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RAF Search and Rescue Force

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Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force
Westland Sea King HAR3A
Active1941 – 18 February 2016
Disbanded18 February 2016
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
RoleSearch and Rescue

The Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force (RAF SARF or RAF SAR Force) was an official unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF) which provided around-the-clock aeronautical search and rescue cover in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and the Falkland Islands, from 1986 until 2016.

The Search and Rescue Force was established in 1986 from the helicopter elements of the RAF Marine Branch which was disbanded that year. The Force supported search and rescue over the United Kingdom until 4 October 2015 when the role was privatised, and civilian contractor Bristow Helicopters assumed the role on behalf of HM Coastguard.

On 18 February 2016, the force's disbandment was officially marked with a parade in front of William, Duke of Cambridge, himself a former SAR pilot, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, his wife.[1][2]

History

[edit]
Main article: RAF Marine Branch
Whaleback high speed air-sea rescue launch HSL 164 off Ceylon in 1943.

In 1918, the Royal Air Force was established through the merging of the aviation arms of the Royal Navy, the Royal Navy Air Service (RNAS), and that of the Army, the Royal Flying Corps. Together with its aircraft, vessels acquired to support RAF seaplane operations were also transferred to the new service,[3] becoming the Marine Craft Section (MCS).[3]

Post-war, the Marine Craft Section became a force of 150 vessels, which in addition to supporting the operation of seaplanes, were equipped for rescue operations, with a launch being at the ready whenever an aircraft was flying over water.[3] However, the training and seamanship of the crews, especially with regards to navigation, meant that the MCS at this time was only suitable for inshore rescue operations.[3]

As the vessels it had inherited from the Royal Navy began wear out, the RAF began to have built for launches capable of higher speeds, and in light of the larger crews of some aircraft, greater capacity. This would, in the late 1930s, lead to the acquiring of High Speed Launches (HSL) for rescue operations.

However, during the Second World War, the Marine Craft Section found itself ill-prepared for war. During the Battle of Britain, even with the help of civilian vessels and the Royal Navy, aircrew who baled out or ditched in the North Sea and English Channel had only a 20 percent chance of being returned to their squadrons, with over 200 pilots and aircrew being lost to the sea during the battle.[3] An informal air-sea rescue was started in July 1940 by Flying Officer Russell Aitken, who with the approval of his senior officer at RAF Gosport, began flying a Supermarine Walrus to rescue pilots downed in the English Channel. By the end of August, when he ceased this work, he had rescued around 35 British and German aircrew.[4]

In light of this, in 1941, an emergency meeting was convened by Air Marshal Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris. The Royal Navy offered to take over in its entirety the at sea rescue role, the RAF declined and subsequently created the Directorate of Air Sea Rescue on 6 February 1941, which adopted the motto 'The sea shall not have them'. Operationally, it was to become known as Air Sea Rescue Services (ASRS), which ultimately became the RAF Search and Rescue Force.[5] The headquarters of the ASRS was co-located with that of RAF Coastal Command with which it operated closely.

Together with creation of specialist Air Sea Rescue Units (ASRU), ASRS worked to improve the survival of aircrews through the development and issue of better individual survival equipment, including one man inflatable dinghies for fighter pilots copied from the Germans; the training of aircrew in ditching drills to maximise their chances of surviving to be retrieved; the development and fielding of air droppable survival equipment; and coordination between the different services, branches and units towards the goal of locating and recovering of downed airmen.

Rescue & Target Towing Launch (RTTL) 2757, built in 1957, in the Grounds of the Royal Air Force Museum London, Hendon.

The air-sea rescue squadrons of the ASRS flew a variety of aircraft, usually hand-me-downs rejected or withdrawn from front-line service by the RAF's other branches, or as in the case of the Walrus, begged from the Royal Navy.[6] They used Supermarine Spitfires and Boulton Paul Defiants to patrol for downed aircrew, and Avro Ansons to drop supplies and dinghies. Supermarine Walrus and Supermarine Sea Otter amphibious craft were used to pick up aircrew from the water.[7] Larger aircraft were used to drop airborne lifeboats. Although the Walrus and Sea Otters could pick up survivors close to shore and in coastal waters further out to sea, it was still not possible for aircraft to routinely pick up survivors, the large flying boats that could do so, such as the Consolidated Catalinas and Short Sunderlands of Coastal Command, had many other jobs to do and were not always available.[6] The role of aircraft in the ASRS therefore, was to locate downed airmen and to keep them alive, by dropping them survival equipment and stores, until an ASRS launch, or one from the Royal Navy's Naval Sea Rescue Services, arrived to pick them up.[6] Generally MCS craft had responsibility for the Channel and North Sea, and Royal Navy ones for the Western Approaches.

By the end of the Second World War, more than 8,000 aircrew and 5,000 civilians had been rescued. At the end of the Second World War, the MCS had some 300 HSLs and over a thousand other vessels,[3] the largest fleet of such rescue craft in the world. This fleet and the RAF sailors that crewed it would contract as the RAF did, however it continued be found everywhere that the RAF flew over water.

Introduction of helicopters

[edit]

In the mid 1950s, helicopters began to replace fixed-wing aircraft and supplement the marine craft in the search and rescue role, their ability to hover giving them an ability to recover survivors that fixed wing aircraft did not have. It was not until the 1960s, with the introduction of the Westland Whirlwind, the Westland Wessex, and later the Westland Sea King, that it was possible to replace marine craft in all sea and weather conditions. Helicopters have the advantage of speed, which means that the same coverage as marine craft can be provided with far fewer bases and much reduced personnel numbers. However, even into the 1970s, helicopters had not completely replaced RAF marine craft, however by this time the MCS craft were becoming increasingly elderly and service in the MCS increasingly unattractive.

In 1986, the Marine Branch was disbanded, the last of the RAF's vessels were retired. Henceforth the RAF's rescue operations would be entirely helicopter based, Air Sea Rescue Services would be renamed the RAF Search and Rescue Force.

Role

[edit]
A SAR Force winchman practising drills.

The SARF's primary roles were military search and rescue, and the provision of rescue for civilian aircraft in distress under the 1948 Chicago Convention. The latter was a delegated responsibility to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) from the Department of Transport, who had primary responsibility for general search and rescue of any type throughout the UK Search and Rescue Region (UK SRR). The military role involved the rescuing of aircrew who have ejected or parachuted from, or crash-landed their aircraft. This role raises the wartime combat effectiveness of the RAF (and RN) by enabling downed aircrew to be returned to front-line flying duties as soon as possible.

Although established with a primary role of military search and rescue, most of SARF's operational missions were spent in its secondary role, conducting civil search and rescue. This entails the rescue of civilians from the sea, on mountains, from flooded regions or other locations on land.

The aeronautical search and rescue roles were complemented by the related Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service, whose trained mountaineers also conduct search and rescue in hilly terrain. SARF helicopters and RAF mountaineers often work together on mountain rescue incidents.

The military and civil roles were shared with the Sea King helicopters of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, while the civil search and rescue role was also shared with the helicopters of HM Coastguard.

Organisation

[edit]

Search and Rescue Helicopter Wing

The wing was formed at RAF Finningley on 1 September 1976, it was disbanded on 1 December 1992.[8]

Search and Rescue Training Unit

The Search and Rescue Training Unit was formed on 3 December 1979 at RAF Valley.[8]

No. 22 Squadron RAF

[edit]

15 February 1955 to June 1955 - HQ at RAF Thorney Island

June 1955 to June 1956 - HQ at RAF Thorney Island

flight RAF station county from until notes
A RAF Thorney Island Hampshire June 1955 June 1956 [11]
A RAF St Mawgan Cornwall June 1956 April 1956 [10]
B RAF Martlesham Heath Suffolk 25 June 1955[11] April 1956
B RAF Felixstowe Suffolk April 1956 June 1956 Flight moved from Martlesham Heath[10]
C RAF Valley Anglesey 27 September 1955 June 1956 [10]

June 1956 to April 1974 - HQ at RAF St Mawgan

  • Westland Whirlwind HAR.2 until August 1962 replaced by Whirlwind HAR.10s from August 1962[9]
flight RAF station county from until notes
A RAF St Mawgan Cornwall June 1956 November 1958 Moved to Chivenor[10]
A RAF Chivenor Devon November 1958 April 1974 moved from St Mawgan[10]
B RAF Felixstowe Suffolk June 1956 May 1961 disbanded[10]
B RAF Tangmere West Sussex June 1961 February 1973 reformed, disbanded.
B RAF Coltishall Norfolk April 1973 April 1974 reformed[10]
C RAF Valley Anglesey June 1956 April 1974 [10]
D RAF Manston Kent July 1961 March 1969[11]
unknown RAF St Mawgan Cornwall October 1956[11] preparation for Operation Grapple
unknown RAF Thorney Island Hampshire December 1959 [11]

April 1974 to January 1976 - HQ at RAF Thorney Island

  • Whirlwind HAR.10[9]
flight RAF station county from until notes
A RAF Chivenor Devon April 1974 January 1976 [10]
B RAF Coltishall Norfolk April 1974 January 1976 [10]
C RAF Valley Anglesey April 1974 January 1976 [10]
unknown RAF Brawdy[11] Pembrokeshire
unknown RAF Leuchars[11] Fife

January 1976 to June 1976 - HQ at RAF Finningley

  • Whirlwind HAR.10[9]
flight RAF station county from until notes
A RAF Chivenor Devon January 1976 June 1976 [10]
B RAF Coltishall Norfolk January 1976 April 1976 moved to Leuchars[10]
B RAF Leuchars Fife April 1976 June 1976 from Coltishall[10]
C RAF Valley Anglesey January 1976 June 1976 [10]
unknown RAF Brawdy Pembrokeshire
unknown RAF Manston Kent
unknown RAF Leconfield East Riding of Yorkshire
22 Squadron Westland Wessex HAR.2 on display at RAF Finningley in 1977.

June 1976 to December 1992[11] - HQ at RAF Finningley

flight RAF station county from until notes
HQ RAF Finningley South Yorkshire 1 October 1992 [13]
HQ RAF St Mawgan Cornwall 1 October 1992 [13]
A RAF Chivenor Devon June 1976 December 1992 [10]
B RAF Leuchars Fife June 1976 December 1992 [14]
C RAF Valley Anglesey June 1976 December 1992 [15][13][10]
D RAF Leconfield East Riding of Yorkshire [12]
E RAF Manston Kent [12]
E RAF Coltishall Norfolk December 1992 [16]

December 1992 to September 1997 - HQ at RAF St Mawgan[11]

  • Westland Wessex HAR.2[11]
  • Westland Sea King HAR.3 from June 1994[11]
  • Westland Sea King HAR.3A from May 1997[11]
flight RAF station county from until notes
HQ RAF St Mawgan Cornwall [17]
A RM Chivenor Devon December 1992 Sea King's from disbanded B Flight, 202 Sqn[18] from June 1994[10]
B RAF Leuchars Fife December 1992 March 1994 disbanded[10]
B Wattisham Airfield Suffolk 18 July 1994 Sea King's from disbanded C Flight, 202 Sqn[19]
C RAF Valley Anglesey December 1992 September 1997 [18][10]
E RAF Coltishall Norfolk December 1992 21 July 1994 disbanded[16]

September 1997 to unknown - HQ at RMB Chivenor[10]

  • Westland Sea King HAR.3/3A
flight base county from until notes
A RM Chivenor Devon HAR.3A[10]
B Wattisham Airfield Suffolk HAR.3A[10]
C RAF Valley Anglesey September 1997 HAR.3[10]

Unknown to October 2015 - HQ at RAF Valley

  • Westland Sea King HAR.3/3A
flight base county from until notes
A RM Chivenor Devon October 2015 [20]
B Wattisham Airfield Suffolk
C RAF Valley Anglesey July 2015 [21][22]

No. 110 Squadron RAF

[edit]

3 June 1959 to 15 February 1971 - HQ at RAF Kuala Lumpur

  • Whirlwind HC.4/HAR.10 and Sycamore HR.13 (April 1960-October 1964)
flight base county from until notes
unknown Nanga Gaat Borneo 1963 November 1967 Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
unknown Brunei Darussalam 1963 November 1967 Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

No. 202 Squadron RAF

[edit]
Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 of 202 Squadron at RAF Coltishall in 1971.

August 1964 to September 1976 - HQ at RAF Leconfield

  • Whirlwind HAR.10
flight RAF station county from until notes
A RAF Acklington Northumberland September 1974 21 October 1975 [23]
A RAF Boulmer Northumberland 21 October 1975 September 1976 [23]
C RAF Coltishall Norfolk 1973 September 1976 previously D Flight[23]
D RAF Coltishall Norfolk August 1964 April 1973 disbanded[23]
D RAF Coltishall Norfolk September 1973 1973 became C Flight[23]
D RAF Lossiemouth Moray 18 February 1973 September 1976 previously B Flight, 22 Sqn[23]
unknown RAF Leuchars Fife [24]
unknown RAF Ouston Northumberland [24]

September 1976 to 1 December 1992[19] - HQ at RAF Finningley

flight RAF station county from until notes
A RAF Boulmer Northumberland July 1978 December 1992 [15][23]
B RAF Brawdy Pembrokeshire 1989 [15]
C RAF Coltishall Norfolk July 1978 1982 moved to the Falkland Islands[23]
C RAF Stanley Falkland Islands 1982 August 1983 became No. 1564 Flight RAF[25]
C RAF Manston Kent December 1992 active 1989 during Marchioness disaster[26]
D RAF Lossiemouth Moray July 1978 December 1992 [23]
E RAF Leconfield East Riding of Yorkshire November 1988 December 1992 previously D Flight, 22 Sqn[23]

1 December 1992[19] to April 2008 - HQ at RAF Boulmer

  • Westland Sea King HAR.3[27]
flight RAF station county from until notes
A RAF Boulmer Northumberland December 1992 April 2008 [23]
B RAF Brawdy Pembrokeshire 1989 1 April 1994 [28]
B RAF Chivenor Devon 1 April 1994 [28]
C RAF Manston Kent December 1992 18 July 1994 [29]
D RAF Lossiemouth Moray December 1992 April 2008 [19]
E RAF Leconfield East Yorkshire December 1992 April 2008 [23]

April 2008 to October 2015 - HQ at RAF Valley

  • Westland Sea King HAR.3[27]
flight RAF station county from until notes
A RAF Boulmer Northumberland April 2008 October 2015 [30]
D RAF Lossiemouth Moray April 2008 April 2015 [31]
E RAF Leconfield East Yorkshire April 2008 March 2015

No. 228 Squadron RAF

[edit]

September 1959 to August 1964 - HQ at RAF Leconfield

flight RAF station county from until notes
unknown RAF Aldergrove Co. Antrim flight became 118 Sqn

Disbanded into 202 Squadron.

No. 275 Squadron RAF

[edit]

15 October 1941 to April 1944 - HQ at RAF Valley

flight RAF station county from until notes
unknown RAF Andreas Isle of Man 30 November 1941 25 Apr 1944
unknown RAF Eglinton Co. Londonderry 30 May 1943 14 Apr 1944

April 1944 to August 1944 - HQ at RAF Warmwell

7 August 1944 to 18 October 1944 - HQ at RAF Bolt Head

flight RAF station county from until notes
unknown RAF Portreath Cornwall 7 August 1944 18 October 1944

18 October 1944 to 10 January 1945 - HQ at RAF Exeter

flight RAF station county from until notes
unknown RAF Portreath Cornwall 18 October 1944 10 January 1945
unknown RAF Bolt Head Devon 18 October 1944 10 January 1945

10 January 1945 to 15 February 1945 - HQ at RAF Harrowbeer

flight RAF station county from until notes
unknown RAF Portreath Cornwall 10 January 1945 15 February 1945
unknown RAF Bolt Head Devon 10 January 1945 15 February 1945

Disbanded between 1945 and 1953.

1 March 1953 to 18 November 1954 - HQ at RAF Linton-on-Ouse

  • Bristol Sycamore HR.13/HR.14

18 November 1954 to 9 October 1957 - HQ at RAF Thornaby

9 October 1957 to 1 September 1959 - HQ at RAF Leconfield

  • Converted to Whirlwind HAR.2/HAR.4 in March 1959

Disbanded into 228 Squadron.

No. 276 Squadron RAF

[edit]

21 October 1941 to September 1944 - HQ at RAF Harrowbeer

flight base county from until notes
unknown Querqueville France August 1944 September 1944 covering Normandy landings

September 1944 to unknown - HQ at Querqueville

  • Lysander, Walrus, Hurricanes, Defiants, Spitfires, and Warwicks
  • Warwicks assigned to 277 Squadron in October 1944

Unknown to 23 August 1945 - HQ in Belgium

23 August 1945 to 10 November 1945 - HQ at Kjevik, Norway

10 November 1945 to 14 November 1945 - HQ at RAF Dunsfold

No. 277 Squadron RAF

[edit]

22 December 1941 to 26 February 1945 - HQ at RAF Stapleford Tawney

  • Lysander, Walrus, Defiant, Spitfire, Sea Otter, and Warwick

Detachments at RAF Martlesham Heath, RAF Hawkinge, RAF Shoreham, and RAF Tangmere.

No. 278 Squadron RAF

[edit]
Main article: No. 278 Squadron RAF

No. 279 Squadron RAF

[edit]

16 November 1941 to October 1944 – HQ at RAF Bircham Newton

flight RAF station county from until notes
unknown RAF Sumburgh Shetland Islands 28 April 1942 29 May 1942
unknown RAF Benbecula Outer Hebrides 29 June 1942 1942
unknown RAF Leuchars Fife 15 July 1942 1942
unknown RAF Reykjavik Iceland 26 July 1942 15 August 1942
unknown RAF Thorney Island West Sussex 14 August 1942 15 August 1942
unknown RAF Chivenor Devon 15 August 1942 19 August 1942
unknown RAF St Eval Cornwall 23 August 1942 5 February 1943
unknown RAF Beaulieu Hampshire 25 September 1942 1942
unknown RAF Davidstow Moor Cornwall 5 February 1943 9 June 1943
unknown RAF Harrowbeer Devon 9 June 1943 14 December 1943
unknown RAF Wick Highlands 28 September 1943 1945
unknown RAF Reykjavik Iceland 1 January 1944 1 August 1944

October 1944 to September 1945 - HQ at RAF Thornaby

  • Vickers Warwick
flight RAF station county from until notes
unknown RAF Tain Ross and Cromarty 1 October 1944 September 1945
unknown RAF Wick Highlands 1 October 1944 September 1945
unknown RAF Banff Aberdeenshire 31 October 1944 27 December 1944
unknown RAF Fraserburgh Aberdeenshire 27 December 1944 September 1945
unknown RAF Reykjavik Iceland 26 May 1945 September 1945
unknown RAF Banff Aberdeenshire July 1945 September 1945
1348 (ASR) Flt RAF Pegu Burma July 1945 unknown

3 September 1945 to 10 March 1946 - HQ at RAF Beccles

No. 280 Squadron RAF

[edit]
Main article: No. 280 Squadron RAF

No. 281 Squadron RAF

[edit]
Main article: No. 281 Squadron RAF

No. 282 Squadron RAF

[edit]
Main article: No. 282 Squadron RAF

No. 283 Squadron RAF

[edit]
Main article: No. 283 Squadron RAF

No. 284 Squadron RAF

[edit]
Main article: No. 284 Squadron RAF

2015 status

[edit]
class=notpageimage|
Operational locations of aeronautical search and rescue cover in the United Kingdom. The colour of the location mark indicates the agency providing helicopter response (blue: Fleet Air Arm, yellow: RAF Search and Rescue Force, red: Her Majesty's Coastguard).

The RAF SAR Force headquarters was situated at RAF Valley on Anglesey. In addition to the Force HQ proper, the HQ building housed the HQs of the RAFs two operational SAR squadrons in the UK (22 and 202), as well as the RAF Sea King simulator. SAR Force HQ controlled the SAR Force's three helicopter squadrons and one independent flight. These were:

SARF's Operational Conversion Unit was No. 203 Squadron also based at RAF Valley and equipped with the Sea King HAR.3.

Coordination

[edit]

In the United Kingdom, maritime search and rescue is coordinated by HM Coastguard, while land-based operations are usually coordinated by the local Police force.

From 1941 until the end of 1997, there were two Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centres (ARCC); at Plymouth and at Edinburgh. These two were combined in 1997 at RAF Kinloss in the north of Scotland. All requests for assistance from the emergency services throughout the United Kingdom (Police, Fire, Ambulance, and Coastguard) were handled at this single ARCC until March 2016, when responsibility for the service was transferred to civilian personnel of Her Majesty's Coastguard.[32]

Privatisation and disbandment

[edit]
See also: His Majesty's Coastguard § Aircraft
class=notpageimage|
Planned operational locations of aeronautical search and rescue cover in the United Kingdom from 2017. The colour of the location mark indicates the type of helicopter at each location (blue: AgustaWestland AW189, red: Sikorsky S-92).

In 2006, the government announced controversial plans to effectively privatise provision of search and rescue helicopters in order to replace the ageing Sea Kings, although they have suggested that crews may, at least partially, still be made up of military personnel.[33]

In February 2010, Soteria SAR was announced as the 'preferred bidder' for the UK SAR programme.[34] On 8 February 2011, days before the contract was due to be signed, the UK Government halted the process after Soteria admitted that it had unauthorised access to commercially sensitive information regarding the programme.

While this contract is being renegotiated, a 'gap' contract was tendered for the existing Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) bases, and in February 2012, it was announced that Bristow Helicopters would take over the running of Stornoway and Sumburgh using Sikorsky S-92s, and that Portland and Lee on Solent would be retained by CHC Helicopter using AgustaWestland AW139s.

In March 2013, the Department for Transport announced that it had signed a contract with Bristow Helicopters Ltd to provide search and rescue helicopter services in the UK with operations commencing progressively from 2015.[35] The new service was fully operational across the United Kingdom by May 2019,[36][37] and will use AgustaWestland AW189 and Sikorsky S-92 based at ten locations around the UK.[38]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ Royal Air Force. "RAF Search and Rescue Force Disbandment Parade". Facebook. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  2. ^ "RAF Search and Rescue Force Disbandment Parade". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Sutherland, Jon; Canwell, Diane (2010). The RAF Air Sea Rescue Service 1918–1986. Barnsley, England: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-184884303-5.
  4. ^ Pearson & Gorman 2020, pp. 31–33.
  5. ^ "A force for good that's saved 1000s of lives". RAF News. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ a b c Jefford, Jeff (2007). "The ASR Air Orbat in WWII" (PDF). RAF Historical Society Journal (40). Royal Air Force Historical Society: 34–44. ISSN 1361-4231. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  7. ^ London, Peter (2003). British Flying Boats. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing. p. 182. ISBN 0-7509-2695-3.
  8. ^ a b Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 232.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Jefford 1988, p. 32.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Flack 2005, p. 202.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Flack 2005, p. 201.
  12. ^ a b c Delve 1994, p. 91.
  13. ^ a b c Jackson 1995, p. 14.
  14. ^ Jackson 1995, p. 12.
  15. ^ a b c Jackson 1990, p. 100.
  16. ^ a b Jackson 1995, p. 9.
  17. ^ Jackson 1995, p. 13.
  18. ^ a b Jackson 1995, p. 24.
  19. ^ a b c d Jackson 1995, p. 30.
  20. ^ Brown, Peter (5 October 2015). "RAF Search and Rescue operations end as 22 Squadron is stood down". North Devon Journal. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  21. ^ "RAF Sea King lands for the last time as an operational SAR Flight at RAF Valley". Royal Air Force. 1 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  22. ^ "Chivenor Sea King completes final RAF UK operational sortie". Royal Air Force. 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Flack 2005, p. 213.
  24. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 68.
  25. ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 127.
  26. ^ March 1990, p. 82.
  27. ^ a b "202 Squadron". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  28. ^ a b Jackson 1995, p. 15.
  29. ^ Jackson 1995, p. 16.
  30. ^ "Sea Kings depart RAF Boulmer". Royal Air Force. 1 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  31. ^ "Last RAF Sea King helicopter leaves Lossiemouth as Bristow takes over". STV News. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  32. ^ Hendry, Ben (6 April 2016). "Moray search and rescue operations transferred to the south of England". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  33. ^ "Private bids plan for air rescue". BBC News. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  34. ^ "MOD and MCA/DfT selects Soteria for SAR-H programme". Soteria SAR. 9 February 2010. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  35. ^ "Government contract to deliver faster, state of the art search and rescue fleet". Department for Transport. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  36. ^ "Coastguard takes delivery of 2 new state of the art SAR helicopters". Oil Industry News. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  37. ^ "Written statement to Parliament: Search and rescue helicopters". UK Government. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  38. ^ "Bristow Group to take over UK search and rescue from RAF". BBC News. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.

Bibliography

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