RAF Maintenance Command was the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards ...

which was responsible for controlling maintenance for all the United Kingdom-based units from formation on 1 April 1938 until being renamed

RAF Support Command Support Command was a command of the Royal Air Force between 1973 and 1994. The headquarters was located at RAF Brampton in Cambridgeshire. History It was formed on 31 August 1973 by the renaming of RAF Maintenance Command,

on 31 August 1973.

History

Maintenance Command was formed in 1938.National Archives
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No. 40 Group RAF No. 40 Group RAF is a former Royal Air Force Maintenance group that was operational from 1 January 1939, throughout the Second World War and into the Cold War until 28 July 1961 within RAF Maintenance Command that dealt with equipment, barracks s ...

was formed within the command on 3 January 1939, and responsible for all equipment except bombs and explosives.Air of Authority

No. 42 Group RAF No. 40 Group RAF is a former Royal Air Force Maintenance Group (military unit), group that was operational from 1 January 1939, throughout the Second World War and into the Cold War until 28 July 1961 within RAF Maintenance Command that dealt with ...

was made responsible for fuel and ammunition storage. In 1940, technical control (but not administrative control) of No. 41 Group and No. 43 Group of Maintenance Command passed to the

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian m ...

. One important change made within days of the Ministry's creation was it taking over the RAF aircraft storage Maintenance Units which were found to have accepted 1,000 aircraft from industry, but issued only 650 to squadrons. These management and organisational changes bore results almost immediately: in the first four months of 1940, 2,729 aircraft were produced of which 638 were fighters, while in the following four months crucial to the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended ...

combat during May to August 1940, production rose to 4,578 aircraft, of which 1,875 were fighters.p.129, Ponting, 1940: myth and reality This production rate was two and a half times Germany's fighter production at the time. The ministry was additionally able to repair and return to service nearly 1,900 aircraft.p.130, Ponting, 1940: Myth and Reality From 7 October 1940, operational control of salvage was administered by a section of No. 43 Group RAF (Maintenance), known as No. 43 Group Salvage, with a headquarters at the Morris Motor Works in Cowley. The administrative headquarters later moved to

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. Maintenance units responsible for salvage were responsible for vast areas of the country. Responsibility for these Groups returned to Maintenance Command after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

following the absorption of the Ministry of Aircraft Production into the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for air ...

(MoS). The foundation stone for a new Command Headquarters at

RAF Andover RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air ...

was laid in November 1960. When the RAF took delivery of the Blue Danube nuclear weapon (in sections) the HCCL plant near Leeds was one of only four places from where 40 Group organised armed escorted road convoys direct to

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire i ...

. The others were AWRE Aldermaston, ROF Burghfield,

ROF Chorley ROF Chorley was a United Kingdom, UK government-owned Filling Factories, munitions filling Royal Ordnance Factory (Filling Factory No. 1). It was planned as a ''permanent'' Royal Ordnance Factory with the intention that it, unlike some other sim ...

(Lancashire), and Woolwich Arsenal. No. 40 Group was disbanded on 28 July 1961. Maintenance Command was absorbed into Support Command in August 1973.

Organisation

As of 1940 the Command was organised as a headquarters and four Groups: #Equipment Group

o 40 O, or o, is the fifteenth Letter (alphabet), letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in ...

#Aircraft Group o 41, HQ Andover January 1939 - July 1961; MU's included No. 7 MU?#Armament and Fuel Group

o 42 O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), ...

#Repair and Salvage Group

o 43 O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), ...

Nos 42 and 43 Groups disbanded on 2 January 1956; No. 41 Group on 21 July 1961; and No. 40 Group a week later on 28 July 1961. Maintenance Units included: *No. 14 Maintenance Unit,

RAF Carlisle RAF Carlisle (previously RAF Kingstown) was a Royal Air Force establishment, now closed after being used for a variety of roles over a period of fifty eight years and formerly located north of Carlisle city centre in Cumbria, England. The s ...

*No. 16 Maintenance Unit,

RAF Stafford RAF Stafford was a non-flying Royal Air Force station in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. History The station was originally established as the home of No. 16 Maintenance Unit in the 1930s. It became home to No 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron ...

*No. 18 Maintenance Unit, RAF Tinwald Downs, No. 41 Group *No. 19 Maintenance Unit, RAF St Athan (7 Feb 1939 – 1 Nov 1968/7 Apr 1999) *No. 20 Maintenance Unit,

RAF Aston Down Aston Down is in Gloucestershire, South West England, east of Minchinhampton, southeast of Stroud and west of Cirencester. The nearest settlement is the large village of Chalford, 1 mile (1.6 km) to the northwest. The airfield was us ...

, No. 41 Group (see Flightglobal.com) *No. 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, No. 42 Group *No. 22 Maintenance Unit, RAF Silloth *No. 25 Maintenance Unit,

RAF Hartlebury The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

*No. 32 Maintenance Unit, RAF St Athan (1 Jul 1939 – 1 Nov 1968/7 Apr 1999) *No. 35 Maintenance Unit, RAF Heywood

Commanders

Commanders-in-Chief included:Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – RAF Home Commands formed between 1936 – 1938
*31 Mar 1938 – Air Marshal Sir John Bradley *5 Oct 1942 – Air Marshal Sir Grahame Donald *9 Apr 1947 – Air Marshal Sir Cyril Cooke *15 Oct 1949 – Air Marshal Sir Thomas Warne-Browne *20 Dec 1952 – Air Marshal Sir Leslie Harvey *16 Jan 1956 – Air Marshal Sir Richard Jordan *5 May 1958 – Air Marshal Sir Douglas Jackman *1 Mar 1961 – Air Marshal Sir Leslie Dalton-Morris *4 Jun 1963 – Air Marshal Sir Norman Coslett *2 Jul 1966 – Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Porter *13 Apr 1970 – Air Marshal Sir John Rowlands *2 Jun 1973 – Air Marshal Sir Reginald Harland

History

Organisation

Commanders

See also

References

Further reading