No. 17 Group RAF

No. 17 Group RAF was a historical Royal Air Force group rather than a commercial brand. It was first established in April 1918 during the final year of the First World War within No. 4 Area. The group was transferred to North-Eastern Area in May 1918, and its designation was expanded to include training responsibilities in August of that year. After absorbing No. 20 Group in October 1919, it was disbanded on 18 October 1919. The formation returned on 1 December 1936 as No. 17 (Training) Group within RAF Coastal Command. Its initial headquarters was at Wykeham Hall, Lee-on-Solent, where it coordinated the training units assigned to Coastal Command. The headquarters moved to RAF Lee-on-Solent in December 1937 and then to Fort Grange, Gosport, in February 1939. After the outbreak of the Second World War, the group expanded from a small collection of specialist establishments into a broad training organization operating across much of Britain. Its responsibilities covered a wide range of aircrew and operational instruction. Units under its control trained pilots and crews for land-based coastal aircraft, flying boats, torpedo bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, long-range fighters, and ferry operations. The group also supervised specialist activities including torpedo development, anti-aircraft cooperation, coast-artillery cooperation, general reconnaissance, photographic reconnaissance, and combined-operations development. Aircraft associated with its units included the Avro Anson, Bristol Blenheim, Bristol Beaufort, Bristol Beaufighter, Lockheed Hudson, Blackburn Botha, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, Vickers Wellington, Consolidated Catalina, Short Sunderland, Supermarine Spitfire, de Havilland Mosquito, Consolidated Liberator, Boeing Fortress, and Handley Page Halifax. During the war its organization changed frequently as new operational training units were created, renamed, transferred, or absorbed. By spring 1941 it covered approximately ten units at nine stations; by spring 1942 its headquarters had moved north to Edinburgh and its network included eleven units at nine stations; by spring 1943 it had expanded to eighteen units operating from seventeen Royal Air Force stations. The group’s command also changed during the war, including appointments of Air Commodores T. E. B. Howe, A. W. Mylne, and H. G. Smart. No. 17 Group moved its headquarters from Gosport to Edinburgh on 5 February 1942. Following the end of the Second World War, the group was disbanded on 1 September 1945, and its remaining units were transferred to No. 18 Group RAF. It therefore has no current commercial activity, products, customers, or operating markets in the ordinary brand sense; its historical significance lies in the administration and expansion of Coastal Command training during wartime.

No. 17 Group was created in early April 1918 within No. 4 Area, during the reorganization of the Royal Air Force near the end of the First World War. It moved to North-Eastern Area on 8 May 1918 and acquired a training designation on 8 August. On 1 October 1919 it absorbed No. 20 Group, but the enlarged formation was short-lived and was disbanded on 18 October 1919. The group was re-formed on 1 December 1936 as No. 17 (Training) Group under RAF Coastal Command. Its headquarters initially occupied Wykeham Hall at Lee-on-Solent. It moved to RAF Lee-on-Solent in December 1937 and to Fort Grange at Gosport in February 1939. The group’s central function was to coordinate training establishments supporting Coastal Command, including schools for seaplane operations, torpedo work, reconnaissance, coastal landplane flying, and cooperation with artillery and anti-aircraft defenses. At the beginning of the Second World War, its establishments included the Torpedo Training Unit, Torpedo Development Unit, No. 2 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit, Seaplane Training Squadron, School of General Reconnaissance, and Coastal Command Landplane Pilots School. As the war expanded, these units were joined by operational training units for landplanes, twin-engine aircraft, flying boats, torpedo bombers, long-range fighters, and photographic reconnaissance. The Flying Boat Training Squadron was incorporated into No. 4 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit in March 1941. Other developments included No. 6 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit for general reconnaissance, No. 5 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit for Beaufort crews, and No. 1441 (Combined Operations Development) Flight. In February 1942 the headquarters moved from Gosport to the Mackenzie Hotel in Edinburgh. During 1942 and 1943 the group continued to grow and assume new responsibilities. No. 8 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit specialized in photographic reconnaissance, No. 9 trained long-range fighter crews, and No. 131 and No. 132 provided additional instruction for flying-boat, amphibious, fighter, and strike operations. Ferry training units were also established to prepare crews for long-distance aircraft movements. By spring 1943, No. 17 Group coordinated eighteen units spread across seventeen RAF stations. The group’s work reflected Coastal Command’s changing wartime needs. Training had to accommodate new aircraft, longer-range patrols, torpedo attacks, reconnaissance missions, convoy protection, photographic intelligence, and combined operations. Its units frequently changed location or designation as aircraft types and operational priorities evolved. The group was disbanded on 1 September 1945 after the war, with its units transferred to No. 18 Group RAF.

• 1945

  Final disbandment

  [1]No. 17 Group RAFen.wikipedia.org

  No. 17 Group was disbanded on 1 September, with its units transferred to No. 18 Group RAF.

• 1943

  Wartime expansion

  [1]No. 17 Group RAFen.wikipedia.org

  By spring the group administered eighteen units operating from seventeen RAF stations.

• 1942

  Headquarters moved to Edinburgh

  [1]No. 17 Group RAFen.wikipedia.org

  On 5 February the group headquarters moved from Gosport to the Mackenzie Hotel in Edinburgh.

• 1939

  Move to Fort Grange

  [1]No. 17 Group RAFen.wikipedia.org

  The headquarters relocated to Fort Grange in Gosport on 24 February.

• 1936

  Re-formation under Coastal Command

  [1]No. 17 Group RAFen.wikipedia.org

  The group was re-established on 1 December as No. 17 (Training) Group to administer Coastal Command training units.

• 1919

  Absorption and first disbandment

  [1]No. 17 Group RAFen.wikipedia.org

  No. 20 Group was absorbed on 1 October, followed by No. 17 Group’s disbandment on 18 October.

• 1918

  Formation during the First World War

  [1]No. 17 Group RAFen.wikipedia.org

  No. 17 Group was formed in April within No. 4 Area and moved to North-Eastern Area in May.

A wartime RAF training and operational-support formation serving Coastal Command; not a consumer or commercial brand.

• Military training · 1936

  Coastal Command aircrew training

  The group coordinated training for pilots and aircrew assigned to RAF Coastal Command. Instruction covered landplane operations, twin-engine aircraft, flying boats, amphibious aircraft, torpedo bombers, reconnaissance, long-range fighters, and ferry movements. Units used different aircraft as operational requirements changed, including the Anson, Blenheim, Beaufort, Beaufighter, Hudson, Catalina, Sunderland, Liberator, and other types.

• Military development and training · 1936

  Torpedo and maritime-weapons development

  Specialist units under the group trained crews in torpedo operations and supported the development of torpedo-related techniques and equipment. The Torpedo Training Unit and Torpedo Development Unit were among the early establishments associated with the wartime group.

• Military reconnaissance training · 1938

  Reconnaissance training

  The group administered general and photographic reconnaissance instruction. Its establishments prepared crews for coastal surveillance, intelligence collection, and photographic reconnaissance using aircraft such as the Blackburn Botha, Supermarine Spitfire, and de Havilland Mosquito.

• 1945

  Post-war disbandment and transfer of unitsOther

  Background

  The end of the Second World War reduced the need for the group’s wartime training structure.

  Action taken

  No. 17 Group was disbanded on 1 September 1945, and its units were transferred to No. 18 Group RAF.

  Aftermath

  The formation ceased to exist as an active RAF group.

  Source

• 1942

  Relocation of group headquarters to ScotlandStrategy

  Background

  The group’s training network increasingly included units and stations in Scotland and northern Britain, while Coastal Command’s wartime requirements continued to expand.

  Action taken

  On 5 February 1942, headquarters moved from Fort Grange in Gosport to the Mackenzie Hotel in Edinburgh.

  Aftermath

  The relocation placed the group closer to a growing northern network of training and maritime aviation establishments.

  Source

1. 1No. 17 Group RAFen.wikipedia.org