First World War No. 1 Group was originally formed on Saturday 1 April 1918 in
No. 1 Area, which was renamed the
South-Eastern Area on 8 May 1918,
Southern Area on 20 September 1919 and
Inland Area on 1 April 1920. The Group was renumbered as
No. 6 Group on 19 May 1924 at
RAF Kenley, and was reformed on the same day at
RAF Kidbrooke. Two years later on 12 April 1926 the Group disappeared from the order of battle by being renumbered as
No. 21 Group. The next year the Group was reformed on 25 August 1927 by the renaming of
Air Defence Group. This designation lasted until 1936 when it became No. 6 Group again. As in 1924 the Group was reformed the same day, this time as a bomber formation. By this time the Group had shrunk to ten squadrons, all equipped with
Fairey Battle aircraft and located in pairs at
RAF Abingdon,
RAF Harwell,
RAF Benson,
RAF Boscombe Down and
RAF Bicester.
Second World War . On receipt of orders to move to
France in 1939, Headquarters No. 1 Group became Headquarters
Advanced Air Striking Force and the station headquarters and associated squadrons became Nos. 71, 72, 74, 75 and 76 Wings respectively. The Group re-emerged a few days later within
Bomber Command on 12 September, but only lasted just over three months, being dropped on 22 December 1939. It was reformed at Hucknall in Nottinghamshire on 22 June 1940. On 20 July the Group Headquarters moved to Bawtry Hall (
RAF Bawtry) near Doncaster, where it was based for 44 years, until 1983. During the Second World War, the Group was primarily based at airfields in north Lincolnshire, like
RAF Swinderby. Between 1940 and 1945, the group included a number of
Polish and
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel. By the beginning of March 1943, the aircraft operated by its squadrons were: •
Vickers Wellington: 166 & 199 Sqns RAF, and
300 Polish,
301 Polish &
305 Polish Sqns. •
Avro Lancaster: 12, 100, 101, 150 & 103 Sqns RAF, and
460 Sqn RAAF. All of the Wellington squadrons subsequently converted to Lancasters. No. 1 Group was later augmented with other units, including
304 Polish Squadron which served form April 1941 to May 1942. By the end of the war the group consisted of 14 operational Lancaster squadrons, of which one (
460 Sqn) was RAAF, and one (
300 Sqn) was Polish. During Bomber Command's Second World War campaign, No. 1 Group dropped a higher tonnage of bombs per aircraft than any other group, this was mainly due to its South African commander, Air Vice-Marshal Edward Rice, who was determined to maximise bomb loads, though it was a policy which contributed in no small measure to No. 1 Group having higher than average losses. Rice would later be involved in the development of the
Rose turret, sometimes known as the "Rose-Rice turret".
Battle of Normandy Although No.1 (B) Group wasn't directly involved in the
Battle of Normandy, they did participate in the bombing of the shore and area. During this period, the group was organised as: • No. 1 (B) Group HQ,
RAF Bawtry,
West Yorkshire •
RAF Hemswell • Station HQ • No. 1 Lancaster Finishing School (training with
Lancaster I/III) • Night Bomber Tactical School • 150 Squadron Lancaster I (C flight from 550 Squadron) •
RAF Ingham (satellite of
RAF Hemswell) • Station HQ •
No. 1481 (Bomber) Gunnery Flight RAF equipped with
Wellington III and
Miles Martinet •
No. 1687 Bomber (Defence) Training Flight RAF equipped with
Supermarine Spitfire &
Hawker Hurricane •
RAF Sturgate (satellite of
RAF Hemswell) •
No. 11 Base •
RAF Lindholme Station HQ •
No. 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF,
RAF Lindholme equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III •
No. 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF,
RAF Blyton equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III &
Handley Page Halifax II/V •
No. 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF,
RAF Sandtoft equipped with
Handley Page Halifax V • No. 1 Group Servicing Section,
RAF Lindholme •
No. 12 Base •
RAF Binbrook Station HQ •
No. 100 Squadron RAF,
RAF Grimsby equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9100 Servicing Echelon •
No. 460 Squadron RAAF,
RAF Binbrook equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9460 Servicing Echelon •
No. 625 Squadron RAF,
RAF Kelstern, equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9625 Servicing Echelon • No. 1 Ground Gunnery School,
RAF Binbrook •
No. 13 Base •
RAF Elsham Wolds Station HQ •
No. 103 Squadron RAF,
RAF Elsham Wolds equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9103 Servicing Echelon •
No. 166 Squadron RAF,
RAF Kirmington equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9166 Servicing Echelon •
No. 550 Squadron RAF,
RAF North Killingholme equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9550 Servicing Echelon •
No. 576 Squadron RAF,
RAF Elsham Wolds equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9576 Servicing Echelon •
No.14 Base •
RAF Ludford Magna Station HQ •
No. 12 Squadron RAF,
RAF Wickenby equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9012 Servicing Echelon •
No. 101 Squadron RAF,
RAF Ludford Magna equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9101 Servicing Echelon •
No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron,
RAF Faldingworth with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9300 Servicing Echelon •
No. 626 Squadron RAF,
RAF Wickenby equipped with
Avro Lancaster I/III • No. 9626 Servicing Echelon •
No. 15 Base operational between October 1944 and October 1945 •
RAF Scampton Station HQ •
RAF Dunholme Lodge •
RAF Fiskerton •
RAF Hemswell Cold War By June 1948, 1 Group consisted of: •
9 Sqn,
RAF Binbrook,
Avro Lincoln B.2 •
12 Sqn, RAF Binbrook, Lincoln B.2 •
101 Sqn, RAF Binbrook, Lincoln B.2 •
617 Sqn, RAF Binbrook, Lincoln B.2 •
83 Sqn,
RAF Hemswell, Lincoln B.2 •
97 Sqn, RAF Hemswell, Lincoln B.2 •
100 Sqn, RAF Hemswell, Lincoln B.2 •
50 Sqn,
RAF Waddington, Lincoln B.2 •
57 Sqn, RAF Waddington, Lincoln B.2 •
61 Sqn, RAF Waddington, Lincoln B.2 •
109 Sqn,
RAF Coningsby,
de Havilland Mosquito B.35 •
139 Sqn, RAF Coningsby, Mosquito B.35 During the Cold War, No. 1 Group also operated the
Thor ballistic missile between 1958 and August 1963 ("
Project Emily"), with ten squadrons each with three missiles being equipped with the weapon. 1 Group had two sets of five stations, centred respectively on Hemswell and
RAF Driffield. When Bomber Command was subsumed into the new
Strike Command on 1 April 1968, No. 1 Group took on the old role of the command, directing the bomber and strike aircraft of Strike Command. On 17 November 1983,
No. 38 Group RAF was subsumed within Headquarters No. 1 Group. In around 1984, Headquarters No. 1 Group moved from RAF Bawtry in South Yorkshire to
RAF Upavon in
Wiltshire. After the end of the Cold War,
RAF Germany was reduced in status to become
No. 2 Group RAF. 2 Group was then disbanded by being absorbed into No. 1 Group on 1 April 1996. 2 Group was then reformed on 7 January 2000, splitting out of 1 Group. 1 Group transferred over the RAF's air transport, air-to-air refuelling and airborne early warning functions.
Post 2000 In January 2000 the RAF was restructured and the Group took on its present role. The Group is responsible for UK air defence operations through QRA North at
RAF Lossiemouth and QRA South at
RAF Coningsby. However, since the disestablishment of
Combined Air Operations Centre 9 at
RAF High Wycombe, actual control of the fighters is now carried out from a NATO Combined Air Operations Centre in Denmark, CAOC 1 at Finderup. However, High Wycombe retains an air defence direction capability, and the UK Representative there could take back control over QRA South if it was necessary to respond to a terrorist threat from the air. No. 1 Group also has responsibility for the UK's Carrier Strike capability, with the joint RN/RAF
Lightning Force, eventually planned to consist of two squadrons from the RAF and two from the
Fleet Air Arm, which will be based at RAF Marham when not operating from the UK's . The Defence Reform Report ("Levene Report") of 2011 heralded more trimming of the Armed Forces' command superstructure. Following the Levene Report's publication, in 2012-2013, the post of Commander-in-Chief,
RAF Air Command, the last of the RAF's major
command (military formation)s, was abolished/discontinued. The move of the Chief of the Air Staff's office from MOD Main Building to High Wycombe effectively meant the disbandment of Air Command. The function of Air Command slid into the role of the three-star
Air and Space Commander, who now supervises the groups. == Component units ==