No. 11/18 Group was a short-lived formation of Strike Command in the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1996 as part of the post-Cold War reorganisation of the RAF. It absorbed the forces of No. 11 and No. 18 Groups, which were descended from the old Fighter Command and Coastal Command functional commands. It only lasted until 2000, when a further reorganisation of Strike Command saw its assets transferred to No. 1 and No. 3 Groups. The headquarters appears to have been based at RAF Bentley Priory, the last use of the underground command facilities there, as the successor groups were moved to RAF High Wycombe.
When 18 Group was amalgamated with No. 11 Group, the new 11/18 Group HQ applied for and was awarded a unique badge which showed the Fighter Command Portcullis and sword design on the original Coastal Command background of blue and white waves. However, they also wanted to keep the old motto from the 18 Group badge, which translated from the Latin to "They shall not pass with impunity" but could not do so as this was officially the motto of a different unit. So, with great ingenuity, they enlisted the help of a Latin scholar who changed the ending of one word so that the motto meant the same as before but was technically different, and 11/18 Group got what they wanted.[1]
Commandersedit
During the few years of its existence, No. 11/18 Group only had two air officers commanding. They were:[2]
group, group, short, lived, formation, strike, command, royal, force, formed, 1996, part, post, cold, reorganisation, absorbed, forces, groups, which, were, descended, from, fighter, command, coastal, command, functional, commands, only, lasted, until, 2000, w. No 11 18 Group was a short lived formation of Strike Command in the Royal Air Force It was formed in 1996 as part of the post Cold War reorganisation of the RAF It absorbed the forces of No 11 and No 18 Groups which were descended from the old Fighter Command and Coastal Command functional commands It only lasted until 2000 when a further reorganisation of Strike Command saw its assets transferred to No 1 and No 3 Groups The headquarters appears to have been based at RAF Bentley Priory the last use of the underground command facilities there as the successor groups were moved to RAF High Wycombe No 11 18 Group RAFRoyal Air Force EnsignActive1 April 1996 7 January 2000Country United KingdomBranch Royal Air ForceTypeRoyal Air Force groupRoleAir DefenceMaritime ReconnaissanceSearch and RescuePart ofRAF Strike CommandHeadquartersRAF Bentley PrioryCommandersNotablecommandersAir Marshal Clifford Rodney Spink CB CBE FCMI FRAeS Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Kevin Burridge KCB CBE ADC FCMI FRAeS When 18 Group was amalgamated with No 11 Group the new 11 18 Group HQ applied for and was awarded a unique badge which showed the Fighter Command Portcullis and sword design on the original Coastal Command background of blue and white waves However they also wanted to keep the old motto from the 18 Group badge which translated from the Latin to They shall not pass with impunity but could not do so as this was officially the motto of a different unit So with great ingenuity they enlisted the help of a Latin scholar who changed the ending of one word so that the motto meant the same as before but was technically different and 11 18 Group got what they wanted 1 Commanders editDuring the few years of its existence No 11 18 Group only had two air officers commanding They were 2 1 April 1996 Air Vice Marshal Clifford Rodney Spink July 1998 Air Vice Marshal Brian Kevin BurridgeReferences edit Why don t all units have badges RAF Heraldry Trust August 1998 Retrieved 1 May 2015 Barrass M B 2015 Groups 10 19 Air of Authority A History of RAF Organisation Retrieved 1 May 2015 nbsp This RAF article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This article about a specific British military unit is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title No 11 18 Group RAF amp oldid 1179694933, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
