No. 224 Group RAF

No. 224 Group
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Part of	Far East Air Force

No. 224 Group of the Royal Air Force was established during World War II and was operational during the Cold War.

The group was formed on 3 February 1942 as No 224 (Fighter) Group in Singapore. It was disbanded within two months, as the Japanese seized Singapore, on 28 March 1942. It was reformed three days later on 1 April 1942, and renamed No 224 (Tactical) Group on 1 Dec 1942.

On 1 July 1944 the Group was part of the RAF Third Tactical Air Force alongside No. 221 Group RAF; No. 177 Wing RAF; the 3d Combat Cargo Group USAAF, and the 12th Bombardment Group USAAF. 3 TAF was itself part of Eastern Air Command, Air Command South-East Asia.

It was disbanded by renaming as Air Headquarters Malaya on 30 September 1945. It was then reformed twelve years later on 31 August 1957 from AHQ Malaya. From 1959 it was a combined RAF-Royal Australian Air Force formation.

224 Group units during January 1962 included:

• No. 20 Squadron RAF, RAF Tengah, Hawker Hunter FGA.9
• No. 34 Squadron RAF, RAF Seletar, Blackburn Beverley C.1
• No. 45 Squadron RAF, RAF Tengah, English Electric Canberra B.2
• No. 52 Squadron RAF, RAF Butterworth, Vickers Valetta C.1
• No. 60 Squadron RAF, RAF Tengah, Gloster Javelin FAW.9
• No. 81 Squadron RAF, RAF Tengah, Canberra PR.7
• No. 110 Squadron RAF, RAF Butterworth, Bristol Sycamore HR.14 (plus Whirlwinds later, as attested by Smith)
• No. 209 Squadron RAF, RAF Seletar, Scottish Aviation Pioneer CC.1 & Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer CC.1 & CC.2

Other squadrons listed by Eric Smith as having been engaged during the Confrontation with Indonesia included 64 (Javelin F9s from Tengah, with a forward location at Labuan/Kuching); 205 (Shackleton MR2s from Changi); 215 (Argosy C1s from Changi); 66 (Belvedere HC1s from Seletar); 103 and 230 deployed from the UK with Whirlwind 10s; No. 28 Squadron RAF at Kai Tak, Hong Kong flying Hawker Hunter GA. 9s on air defence patrols; 48 flying Hastings C1/C2s from Changi; and No. 65 Squadron RAF, operating Bristol Bloodhound surface to air missiles from Seletar, with a forward detachment at Kuching.

The group's its last commander was an Australian, Air Vice Marshal Brian Eaton RAAF. When Eaton took over, at the end of November 1964, permanent squadrons were "dropping from the [group's] strength" and as the group disbanded, on 1 October 1968, Eaton took over as Chief of Staff at Headquarters Far East Air Force the following year.

References

• Rawlings, J D R (1985). The History of the Royal Air Force. Feltham Middlesex, UK: Temple Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Smith, E.D. (1985). Counter-Insurgency Operations. 1, Malaya and Borneo. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 9780711014626.