RAF Belize was the Headquarters unit of all

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 ...

units of British Forces Belize from the mid 1970s to mid 1990s when RAF Belize was subsumed into the remaining

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

garrison. Units included Hardet Belize 1975–6, 1977–1981;

No. 1417 Flight RAF No. 1417 Flight RAF (1417 Flt) was an independent flight of the Royal Air Force which existed between 1941 and 1993 at various times in a variety of roles. This Flight had probably the most interesting incarnations of all the independent aircraft ...

(1417 Flt), 1981–1993; Pumadet 1975-1981;

No. 1563 Flight RAF No. 1563 Flight RAF (1563 Flt) is an independent flight of the British Royal Air Force (RAF). It operates the Westland Puma HC2 helicopters in Brunei. It previously flew tactical support missions for locally garrisoned British Army units, as we ...

(1563 Flt), 1981-mid 1990s;

RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by royal warrant in 1942, the Corps carries out soldiering tasks relating to the delivery of air power. Examples of such ta ...

Shorad squadrons, 1975–1993; Butcher Radar, 1975–6, 1977–1993; various support units: MT, Supply, Medical, ATC, Catering, etc. etc.. The vast majority of units were garrisoned at Airport Camp, adjacent to Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport, but some were deployed at other locations attached to British Army units; typically, Tactical Supply Wing (TSW) for refuelling helicopters, with

Tactical Communications Wing 90 Signals Unit (90 SU) is based at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire and provides information and communication services to deployed units of the Royal Air Force. History No. 90 (Signals) Group was formed on 26 April 1946 and had its headquarters ...

(TCW) and Tactical Air Operations Centre (TAOC) providing dispersed communications and close support comms with transport helicopters and ground attack aircraft. Aircraft flown by RAF Belize units included the Westland Puma HC.1 and Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3, with occasional detachments from No. 39 Squadron RAF with

English Electric Canberra PR.9 The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havi ...

photo-reconnaissance aircraft. Logistical support from the UK was provided by

Vickers VC10 The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...

and

Lockheed C-130K Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...

transport aircraft and, occasionally, Short Belfast C.1 Strategic Transport aircraft. In the late 1970s and early 1980s some non-urgent logistical transport tasks were sub-contracted to civilian cargo airlines, such as: Redcoat Air Cargo, flying

Bristol Britannia The Bristol Type 175 Britannia is a retired British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the Commonwealth. During development two prototypes were lost and the turboprop engines proved ...

freighters. Other British military visitors included

Westland Wasp The Westland Wasp is a small 1960s British turbine powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter. Produced by Westland Helicopters, it came from the same P.531 programme as the British Army Westland Scout, and is based on the earlier piston-e ...

helicopters from various

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

(RN) Caribbean guard-ships. On other occasions flypasts were made by aircraft from HMS Ark Royal before her retirement in 1979. The Harrier ground attack aircraft of 1417 Flt were dispersed around the airport in camouflaged hides, (hides A to J), initially, but later concentrated at two locations either side of the runway in self-supporting sub-units: C-D hide (colloquially known as Charlie-Delta) and F-G hide (known as Foxy-Golf). The Puma helicopters of 1563 Flt were based at Williamson Hangar, operating from the airport pan until provided with their own helicopter operating platforms in 1986. Williamson Hangar also formed the hub for all engineering and supply support operations. Weapons storage was co-located with British Army

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

(RAOC) units at a weapons storage area near Airport Camp. Air traffic control, air defence and fighter control was based at Butcher Radar, with its own surveillance radar, opposite the airport aircraft servicing pan (ASP). Not part of RAF Belize was the Army Air Corps light helicopter unit, "Teenie Weenie Airways", which operated, variously,

Westland Scout The Westland Scout is a light helicopter developed by Westland Helicopters. Developed from the Saro P.531, it served as a land-based general purpose military helicopter, sharing a common ancestor and numerous components with the naval-orientat ...

Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led t ...

and Westland Gazelle helicopters.

External links

* Military of Belize Belize–United Kingdom military relations Military installations of the United Kingdom in other countries {{Belize-stub