LYNEHAM OLD BOYS ASSOCIATION

The biggest operation of the decade, however, was the Station's involvement in the Falklands crisis. This was codenamed Operation Corporate, and caused the detachment overseas of large numbers of personnel from all 3 Wings of the Station. A supply route was set up via Gibraltar, Dakar and Ascension Island. In the first 3 weeks of the operation the Hercules carried more than 1,600 tons of freight to Ascension. Much of this was then airdropped to the Task Force as it sailed south.

In order to allow the Task Force to be supplied at longer range, refuelling probes were fitted to the Hercules, to enable them to refuel whilst airborne. In addition, 6 Hercules were converted to the tanker role to allow easier air-to-air refuelling of Lyneham's own aircraft. These tankers were flown by crews from Numbers 24 and 30 Squadrons. Airdrop and paradrop sorties then stretched as far as the Falklands themselves, involving multiple refuellings on flights lasting over 24 hours.

Following the retaking of the Falklands, a detachment of aircraft, crews and support personnel was maintained at Stanley, and subsequently at Mount Pleasant when that airfield opened. 1984 saw famine relief flights to Upper Volta, and also the start of a major famine relief effort in Ethiopia. This lasted until November the next year, and saw the Lyneham force delivering 32 thousand tons of food supplies, 14 thousand tons of them airdropped in remote areas of the country. This effort resulted in the award of a second Wilkinson Sword of Peace.

The Hercules' capability had been increased starting from 1980 with the arrival from America of the first CMk3 conversion. This had an extra 15 feet length in the freight bay compared to the original CMk1, to enable the aircraft to carry more freight within the weight limit before it reached the bulk limit. Marshall of Cambridge then converted another 29 of the fleet of 60, the final one being delivered in 1985.

The start of the nineteen nineties saw a visit by the Queen to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Station in May. Her Majesty saw the work in a variety of the sections on the Station. She then unveiled a memorial window in the Station Church, which is also the Parish Church of Lyneham and Bradenstoke.

A feature of the early nineties was the return to Lyneham of hostages who had been held in The Lebanon. They were flown in by VC10, and spent some time recuperating and debriefing in the Officers' Mess, before returning to normal life. The 3 involved were Terry Waite, the envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury; the journalist John McCarthy; and the former RAF fighter pilot Jackie Mann.

Lyneham's biggest modern-day operation swung into action on 6 August 1990, when the Kuwait crisis began. Once again large numbers of Station staff were detached overseas, to places ranging from Germany to Cyprus, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The squadrons and 242 OCU began round-the-clock operations carrying stores and troops to the Middle East from the United Kingdom and Germany.

A flight of aircraft was detached to Riyadh to provide in-theatre transport. Over 40,000 hours and 12,000,000 miles were flown in all during the first 7 months of Operation Granby, and 50,000 tons of stores and equipment were carried by the Lyneham Hercules. Immediately following the Gulf War, Lyneham Hercules airdropped supplies to the Kurdish people who had been displaced from their homes to the mountainous regions of Northern Iraq and South East Turkey.

In 1992 Number 242 Operational Conversion Unit was renamed Number 57(Reserve) Squadron, and finally moved from the old airmen's hutted accommodation into a new building. There has been a continuous programme of building since the mid-eighties to update and replace the original Station buildings, which were not designed or built with such a long life in view in 1939 and the forties. In addition there are now many more health and safety regulations to be complied with.

The Former republic of Yugoslavia has occupied much of the Station's efforts from 1992. Apart from supplying the British forces in the area, a detachment at the Italian airfield of Ancona flew supplies into Sarajevo, sometimes under fire. In the 3 years that this operation lasted, over 28,000 tons of relief material were flown into the city. Operations in this area continued until 1998, and are still current.

Reinforcement of the British forces in the Gulf area has been necessary periodically since the Gulf War, and relief operations have been mounted in Somalia, Rwanda and Montserrat. Evacuation of British and other nationals has been carried out from The Yemen, the Congo Republic and Eritrea.

In 1996 some of the Station's engineering, supply and administrative aspects were let to contract. There are now about 700 civilians working at Lyneham, many of them employed by Hunting Contract Services. They work with the 2,500 Service people to keep the Station operating efficiently in its task of providing air transport for all British forces, and for other tasks ordered by the Government.