2nd Wing RFC
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No. 2 Wing of the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
was a
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
of aircraft squadrons which was originally established as the Second Wing of the
Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...
.


First World War

By November 1914 the Flying Corps had significantly expanded and it was felt necessary to create organizational units which would control collections of squadrons. Accordingly, the Second Wing and its sister wing, First Wing, were established. These two wings came into existence on 29 November 1914 and were the earliest RFC numbered wings to be formed. The wing's first commander was Charles Burke. The Second Wing was assigned to the support of the 2nd Army in France. The wing saw action on the Western Front and was renamed to 2nd Corps Wing RFC on 20 March 1916. It was stood down on 12 September 1919. The wing was reformed as No. 2 (Plymouth) Wing RAF on 15 May 1919 at RAF Cattewater within No. 10 Group RAF controlling No. 238 Squadron RAF until April 1920.


Second World War

The wing was reformed No. 2 (Bomber) Wing RAF on 25 August 1939 at RAF Heliopolis. However it disbanded on 21 September 1939 and became No. 251 Wing RAF. The wing was reformed on 3 November 1941 as No. 2 Operational Wing RAF at LG.102 Sidi Haneish controlling No. 112 Squadron RAF and No. 3 Squadron RAAF. It was shortly disbanded during November 1941 into No. 258 Wing RAF.


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* {{DEFAULTSORT:No. 2 Wing Raf Royal Flying Corps wings Royal Air Force wings Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War I 1914 establishments in the United Kingdom