No. 211 Group RAF
No. 211 Group RAF is a former Royal Air Force group which disbanded in September 1943. It initially formed in December 1941, then disbanded in February 1942. The group immediately reformed in March 1942 as No. 211 Group within RAF Middle East Command.
History
No 211 Group or No. 211 Group was a Group of the Royal Air Force formed on 10 December 1941 by renaming Nucleus Group Western Desert. The group was officially disbanded from 3 February 1942 to 12 March 1942, although some references refer to some of its original squadrons during this period as being with 211 Group. On 12 March 1942, the group reformed as No. 211 Group and Air Commodore Richard Atcherley assumed command of the group on 11 April 1943. At this time, 211 Group was the principle fighter force of the Desert Air Force commanded by Air Vice-Marshal Harry Broadhurst, and DAF was a sub-command of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham's Northwest African Tactical Air Force.The group included many units from the South African Air Force, as well as several from the Royal Australian Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces, with one each from the Hellenic Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force. Many personnel from other British Commonwealth air forces also served in RAF, SAAF, RAAF and RCAF units, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and related arrangements.
Throughout the North African Campaign, the medium bomber and fighter squadrons of Air Headquarters Western Desert, also known at various times of the campaign as Air Headquarters Libya, Western Desert Air Force, or DAF, were primarily assigned to either 211 Group or No. 212 (Fighter Control) Group.
Order of battle 1942 and 1943
Group assignments for squadrons during the campaigns in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia are for the period from July 1942 to 10 July 1943 when the Allies invaded Sicily (Operation Husky).| No. 212 Group July 1942 | Nos. 211 & 212 Groups 27 October 1942 | No. 211 Group 10 July 1943 | ||
| No. 233 Wing RAF/7 Wing SAAF | No. 233 Wing | No. 7 Wing SAAF | No. 7 Wing SAAF ---- No. 80 Squadron SAAF No. 127 Squadron SAAF No. 274 Squadron SAAF No. 335 Squadron | |
| No. 239 Wing RAF | No. 239 Wing ---- - No. 112 Squadron RAF No. 250 Squadron RAF No. 260 Squadron RAF 66th Fighter Squadron | No. 239 Wing RAF ---- No. 3 Squadron RAAF, Kittyhawk No. 112 Squadron RAF, Kittyhawk No. 250 Squadron RAF, Kittyhawk No. 260 Squadron RAF, Kittyhawk No. 450 Squadron RAAF, Kittyhawk | ||
| No. 244 Wing RAF | No. 244 Wing RAF | No. 244 Wing---- 1 Squadron SAAF, Spitfire No. 92 Squadron RAF, Spitfire No. 145 Squadron RAF, Spitfire No. 417 Squadron RCAF, Spitfire No. 601 Squadron RAF, Spitfire | ||
| No. 243 Wing RAF | No.243 Wing RAF | No. 322 Wing RAFColin Falkland Gray
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| Other 40 Squadron SAAF 60 Squadron SAAF No. 208 Squadron RAF - | Other Squadrons: | No. 324 Wing RAF---- No. 43 Squadron RAF, Spitfire No. 72 Squadron RAF No. 93 Squadron RAF, Spitfire No. 111 Squadron RAF, Spitfire No. 243 Squadron RAF, Spitfire - | ||
Other Units:
| No. 212 Group was assigned to:Air H.Q. Air Defences Eastern Mediterranean and 211 Group was assigned to: Air H.Q. Western Desert in February 1943. | Other:
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SAAF – South African Air Force, RAAF – Royal Australian Air Force, RCAF – Royal Canadian Air Force; RNZAF -Royal New Zealand Air Force; PRU- Photographic Reconnaissance Unit; Sqns=Squadrons.
^The 57th Fighter Group USAAF had the 64th, 65th, and 66th; and the 79th Fighter Group USAAF had the 85th, 86th, and 87th Fighter Squadrons. For Operation Husky, the 57th and 79th Groups, No. 239 Wing, and some other units, made up the Rear Headquarters of DAF in Tripoli, Libya while the rest of 211 Group made up the Advanced Headquarters of DAF on the island of Malta.