Royal Air Force Nicosia or more simply RAF Nicosia is a former

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 ...

station on the island of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, built in the 1930s. The station served as Headquarters Royal Air Force Cyprus from 8 June to 29 July 1941. The original principal airport for Cyprus, Nicosia International Airport, was built within the site of the RAF station. Both civil and military aviation on the island operated from the site, although the RAF disestablished the station in 1966. The 1974

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of Cypriot intercommunal violence, intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots, Greek and Turkish Cy ...

led to the cessation of commercial operations from the airport, although the site is still owned by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

,''House of Commons Hansard'' Written Answers for 19 Jan 2005 (pt 6)
/ref> but is controlled by the

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

and used as a base by

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

peace-keeping patrol

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

Units

* No. 6 Squadron RAF first used the airfield on 3 October 1946 with the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

LF.9 before re-equipping with the

Hawker Tempest The Hawker Tempest is a British fighter aircraft that was primarily used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. The Tempest, originally known as the ''Typhoon II'', was an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, intended to a ...

F.6 in December of that year and moving to RAF Shallufa on 5 September 1947. The squadron returned on 5 April 1951 with the

de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland DH100 Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteo ...

FB.5 before leaving to RAF Deversoir on 22 May 1951 however the unit soon returned on 31 May 1952 with the Vampire FB.9 before leaving on 11 July 1952 moving to RAF Habbaniya. The unit returned on 28 August 1954 with the

de Havilland Venom The de Havilland DH 112 Venom is a British post-war single-engined jet aircraft developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. Much of its design was derived from the de Havilland Vampire, the firm's first jet-p ...

FB.1 before moving again to Habbaniya on 5 October 1954, on 7 November 1955 the unit returned for the final time with the Venom FB.4. The squadron moved to Habbaniya on 12 December 1955. * No. 8 Squadron RAF arrived on 14 August 1950 with the Bristol Brigand B.1,

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), R ...

C.19 and Auster AOP.6 from

RAF Khormaksar Royal Air Force Khormaksar or more simply RAF Khormaksar is a former Royal Air Force station in Aden, Yemen. Its motto was "Into the Remote Places". During the 1960s, it was the base for nine squadrons and became the RAF's busiest-ever station ...

, it returned on 25 September 1950. The squadron came back to Nicosia with just the Brigand on 23 February 1952, returning to Khormaksar on 9 April 1952. On 7 July 1953 the squadron returned with the

FB.9, before moving to RAF Deversoir on 14 August 1953. They returned again between 5 September and 20 December 1956 with the

FB.4 * No. 29 Squadron RAF between 1 March 1963 and 16 March 1964 with the

Gloster Javelin The Gloster Javelin is a twin-engined all-weather interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the Gloster Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s and was the final aircraft design to b ...

FAW.9 * No. 32 Squadron RAF initially between 25 March 1948 and 4 January 1951 with the

FR.18, de Havilland Vampire F.3 & FB.5 then between 11 January and 18 March 1957 with 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 Havilla ...

B.2 * No. 39 Squadron RAF between 9 August 1956 and 18 June 1958 with the

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...

NF.13 *

No. 43 Squadron RAF Number 43 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Fighting Cocks'', was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in April 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It saw distinguished service during two world wars, producing numerous Flying ace, ...

between 21 June 1961 and 1 March 1963 with the

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet propulsion, jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly dev ...

FGA.9 *Detachment from No. 45 Squadron RAF between 1936 and 1937 with the Fairey Gordon II *Detachment from No. 46 Squadron RAF between 1942 and 1944 * No. 70 Squadron RAF between 12 December 1955 and 12 July 1966 with the Handley Page Hastings C.1, C.2 & C.4 * No. 73 Squadron RAF initially between 21 April and 27 May 1949 with the Spitfire F.22 and Vampire F.3 * No. 74 Squadron RAF between August and November 1943 with the Spitfire VB & VC * No. 80 Squadron RAF between 1 May and 16 August 1941 with the

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

I * No. 84 Squadron RAF initially between 11 March and 31 December 1956 with the Vickers Valetta C.1 then as a detachment from 1972 with the Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 * No. 14 Squadron RNZAF – operating de Havilland Vampire (1952–55)

RAF Regiments

Army Air Corps

* No. 19 Liaison Flight AAC with the de Havilland Beaver AL.1 during 1964 * No. 21 Reconnaissance Flight AAC with the Auster AOP.6 during 1964

Current use

The site is now the currently largely disused Nicosia International Airport.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *

External links

The murder of Corporal Patrick J. Hale at RAF Nicosia

RAF Nicosia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicosia Royal Air Force stations in Cyprus Royal Air Force stations of World War II in Europe Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the Middle East World War II airfields in Cyprus