Signals Command was 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 ...

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 ...

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

responsible for control of signals units from 1958 to 1969. It was based at

RAF Medmenham RAF Medmenham is a former Royal Air Force station based at Danesfield House near Medmenham, in Buckinghamshire, England. Activities there specialised in photographic intelligence, and it was once the home of the RAF Intelligence Branch. Durin ...

near Marlow,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

History

Originally, on 24 April 1946, No. 90 (Signals) Group RAF was formed at Danesfield Court,

Medmenham Medmenham () is a village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the River Thames, about southwest of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow and east of Henley-on-Thames. The parish also includes Danesfield, a housing estate ...

, Marlow, taking over the functions of No 26, 60 (the home air defence radar stations, originally Chain Home and Chain Home Low) and 100 Groups (airborne electronic warfare) and

No. 80 Wing RAF No. 80 Wing RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during both World Wars and briefly in the 1950s. In the last months of World War I it controlled RAF and Australian Flying Corps (AFC) fighter squadrons. It was reformed in 1940 to operate e ...

(electronic warfare). Signals Command was formed on 3 November 1958 by raising 90 Group to Command status.Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - RAF Home Commands formed between 1958 - 2002
Three

De Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH.106 Comet is the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It features an aerodynamically clean design with four ...

2s were modified for RAF use in radar and electronic systems development, initially assigned to No. 90 Group (later Signals Command).Swanborough 1962, p. 48. In service with No. 192 and No. 51 Squadrons, the 2R series was equipped to monitor

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

signal traffic and operated in this role from 1958. The 2R ELINT series was operational until 1974, when replaced by the Nimrod R1, the last Comet derivative in RAF service.Walker 2000, p. 159. Signals Command was relatively short-lived, lasting only until 1 January 1969, when it was absorbed by Strike Command by being reduced to group status. It had five Air Officers Commanding during its existence. In 2006, various elements of the RAF Signals trades and sections were combined at RAF Leeming to form No. 90 Signals Unit with the same badge and motto as No. 90 (Signals) Group and Signals Command.

Aircraft

Avro Lincoln The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which maiden flight, first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed L ...

Mk.4 ** No. 116 Squadron RAF ** No. 151 Squadron RAF ** No. 192 Squadron RAF **

No. 199 Squadron RAF No. 199 Squadron was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron that operated as a training unit in WWI, as a bomber and radio countermeasures unit during the Second World War, and later in the 1950s again as a radio countermeasures squadron. Histor ...

** No. 527 Squadron RAF

Commanders in Chief

*3 November 1958 -

Air Vice-Marshal Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometime ...

Sir Leslie Dalton-Morris *1 March 1961 - Air Vice-Marshal A Foord-Kelcey (temporary appointment) *9 June 1961 - Air Vice-Marshal Sir Walter Pretty *1 February 1964 - Air Vice-Marshal Sir Thomas Shirley *7 May 1966 - Air Vice-Marshal Sir Benjamin Ball

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

History of the RAF Signals Service, 1945 - 1975
Purported book in preparation. , - Signals Command Air force communications units and formations Military units and formations established in 1958 Organisations based in Buckinghamshire 1958 establishments in the United Kingdom {{RAF-stub