After the evacuation of Dunkirk, the invasion of Norway, Greece and the failure of Allied forces in Crete to successfully defend the airfields which led to the fall of the island, it became clear that the Army with it's resources severely stretched might not be able to cope with the added burden of defending RAF airfields and installations. It was decided to form a new corps to specialise in defensive operations to secure the airfields from attack and so by Royal Warrant from George VI on the 1st of February 1942 the Corps of the Royal Air Force Regiment was officially formed.

The roots of the Regiment go back even further than that to the 1920s with the introduction of the RAF Armoured Car Companies in the Middle East. No.1 AAC was formed at Heliopolis, Egypt in December 1921, for service in Iraq. No.2 ACC was also formed at Heliopolis on 7th April 1922 for service in Transjordan, and remained at Amman.  The Armoured Car Companies were incorporated into the RAF Regiment in 1946.

At it's formation the Regiments task was essentially defensive specialising in LAA sqns comprising anti-aircraft guns, Bofors 40/60 and ground defence (field) sqns comprising 7 officers, 178 airmen organised as 3 rifle flights plus support with armoured cars, anti aircraft flights and 3 inch mortars. As the war progressed the Regiment adopted a more aggressive role. On the 15 September 1943 RAF Regiment sqns and their weapons were air transported to Cos and Southern Italy. Regiment sqns were also landed at Salerno and later became involved in the battle for Monte Cassino. In the European theatre of operations, the Regiment landed sqns on Juno beach in the early hours of D Day +1. As the European operation continued on its drive towards Germany, the Regiment undertook a number of tasks ranging from airfield defence, mine clearing, airstrip construction, escort duties and then racing ahead of the second army to occupy all airfields in North West Germany. They were the first allied unit to enter Denmark and also one of the first allied units whilst on escort duties to enter Paris.

The first RAF Regiment parachute sqn was formed during operations against the Japanese in South East Asia and Regiment sqns were soon involved in the heavy fighting on the Imphal plain in 1944 as part of the "forgotten” army. When the Japanese forces started to retreat, the Regiment sqns were then tasked with seizing airstrips as the 14th army advanced, much the same as their fellow Sqns were doing in Europe. At the end of hostilities in the Far East, the Supreme Allied Commander, Lord Mountbatten sent for an airman from the Regiment to witness the signing of the Japanese surrender in Singapore. 

The Regiment also assumed responsibility for the command of three associated overseas forces: The RAF Regiment (Malaya), The Iraqi Levies and the Aden Protectorate Levies, until these countries special relationships with Great Britain terminated in the 1950s and 1960s. At the end of the Second World War, the RAF Regiment had seen active service in North Africa, the Middle East, the Far East, the Mediterranean, Italy and Europe. It had a fighting force of over 85,000 men serving in some 170 LAA and 70 field sqns. 

After the war, the Regiment has been involved in a number of operations in many parts of the World wherever there are RAF Airfields, installations or elements of the RAF to defend. These include Palestine, Suez, Kenya, Malaya, Borneo, Aden, Oman, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, the Falklands and the Gulf. The Regiment field sqns were involved in Operations in the Former Yugoslavia both with the UN and NATO and more recently in Kuwait and Afghanistan.

The Regiment’s role has changed little since its formation. Weapons and equipment have modernised with the Air Defence Sqns being equipped with Rapier surface to air missiles. The field sqns of the Regiment have gone in circles with time spent being equipped with armoured vehicles and time spent equipped with Landrovers as a field sqn. In the early 80s the field sqns went back to their roots and re equipped with the Alvis range of light armoured fighting vehicles, which consisted of  Scorpion, and Spartan armoured vehicles but again went full circle in the early 90s re-equipping with Land Rovers and 81mm Mortars. The RAF Regiment has also maintained its parachute capability with II Sqn RAF Regiment.

I would like to thank Taff for providing most of this information. His website can be accessed through my links page.

For further reading: "Through Adversity" by Kingsley Oliver (ISBN 0 9529597 0 4) 

See this page for details www.forcespublishing.co.uk/page10.html

Also for some information on the Armoured Car Companies visit British-Forces.com (see links page)