22 Squadron was reformed as a SAR Helicopter Squadron at Thorney Island within 19 Group on 15 February 1955. It was tasked with sea rescue and land search and rescue over a range of 60nm. It had an initial establishment of eight Whirlwind Mk 2s and was planned to operate from four detached Flights to provide SAR cover over the South and South East Coasts and Wales. One Flight was located with the Squadron Headquarters along with operational training facilities and second line servicing. The crew comprised a pilot, navigator and crewman. A specific crewman trade did not exist at this time. In July 1955 three administrative orderlies were allotted for crewman duties, receiving an additional one shilling and six pence per day for the privilege. One of these crewmen, AC2 Raymond Martin was posted to Thorney Island from where on the 5 June 1956 he was involved in a rescue that earned him the George Medal, the first of five to be awarded to RAF SAR Helicopter crews, two to 22 Squadron and three to 202 Squadron. Raymond Martin volunteered to be winched down to a yacht which was being pounded and over-washed by heavy seas off Hayling Island. He was winched into the yacht where he released himself from the winch cable in order to be able to send an unconscious man up on the winch wire while he remained in the yacht protecting a woman from being washed overboard and lost in to the sea. He remained there for some time while the helicopter had to off load the first survivor to another waiting helicopter on shore before he could be recovered with the remaining survivor. Raymond Martin had yet to celebrate his nineteenth birthday.

By March 1955 there were well-founded rumours of imminent disbandment as no aircraft had arrived and all postings to the Squadron had been suspended. However, two Sycamores arrived at Thorney Island, from the Air Sea Warfare Development Unit at St Mawgan, to enable the Squadron to continue forming. By May the Squadron had two Sycamores and an Avro Anson and was looking and functioning very much like a Flight of its predecessor, 275 Squadron in its early days. Four Whirlwinds arrived during June and the first two Flights were formed at Thorney Island and Martlesham Heath. The third Flight was formed at Valley in September to provide cover for the West Coast and became operational the following month; it was also the first SAR Flight to have a Navigator as Flight Commander. A Sycamore had to be borrowed once more from the Air Sea Warfare Development Unit when two Whirlwinds were lost from the Squadron. One was sent to the Far East Air Force, the second was found to be suffering from corrosion. Corrosion was to remain a significant problem for the magnesium alloy built helicopters used in the maritime environment for many years to come; indeed the later Wessex HC2s were re-skinned with aluminium to reduce the problem.

By April 1956, 22 Squadron was operational with all four Flights, the last being formed at St Mawgan to where the Squadron HQ also moved in June. The Flight at Martlesham Heath moved to Felixstowe in April. The Flights at Thorney Island, St Mawgan and Felixstowe were controlled by the Southern Rescue Co-ordination Centre (SRCC) at Plymouth. The Flight at Valley was in the geographical area covered by the Northern RCC at Pitreavie Castle, Edinburgh. In October 1956 a Flight was formed at St Mawgan destined for SAR cover and communications flying in Christmas Island for the British nuclear tests (Op Grapple). The Grapple Flight departed on 30 January 1957 and arrived in Christmas Island on 4 March to commence SAR standby on 6 March. Characteristically the helicopter facility became indispensable and consequently grew, mainly with communications flying, over nine months to the extent that 217 Squadron was formed in January 1958 to carry out the task. The residual Grapple Flight personnel returned to be re-absorbed into the main element of 22 Squadron. Among the 22 Squadron personnel detached to Christmas Island was AC2 Raymond Martin GM; on his return to UK he was posted to St Mawgan to be a Staff winchman on the Training Flight until his discharge from National Service.

In November 1958 A Flight 22 Squadron moved from St Mawgan to replace the Flight of 275 Squadron at Chivenor as part of a geographical rationalisation of responsibility. A Headquarters Flight was formed at St Mawgan mainly for the training of crews but also having a SAR standby facility. The Training Flight acquired the status of an Operational Training Unit in July 1959 and continued to maintain a limited operational capability. It also provided operational training for new pilots arriving from the CFS Helicopter (CFS(H)) Training School and for Navigators/Signallers arriving directly. In December 1959 the Flight at Thorney Island had to be withdrawn, much against the wishes of the local public, temporarily leaving SAR cover on the South Coast on an ad-hoc basis by the Royal Navy. This situation was rectified by the move of the Felixstowe Flight to Tangmere in May 1961 and the replacement of the Thorney Island Flight by the re-formation of the fourth Flight at Manston in July 1961.

The Operational Training Unit was now in a position also to provide standardisation for 228 Squadron, the whole SAR force by then being equipped with Whirlwind Mk 2s. Conversion to the Whirlwind Mk 10 started in May 1962 and was completed by September of that year. One of the early Whirlwind Mk 10 rescues resulted in the second award of a George Medal to a 22 Squadron Winchman. On 3 November 1962 Sergeant Eric Smith volunteered to be lowered to the grounded and stricken French fishing vessel, Jeanne Gougy, to rescue a trawlermen from inside the wheel house. The wheel house was continually being submerged by breaking waves. Having been ordered to remain attached to the winch wire, he entered the vessel's wheel house, continually having to take a deep breath of air and hold his breath while the wheel house was submerged before the waves receded again. Once inside the wheel house he found two survivors, which he rescued separately. A report of a possible third survivor required Eric Smith to enter the wheel house yet again and crawl along a passageway towards the radio room to look for the survivor. None was found, but before being able to return to the helicopter he had to disentangle the winch wire from the hub of the ship's wheel; the wheel house and passageway continually being engulfed by the sea.

THE WHIRLWIND ERA 1955 to 1981

By the late 1950s the public placed great value on their rescue helicopters and any move by the Royal Air Force to close or move the SAR helicopter flights was resisted with great vigour. The drama that ensued following the closure of the Thorney Island Flight in December 1959 had shown that the public outcry and lobbying by local officials could force modifications to the RAF's deployment plans however well justified by the RAF. Thus in May 1961 when the Flight at Felixstowe was due to be deployed to Manston it was diverted instead to Tangmere, close to Thorney Island. A further flight then had to be established at Manston to close the gap in SAR cover. An additional motivation for this change existed because of Air Staff annoyance that in holiday weeks, the Solent and South Coast were treated to frequent views of rescue helicopters bearing the words Royal Navy in large letters. These helicopters were equipped for anti-submarine warfare and tended to be operated during normal working hours, and were therefore not available to hold the regular seven-days a week SAR service that the RAF was obliged to maintain. In 1964, due to the closure of Tangmere, the Flight returned to Thorney Island, thus returning the South Coast helicopter flight to its former home from where its withdrawal caused so much trouble in 1959/60.

In March 1969 history was to repeat itself when the Manston Flight was selected for closure. The aircraft and crews being required to deploy to reform, briefly, 1564 Flight at El Adem following the crash of an Argosy in Libya. A reduction in fighter aircraft activity in the South, and therefore SAR requirement, coupled with a shortage of crews, lead to the judgement that the Manston area could be covered by Coltishall in the North and East and Thorney Island to the South and West. The literary and vocal outcry was sufficiently strong to cause the Department of Trade to contract Bristow Helicopters Ltd to provide an air-sea rescue service, directly under the control of the Coastguard, operating Whirlwind Series 3 helicopters (the civilian equivalent of the RAF's Mk 10s). During its three-year tenure from 1 June 1971 to 30 September 1974 668 rescues sorties were flown and 108 lives preserved. In 1972 a crew from Manston was awarded the Wreck Shield by the department of Trade and Industry for the Most Meritorious Rescue in 1972.

The arrival of the Whirlwind Mk 10 in the latter part of 1962 saw a significant increase in the capability of SAR Helicopters. They continued to be operated as before; but with up to a 30% increase in fuel/pay load, the aircraft had a greatly enhanced range and was able to respond more successfully to a wider range of tasks. As a result the public were becoming progressively more aware of and reliant upon the rescue service the helicopters provided. It needs to be emphasised that that an individual call-out to an incident did not necessarily infer the rescue of an individual or indeed the number of individuals rescued. For example, in 1966 22 Squadron recorded 34 aviation incidents resulting in 14 persons being rescued, 69 air ambulance/casualty evacuation, 70 swimming incidents resulting in the rescue of 16 persons, 252 small boat/yacht incidents involving 137 rescues, 59 operations on behalf of persons marooned on cliffs resulting in 61 rescues, 56 operations with 42 rescues described as miscellaneous and 27 false alarms. There was no promised night flying rescue task because the Whirlwind lacked appropriate equipment such as auto-stabilisation, target illumination, radar etc for the role in complete darkness. The policy was therefore to maintain a 15-minute readiness throughout the hours of daylight and a one-hour readiness at night. In practice most of the night operations requested were in fact carried out.

WESSEX HC 2 1976-1997

The Wessex HC2 was introduced into squadron service with No 18 Squadron and No 72 Squadron at Odiham in 1964. The Wessex was employed in the Support Helicopter role but it was used to hold SAR cover during the grounding of the Whirlwinds in December 1967.

In 1974 two Wessex HC2s of No 72 squadron were modified to the SAR role at Fleetlands. The crew sent to collect the first aircraft (XT602) had difficulty in finding it as it had been painted in the usual 72 Squadron, camouflage paint scheme rather than the SAR bright yellow; however this was soon rectified. D Flight 72 Squadron was to replace the Bristow Helicopters Ltd Whirlwind Series 3 aircraft contracted to the Coastguard at Manston. The local population was again concerned at the change from Bristow Helicopters Ltd to the RAF but was assured by the Ministry of Defence that the SAR Flight at Manston was to be a permanent detachment. The Flight actually remained at Manston for a further twenty years before being moved to Wattisham, along with the closure of Coltishall. Nearly two years were to pass before more Wessex helicopters were introduced into SAR duties. 22 Squadron was partly re-equipped with Wessex HC2s in the SAR role in 1976 . C Flight 202 Squadron at Leuchars became B Flight 22 Squadron in April 1976. D Flight 72 Squadron at Manston became E Flight 22 Squadron in June 1976 and C Flight 22 Squadron's Whirlwind 10s were replaced by Wessex HC2s at Valley in June 1976. A and D Flights 22 Squadron remained at Chivenor and Brawdy with their Whirlwind 10s. The Whirlwind was finally withdrawn from service at Chivenor in November 1981.

The Wessex had many advantages over its predecessor. In many ways it was a like a large Whirlwind in that it had a large main cabin suitable for casualty handling with a cockpit separated from and above it. However, it was a much more robust aircraft with a heavy-duty, tail wheel, tricycle undercarriage. It had two powerful Gnome engines with a very good single engine capability. It was significantly faster, it had a much greater lift capacity and an enhanced radius of action. Its only perceived disadvantage was that being heavier it needed to be hovered higher over the sea and was not quite as manoeuvrable as the Whirlwind. Conversely it had a good Auto-Stabilisation Equipment system which made it a stable winching platform and improved its ability for transit in cloud. Its ability to operate in poor visibility and at night was improved by fitting a radar altimeter; however, without a full Auto Pilot system, it was still not designed to be operated over the sea at night. Initially the winch fitted to the Wessex had 100ft of cable. Instead of a rope extension to the winch cable, previously used by the Whirlwind, a formal 120ft tape (attributed to Flt Lt Mike Ramshaw) was introduced to extend the effective length of the cable. The tape was used on both the Wessex and the Whirlwind. However, in 1977 a 300ft cable was fitted to the Wessex negating the necessity for the tape. The Wessex remained in SAR service until its final replacement by the Sea King Mk 3 at Valley in June 1997.

SEA KING HAR 3/3A 1997-2002

By the mid-1970s it was apparent that a new helicopter was needed if the RAF's Search and Rescue Wing was to proceed with confidence towards the end of the century. There was a requirement for an all-weather long-range helicopter; one designed to take the medals out of Search and Rescue. Sixteen Sea King HAR 3 helicopters were ordered from Westland Helicopters Ltd. The first came into service in 1978. 202 Squadron was re-equipped with Sea Kings while 22 Squadron maintained a mixed fleet of Wessex and Whirlwind; in October 1979 D Flight 22 Squadron was reformed at Leconfield to replace 202 Squadron's Whirlwinds with Wessex. 22 Squadron continued with its Whirlwinds and Wessex until the Whirlwinds were withdrawn from service at Chivenor and replaced by Wessex in November 1981, these were replaced by the Sea King Mk 3 in June1994.

The Falkland Islands conflict affected both 22 and 202 Squadrons. Initially in August 1982 C Flight 202 Squadron was moved as a Unit from Coltishall to Port Stanley and was later renamed 1564 Flight. A further move of the Sea King SAR detachment to Mount Pleasant Airfield saw the reformation of 78 Squadron along with a Flight of Chinooks. A detachment of crews from both squadrons continues to man the Search and Rescue commitment in the Falkland Islands.

Further redistributions of the RAF's Search and Rescue Helicopter assets continued to meet Station closures and SAR cover requirements. The gap left by the withdrawal of the Sea Kings from Coltishall was met by a 22 Squadron detachment of Wessex until F Flight was formed in August 1983. F Flight 22 Squadron was replaced by the reformation of C Flight 202 Squadron (Sea King) in September 1985. Over 31 August/1 September 1988 E Flt 22 Squadron (Wessex) moved from Manston to Coltishall and was replaced by C Flt 202 Squadron' move from Coltishall to Manston. Leconfield was reclaimed by 202 Squadron in November 1988 by the formation of E Flight with Sea Kings. In April 1993 B Flt 22 Sqn (Wessex) at Leuchars was disbanded despite significant opposition from the local community. In July 1994 B Flt 202 Sqn Brawdy (Sea King), E Flt 22 Sqn Coltishall (Wessex) and C Flt 202 Sqn Manston (Sea King) were disbanded. B Flt 22 Sqn was reformed at Wattisham with Sea Kings. This time the Search and Rescue Helicopter Flight's departure from Manston was celebrated with a congratulatory demonstration of support and thanks from the local population. In May 1997 and July 1997 the Flights at Chivenor and Wattisham were re-equipped with Sea King Mk 3As.

The Squadron Headquarters was not immune from all the movements endured by the detached Flights. The 22 Squadron Headquarters was formed at Thorney Island on 15 February 1955. It moved to St Mawgan in June 1956 and returned to Thorney island in April 1974. In January 1976 the Search and Rescue Wing was formed at Finningley in the Green Shed which hosted the Wing Headquarters, both SAR Helicopter Squadrons, the 18 Group Standardisation Unit (Helicopters) and the SAR Engineering Wing Headquarters with its Second Line Engineering Support. The closure of Finningley saw the breakup of the SAR WG and the 22 Squadron Headquarters moved back to St Mawgan, which now holds the SAR Force Headquarters but without the 202 Squadron Headquarters which moved to Boulmer. In September 1997 the 22 Squadron Headquarters moved to its present location at Chivenor. 22 Squadron remained in 19 Group Coastal Command until the disbandment of Coastal Command on 27 November 1969. 19 Group became the Southern Maritime Air Region (SOUMAR) within 18 Group of Strike Command. In 1995 elements of 11 Group and 18 Group combined at Northwood to form 11/18 Group. A further reorganisation of Strike Command on 1 April 1999 saw the disbandment of 11/18 Group and the formation of 3 Group, which embodies the RAF SAR Force.

22 Squadron has its Headquarters at the Royal Marine Barracks Chivenor and holds a mixed fleet of Sea King Mk 3As at A Flight Chivenor and B Flight Wattisham and Sea King Mk 3s at Valley. The two Marks of Sea King are significantly different in their handling characteristics, operating systems and avionics such that there is little interoperability between the two types of aircraft and, other than for the Winchmen crews are not able to move between the different Marks without additional training.

History of 22 Squadron 1915 to 1946

Locations of the RAF UK SAR Flights and Squadrons Headquarters