No . 18 Group RAF No . 18 Group of the Royal Air Force was a group active from 1918 to 1919 , and from 1938 to 1996 . History . 1918 - 1919 . The Group was initially formed on 1 April 1918 in No 4 Area . It was transferred to North - Eastern Area , 8 May 1918 . Disbanded 18 Oct 1919 . 1938 - 1996 . It was reformed on 1 September 1938 as No 18 ( Reconnaissance ) Group of the Coastal Command for operations with the Royal Navy ' s Commander - in - Chief , Rosyth , and the Orkney & Shetlands naval command . Its headquarters were established at Rosyth , and of the three groups forming Coastal Command ' s planned dispositions on the outbreak of war , it was the only one with a fully operational Navy / Air Force Area Combined Headquarters ( ACHQ ) . It covered much of the North Sea and areas to the north and west of Scotland , north of a line running north west from the Mull of Kintyre . By October 1946 , after the war ended , it was headquartered at Pitreavie Castle and its front - line strength consisted of Nos 120 and No . 203 Squadrons operating from RAF Leuchars flying Lancaster GR . 3s . However by 1954 its strength had grown to five squadrons of Avro Shackleton s , and Neptune s ( Nos 120 , 204 , 217 , 240 , and 269 ) at RAF Ballykelly , RAF Kinloss , and RAF Aldergrove as well as No . 202 Squadron RAF flying Handley Page Hastings on meteorological reconnaissance missions from RAF Aldergrove . With the advent of Strike Command the former 18 Group became the Northern Maritime Air Region , and Coastal Command was renamed 18 Group , both changes happening on 28 Nov 1969 . Within Strike Command the new group ' s title was No 18 ( Maritime ) Group . From that point the Group commander held the NATO post of Commander , Maritime Air , Eastern Atlantic , reporting to CinC , Eastern Atlantic at the Northwood Headquarters in London . The Group commander also held the corresponding post within the NATO Channel Command . The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod entered service in late 1970 and early 1971 , initially with four squadrons of six aircraft , 120 , 201 , and 206 at Kinloss and 42 at St . Mawgan . Elements also went to Malta ; No . 203 Squadron disbanding there at RAF Luqa in 1977 while flying Nimrods . The Kinloss Wing spent thousands of hours tracking Soviet submarines of the Northern Fleet , often after they had been detected by NATO submarines or the P - 3 Orions of the Royal Norwegian Air Force . Keeping track of the submarines was made easier by the aid of SOSUS acoustic listening devices on the sea bed . Also part of the force were Sea King helicopters , flying for a long period in the SAR role with No . 22 and 202 Squadrons . Blackburn Buccaneer s joined the Group in the mid 1970s , and with the retirement of the final Royal Navy Buccaneers in December 1978 , Nos 12 , 208 , and 216 Squadrons began to operate them at RAF Honington , before shifting north to RAF Lossiemouth from July 1980 . No . 216 Squadron however disbanded as a Buccaneer unit in late 1980 due to a shortage of airframes following the discovery of fatigue cracks . In 1985 other units of the Group were Nos 51 , 100 , and 360 Squadrons at RAF Wyton , as well as No . 236 OCU carrying out Canberra operational conversion at the same station . The Group was disbanded by being merging with No 11 Group on 1 April 1996 to form No . 11 / 18 Group RAF . Commanders . The following men were the Air Officers Commanding ( AOC ) of No . 18 Group :