No. 1439 Flight RAF - Misplaced Pages

No. 1439 Flight RAF
A Westland Whirlwind helicopter, like the ones used in the flight
Active	? - June 1942 8 May 1957 – 20 November 1957
Role	Strategic Reconnaissance Transport
Garrison/HQ	Western Desert (Egypt) RAF Hemswell RAF Christmas Island
Equipment	Bristol Blenheim Vickers Varsity Avro Anson> Westland Whirlwind

Military unit

There is unconfirmed evidence that a No. 1439 (Strategic Reconnaissance) Flight RAF was formed during the Western Desert Campaign ca. June 1942, flying Bristol Blenheim aircraft.

The flight was reformed as No. 1439 (Communication Support) Flight at RAF Hemswell on 8 May 1957 to support the Nuclear Weapons Task Force during the Operation Grapple nuclear weapon tests on or near Christmas Island (Kiritimati) in a remote Pacific region. Flying continued for six months until the Flight was dis-banded on 20 November 1957.

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by no. 1439 Flight RAF, data from
From	To	Aircraft	Version	Example
June 1942	?	Bristol Blenheim
1 May 1957	20 November 1957	Vickers Varsity	T.1	WL676
1 May 1957	20 November 1957	Avro Anson	Mk.XIX	TX196
1 May 1957	20 November 1957	Westland Whirlwind	HAR.2	XD164

Flight bases

Bases and airfields used by no. 1439 Flight RAF, data from
From	To	Base
June 1942	?	Western desert
1 May 1957	22 August 1957	RAF Hemswell, Lincolnshire
22 August 1957	?	LRWRE Woomera, Australia
?	20 November 1957	RAF Hemswell, Lincolnshire

References

Notes

^ Lake 1999, p. 89.
^ Sturtivant and Hamlin 2007, p. 123.

Bibliography

Lake, Alan. Flying Units of the RAF. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-84037-086-6.
Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin. RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. ISBN 0-85130-365-X.

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