The RAF's Second Tactical Air Force was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force during and after World War II. The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Formation

It was formed in June 1943 in connection with preparations then in train to invade Europe a year later. It took units from both Fighter Command and Bomber Command in order to form a force capable of supporting the Army in the field. Bomber Command lent No. 2 Group with light bombers and Fighter Command was split up into the Air Defence of Great Britain, retaining fighter units for home defence, and No. 83 Group and No. 84 Group for Second Tactical Air Force. Fighter Command was one of three functional commands that dominated the public perception of the RAF for much of the mid-20th century. ... Bomber Command badge RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAFs bomber forces. ... Number 2 Group of the Royal Air Force is one of the two groups in RAF Strike Command. ... The Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) refers to two different components of the RAF depending on the time period in question. ...

World War II

Its first commander was Air Marshal Sir John d'Albiac, who, on 21 January 1944, was succeeded by the man most associated with Second TAF, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham. Coningham had great experience of the type of operations required for supporting fast moving ground warfare due to his command of the Desert Air Force in north Africa and Italy. He honed Second TAF into a command up to the challenges presented to it, and incorporated many of the lessons of Italy, including the 'cab rank' system of close air support aircraft usage, into the doctrine of Second TAF. An air marshals sleeve/shoulder insignia Air Marshal (Air Mshl or AM) is a rank in the Royal Air Force. ... January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham KCB KBE DSO MC DFC AFC RAF (11 March 1895 – 29 or 30 January 1948) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. ... The Desert Air Force (DAF) was a formation made up of squadrons from the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth air forces . ... A cab rank is a primarily British term for taxi stand, although the phrase has two other uses. ... Close air support (often abbreviated CAS) is the use of military aircraft in a ground attack role against targets in close proximity to friendly troops, in support of ground combat operations. ...

By this late stage in the war, the Luftwaffe was but a pale shadow of the organisation it had once been. Mostly Second TAF spent its time supporting the British and Canadian forces on the left flank of SHAEF's command. One notable exception was the last great attack of the Luftwaffe, Operation Bodenplatte, mounted on New Year's Day 1945, when the Second TAF suffered serious losses on the ground. However, the standard of training of the Luftwaffe pilots was such that many of them were shot down, either by ground fire or Allied fighters, and others simply crashed when they ran out of fuel due to navigation errors. This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (abbreviated as SHAEF), was the command headquarters of the commander of Allied forces in North West Europe in 1944 and 1945. ... Operation Bodenplatte, launched on 1st January 1945, was an attempt to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries of Europe. ... This article is about January 1 in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Post World War II

The Second TAF did not last long after the war before redesignation. It was renamed as the British Air Forces of Occupation on 15 July 1945. However, six years later the British Air Forces of Occupation reverted to their former name with the recreation of the Second Tactical Air Force on 1 September 1951. The Second Tactical Air Force was redesignated RAF Germany on 1 January 1959 however the former usage persisted and RAF Germany was sometimes referred to as the Second Tactical Air Force. July 15 is the 196th day (197th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 169 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Royal Air Force Germany was a command of the Royal Air Force, consisting of those units based in Germany initially as part of the occupation following World War II and later as part of the RAFs commitment to the defense of Europe during the Cold War. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Commanders

Second Tactical Air Force

• 1 June 1943 Air Marshal Sir John D'Albiac
• 21 January 1944 Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham

June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... An air marshals sleeve/shoulder insignia Air Marshal (Air Mshl or AM) is a rank in the Royal Air Force. ... January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham KCB KBE DSO MC DFC AFC RAF (11 March 1895 – 29 or 30 January 1948) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. ...

British Air Forces of Occupation

• 15 July 1945 Air Chief Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas
• 1 February 1946 Air Marshal Sir Philip Wigglesworth
• 30 October 1948 Air Marshal Sir Thomas Williams

July 15 is the 196th day (197th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 169 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... An Air Chief Marshals sleeve/shoulder insignia Air Chief Marshal is the most senior rank active in the Royal Air Force (RAF) today, after the inactivation of Marshal of the Royal Air Force as a substantive rank in peacetime during defence cuts of the 1990s. ... February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... October 30 is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 62 days remaining. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...

Second Tactical Air Force

• List incomplete
• 1 October 1951 Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Foster
• 22 January 1956 Air Marshal The Earl of Bandon

October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Air Chief Marshal Percy Ronald Gardner Bernard, 5th Earl of Bandon GBE CB CVO DSO RAF (30 August 1904 – February 8, 1979) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in the mid-20th century. ...

Reference

• Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Overseas Commands