No. 231 Operational Conversion Unit was a

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 ...

Operational history

231 OCU first formed in the aftermath of the

Second World War 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 ...

during on 15 March 1947 at

RAF Coningsby Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south-west of Horncastle, and north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and ho ...

. Initially the OCU was formed from a nucleus provided by No. 16 OTU and was tasked with training crews of the "wooden wonder", the

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden ...

, in the light bomber and photo reconnaissance roles. Initial operational equipment was provided by Mosquito III and Mosquito B.XVI aircraft. In this role the unit lasted nearly three years before disbanding on 4 December 1949. In keeping with its previous role when the OCU reformed on 1 December 1951 it was to train light bomber crews by redesignating 237 OCU. The aircraft used during the rest of the unit's operational service was the

English Electric Canberra 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 Havil ...

and most operational versions of that versatile aircraft were flown by the unit. It was reformed at

RAF Bassingbourn Royal Air Force Bassingbourn or more simply RAF Bassingbourn is a former Royal Air Force station located in Cambridgeshire approximately north of Royston, Hertfordshire and south west of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. During the Second ...

and moved around various stations including RAF Bassingbourn,

RAF Cottesmore Royal Air Force Station Cottesmore or more simply RAF Cottesmore is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. On 15 December 2009, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth announced that th ...

and

RAF Marham RAF Marham is a Royal Air Force station and military airbase near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia. It is home to No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (138 EAW) and, as such, is one of the RAF's "Main Operating ...

during its operational existence. It was redesignated the ''Canberra Standardisation Training Flight'' on 15 December 1990, but reverted to 231 OCU on 13 May 1991. 'D' Squadron was previously No. 204 Advanced Flying School at Bassingbourn which was disbanded on 13 February 1952. 204 AFS was previously No. 204 Crew Training Unit which was formed on 28 February 1947 at Cottesmore by redesignating an element of No. 16 OTU. 204 CTU was disbanded on 15 March 1947 at Cottesmore.

Disbandment

231 OCU was disbanded at

RAF Wyton Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now home to the Joint Forces Intelligence Group. History Flying station Wyton has be ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The p ...

on 23 April 1993, by which time it had trained for a variety of roles more than 8,000 aircrew from 17 different nations.

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