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No. 85 Group RAF
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No. 85 Group RAF
No. 85 Group was a Group of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. It was responsible for airfield construction and the air defence of the beachhead bases during the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 (Operation Overlord) and the subsequent campaign.
No. 85 Group was formed on 17 December 1943 within 2nd Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) from wings of the RAF Airfield Construction Service. It was renamed No. 85 (Base) Group under the command of Air Vice Marshal John Cole-Hamilton on 14 February 1944.
85 Group's role was to defend the vital beachhead and base area for 21st Army Group and 2nd TAF once the landings on D-Day had been achieved. Air superiority over the battlefield was vital and the landing area had been chosen partly because of the availability of suitable sites for airfields. Until these could be constructed, 2nd TAF aircraft had to operate from Southern England, which curtailed their time over the bridgehead. The Group's composition and chain of command was anomalous. Its Night-fighter force operated jointly with 11 Group in Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) and its single-engined fighters were under operational control of 2nd TAF, while airfield construction was under the control of Commander 21st Army Group Royal Engineers (CAGRE).
The composition of 85 Group from June to August 1944 was as follows (airfields given for 6 June):
For D-Day (6 June) itself, all the available day fighters of 2nd TAF and ADGB were given specific tasks. In 85 Group, the three squadrons of 150 Wing at Newchurch were part of the 'Pool of Readiness', a rapid reaction force in case the Luftwaffe intervened in the landing operations. Meanwhile, 91, 124 and 322 Sqns were tasked with preventing Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft from operating over the landing area.
By nightfall on D-Day, a Ground control interception (GCI) radar station was ashore and operational in the British sector at Arromanches and was able to undertake limited control of night-fighter operations. 85 Group's Mosquitos maintained constant patrols over the beachhead and claimed to have shot down 12 of the 40 enemy aircraft plotted in the area that night, including specialist bombers of Fliegerkorps X attempting to use guided bombs against the anchorage.
In the planning for Operation Overlord, 85 Group was keen to have searchlight (S/L) assistance for its night-fighters in the same way as ADGB had in the UK. Two Anti-Aircraft (AA) brigade headquarters experienced in commanding searchlights, 31st (North Midland) AA Bde and 50th S/L Bde, were to be withdrawn from Anti-Aircraft Command to join 21st Army Group's GHQ AA Troops for this purpose. A detailed plan was drawn up for a belt of S/L positions deployed from Caen to the Cherbourg peninsula. This required nine S/L batteries of 24 lights, spaced at 6000 yard intervals, six rows deep. Each battery area was to have an orbit beacon, around which up to four fighters would be positioned at varying heights. These would be allocated by fighter controllers, and the S/Ls would assist by illuminating targets and indicating raid approaches, while area boundaries would be marked by vertical S/Ls. Six S/L regiments were specially trained for this work. In practice, most of this plan was never implemented, liaison with the US Army units around Cherbourg having proved problematical once they were on the ground. The S/L brigades therefore remained in AA Command, waiting to cross to Normandy until long after D-Day.
21st Army Group did land a large number of AA units to defend the Mulberry harbour and landing beaches, dumps and bases, as well as airfields, but 85 Group placed restrictions on their firing to give its own aircraft safe passage, which caused friction between RAF and Army.
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No. 85 Group RAF
No. 85 Group was a Group of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. It was responsible for airfield construction and the air defence of the beachhead bases during the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 (Operation Overlord) and the subsequent campaign.
No. 85 Group was formed on 17 December 1943 within 2nd Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) from wings of the RAF Airfield Construction Service. It was renamed No. 85 (Base) Group under the command of Air Vice Marshal John Cole-Hamilton on 14 February 1944.
85 Group's role was to defend the vital beachhead and base area for 21st Army Group and 2nd TAF once the landings on D-Day had been achieved. Air superiority over the battlefield was vital and the landing area had been chosen partly because of the availability of suitable sites for airfields. Until these could be constructed, 2nd TAF aircraft had to operate from Southern England, which curtailed their time over the bridgehead. The Group's composition and chain of command was anomalous. Its Night-fighter force operated jointly with 11 Group in Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) and its single-engined fighters were under operational control of 2nd TAF, while airfield construction was under the control of Commander 21st Army Group Royal Engineers (CAGRE).
The composition of 85 Group from June to August 1944 was as follows (airfields given for 6 June):
For D-Day (6 June) itself, all the available day fighters of 2nd TAF and ADGB were given specific tasks. In 85 Group, the three squadrons of 150 Wing at Newchurch were part of the 'Pool of Readiness', a rapid reaction force in case the Luftwaffe intervened in the landing operations. Meanwhile, 91, 124 and 322 Sqns were tasked with preventing Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft from operating over the landing area.
By nightfall on D-Day, a Ground control interception (GCI) radar station was ashore and operational in the British sector at Arromanches and was able to undertake limited control of night-fighter operations. 85 Group's Mosquitos maintained constant patrols over the beachhead and claimed to have shot down 12 of the 40 enemy aircraft plotted in the area that night, including specialist bombers of Fliegerkorps X attempting to use guided bombs against the anchorage.
In the planning for Operation Overlord, 85 Group was keen to have searchlight (S/L) assistance for its night-fighters in the same way as ADGB had in the UK. Two Anti-Aircraft (AA) brigade headquarters experienced in commanding searchlights, 31st (North Midland) AA Bde and 50th S/L Bde, were to be withdrawn from Anti-Aircraft Command to join 21st Army Group's GHQ AA Troops for this purpose. A detailed plan was drawn up for a belt of S/L positions deployed from Caen to the Cherbourg peninsula. This required nine S/L batteries of 24 lights, spaced at 6000 yard intervals, six rows deep. Each battery area was to have an orbit beacon, around which up to four fighters would be positioned at varying heights. These would be allocated by fighter controllers, and the S/Ls would assist by illuminating targets and indicating raid approaches, while area boundaries would be marked by vertical S/Ls. Six S/L regiments were specially trained for this work. In practice, most of this plan was never implemented, liaison with the US Army units around Cherbourg having proved problematical once they were on the ground. The S/L brigades therefore remained in AA Command, waiting to cross to Normandy until long after D-Day.
21st Army Group did land a large number of AA units to defend the Mulberry harbour and landing beaches, dumps and bases, as well as airfields, but 85 Group placed restrictions on their firing to give its own aircraft safe passage, which caused friction between RAF and Army.
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