Website last updated on: 15/08/10Please note that this website is in a state of permanent transition as new material is added as and when it becomes ready for publication. You will, therefore, find that some inactive buttons are included for future reference. Changes to the website are recorded in an Update log which you can access via the button below.
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Website last updated on: 15/08/10
As the history of the Hawker Hunter and its service with the RAF has been extensively aired over the years, it is not the objective 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 squadron and station Operational Record Books (ORBs or F540s) held by the National Archives at Kew.
A second objective of this website is to produce an 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 outstanding aircraft. In response to interest shown by personnel from other Khormaksar-based units whose assignments involved the support of Hunter operations, the author has broadened the remit for the website to include material from these units. To this end, new buttons with links to pages for 37 Squadron (Shackletons), 653 (AAC) and the Fleet Air Arm have been added to the Contents column. In addition, further sections comprising highlights from the RAF Khormaksar ORBs, the Station’s rundown and closure, plus a brief item on the fledgling South Arabian Air Force, have been added.
The Middle East Air Force was
formed on 1
Mar 1961 as a unified command from HQ British Forces Arabian Peninsula
having been originally named Middle East Command (Aden), the RAF element
being named Air Forces Middle East. With the impending
British withdrawal from Aden, authority for the command moved to
Muharraq (Bahrain) on 1
September, 1967, and it was renamed HQ British Forces Gulf.
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. 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.
Over the past three years, the website has expanded far beyond the author’s initial concept and the subject matter broadened in scope, an achievement that would not have been possible without the support of all those who contributed their photographs and anecdotes. There is no doubt that the site would not have been so interesting without your support and I would like to offer my sincere thanks to you all. The job is not yet done, however, as there is still a lot more to be added, so please keep browsing.
As with any written work, mistakes will materialise and I am indebted to Ben Bennett who, by his diligent error checking, has kept them at a minimum.
If you have any comments, suggestions for improvements or contributions you wish to make to this website, please contact the author, Ray Deacon, via the Contact button on the Contents menu in the left column.
NB.
My long term aim is to produce a book using material on 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! To provide a more balanced coverage, more photographs and anecdotes for 43 and 208 Squadrons would be most welcome.