The
Coastal Command Anti U-Boat Devices School RAF was formed on 20 April 1945 at
RAF Limavady. It operated the
Vickers Wellington GR VIII, a British twin-engined, long-range
medium bomber, until August 1945 and disbanded at RAF Limavady. ; No. 7 Operational Training Unit The School was initially
No. 7 Operational Training Unit RAF which was formed on 15 June 1940 at
RAF Hawarden operating a variety of aircraft including
Supermarine Spitfire, a British single-seat
fighter aircraft and
Fairey Battle, a British single-engine
light bomber aircraft. The unit was initially disbanded on 1 November 1940 to become
No. 57 OTU. ; No. 7 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit The unit reformed on 1 April 1942 at RAF Limavady as
No. 7 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF using
Vickers Wellington, long-range
medium bomber aircraft and
Avro Anson a British twin-engine, multi-role
aircraft. It started at half strength with a focus on
training Vickers Wellington
aircrew especially in
torpedo training, and then in December 1942 the unit increased to full strength. The requirement around torpedo training had vastly reduced by August 1943, which meant the units size was decreased and in the November the unit lost its Preliminary Signals Training Flight to
No. 12 Radio School RAF. On 28 September, 1942, one of the units
Canadian Wellingtons, HX448, went missing on a navigation exercise in the North Atlantic with its crew eventually presumed dead. A Wellington crashed on uninhabited
St Kilda sometime between 1942 and 1943, however, it was never identified and wasn't investigated until 1978 with a RCAF badge being found among the degraded wreckage leading some to assume it was HX448. However, another RCAF Wellington, LA995 of the
303 Ferry Training Unit also went missing in the same area on 23 February 1943. No. 7 (C) OTU moved to
RAF Haverfordwest on 4 January 1944 from RAF Limavady. The unit was tasked with both
ASV radar, and
Reconnaissance training. It operated with numerous types and variants of aircraft: •
Vickers Wellington IA, IC, VIII, XI, XIII & XIV •
Avro Anson I •
Westland Lysander III & IIIA •
Miles Magister •
de Havilland Tiger Moth II •
Miles Martinet I The OTU was disbanded on 16 May 1944 at
RAF Haverfordwest and was immediately redesignated
No. 4 Refresher Flying Unit. ; No. 4 Refresher Flying Unit
No. 4 Refresher Flying Unit was a short lived unit formed at RAF Haverfordwest on 16 May 1944. The newly formed unit had a secondary role on top of that of RAF Coastal Command aircrew training, the unit also moved aircraft around the UK to numerous other Coastal Command
units. No. 4 RFU operated Vickers Wellington aircraft, operating variants: III, X, XI, XIII and XIV. The unit disbanded at
RAF Mullaghmore on 5 October 1944 to become the
Loran Training Unit. ; Loran Training Unit The United States built
LORAN navigation system was at that time entering service with RAF Coastal Command. The
Loran Training Unit was formed at RAF Mullaghmore by redesignating
No. 4 Refresher Flying Unit on 5 October 1944. It operated Vickers Wellington XIII medium bomber aircraft, but was disbanded six months later, on 20 April 1945, to become the
Coastal Command Anti U-Boat Devices School RAF. == References ==