656 Squadron is a unit of the British
Army Air Corps. It was chosen as one of the AAC new Apache Squadrons and in April 2004 started its conversion to role. The first phase of this completed in October 2004. The Squadron was the first operational Apache Squadron in the Army Air Corps and continues to go from strength to strength being awarded the fully operational status along with the remainder of 9 Regiment AAC in June 2005.
History
Formation and World War II
After their formation as
656 (AOP) Squadron on the
31 December 1942 at
RAF Westley, the Squadron deployed to the
Far East in support of the
14th Army. 656 Squadron operated from 1943 - 1946 in
India,
Burma and the
Dutch East Indies.
During the War the Squadron were to fly more operational hours than their counterparts in Europe. The Squadron were then reduced in size and reformed into 1914 Flight in
Malaya during the internal conflict there. During this time 656 provided support to both the AOP and Air liaison role, this they continued to do throughout the emergency.
In the Army
The Squadron then reformed as an AAC Squadron on the
1 September 1957. 656 Squadron AAC time in the Far East continued with tours in Singapore, Borneo and Hong Kong.
With the exception of 2 flights the Squadron was disbanded in 1977 and finally returned to the UK to be reformed in
Farnborough, from where they participated in
Operation Agila (Rhodesia) and
Operation Corporate (The Falklands War) in 1982. In the early hours of
6 June 1982, a
Gazelle helicopter (serial no. XX377) was shot down over
Pleasant Peak by
HMS Cardiff in a
friendly fire incident. All four occupants were killed, the pilot
Staff Sergeant Christopher Griffin, his crewman
Lance Corporal Simon Cockton and two passengers from
205 Signal Squadron of the
Royal Corps of Signals,
Major Michael Forge and
Staff Sergeant John Baker. The contributing factors were a lack of an "
Identification Friend or Foe" transmitter on the helicopter and poor communication between the army and navy.
The number "205" was later painted at the crash site () as a memorial.
After a short stay at Netheravon as part of 7 Regt AAC the Squadron relocated to
Dishforth as one of the Anti Tank Squadrons of 9 Regt AAC in 1993. The Squadron was chosen as one of the AAC new Apache Squadrons and in April 2004 started its conversion to role. The first phase of this completed in October 2004. The Squadron was the first operational Apache Squadron in the Army Air Corps and reached fully operational status along with the remainder of 9 Regt AAC in June 2005.
Since this the Squadron has carried out various exercises in support of Maritime the most notable being exercise "Pixus" in support of
HMS Ocean in September - October 2005. The Squadron was then moved back to a land role in preparation for deployment. 2006 saw the Squadron act as lead aviation for the deployment to
Afghanistan in May.
The Squadron's deployments to Afghanistan in May 2006 and again in May 2007 have been documented and brought into the public eye by the books of former squadron weapons officer, WO1
Ed Macy, Apache and Hellfire.
See also
