters – Harraton House, Exning, Suffolk.

March 1943 3 Group^[8]
Squadron	Station	Aircraft
15 Sqn	RAF Bourn	Short Stirling
75 Sqn	RAF Newmarket	Stirling
90 Sqn	RAF Ridgewell	Stirling
115 Sqn	RAF East Wretham	Wellington, Lancaster
138 (Special Duties) Squadron^[b]	RAF Tempsford, Bedfordshore	Halifax
149 Sqn	RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk	Stirling
199 Sqn	RAF Lakenheath	Stirling
161 (Special Duties) Squadron^[b]	RAF Tempsford	Westland Lysander, Halifax, Lockheed Hudson, Douglas Havoc, Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle, Hudson Cygnet
192 (Special Duties) Squadron	RAF Gransden Lodge	Halifax, Wellington Mk.X de havilland Mosquito, Wellington Mk.IC
214 Sqn	RAF Chedburgh	Stirling
218 Sqn	RAF Downham Market, Norfolk	Stirling

No. 3 Group controlled the following bases at various times between March 1943 and November 1944:

^[9]
No. 31 Base	No. 32 Base	No. 33 Base
RAF Stradishall (HQ), Suffolk	RAF Mildenhall (HQ)	RAF Waterbeach (HQ)
RAF Chedburgh, Suffolk	RAF Birch, Essex	RAF Mepal
RAF Feltwell, Norfolk	RAF East Wretham, Norfolk	RAF Waterbeach
RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire	RAF Gosfield	RAF Witchford
RAF Wratting Common	RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk
RAF Shepherds Grove	RAF Methwold, Norfolk
RAF Birch	RAF Newmarket
RAF Gosfield	RAF Tuddenham
RAF Matching

After the invasion of Normandy, Bomber Command joined in the campaign against German oil targets. Although daylight bombing against targets within Germany itself still incurred too many casualties closer targets could be attacked by day with fighter escorts. 3 Group carried out blind bombing techniques by day using Gee-H.^[10]

3 Group, April 1945^[11]
15 Sqn	RAF Bourn	Avro Lancaster Mks. I and III
75 Sqn	RAF Mepal	Lancaster Mks. I and III
90 Sqn	RAF Tuddenham,	Lancaster Mks. I and III
115 Sqn	RAF Witchford	Lancaster Mks. I and III
138 (Special Duties) Squadron^[c]	RAF Tuddenham	Lancaster Mks. I and III
149 Sqn	RAF Methwold	Lancaster Mks. I and III
186 Sqn	RAF Stradishall	Lancaster Mks. I and III
195 Sqn	RAF Wratting Common	Lancaster Mks. I and III
218 Sqn	RAF Chedburgh	Lancaster Mks. I and III
514 Sqn	RAF Waterbeach	Lancaster Mks. I, II and III
622 Sqn	RAF Mildenhall	Lancaster Mks. I and III
Training units, e.g. No. 1688 Flight	RAF Feltwell
Headquarters	Exning

Post war

The Group HQ moved back to Mildenhall in January 1947. In June 1948, No.3 Group consisted of 35, 115, 149, and 207 Squadrons operating Lancasters from RAF Stradishall, Nos 7, 49, 148, and 214 Squadrons operating Lancasters from RAF Upwood, and 15, 44, 90, 138 Squadrons operating Lincolns from RAF Wyton.^[12] For a period in the early 1950s several squadrons flew Boeing Washingtons, the British name for Boeing B-29 Superfortresses lent to the UK until the English Electric Canberra could enter service. Most of the Vickers Valiant and Handley Page Victor, squadrons, made operational in the late 1950s, formed part of No. 3 Group. During the Suez Crisis of 1956 Valiants of 138, 148, 207 and 214 Squadrons were deployed to RAF Luqa in Malta and the first Valiant attacks against Egyptian airfields began on 31 October 1956, with limited results due to the lack of experience operating the Valiant.

No. 3 Group was also responsible for the Thor ballistic missile between 1 September 1958 and August 1963, with ten squadrons, including Nos:-

77 Headquartered at RAF Feltwell
82 Headquartered at RAF Shepherds Grove
107 Headquartered at RAF Tuddenham
113 Headquartered at RAF Mepal
130 Headquartered at RAF Polebrook
144 Headquartered at RAF North Luffenham
218 Headquartered at RAF Harrington
220 Headquartered at RAF North Pickenham
223 Headquartered at RAF Folkingham
254 Headquartered at RAF Melton Mowbray

each with three missiles, being equipped with the weapon.^[13]

During April 1962 the group also controlled:^[14]

RAF Mildenhall
- No. 3 Group Communications Flight with Avro Anson multi-role aircraft and de Havilland Chipmunk primary trainer aircraft
RAF Cottesmore
- 10 Sqn with Handley Page Victor strategic bomber
- 15 Sqn with Handley Page Victor strategic bomber
RAF Gaydon
- No. 232 Operational Conversion Unit RAF - Valiant & Canberra
- Radar Reconnaissance Flight RAF with Handley Page Victor strategic bomber
RAF Honington
- 55 Sqn with Handley Page Victor strategic bomber
- 57 Sqn with Handley Page Victor strategic bomber
- 90 Sqn - Valiant
RAF Marham
- 49 Sqn - Valiant
- 148 Sqn - Valiant
- 207 Sqn - Valiant
- 214 Sqn - Valiant
RAF Wittering
- 7 Sqn - Valiant
- 138 Sqn - Valiant
- 139 Sqn with Handley Page Victor strategic bomber
RAF Wyton
- 58 Sqn - Canberra
- 543 Sqn - Valiant

On 1 November 1967 the Group was absorbed by No. 1 (Bomber) Group RAF.

The Group was reformed on 1 April 2000 to control Joint Force Harrier and maritime aircraft transferred from the former No. 11/18 Group RAF. It came under a Royal Navy officer, the Flag Officer Maritime Aviation. Rear Admiral Iain Henderson was the first occupant of the post, who also had the NATO roles of COMAIREASTLANT and COMMARAIRNORTH. AOC 3 Group/FOMA had two RAF subordinates, Air Commodore Harrier (for all the RAF Harriers and FAA Sea Harriers) and Air Commodore Maritime (for the Nimrods and SAR helicopters).^[15] After a further reorganisation in 2003-4, the group became known as the Battle Management Group and controlled the Airborne Early Warning aircraft, ground-based radar installations, maritime reconnaissance aircraft and the search and rescue helicopters in the UK. The group was based alongside Strike Command at RAF High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

In 2006 the Group consisted of:

3 Gp Headquarters – RAF High Wycombe

RAF Bentley Priory
RAF Boulmer
RAF Fylingdales
RAF Neatishead
5 Sqn, RAF Waddington
8 Sqn, RAF Waddington
22 Sqn, A Flight & HQ, RMB Chivenor
22 Sqn, B Flt, RAF Wattisham
22 Sqn, C Flt, RAF Valley
23 Sqn, RAF Waddington
42(R) Sqn Squadron, RAF Kinloss
51 Sqn, RAF Waddington
120 Sqn Squadron, RAF Kinloss
201 Sqn Squadron, RAF Kinloss
202 Sqn, A Flt & HQ, RAF Boulmer
202 Sqn, D Flt, RAF Lossiemouth
202 Sqn, E Flt, RAF Leconfield
SARF / 203(R) Sqn Squadron, RAF St. Mawgan (disbanded from April 2009)

As from 1 April 2006, the stations and squadrons which were under the command of 3 Group RAF were brought under the command of No. 2 Group RAF.

Commanders

1919 to 1921

30 November 1919 Group Captain U J D Bourke
23 November 1920 Group Captain Arthur Longmore

1923 to 1926

16 April 1923 Air Commodore Tom Webb-Bowen
7 March 1924 Air Commodore Lionel Charlton
2 January 1925 Air Commodore Robert Gordon
1 October 1925 Air Commodore Ian Bonham-Carter

1936 to 1967

1 May 1936 Air Vice-Marshal Patrick Playfair
14 February 1938 Air Commodore A A B Thomson (killed on duty 8 August 1939)
29 August 1939 Air Vice-Marshal Jack Baldwin
14 September 1942 Air Vice-Marshal The Hon Ralph Cochrane
27 February 1943 Air Vice-Marshal R Harrison
28 February 1946 Air Vice-Marshal A C Collier
Post vacant
9 July 1946 Air Vice-Marshal Robert Foster
18 March 1947 Air Vice-Marshal Lawrence Darvall
14 December 1948 Air Vice-Marshal Allan Hesketh
15 September 1951 Air Vice-Marshal William Brook
1 September 1953 Air Vice-Marshal Edmund Hudleston
2 February 1956 Air Vice-Marshal Kenneth Cross
4 May 1959 Air Vice-Marshal M H Dwyer
9 October 1961 Air Vice-Marshal Brian Burnett
5 August 1964 Air Vice-Marshal Denis Spotswood
26 November 1965 Air Vice-Marshal Denis Smallwood

2000 to present

1 April 2000 Rear-Admiral Iain R Henderson (Royal Navy – Fleet Air Arm)
24 July 2001 Rear-Admiral Scott Lidbetter (Royal Navy – Fleet Air Arm)
7 October 2003 Air Vice-Marshal A D White

Notes

^ The crowns represent the three Royal Abbessess of Ely, the three daughters of the Anglo-saxon King Anna of East Anglia of Exning; as most of the group's airfields were located around Ely, this was appropriate. The three swords represent the fighting spirit of the group and the Dutch motto is from the house of Cornelius Vermuyden, who drained the fens around Ely.^[3]
^ ^a ^b Special Duties squadrons flew supply and transport missions to enemy occupied Europe
^ re-equipped with Lancaster replacing Halifax and reassigned to 3 Group in March 1945

References

Citations

^ Pine, L.G. (1983). A dictionary of mottoes (1 ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 149. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
^ Moyes 1976, p. 334.
^ Delve, Ken (2005). Bomber Command 1939-1945 : a reference to the men - aircraft & operational history. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation. p. 156. ISBN 1-84415-183-2.
^ An Introduction to Bomber Command No. 3 Group, accessed 30 May 2008 Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ An Introduction to Bomber Command No. 3 Group. Retrieved 1 June 2008. Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ Philip Moyes, 'Bomber Squadrons of the Royal Air Force,' MacDonald, London, 1964, p. 334, via Royal Air Force, Bomber Command 60th Anniversary: No. 3 Group Archived 17 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
^ Verity 1978, p. 38.
^ Bomber Command Order of Battle March 1943
^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 77.
^ Levine, Alan J. (1992). The strategic bombing or Germany 1940–1945. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-275-94319-6. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
^ Bomber Command Order of Battle, April 1945
^ John D. Rawlings et al., 'The History of the Royal Air Force,' Temple Press Aerospace, 1984, p.187
^ Martin Powell, "The Douglas Thor in Royal Air Force Service" Archived 20 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Rossendale Aviation Society – Article. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
^ Delve 1994, p. 88.
^ Richard Cobbold, 'My Jobs: Joint Force Harrier Commander,' RUSI Journal, Vol. 145, No.3, June 2000, pp.21–27

Bibliography

Delve, K. (1994). The Source Book of the RAF. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-451-5.
Moyes, Philip J.R. Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 2nd edition 1976. ISBN 0-354-01027-1.
Sturtivant, R.; Hamlin, J. (2007). Royal Air Force flying training and support units since 1912. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 978-0851-3036-59.
Verity, Hugh (1978). We Landed by Moonlight: Secret RAF Landings in France, 1940–1944. Sheperton, Surrey: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0886-1.
Ward, Chris. 3 Group Bomber Command: An Operational Record. Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword Books Ltd., 2008. ISBN 978-1-84415-796-9.
Webster, Charles and Noble Frankland, The Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany, 1939–1945 (HMSO, 1961 & facsimile reprinted by Naval & Military Press, 2006), 4 vols. ISBN 978-184574-437-3.

External links

[4] The crowns represent the three Royal Abbessess of Ely, the three daughters of the Anglo-saxon King Anna of East Anglia of Exning; as most of the group's airfields were located around Ely, this was appropriate. The three swords represent the fighting spirit of the group and the Dutch motto is from the house of Cornelius Vermuyden, who drained the fens around Ely.^[3]

[specialduties-10] Special Duties squadrons flew supply and transport missions to enemy occupied Europe

[14] re-equipped with Lancaster replacing Halifax and reassigned to 3 Group in March 1945

[1] Pine, L.G. (1983). A dictionary of mottoes (1 ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 149. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.

[2] Moyes 1976, p. 334.

[3] Delve, Ken (2005). Bomber Command 1939-1945 : a reference to the men - aircraft & operational history. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation. p. 156. ISBN 1-84415-183-2.

[5] An Introduction to Bomber Command No. 3 Group, accessed 30 May 2008 Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[6] An Introduction to Bomber Command No. 3 Group. Retrieved 1 June 2008. Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[7] Philip Moyes, 'Bomber Squadrons of the Royal Air Force,' MacDonald, London, 1964, p. 334, via Royal Air Force, Bomber Command 60th Anniversary: No. 3 Group Archived 17 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 June 2008.

[FOOTNOTEVerity197838-8] Verity 1978, p. 38.

[9] Bomber Command Order of Battle March 1943

[FOOTNOTESturtivantHamlin200777-11] Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 77.

[12] Levine, Alan J. (1992). The strategic bombing or Germany 1940–1945. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-275-94319-6. Retrieved 7 April 2009.

[13] Bomber Command Order of Battle, April 1945

[15] John D. Rawlings et al., 'The History of the Royal Air Force,' Temple Press Aerospace, 1984, p.187

[16] Martin Powell, "The Douglas Thor in Royal Air Force Service" Archived 20 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Rossendale Aviation Society – Article. Retrieved 2 June 2008.

[FOOTNOTEDelve199488-17] Delve 1994, p. 88.

[18] Richard Cobbold, 'My Jobs: Joint Force Harrier Commander,' RUSI Journal, Vol. 145, No.3, June 2000, pp.21–27

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PROFILPELAJAR.COM

No. 3 Group RAF

First World War

1920s

The 1930s and the Second World War

Post war

Commanders

See also

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

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