RAF Germany Hunter Squadrons - 1980s?

[fradu]

Hello there,

Can anyone help confirm the Hunter-equpped Squadrons that were employed in "RAF Germany" in the 1980s?
I have a feeling that there were at least three different Squadron units attached to 237OCU, but am not 100% sure which ones they were, apart from RAF 12 Sqn. :confused:

Also were there any other bases used apart from RAF Laarbruch?

Thanks for your time.

Mark

[Akrotiri bad boy]

The only Hunter equipped squadrons at that time in RAFG would have been the two Buccaneer units at Laarbruch; 15 and 16 squadrons. I believe the Hunters were used as twin stick trainers due to the lack of a rear stick in the Bucc.

[BEagle]

I think it was 15 and 16 Sqns. The Buccaneer grounding in 1980 after a wing failure at Red Flag meant that they needed more Hunters in order to keep the pilots in current flying practice?

Each squadron had, I think, a T-bird (T7A or T8B) for IRTs etc.

[fradu]

Thanks guys.
Am I right in assuming therefore that 237OCU and 12/15/16 Sqns were completely separate entities?
Were they ever merged into one unit?

[Krystal n chips]

I could be wrong here, but I am fairly certain the Hunters were not actually on the Sqdn's strength as such and were maintained etc. by V.A.S.F at Laarbruch.

[Akrotiri bad boy]

Although I didn't serve on a Bucc unit I was around at the time; I'll tell you what I know.

During the late '70's early '80's 15 and 16 squadrons were at Laarbruch assigned to NATO. Back in the UK 12,208,216 squadrons, and 237 OCU were at Honington.

Up at Lossie we were told "budge up, the Bucc's are coming". That was round about the time of the Red Flag incident and the grounding of the fleet. For some time it appeared the only way the Bucc's could get up to Lossie would be to fold their wings and taxi up the A9!

Eventually 216 made a very brief appearance at Lossie before morphing into 12 squadron. I don't remember 208 or 237 ever getting up north.

As for the Hunters, I remember at least two sitting on the Bucc line at Lossie wearing the fox head emblem of 12 squadron.

[jindabyne]

fradu

In the late 70's there were six autonomous Buccaneer units: 12, 208, 216, 15 & 16 squadrons, and 237 OCU.

12, 208, 216 (only for a short time) and 237 OCU were based at Honington, with the three squadrons using 237's Hunters for IRTs and annual pilot checks; 15/16 were at Laarbruch, and used the VASF-maintained Hunters. There was a brief period (1980?) when the Bucc was grounded due to wing bolt fatigue, and extra Hunters were employed to maintain aircrew currency.

12/208/216 and 237 moved to Lossie in the early 80s; 216 disbanded soon after, 12 re-equipped with the Tornado, 237 survived until '91, and 208 soldiered on with the Buccaneer until '94. The Hunters at Lossie were maintained variously by 12, 208 and 237. 15 & 16 squadrons re-equipped with the Tornado in the 80s.

[LOMCEVAK]

A few more details to add to what Jindabyne has said. Until the end of 1979 the only Hunters embedded within the Buccaneer force were the T7As and T8Bs for IRTs etc. In early Feb 1980, a Buccaneer was lost on Red Flag when a wing detached due to a fatigue failure in the inboard wing section. Note that the accident that resulted in one being lost due to a wingfold latch pin failure occurred in Germany some 6 months earlier. As a result of the Nellis accident, the Buccs were grounded until the end of August 1980. In order to maintain pilot proficiency, the Buccaneer squadrons were loaned extra Hunters. Many of these were the ex-Valley T7s and F6s that were recovered from deep storage at Kemble, although the single-seaters that we had on 208 Sqn were F6As on loan from Brawdy and also a RN T8C that had previously been at Kemble as a hack. Once the Buccs returned to flying, the single-seaters departed from hence they came, but many of the T7s remained on the squadrons permanently for bouncing and other comms duties. It was always great fun to arrange some fighter affil for a squadron 4-ship against the F4s or Lightnings but forget to tell them that one of the 4 was actually a Hunter!

XV Sqn relinquished their Buccs (and thus Hunters) in 1983 and 16 Sqn disbanded as a Bucc unit in 1984, thus ending Hunters in Germany. 237 OCU was the last Buccaneer unit at Honington, moving to Lossiemouth in October 1984. The Hunters had left Brawdy in mid 1984 so thereafter all of the RAF Hunters were at Lossiemouth. The end of the Bucc in April 1994 thus saw the end of the Hunter in proper RAF service, although Farnborough still had them until it closed in April 1994 and the final one finished at Boscombe Down in 2001.

I hope that this adds a bit more to the tale.

[fradu]

Fantastic replies chaps. You have answered all my queries 110%.
:cool:

All the best,
Mark