Please note that this website is in a state of permanent transition as new material is added as and when it is ready for publication. You will, therefore, find that some buttons are inactive and are included for future reference. Changes to the website are recorded in an Updates page which can be accessed from the link near the foot of this page.
As the history of the Hawker Hunter and its service with the RAF has been extensively aired over the years, it is not the intention to replicate it here other than to present a comprehensive record of the outstanding role the aircraft played in policing the hostile environment of the Middle East in the 1960s. For it was in the Middle East and the Radfan mountains in particular, that the Hunter established its outstanding credentials in the ground attack and aerial reconnaissance roles. Much of the factual material you will find in these pages contains extracts from the squadron Operational Record Books (F540s) held by the National Archives at Kew.
The second objective of this website is to produce an extensive account of life on the RAF Khormaksar Hunter Squadrons during those hectic years using anecdotal material contributed by the pilots and airmen whose duty it was to fly and service this superb aircraft.
The Middle East Air Force territory covered a vast swathe of Arabia, from Bahrain Island in the Persian Gulf in the north, down through the Trucial States, Muscat and Oman, the South Arabian Federation and across the Horn of Africa to Kenya, a distance of some 2,500 miles. The centre of operations was located at RAF Khormaksar in the Aden Protectorate. Units based at RAF Muharraq on Bahrain Island in the northern sector maintained constant vigilance as to the behaviour and intentions of nearby Gulf states, Iraq in particular. Intermediate replenishment airfields were provided at Sharjah, Masirah Island, Salalah and Riyan. Further to the south, lay Ethiopa and Somalia and beyond that, the lush green plains of Kenya where, close to the city of Nairobi, RAF Eastleigh provided the main operating base for the East Africa region.
If you have any comments, suggestions for improvements or contributions to this website, please contact the author, Ray Deacon
Website last updated on: 20/11/08. Click here to see Update Log.
Number of visitors:
NB.
My long term aim is to produce a book using this website as a base. A prominent publisher has offered to publish it on condition that sufficient personal anecdotes are included from those who served on the subject squadrons, so please put fingers to keyboards and email or mail your stories to me. To prevent loss of data, submitted texts should either be typed directly into an email or on to a Word document. Images should be in JPEG format or, alternatively, I can scan original prints and colour slides for you. Contributors will be accredited for their submissions in the appropriate places. Your support would be much appreciated. Thank you very much.
Wanted! More photographs and anecdotes for 43 and 208 Squadrons and 1417 Flt to provide a more balanced coverage.