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No. 135 Expeditionary Air Wing, previously No. 135 Wing, is a wing of the Royal Air Force. It was stationed at RAF Leeming, controlling the deployable subunits of the base (but not the flying squadrons). It was activated on 1 April 2006 as part of a modernisation package to make the RAF more deployable on an expeditionary basis.

No.135 Expeditionary Air Wing
ActiveSecond World War; 2006-present [citation needed]
CountryUnited Kingdom
BranchRoyal Air Force
Part ofPart of RAF Air Command
Aircraft flown
FighterHawker Tempest

Second World War


The wing may have been active as early as February 1944 with 222, 349 (Belgian) and 485 (NZ) Squadrons.[1]

In June 1944 the wing was part of No. 84 Group RAF, 2nd TAF at RAF Selsey, Sussex, with the same three squadrons flying the Spitfire IX LF.[2] The wing was part of No. 18 Fighter Sector of three wings with its headquarters in turn at RAF Chailey nearby.[3][4] From September 1944 until May 1945, still with 84 Group, moving forward in North West Europe, it included 33, 222, 274 (Typhoon) and 349 (Belgian) Squadrons with Spitfires.[5]

The wing was equipped with Hawker Tempests by the time the Allied forces were reaching the German borders in 1945. Tempests scored several kills against the new German jets, including the Messerschmitt Me 262. Hubert Lange, a Me 262 pilot, said: "the Messerschmitt Me 262's most dangerous opponent was the British Hawker Tempest—extremely fast at low altitudes, highly manoeuvrable and heavily armed."[6] Some were destroyed with a tactic known to the Tempest-equipped No. 135 Wing as the "Rat Scramble":[7]

Tempests on immediate alert took off when an Me 262 was reported airborne. They did not intercept the jet, but instead flew towards the Me 262 and Ar 234 base at Hopsten air base.[8] (which also hosted Bf 109 and Fw 190-day fighters and Bf 110 and He 219 night fighters). The aim was to attack jets on their landing approach, when they were at their most vulnerable, travelling slowly, with flaps down and incapable of rapid acceleration. The German response was the construction of a "flak lane" of over 150 emplacements of the 20 mm Flakvierling quadruple autocannon batteries at Rheine-Hopsten to protect the approaches.[9] As well as the anti-aircraft guns, several piston-engine fighter units based in the area were tasked to cover the jets as they landed. After seven Tempests were lost to flak at Hopsten in a week, the "Rat Scramble" was discontinued.[10]

After the war the wing also existed from 1 April 1953 to 1 January 1960 as a fighter wing.[11]


Twenty-first century


The wing was reformed at RAF Leeming in 2006, and has carried out several operational activities since:


References


  1. Wells, Kevin W. (1984). An Illustrated History of the New Zealand Spitfire Squadron. Auckland, New Zealand: Hutchinson Group. pp. 119–121. ISBN 0-09-159360-3.
  2. "No. 18 (Fighter) Sector, RAF, 06.06.1944". niehorster.org.
  3. Ken Delve, D-Day: The Air Battle, London: Arms & Armour Press, 1994, ISBN 1-85409-227-8.
  4. Ellis, Normandy, Appendix VI: 'Allied Air Forces'.
  5. Ellis, Germany, 'Appendix V: The Allied Air Forces'.
  6. "Hawker Tempest." hawkertempest.se. Retrieved: 1 January 2012.
  7. Clostermann 1953, p. 181.
  8. "Die Geschichte des Fliegerhorstes" etnp.de. Retrieved: 7 July 2016
  9. "The "Westfalen-Wing" in Rheine-Hopsten Air Base." Archived 15 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine etnep.de. Retrieved: 1 January 2012.
  10. Thomas and Shores 1988, p. 129.
  11. "Wing Nos 111 - 192". Air of Authority; A history of the RAF. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  12. "Core Business for 135 Expeditionary Air Wing". www.raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  13. "Royal Air Force – News by Date". www.raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  14. "RAF Typhoons hand over NATO Romania duties to Canada". Royal Air Force. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  15. "British Typhoon jets arrive in Romania for NATO enhanced Air Policing". NATO Allied Air Command. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  16. "RAF Typhoon scramble intercepts Russian aircraft over the Romanian Black Sea | Royal Air Force". www.raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  17. "RAF Typhoons return to Romania to resume NATO Black Sea Mission". www.raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  18. "Members of Parliament visit RAF personnel on Enhanced Air Policing mission, Operation Biloxi". www.raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  19. "RAF Typhoons scramble over the Black Sea | Royal Air Force". www.raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  20. "Royal Air Force". Royal Air Force. Retrieved 28 April 2020.



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