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42-527: Wing commander ( Wg Cdr or W/C ) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force . The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence . Wing commander is immediately senior to squadron leader and immediately below group captain . It is usually equivalent to the rank of commander in the navy and the rank of lieutenant colonel in other services. The equivalent rank in

84-601: A Cold War nuclear reporting role during the 1950s. The Royal Observer Corps consisted of some 10,500 volunteers. In the aftermath of World War II, the role of Fighter Command was still to protect the UK from air attack. Only the threat had changed, from Germany to the Soviet Union . The Cold War saw the possibility of Soviet Air Forces bombers attacking the UK. A Canadian fighter wing, No. 1 Wing , arrived at RAF North Luffenham in late 1951 to bolster NATO 's strength, and

126-604: A regiment or battalion 's field officers made up its command element. In the Canadian Armed Forces , the term "senior officer" ( French : officier supérieur ) is used in all three services. It includes the army and air force ranks of major , lieutenant-colonel , and colonel , and the naval ranks of lieutenant-commander , commander , and captain . In the French Armed Forces , senior officers are called officiers supérieurs . They include

168-661: A different part of the UK. 11 Group took the brunt of the German attack, as it controlled southeast England and London . It was reinforced by 10 Group , which covered southwest England, 12 Group , which covered the Midlands and East Anglia , and 13 Group , which covered the North of England and Scotland. 14 Group was established on 26 June 1940. 60 Group was established to run the Chain Home radar stations in early 1940. In

210-679: A direct result of its efforts during the Battle of Britain the Observer Corps was granted the title Royal by King George VI and became a uniformed volunteer branch of the RAF from April 1941 for the remainder of its existence as the Royal Observer Corps (ROC). The corps continued as a civilian organisation but wearing a Royal Air Force uniform and administered by Fighter Command. With their headquarters at RAF Bentley Priory ,

252-468: A wing commander is a command billet, not a rank. The position is most often filled by a colonel (some USAF wings are commanded by a brigadier general ) who typically has command of an air wing with several group commanders (also a position, not a USAF rank) reporting to him/her. In the United States Navy (USN), a wing commander is also a command billet, not a rank. The equivalent USN rank

294-747: Is a captain . Navy wing commanders are either Naval Aviators or Naval Flight Officers who typically have command of a carrier air wing or a "functional" air wing or air group such as a strike fighter wing, a patrol and reconnaissance wing, a tactical air control group, or a training air wing, with several squadron commanding officers reporting to him/her. Those officers commanding carrier air wings are called "CAG," dating back to when carrier air wings were called carrier air groups. Those officers commanding functional air wings and air groups are called "commodore." Unlike USAF, "group" commands in USN are either equal to or senior to an air wing. The Civil Air Patrol ,

336-526: Is used for the ranks of lieutenant commander , commander , captain and commodore in the Royal Navy , and squadron leader , wing commander and group captain in the Royal Air Force . An RAF air commodore , however, is considered to be an air officer . A number of other armed forces in the Commonwealth , including Australia and New Zealand, also follow this pattern. This officer group in

378-505: Is usually the officer commanding of a wing. The rank insignia is based on the three gold bands of commanders in the Royal Navy and consists of three narrow light blue bands over slightly wider black bands. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulder of the flight suit or the casual uniform. The command pennant is two triangular command pennants used in the RAF. Two thin red lines differentiate this one from

420-610: The Luftwaffe from interfering in the ground and sea battle, claiming 106 victories. Postwar analysis showed that the RAF lost 106 aircraft, including 88 fighters and 18 bombers; 29 fighter losses were from flak, one ran out of fuel, two collided and one was a victim of friendly fire. The actual Luftwaffe loss was 48 aircraft, 28 being bombers, half of them Dornier Do 217s from KG 2 . JG 2, lost 14 Fw 190s and eight pilots killed, JG 26 lost six Fw 190s with their pilots. Spitfire losses stood at 70 destroyed and damaged to all causes;

462-672: The Luftwaffe into a war of attrition and keep as many German fighters in the west, particularly after the Operation Barbarossa , the German attack on the Soviet Union, began in June 1941. Large Spitfire formations were sent out with a few medium bombers to lure the German fighters into combat. The Luftwaffe left Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) and Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26) in western Europe, comprising 180 fighters at most. The advantages enjoyed by Fighter Command during

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504-594: The Luftwaffe night fighters would be scrambled against RAF Bomber Command (see Operation Hydra ). In January 1945, Fighter Command included 10, 11, 12 and 13 Groups, plus 38 (Airborne Forces) Group , 60 Group , and 70 (Training) Group . 10 Group was disestablished on 2 May 1945, and 70 Group on 17 July 1945. In 1946, 60 Group was amalgamated with 26 Group to become 90 (Signals) Group and transferred to Transport Command/British Air Force of Occupation. From 1939 to 1945, RAF Fighter Command lost 3,690 killed, 1,215 wounded and 601 POW; 4,790 aircraft were lost. As

546-609: The 1957 Defence White Paper , the Sandys review declared that manned aircraft were obsolescent and would soon become obsolete. All programmes for manned aircraft that were not too far along were cancelled. In 1961, RAF Fighter Command was assigned to NATO's air defence system. On 1 May, Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Fighter Command, Air Marshal Sir Hector McGregor, assumed the additional title of Commander United Kingdom Air Defence Region. The ADR itself stretched some hundreds of miles to

588-676: The Air Defence of Great Britain . Fighting Area was raised to command status in 1932 and renamed Fighter Command on 1 May 1936. On 23 February 1940, No. 60 Group RAF was established within Fighter Command to control Chain Home radar detection and tracking units. During the late 1930s Fighter Command expanded greatly and replaced its obsolete biplane squadrons – generally outfitted with Bristol Bulldog , Gloster Gauntlet and Hawker Fury biplane fighters leading up to, and through

630-620: The German Navy are traditionally known as Stabsoffiziere (English: staff officers ). Shtabofitser ( Russian : Штаб-офицер ), derived from the German stabsoffizier , was the designation of the following officers of the Russian Imperial Army and Navy until 1917. The British Army and Royal Marines use the terms "officers of field rank" or "field officers" to refer to the ranks of major , lieutenant colonel , colonel and brigadier . The term "senior officer"

672-597: The United States Armed Forces has two different names depending on the branch. In the Army , Marine Corps , Air Force , and Space Force the rank group is called field grade and consists of Major , Lieutenant Colonel , and Colonel . In the Navy and Coast Guard the rank group is called senior officers and consists of Commander and Captain . RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command

714-788: The Women's Auxiliary Air Force and the Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and in Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980) was wing officer. The equivalent rank in the Royal Observer Corps (until 1995) was observer commander, which had a similar rank insignia. The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force until the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces , when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian group captains then became lieutenant colonels . In official Canadian French usage,

756-447: The 1960s dawned, the RAF continued to shrink. The three functional commands, Fighter Command, Bomber Command , and Coastal Command , had all been formed in 1936 to help reorganise an expanding RAF. It was now becoming clear that the RAF was becoming too small to justify their continued existence as separate entities. Consequently, in 1968, Fighter Command and Bomber Command were amalgamated to form Strike Command , and became groups within

798-537: The Battle of Britain were reversed, the short range of the Spitfire becoming a tactical disadvantage and British pilots became prisoners of war if shot down. Fighter Command claimed 711 Luftwaffe fighters shot down but only 236 were lost from all causes, 103 in combat, for a loss of 400 RAF fighters. As 1941 ended, the appearance of the new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 , considerably superior to the Spitfire Mk V , put

840-651: The British fighters at a worse disadvantage. The Blitz of 1940 continued against civilian and industrial targets. Fighter Command night defences improved considerably in the new year; the Bristol Beaufighter supplanted the Bristol Blenheim as the principal night fighter , equipped with improved aircraft interception radar , and became increasingly effective in ground-controlled interception (GCI). The difficult task of slowly grinding down

882-671: The Germans continued into 1942 and 1943. Squadrons also found themselves on tiring defensive patrols as small formations of Fw 190s flew 'hit and run' nuisance raids along the south coast and the Hawker Typhoon came into squadron service. On 19 August, during the Dieppe Raid , the RAF had an opportunity to engage large numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft. The Spitfire squadrons (42 with Mark Vs, and four with Mark IXs) flew ground-attack, escort and air-superiority sorties and prevented

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924-477: The RAF, a wing commander commanded a flying wing, typically a group of three or four aircraft squadrons . In current usage a wing commander is more likely to command a wing which is an administrative sub-division of an RAF station . A flying squadron is normally commanded by a wing commander but is occasionally commanded by a squadron leader for small units. In the Air Training Corps , a wing commander

966-466: The RAF. On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army, with Royal Naval Air Service captains and Royal Flying Corps colonels officially becoming colonels in the RAF. In practice, there was some inconsistency, with some former naval officers using their former ranks unofficially. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own rank titles, it

1008-586: The RCAF) is an appointment, not a rank. A wing commander usually holds the rank of colonel . On 16 August 2011, the Government of Canada announced that the name "Air Command" was being changed to the air force's original historic name of Royal Canadian Air Force . Though traditional insignia for the RCAF was restored in 2015, there has been no restoration of the traditional RCAF officer rank structure that paralleled

1050-457: The ROC remained administered by Fighter Command until 31 March 1968, when responsibility was handed over to the newly formed RAF Strike Command . The ROC was a defence warning organisation operating in the UK between 1925 and 31 December 1995, when it was stood down. Initially established for an aircraft recognition and reporting role that lasted through both world wars, the organisation switched to

1092-536: The army and air force ranks of commandant , lieutenant-colonel and colonel , and the naval ranks of capitaine de corvette , capitaine de frégate and capitaine de vaisseau . In the German Bundeswehr , officers of the rank of Major , Oberstleutnant and Oberst in the Heer (army) and Luftwaffe (air force), and Korvettenkapitän , Fregattenkapitän and Kapitän zur See in

1134-627: The command's Spitfires performed a key role in protecting the increasing numbers of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators operating over Occupied Europe. The Spitfire's chronic lack of operational range – not unlike the Bf 109E's dilemma during the Battle of Britain – meant such protection was limited to the Channel and the European coast. The Spitfire had a range of only 479 miles (771 km). In February 1944, Fighter Command

1176-554: The end, the Germans failed to attain air superiority, although the RAF had been eating severely into its reserves during the battle, as had the Luftwaffe. By May 1941, the squadrons based at all the main fighter airfields operated in wings, under the tactical control of the new post of wing leader , a survivor of 1940 with the rank of wing commander . Fighter Command began a campaign to gain air superiority over northwestern France. Short-penetration fighter operations were used to draw

1218-506: The meagre German air opposition and supported ground forces by strafing German positions and transport. Later that year, the final test of ADGB (renamed Fighter Command in October 1944) in the war occurred against the V-1 flying bomb during Operation Crossbow . RAF fighters also flew long-range night intruder operations against German airfields and aircraft (e.g. at take-off/landing) at the time

1260-631: The north, west and south of the country and almost to the continental coastline in the east. In organisational terms, Nos 11 (14 July 1936 – 31 December 1960, 1 January 1961 - 1 April 1963) and 12 Groups (1 April 1937 – 31 March 1963) continued in almost unbroken service until 1963. No.13 Group (15 March 1939 – 20 May 1946) was reformed on 16 May 1955 and then disbanded 31 December 1961 at RAF Ouston (becoming 11 Group). From 1 April 1963 three sectors, No. 11 Sector RAF ; No. 12 Sector RAF ; and No. 13 Sector RAF were maintained. 13 Sector disbanded by amalgamation with No. 11 Sector on 17 March 1965. As

1302-703: The number lost to Fw 190s is unknown. The Luftwaffe claimed 61 of the 106 RAF machines lost, which included all types, JG 2 claiming 40 and JG 26 claiming 21. In 1942 Fighter Command claimed 560 victories against a true loss of 272 German fighters from all causes, for 574 RAF day fighters destroyed. By the autumn of 1942, the arrival of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 8th Air Force and its daylight bombers added bomber escort to Fighter Command's tasks. Until American Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter groups were operational in May 1943,

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1344-557: The offensive force became the RAF Second Tactical Air Force . ADGB was renamed Fighter Command in October 1944 and continued to provide defensive patrols around Britain. It was disbanded for the second time in 1968, when it was subsumed by the new Strike Command . On 20 May 1926, the forerunner of Fighter Command was established as a group within Inland Area . On 1 June, Fighting Area was transferred to

1386-489: The other. During 1941-45 RAF Fighter Command 's wing leaders (of wing commander rank) were also allowed to use their own initials as aircraft identification letters on their personal aircraft, e.g., Wing Commander Roland Beamont 's personal Hawker Tempest , JN751 , was coded "R-B", Wing Commander John Robert Baldwin 's personal Hawker Typhoon was coded "J-B". In the United States Air Force (USAF),

1428-752: The period of its founding – with the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire . Fighter Command was tested during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 when the German Luftwaffe launched an offensive aimed at attaining air superiority over the Channel and the UK as a prerequisite to the launch of a seaborne invasion force (codenamed Operation Sea Lion ). Fighter Command was divided into several groups, each defending

1470-576: The rank title was lieutenant-colonel d'aviation . In the 1990s, the Canadian Forces Air Command (the post-1968 RCAF) altered the structure of those bases under its control, redesignating them as wings. The commander of such an establishment was re-designated as the "wing commander" (or "Wg Comd"). Like the United States Air Force usage, the term "wing commander" (as used in the Canadian Forces and again in

1512-488: The volunteer auxiliary of the USAF, follows the USAF rank structure. The CAP divides the nation into 52 wings (each corresponding to a state, territory, and District of Columbia). Each wing is headed by a CAP colonel, who holds the position of wing commander. Senior officer Sometimes, particularly in the army, this grade is referred to as field-grade officers , field officers or officers of field rank . Historically,

1554-532: Was also suggested that RAF lieutenant colonels might be entitled reeves or wing-leaders. However, the rank title wing commander was chosen as wings were typically commanded by RAF lieutenant colonels, and the term wing commander had been used in the Royal Naval Air Service. The rank of wing commander was introduced in August 1919 and has been used continuously since then. In the early years of

1596-589: Was in a position to assist Fighter Command until it relocated to bases in France and West Germany in 1954–55. After 1949, those Soviet bombers could be carrying nuclear weapons, and so intercepting them was crucial if the UK was to be saved during a war. A long succession of fighter aircraft saw service with Fighter Command during the 1950s and 1960s, including the Gloster Meteor , Hawker Hunter , Gloster Javelin and English Electric Lightning . The Lightning

1638-507: Was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force . It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft . It operated throughout the Second World War , winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The command continued until November 1943, when it was disbanded and the RAF fighter force was split into two categories, defence and attack. The defensive force became Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) and

1680-529: Was split into the Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB), the former name of Fighter Command, to defend Britain, and the Second Tactical Air Force , to support ground forces after the invasion of Europe. On 15 July, No. 14 Group RAF (established 26 June 1940) was disestablished. In 1944 ADGB made the greatest effort in its history during Operation Overlord , the invasion of France which began on 6 June. RAF and Allied fighter units suppressed

1722-486: Was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became wing commander would have been "air commander". Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that the RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on naval officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It

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1764-588: Was the only purely British supersonic aircraft to enter service, owing to a defence review in 1957. During the mid-1950s, the performance of the new surface-to-air missiles was improving quickly. Duncan Sandys , the Minister of Defence at the time, needed to find cuts in the British defence budget since the UK was in serious danger of being bankrupted by its defence spending. The rate of improvement of surface-to-air missiles seemed to indicate that they would soon be able to shoot down any manned aircraft. Consequently, in

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