page_title: Structure of the Royal Air Force in 1989
section_title: No. 1 Group
hierarchical_section_title: Structure of the Royal Air Force in 1989 / RAF Strike Command / No. 1 Group
caption_attribution_description: XV747 of 233 Operational Conversion Unit in typical British weather, taxiing at RAF Wittering in July 1987. Four months later XV747 was written off - the pilot escaped with his ejection seat. November 1987 was a disastrous month as three Harriers were lost.
context_page_description: At the end of the Cold War in 1989 the Royal Air Force structure was as follows:
  The Chief of the Air Staff was an Air Chief Marshal, who commanded the Royal Air Force. He was a member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, the Defence Council, and the Air Force Board, which administered the Royal Air Force. The following positions were part of the Air Force Board:
  Secretary of State for Defence as Chairman
  Minister of State for the Armed Forces as Vice-Chairman
  Minister of State for Defence Procurement
  Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces
  Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement
  Chief of the Air Staff
  Air Member for Personnel
  Air Member for Supply and Organisation
  Controller of Aircraft
  Second Permanent Under-Secretary of State and Controller R & D Establishments, Research and Nuclear
  The strength of the Royal Air Force in 1989 was 93,300 men.
context_section_description: No. 1 Group was commanded by Air Vice-Marshal Charles John Thomson (till Feb 1989) then Ronald Andrew Fellowes Wilson (from Feb 1989) based at RAF Upavon. The group contained varied aircraft, with the majority being strike aircraft. The group's main focus would have been bombing raids on advancing Soviet ground forces in Northern Germany as directed by NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe. The group fielded six squadrons, which could be armed with WE.177 tactical nuclear weapons, and tanker aircraft to ensure that it could deliver nuclear strikes deep inside enemy territory.
  No. 1 Group, RAF Upavon
  Mobile Air Operations Teams, RAF Upavon
  RAF Aldergrove (under operational control of Headquarters Northern Ireland)
  No. 72 Squadron RAF, (Wessex HC.2)
  No. 3 Squadron RAF Regiment, (Field)
  RAF Benson
  No. 115 Squadron RAF, (Radio and airport navigation aid calibration, Andover C.1/E.3/E.3A)
  Queen's Flight, (Royal Flight, BAe 146 CC.2, Wessex HCC.4)
  RAF Brize Norton
  No. 10 Squadron RAF, (Transport, 13x Vickers VC10 C.1)
  No. 101 Squadron RAF, (Aerial refueling, 9x Vickers VC10 K.2/K.3)
  No. 216 Squadron RAF, (Aerial refueling and cargo, 9x Tristar 500 K.1/KC.1)
  No. 241 Operational Conversion Unit RAF, (Trained Vickers VC10 and Tristar 500 crews)
  No. 19 Squadron RAF Regiment, (Air Defence, Rapier launch stations, defending RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford)
  RAF Coltishall
  No. 6 Squadron RAF, (Jaguar GR.1A)ⁿᵒᵗᵉ ¹
  No. 41 Squadron RAF, (Reconnaissance, Jaguar GR.1A)
  No. 54 Squadron RAF, (Jaguar GR.1A)ⁿᵒᵗᵉ ¹
  RAF Honington
  No. 13 Squadron RAF, (Reconnaissance, Tornado GR.1A, activated 1 January 1990)
  No. 45 Squadron RAF, (Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit, Tornado GR.1)ⁿᵒᵗᵉ ¹
  No. 20 Squadron RAF Regiment, (Air Defence, Rapier launch stations, defending RAF Alconbury, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath)
  RAF Lyneham
  No. 24 Squadron RAF, (Tactical airlift, Hercules C.1/C.3)
  No. 30 Squadron RAF, (Tactical airlift, Hercules C.1/C.3)
  No. 47 Squadron RAF, (Tactical airlift, Hercules C.1/C.3)
  No. 70 Squadron RAF, (Tactical airlift, Hercules C.1/C.3)
  No. 242 Operational Conversion Unit RAF, (Hercules C.1/C.3)
  RAF Marham
  No. 27 Squadron RAF, (Tornado GR.1)
  No. 617 Squadron RAF, (Tornado GR.1)
  No. 55 Squadron RAF (Aerial refueling, 14x Victor K.2)
  RAF Northolt
  No. 32 Squadron RAF, (VIP flight, 12x BAe 125 CC.2/CC.3, Andover CC.2, Gazelle HCC.4 helicopters)
  RAF Odiham
  No. 7 Squadron RAF, (Air assault, CH-47 Chinook HC.1)
  No. 33 Squadron RAF, (Tactical airlift, Puma HC.1)
  No. 240 Operational Conversion Unit RAF, (Puma HC.1, CH-47 Chinook HC.1)
  Support Helicopter Standards and Evaluation Flight
  RAF Wittering
  No. 1 Squadron RAF, (Harrier GR.5)
  No. 233 Operational Conversion Unit RAF, (Harrier GR.5)
  RAF Brawdy
  No. 1 Tactical Weapons Unit
  No. 79 (R) Squadron RAF, (Hawk T.1A)
  No. 234 (R) Squadron RAF, (Hawk T.1A)
  RAF Chivenor
  No. 2 Tactical Weapons Unit
  No. 63 (R) Squadron RAF, (Hawk T.1A)
  No. 151 (R) Squadron RAF, (Hawk T.1A)
  Note 1: Unit had a nuclear strike role with WE.177 tactical nuclear weapons.
  No. 1 Group also administered the flying units detached to Belize and the Falklands:
  British Forces Belize, Belize City, Belize
  Belize Airport, Ladyville
  No. 1417 Flight RAF, (Harrier GR.3)
  No. 1563 Flight RAF, (Puma HC.1)
  British Forces Falkland Islands, RAF Mount Pleasant, Falkland Islands
  RAF Mount Pleasant
  No. 78 Squadron RAF, (Air assault, CH-47 Chinook HC.1, Search & Rescue, Sea King HAR.3)
  No. 1435 Flight RAF, (Phantom FGR.2)
  No. 1312 Flight RAF, (Aerial refueling, Hercules C.1K)
caption: A Harrier GR.3 of No. 233 Operational Conversion Unit RAF.
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