The nineteen eighties continued
the tradition of providing the Lyneham transport force with
much work. They started with the deployment of detachments
to Rhodesia to support the Commonwealth Ceasefire monitoring
force there, and another famine relief operation in Nepal.
The biggest operation of the decade, however,
was the Station's involvement in the Falklands
crisis. This
was codenamed Operation Corporate, and caused the detachment
overseas of large numbers of personnel from all 3 Wings of
the Station. A supply route was set up via Gibraltar, Dakar
and Ascension Island. In the first 3 weeks of the operation
the Hercules carried more than 1,600 tons of freight to Ascension.
Much of this was then airdropped to the Task Force as it
sailed south.
In order to allow the Task Force to be supplied at longer
range, refuelling probes were fitted to the Hercules, to
enable them to refuel whilst airborne. In addition, 6 Hercules
were converted to the tanker role to allow easier air-to-air
refuelling of Lyneham's own aircraft. These tankers were
flown by crews from Numbers 24 and 30 Squadrons. Airdrop
and paradrop sorties then stretched as far as the Falklands
themselves, involving multiple refuellings on flights lasting
over 24 hours.
Following the retaking
of the Falklands,
a detachment of aircraft, crews and support personnel was
maintained at Stanley, and subsequently at Mount Pleasant
when that airfield opened. 1984 saw famine relief flights
to Upper Volta, and also the start of a major famine relief
effort in Ethiopia. This lasted until November the next year,
and saw the Lyneham force delivering 32 thousand tons of
food supplies, 14 thousand tons of them airdropped in remote
areas of the country. This effort resulted in the award of
a second Wilkinson Sword of Peace.
The Hercules' capability had been increased
starting from 1980 with the arrival from America of the first
CMk3 conversion. This had an extra 15 feet length in the
freight bay compared to the original CMk1, to enable the
aircraft to carry more freight within the weight limit before
it reached the bulk limit. Marshall of Cambridge then converted
another 29 of the fleet of 60, the final one being delivered
in 1985.
The start of the nineteen nineties saw a
visit by the Queen to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the
Station in May. Her Majesty saw the work in a variety of
the sections on the Station. She then unveiled a memorial
window in the Station Church, which is also the Parish
Church of Lyneham and Bradenstoke.
A feature of the early nineties was the
return to Lyneham of hostages who had been held in The Lebanon.
They were flown in by VC10, and spent some time recuperating
and debriefing in the Officers' Mess, before returning to
normal life. The 3 involved were Terry Waite, the envoy of
the Archbishop of Canterbury; the journalist John McCarthy;
and the former RAF fighter pilot Jackie Mann.
Lyneham's biggest modern-day operation swung
into action on 6 August 1990, when the Kuwait crisis began.
Once again large numbers of Station staff were detached overseas,
to places ranging from Germany to Cyprus, Bahrain and Saudi
Arabia. The squadrons and 242 OCU began round-the-clock operations
carrying stores and troops to the Middle East from the United
Kingdom and Germany.
A flight of aircraft was detached to Riyadh
to provide in-theatre transport. Over 40,000 hours and 12,000,000
miles were flown in all during the first 7 months of Operation
Granby*, and 50,000 tons of stores and equipment were carried
by the Lyneham Hercules. Immediately following the Gulf War,
Lyneham Hercules airdropped supplies to the Kurdish people
who had been displaced from their homes to the mountainous
regions of Northern Iraq and South East Turkey.
In 1992 Number 242 Operational Conversion
Unit was renamed Number 57(Reserve) Squadron, and finally
moved from the old airmen's hutted accommodation into a new
building. There has been a continuous programme of building
since the mid-eighties to update and replace the original
Station buildings, which were not designed or built with
such a long life in view in 1939 and the forties. In addition
there are now many more health and safety regulations to
be complied with.
The Former republic of Yugoslavia has occupied
much of the Station's efforts from 1992. Apart from supplying
the British forces in the area, a detachment at the Italian
airfield of Ancona flew supplies into Sarajevo, sometimes
under fire. In the 3 years that this operation lasted, over
28,000 tons of relief material were flown into the city.
Operations in this area continued until 1998, and are still
current.
Reinforcement of the British forces in the
Gulf area has been necessary periodically since the Gulf
War, and relief operations have been mounted in Somalia,
Rwanda and Montserrat. Evacuation of British and other nationals
has been carried out from The Yemen, the Congo Republic and
Eritrea.
In 1996 some of the Station's engineering,
supply and administrative aspects were let to contract. There
are now about 700 civilians working at Lyneham, many of them
employed by Hunting Contract Services. They work with the
2,500 Service people to keep the Station operating efficiently
in its task of providing air transport for all British forces,
and for other tasks ordered by the Government.
Did you know:
*Operation Granby - The operation was named
after John Manners, Marquess of Granby who had commanded British
forces at the Battle of Minden (1759) during the Seven Years'
War. |
