90-600: Geoffrey Arthur Prime (born 21 February 1938) is a former British spy who worked for the Royal Air Force as well as the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). While working for these organizations, Prime disclosed information to the Soviet Union . He was convicted in the early 1980s under charges of espionage and child sexual abuse . He was sentenced to a total of 38 years imprisonment but
180-670: A Private Finance Initiative with newly purchased Sikorsky S-92 and AgustaWestland AW189 aircraft. The new contract means that all UK SAR coverage is now provided by Bristow aircraft. In 2018, the RAF's vision of a future constellation of imagery satellites was initiated through the launch of the Carbonite-2 technology demonstrator. The 100 kg Carbonite-2 uses commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components to deliver high-quality imagery and 3D video footage from space. The Royal Air Force celebrated its 100th anniversary on 1 April 2018. It marked
270-629: A wing commander and, for a fast-jet squadron, have an complement of around twelve aircraft. Independent flights are so designated because they are explicitly smaller in size than a squadron. Many independent flights are, or have been, front-line flying units. For example, No. 1435 Flight carries out air defence duties for the Falkland Islands , with four Eurofighter Typhoon fighters based at RAF Mount Pleasant . Support capabilities are provided by several specialist wings and other units. Command, control, and support for overseas operations
360-641: A Soviet soldier ensured that he was handled by the Third Directorate of the KGB. The Third Directorate handled military security within Soviet Army units, with the First Directorate of the KGB normally specializing in running espionage. A British Security Service assessment of Prime's Soviet espionage career would describe the Third Directorate's handling as "incompetent and inept; had it been run more effectively,
450-561: A US ' Byeman ' security clearance when he was appointed to work at GCHQ's J Division. The clearance enabled him to interpret material received from two United States SIGINT satellites, Rhyolite and Canyon . The satellites detected and collected unencrypted telemetry from Soviet missile launches. Intercepted material obtained by the Canyon satellite concerned Soviet, Chinese, Vietnamese and Middle Eastern communications from VHF and UHF wavebands and microwave telephone communications. In view of
540-595: A front-line training responsibility – their job is to group the University Air Squadrons and the Volunteer Gliding Squadrons together. The commanding officer of No. 2 FTS holds the only full-time flying appointment for a Group Captain in the RAF, and is a reservist. Tradecraft Tradecraft , within the intelligence community , refers to the techniques, methods, and technologies used in modern espionage (spying) and generally as part of
630-532: A lecture on 22 September 1977, resigning shortly afterward. As a train carrying Prime moved into West Berlin in 1968 he threw a message at a Soviet sentry guard, offering his services as a spy. He was subsequently contacted by the Soviets by the placing of a magnetic cylinder on the handle of his car. The cylinder contained instructions telling him to meet them at Friedrichstraße station , then in East Berlin . Prime met
720-626: A minor role in the Korean War , with flying boats taking part. From 1953 to 1956 the RAF Avro Lincoln squadrons carried out anti- Mau Mau operations in Kenya using its base at RAF Eastleigh . The Suez Crisis in 1956 saw a large RAF role, with aircraft operating from RAF Akrotiri and RAF Nicosia on Cyprus and RAF Luqa and RAF Hal Far on Malta as part of Operation Musketeer . The RAF suffered its most recent loss to an enemy aircraft during
810-496: A pilot scheme to test the feasibility of polygraph security screening in intelligence and security agencies. Polygraph questioning was recommended to be limited to an examination of exposure to approaches by hostile intelligence services, rather than questions on negative lifestyle attributes. It was reported in January 1983 that Prime had assembled lists of possible targets for blackmail among his GCHQ colleagues. The revelations within
900-587: A psychiatrist, who subsequently cast doubt on his mental stability. Prime refrained from reporting his psychiatric appointments, because of concern over his security clearance being revoked. He returned to Britain to work for Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and became a translator with the London Processing Group (LPG) at St Dunstan's Hill in the City of London. The LPG processed and translated material obtained by telephone intercepts and bugging by
990-600: A quarter of Bomber Command's personnel were Canadian. Additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine per cent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. During the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe . In what is perhaps the most prolonged and complicated air campaign in history,
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#17332713964221080-497: A result of his activities and to advise on any changes to security. The commission, consisting of Lord Bridge of Harwich , Lord Justice Griffiths , Lord Allen of Abbeydale and General Sir Hugh Beach , completed its report in May 1983. Part of the report contained classified information and was not published. Presenting the report, Baroness Young said of Prime that "There is no doubt that his disclosures caused exceptionally grave damage to
1170-525: A single Hawker Tempest F.6 in January 1949. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons , the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E . However, following the development of its own arsenal, the British Government elected on 16 February 1960 to share the country's nuclear deterrent between the RAF and submarines of the Royal Navy, first deciding to concentrate solely on
1260-612: A support enabler role. A Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) at RAF Boulmer is tasked with compiling a Recognised Air Picture of UK air space and providing tactical control of the Quick Reaction Alert Force . In order to achieve this Boulmer is supported by a network of eight Remote Radar Heads (RRHs) spread the length of the UK. The UK operates permanent military airfields (known as Permanent Joint Operating Bases) in four British Overseas Territories . These bases contribute to
1350-416: A system of 2,287 index cards bearing details of individual girls; each card contained notes and photographs, information on their parents' routines and details about when they were alone at home. In 1981, Prime attacked two young girls, on two separate occasions, but escaped undiscovered. In late 1982, Prime attacked the third girl, at her home, but she screamed and he ran away, escaping in his car. A farmworker
1440-483: A total of 38 years, 35 for offences under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 and three for his sex offences. His defence counsel was George Carman QC. At his trial Prime concluded that the cause of his spying was partly "...as a result of a misplaced idealistic view of Soviet socialism which was compounded by basic psychological problems within myself." The British media were prevented from reporting on
1530-571: A vault in J Division, from which he was able to take documents home to photograph, and photocopy documents at will. In June 1976, he was promoted to Higher Intelligence Specialist in J Division and moved to lead a team of transcribers in J25, another part of the division. In November 1976, Prime was moved to another section that focused on the intelligence analysis of transcribed material and appointed as Personal Security Supervisor for his section. He had to deliver lectures in his new role and failed to appear for
1620-483: A war that remained under low profile. The Konfrontasi against Indonesia in the early 1960s did see use of RAF aircraft, but due to a combination of deft diplomacy and selective ignoring of certain events by both sides, it never developed into a full-scale war. The RAF played a large role in the Aden Emergency between 1963 and 1967. Hawker Hunter FGA.9s based at RAF Khormaksar , Aden , were regularly called in by
1710-948: Is also responsible for the RAF Medical Services, RAF Support Force, consisting of the RAF's engineering, logistics, intelligence, signals, musical and mountain rescue assets, RAF's Combat and Readiness Force, comprising the RAF Regiment , and the Air Security Force, comprising RAF Police . It oversees stations at RAF Benson and RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire, RAF Honington in Suffolk, RAF Odiham in Hampshire and RAF Northolt in West London. No. 11 Group
1800-494: Is at RAF High Wycombe co-located with Air Command. Groups are the subdivisions of operational commands and are responsible for certain types of capabilities or for operations in limited geographical areas. There are five groups subordinate to Air Command, of which four are functional and one is geographically focused: No. 1 Group is responsible for combat aircraft (comprising the Lightning Force and Typhoon Force) and
1890-406: Is believed that Prime confessed to her that the money was acquired as a result of his involvement with the KGB. Helena told a Mrs Barsby, a friend of hers, of Prime's confession, and Mrs Barsby threatened to tell the police. Prime's vetting check was due in 1973 and Barsby was interviewed by officers. Barsby did not tell officers of her knowledge of Prime's confession to his wife, due to her dislike of
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#17332713964221980-776: Is part of the Ministry of Defence and body legally responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories . The Chief of the Air Staff chairs the Air Force Board Standing Committee (AFBSC) which decides on the policy and actions required for the RAF to meet the requirements of the Defence Council and His Majesty's Government . The Chief of the Air Staff is supported by several other senior commanders: Administrative and operational command of
2070-629: Is responsible for integrating operations across the air , cyber and space domains whilst responding to new and evolving threats. It includes the RAF's Battlespace Management Force which controls the UK Air Surveillance and Control System (ASACS). The group oversees stations at RAF Boulmer in Northumberland, RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire and RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria. No. 22 Group
2160-698: Is responsible for the supply of qualified and skilled personnel to the RAF and provides flying and non-flying training to all three British armed services. It is the end-user of the UK Military Flying Training System which is provided by civilian contractor Ascent Flight Training . The group oversees stations at RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire, RAF Cosford and RAF Shawbury in Shropshire, RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire, MOD St Athan in
2250-577: Is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission". The mission statement is supported by the RAF's definition of air power , which guides its strategy. Air power is defined as "the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events". Today, the Royal Air Force maintains an operational fleet of various types of aircraft, described by
2340-517: Is typically provided through Expeditionary Air Wings (EAWs). Each wing is brought together as and when required and comprises the deployable elements of its home station as well as other support elements from throughout the RAF. Several Expeditionary Air Wings are based overseas: The RAF Schools consist of the squadrons and support apparatus that train new aircrew to join front-line squadrons. The schools separate individual streams, but group together units with similar responsibility or that operate
2430-577: The 1948 Arab–Israeli War : during the withdrawal of the former Mandatory Palestine in May 1948 where British Supermarine Spitfire FR.18s shot down four Royal Egyptian Air Force Spitfire LF.9s after the REAF mistakenly attacked RAF Ramat David airbase; and during encounters with the Israeli Air Force which saw the loss of a single de Havilland Mosquito PR.34 in November 1948 and four Spitfire FR.18s and
2520-747: The Banstead railway station in Surrey. Prime would use empty Coca-Cola cans to communicate at the drops as well as chalk marks on trees. Despite his use of drops, he preferred to meet his handlers personally, as the drops were not sufficient for the large amounts of material he produced for them. While at the LPG, Prime was able to tell his Soviet handlers which of their lines were being monitored, and what information had been gleaned from them. In 1975, he met his KGB handlers in Austria, telling them of LPG's movement to Cheltenham. Prime
2610-633: The British Army as close air support to carry out strikes on rebel positions. The Radfan Campaign (Operation Nutcracker) in early 1964 was successful in suppressing the revolt in Radfa, however it did nothing to end the insurgency with the British withdrawing from Aden in November 1967. One of the largest actions undertaken by the RAF during the Cold War was the air campaign during the 1982 Falklands War , in which
2700-625: The British Empire , including establishing bases to protect Singapore and Malaya. The RAF's naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm , was founded in 1924 but handed over to Admiralty control on 24 May 1939. The RAF adopted the doctrine of strategic bombing , which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War . The Royal Air Force underwent rapid expansion prior to and during
2790-613: The Joint Services School for Linguists (JSSL) in Crail , Scotland. He was appointed as an acting sergeant after having demonstrated proficiency in the language. However, he resumed duties as a store man after failing an advanced Russian course at the University of London three months after his enrollment in the course, and was subsequently demoted. Posted to Kenya, Prime was promoted to corporal and learned Swahili in his spare time. Prime
Geoffrey Prime - Misplaced Pages Continue
2880-600: The KGB , the security agency of the Soviet Union , several times to prove his sincerity, and though he insisted he wished to work for them for ideological motives, they gave him money. Knowing that his RAF enlistment was to expire, the KGB successfully persuaded him to apply for a job at GCHQ in Cheltenham, and he returned to Britain. Invited by the KGB on a secret visit to Germany, Prime was given training in spycraft at Karlshorst, under constant supervision. From KGB officers he learnt
2970-661: The London Eye , the RAF Memorial and (at 13.00) the Ministry of Defence building . Four major defence reviews have been conducted since the end of the Cold War: the 1990 Options for Change , the 1998 Strategic Defence Review , the 2003 Delivering Security in a Changing World and the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). All four defence reviews have resulted in steady reductions in manpower and numbers of aircraft, especially combat aircraft such as fast-jets. As part of
3060-640: The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has played a significant role in British military history . In particular, during the Second World War , the RAF established air superiority over Nazi Germany 's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain , and led
3150-573: The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). This was done as recommended in a report prepared by the South African statesman and general Jan Smuts . At that time it was the largest air force in the world. Its headquarters was located in the former Hotel Cecil . After the war, the RAF was drastically cut and its inter-war years were relatively quiet. The RAF was put in charge of British military activity in Iraq , and carried out minor activities in other parts of
3240-704: The Royal Navy 's Fleet Air Arm and the British Army 's Army Air Corps also operate armed aircraft. The Royal Air Force was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the third independent air force in the world after the Mexican Air Force (established 5 February 1915) and the Finnish Air Force (established 6 March 1918), by merging the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and
3330-417: The UK Military Flying Training System which is dedicated to training aircrew for all three UK armed services. Specialist ground crew training is focused at RAF Cosford , RAF St Mawgan and MOD St. Athan . Operations are supported by numerous other flying and non-flying stations, with activity focussed at RAF Honington which coordinates Force Protection and RAF Leeming & RAF Wittering which have
3420-609: The United States Air Force , the RAF formed its own RPAS squadron in 2007 when No. 39 Squadron was stood up as a General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unit at Creech AFB , Nevada. The RAF's 90th anniversary was commemorated on 1 April 2008 by a flypast of the RAF's Aerobatic Display Team the Red Arrows and four Eurofighter Typhoons along the River Thames , in a straight line from just south of London City Airport Tower Bridge,
3510-721: The Westland Puma HC2 for search and rescue. No. 230 Squadron , based at Medicina Lines , Brunei, also operate the Puma HC2. A flying squadron is an aircraft unit which carries out the primary tasks of the RAF. RAF squadrons are somewhat analogous to the regiments of the British Army in that they have histories and traditions going back to their formation, regardless of where they are based or which aircraft they are operating. They can be awarded standards and battle honours for meritorious service. Most flying squadrons are commanded by
3600-679: The 1991 Gulf War , the 1999 Kosovo War , the 2001 War in Afghanistan , the 2003 invasion and war in Iraq , the 2011 intervention in Libya and from 2014 onwards has been involved in the war against the Islamic State . The RAF began conducting Remotely-piloted Air System (RPAS) operations in 2004, with No. 1115 Flight carrying out missions in Afghanistan and Iraq with the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator . Initially embedded with
3690-698: The Allied strategic bombing effort. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government's foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security". The RAF describes its mission statement as "... [to provide] an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person,
Geoffrey Prime - Misplaced Pages Continue
3780-443: The Battle of Britain contributed significantly to the delay and subsequent indefinite postponement of Operation Sea Lion , Hitler's plans for an invasion of the UK. In the House of Commons on 20 August, prompted by the ongoing efforts of the RAF, Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a speech to the nation, where he said " Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" . The largest RAF effort during
3870-504: The Berlin Blockade take place. As part of Operation Pitting , the RAF helped evacuate over 15,000 people in two weeks. Between April and May 2023, the RAF helped evacuate over 2,300 people from Sudan due to the 2023 Sudan conflict as part of Operation Polarbear . In April 2024, Typhoon FGR4s operating from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, engaged and destroyed Iranian drones over Iraqi and Syrian airspace during Iran's strikes against Israel . The professional head and highest-ranking officer of
3960-445: The British secret agencies. Prime started at the LPG in late 1968; he was part of a new group of entrants to LPG, recruited to replace older employees who joined during the Second World War. In the mid-1970s, LPG moved to Cheltenham , the home of GCHQ, with Prime moving there in March 1976. He was part of the J30 section of J Division 'Special SIGINT' at GCHQ, which dealt with Soviet intelligence, and one of three officers with access to
4050-507: The Houses of Parliament, Conservative MP and Minister of State for the Armed Forces , Andrew Robathan , announced that the RAF's QRA force had been scrambled almost thirty times in the last three years: eleven times during 2010, ten times during 2011 and eight times during 2012. RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire and RAF Lossiemouth in Moray both provide QRA aircraft, and scramble their Typhoons within minutes to meet or intercept aircraft which give cause for concern. Lossiemouth generally covers
4140-515: The KGB between his 1977 resignation and his 1982 arrest, given that he still had espionage equipment at the time of his arrest and that he possessed an internal GCHQ report that had been published in the weeks before his arrest. In April 1980, Prime was contacted by the KGB, who invited him to Vienna, from where they went on a short river cruise. The KGB tried to persuade him to rejoin the GCHQ, but he refused. Before his departure from GCHQ, he had copied over 500 secret documents, and he subsequently gave
4230-483: The KGB fifteen reels of film in Vienna in May 1980, for which he was paid £600, and gave them their last material in November 1981. For the 1981 material, he was paid £4,000, signifying the importance of the material. The 1981 material was later described as most damaging of all by the head of GCHQ's Security Division. In 1975, Prime had access to details of the British decryption efforts of Soviet communications, including their successes and failures. Prime had been given
4320-412: The Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher denied knowing of Prime's membership of the group in response to a written question from Geoffrey Dickens MP. On 10 November 1982 Prime pleaded guilty to seven espionage counts, and three counts of sex offences against children . His sex offences included indecently assaulting three girls aged 11 to 14. He was sentenced by Lord Lane , the Lord Chief Justice , to
4410-668: The Prime affair until after his trial, which was conducted in secret session. In 1983 Prime applied unsuccessfully to get his sentence reduced. In rejecting his appeal Lord Justice Lawton told Prime that "In a time of war such conduct would have merited the death penalty." Prime was released from HM Prison Rochester in March 2001, after serving half of his sentence, and placed on the Sex Offender Register . Prime would have been freed automatically in 2007 after two-thirds of his sentence had been served, but at that time prisoners were often released on licence having served half their sentence, if for example, they showed remorse for having committed
4500-421: The RAF as being "leading-edge" in terms of technology. This largely consists of fixed-wing aircraft, including those in the following roles: fighter and strike , airborne early warning and control , intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR), signals intelligence (SIGINT), maritime patrol, air-to-air refueling (AAR) and strategic & tactical transport . The majority of
4590-508: The RAF is delegated by the Air Force Board to Headquarters Air Command , based at RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire . Air Command was formed on 1 April 2007 by combining RAF Strike Command and RAF Personnel and Training Command , resulting in a single command covering the whole RAF, led by the Chief of the Air Staff. Through its subordinate groups , Air Command oversees the whole spectrum of RAF aircraft and operations. United Kingdom Space Command (UKSC), established 1 April 2021 under
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#17332713964224680-408: The RAF operated alongside the Fleet Air Arm . During the war, RAF aircraft were deployed in the mid-Atlantic at RAF Ascension Island and a detachment from No. 1 Squadron was deployed with the Royal Navy, operating from the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes . RAF pilots also flew missions using the Royal Navy's Sea Harriers in the air-to-air combat role, in particular Flight Lieutenant Dave Morgan
4770-546: The RAF's intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities. It oversees stations at RAF Coningsby and RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and RAF Marham in Norfolk. The group's Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 aircraft protect UK and NATO airspace by providing a continuous Quick Reaction Alert capability. No. 2 Group controls the Air Mobility Force which provides strategic and tactical airlift , air-to-air refuelling and command support air transport (CSAT). The group
4860-427: The RAF's rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Aviation Command in support of ground forces. Most of the RAF's aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on global operations (principally over Iraq and Syria ) or at long-established overseas bases ( Ascension Island , Cyprus , Gibraltar , and the Falkland Islands ). Although the RAF is the principal British air power arm,
4950-401: The Royal Air Force is the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS). He reports to the Chief of the Defence Staff , who is the professional head of the British Armed Forces . The incumbent Chief of the Air Staff is Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton who was appointed in 2023. The management of the RAF is the responsibility of the Air Force Board , a sub-committee of the Defence Council which
5040-478: The Second World War. Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed " Article XV squadrons " for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from these countries, and exiles from occupied Europe , also served with RAF squadrons. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, similarly, approximately
5130-423: The Suez Crisis, when an English Electric Canberra PR7 was shot down over Syria . In 1957, the RAF participated heavily during the Jebel Akhdar War in Oman, operating both de Havilland Venom and Avro Shackleton aircraft. The RAF made 1,635 raids, dropping 1,094 tons and firing 900 rockets at the interior of Oman between July and December 1958, targeting insurgents, mountain top villages and water channels in
5220-421: The United States and works in close cooperation with the U.S. Air Force in the development of the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning . No. 80 Squadron is part of the Australia, Canada and United Kingdom Reprogramming Laboratory (ACURL) at Eglin Air Force Base , Florida, and is tasked with compiling and testing the Mission Data File Sets (MDFS) for the F-35. No. 84 Squadron is located at RAF Akrotiri, operating
5310-578: The Vale of Glamorgan, RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall and RAF Valley on Anglesey. The No. 22 Group also manages the Royal Air Force Air Cadets . An RAF station is ordinarily subordinate to a group and is commanded by a group captain . Each station typically hosts several flying and non-flying squadrons or units which are supported by administrative and support wings. Front-line flying operations are focused at eight stations: Flying training takes places at RAF Barkston Heath , RAF College Cranwell , RAF Shawbury and RAF Valley , each forming part of
5400-581: The activity of intelligence assessment . This includes general topics or techniques ( dead drops , for example), or the specific techniques of a nation or organization (the particular form of encryption (encoding) used by the National Security Agency , for example). In the books of such spy novelists as Ian Fleming , John le Carré and Tom Clancy , characters frequently engage in tradecraft, e.g. making or retrieving items from "dead drops", "dry cleaning", and wiring, using, or sweeping for intelligence gathering devices, such as cameras or microphones hidden in
5490-439: The air force's V bomber fleet. These were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs , later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile . Following the development of the Royal Navy's Polaris submarines , the strategic nuclear deterrent passed to the navy's submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAF's strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one, using WE.177 gravity bombs. This tactical role
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#17332713964225580-494: The arrival of jet fighters and bombers. During the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the RAF was the Berlin Airlift , codenamed Operation Plainfire. Between 26 June 1948 and the lifting of the Russian blockade of the city on 12 May 1949, the RAF provided 17% of the total supplies delivered, using Avro Yorks , Douglas Dakotas flying to Gatow Airport and Short Sunderlands flying to Lake Havel. The RAF saw its first post-war engagements in
5670-440: The assaults to police the next day, and was arrested, and his car and house searched. The police found the index cards and a briefcase that concealed spying equipment. Three weeks later, after discovering a large amount of espionage equipment in their house, Rhona contacted the police and told them of Prime's work for the Soviets. Prime was a member of the Paedophile Information Exchange , a pro-paedophilic activist group . In 1982
5760-414: The command of Air Vice-Marshal Paul Godfrey is a joint command, but sits "under the Royal Air Force." Godfrey is of equal rank to the commanders of 1, 2, 11, and 22 Groups. The new command has "responsibility for not just operations, but also generating, training and growing the force, and also owning the money and putting all the programmatic rigour into delivering new ..capabilities." UKSC headquarters
5850-584: The damage done by Prime (which was anyway very considerable) would have been even worse." Prime subsequently met his handlers abroad in Vienna (1969), Ireland (1970), Rome (1970) and Cyprus (1972). As he began his employment with GCHQ in England, Prime received Soviet radio messages at night and was informed of a dead letter drop in Esher, Surrey. At the drop, he found £400 and a note congratulating him. He used his Minox camera to photograph documents and sent them using microdots to East Berlin. Other dead letter drops used were in Abbey Wood in South-East London and
5940-463: The decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, and RAF Far East Air Force was disbanded on 31 October 1971. Despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period. In June 1948, the RAF commenced Operation Firedog against Malayan pro-independence fighters during the Malayan Emergency . Operations continued for the next 12 years until 1960 with aircraft flying out of RAF Tengah and RAF Butterworth . The RAF played
6030-569: The first hint of something abnormal, a controller has the option to put them on a higher level of alert, 'a call to cockpit'. In this scenario the pilot races to the hardened aircraft shelter and does everything short of starting his engines". On 4 October 2015, a final stand-down saw the end of more than 70 years of RAF Search and Rescue provision in the UK. The RAF and Royal Navy's Westland Sea King fleets, after over 30 years of service, were retired. A civilian contractor, Bristow Helicopters , took over responsibility for UK Search and Rescue, under
6120-402: The great bulk of the RAF's bombing campaign, mainly due to Harris, but it also developed precision bombing techniques for specific operations, such as the infamous "Dambusters" raid by No. 617 Squadron , or the Amiens prison raid known as Operation Jericho . Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, as technological advances in air warfare saw
6210-462: The highest scoring pilot of the war. Following a British victory, the RAF remained in the South Atlantic to provide air defence to the Falkland Islands, with the McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR2 based at RAF Mount Pleasant which was built in 1984. With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the RAF's focus returned to expeditionary air power . Since 1990, the RAF has been involved in several large-scale operations, including
6300-541: The interests of this country and its allies." The commission did not interview Prime about his activities. The report concluded that no evidence was found to "contradict Prime's statement that he acted alone", that he had an accomplice or that the Soviet Union had another mole within GCHQ. Weaknesses were found in security at GCHQ, with the security around photocopying facilities facing particular criticism. These security weaknesses at GCHQ had previously been exposed by whistleblower Jock Kane in 1973. The report also proposed
6390-567: The latest 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft was cancelled due to over spending and missing deadlines. Other reductions saw total manpower reduced by 5,000 personnel to a trained strength of 33,000 and the early retirement of the Joint Force Harrier aircraft, the BAE Harrier GR7/GR9 . In recent years, fighter aircraft on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) have been increasingly required to scramble in response to Russian Air Force aircraft approaching British airspace. On 24 January 2014, in
6480-647: The lists would lead to five GCHQ employees being demoted and losing their security clearances; none, however, were under pressure from the Soviet Union. MI5 believed that in 1977 Prime had been replaced as a Soviet mole in GCHQ by another spy of perhaps even greater importance and access. Prime met his first wife, Helena Organ, through a marriage bureau in August 1969. Helena found a large amount of money in their house in April 1973, and it
6570-431: The northern sector of UK airspace, while Coningsby covers the southern sector. Typhoon pilot Flight Lieutenant Noel Rees describes how QRA duty works. "At the start of the scaled QRA response, civilian air traffic controllers might see on their screens an aircraft behaving erratically, not responding to their radio calls, or note that it's transmitting a distress signal through its transponder. Rather than scramble Typhoons at
6660-473: The occasion on 10 July 2018 with a flypast over London consisting of 103 aircraft. Between March 2020 and 2022, the RAF assisted with the response efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom as part of Operation Rescript . This saw the service provide repatriation flights and aeromedical evacuations of COVID-19 patients, drivers and call-handlers to support ambulance services and medics to assist with
6750-512: The offences wherewith they had been convicted. Prime was debriefed by MI5 before his release, and was ordered to register with police wherever he lives. Prime's initial address was leaked to the media, and a second secret address was found. Prime's wife, Rhona, wrote a book in 1984 about the Prime affair, Time of Trial , but distanced herself from him during his imprisonment, and subsequently remarried. Detective Chief Inspector D.J. Cole, in charge of
6840-564: The officers' questioning. The Primes divorced in 1974. After moving to Cheltenham in 1976, Prime lived with a divorcée, Rhona Ratcliffe, who had three young children. They married in June 1977. Prime was respected by the children and treated them well. Following his resignation from GCHQ Prime sold wine and worked as a taxi driver for Cheltax Cheltenham. Prime's first marriage was not successful owing to his paedophilic interest in young girls, some of whom he kept notes on and telephoned. Prime constructed
6930-487: The physical defence and maintenance of sovereignty of the British Overseas Territories and enable the UK to conduct expeditionary military operations . Although command and oversight of the bases is provided by Strategic Command , the airfield elements are known as RAF stations. Four RAF squadrons are based overseas. No. 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron is based at Edwards Air Force Base , California, in
7020-465: The police investigation, wrote a book about the case after his retirement - Geoffrey Prime: The Imperfect Spy . Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force ( RAF ) is the air and space force of the United Kingdom , British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies . It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and
7110-419: The same aircraft type. Some schools operate with only one squadron, and have an overall training throughput which is relatively small; some, like No. 3 Flying Training School , have responsibility for all Elementary Flying Training (EFT) in the RAF, and all RAF aircrew will pass through its squadrons when they start their flying careers. No. 2 Flying Training School and No. 6 Flying Training School do not have
7200-534: The sheer amount of data obtained, the United States National Security Agency asked its UKUSA allies to help them interpret it. As well as Prime's espionage activities, two American spies who had been recruited by the KGB, John Anthony Walker and Christopher Boyce , also severely affected the SIGINT efforts of Western intelligence agencies. Prime's most damaging disclosure to the Soviet Union
7290-422: The staffing of hospitals, testing units and vaccination centres. Under Operation Broadshare , the RAF has also been involved with COVID-19 relief operations overseas, repatriating stranded nationals and delivering medical supplies and vaccines to British Overseas Territories and military installations. The UK's 20-year long operations in Afghanistan came to an end in August 2021, seeing the largest airlift since
7380-456: The use of invisible inks , one-time pads , and microdots . He was given a Minox camera to photograph sensitive documents and a briefcase with a hidden compartment. He was given the code name "Rowlands" and chose Austria as the location of all his future KGB meetings. It was not typical for agents such as Prime to have meetings abroad with the KGB. Agents would typically be assigned a local handler to accompany them, but his method of contacting
7470-555: The war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. While RAF bombing of Germany began almost immediately upon the outbreak of war at first it was ineffectual; it was only later, particularly under the leadership of Air Chief Marshal Harris , that these attacks became increasingly devastating, from early 1943 onward, as new technology and greater numbers of superior aircraft became available. The RAF adopted night-time area bombing on German cities such as Hamburg and Dresden . Night time area bombing constituted
7560-464: Was able to give a detailed description of Prime's distinctive car to police, who visited him the next day. The police identified the car in his driveway and noticed the similarity of him to an identikit photograph of the suspect. The police took Prime's fingerprints, and left without arresting him. That evening Prime told his wife, Rhona, of the police visit and confessed the nature of his sexual crimes, and his espionage activities to her. Prime admitted
7650-587: Was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by the Panavia Tornado GR1 . For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union , with many squadrons based in West Germany . The main RAF bases in RAF(G) were RAF Brüggen , RAF Gutersloh , RAF Laarbruch and RAF Wildenrath – the only air defence base in RAF(G). With
7740-476: Was paid £800 at this meeting. Following his resignation from GCHQ in 1976, he twice resolved to defect to the Soviet Union but did not carry it out. At one point in 1977, he went as far as buying a ticket to Helsinki to defect, but turned back en route to the airport. He no longer listened for KGB messages and ceased to be an agent to them following his GCHQ resignation. Intelligence historian James Rusbridger wrote that he believed that Prime never stopped working for
7830-523: Was posted to the signals intelligence unit at RAF Gatow in Berlin, where he worked as a wireless operator monitoring Russian voice transmissions. He was reappointed as a sergeant in May 1968. Prime was positively vetted and approved for security clearance in September 1968. His security clearance was subsequently reviewed in 1973, 1974, and 1976, being passed on each occasion. In November 1972, Prime consulted
7920-462: Was released from prison in 2001. Prime grew up in Staffordshire . After attending St. Joseph's College, Stoke-on-Trent , and having satisfactorily completed O-levels in languages, he became a junior wages clerk at a factory. In 1956, he was selected for national service in the Royal Air Force (RAF). Due to color blindness, he became a store man in the RAF. He was later sent to learn Russian at
8010-567: Was shocked by the poverty in Kenya and the racism of European settlers in the country, and what he perceived was the exploitation of Kenya by the British colonial authorities. While there, he listened to Communist radio broadcasts and started reading the Soviet Weekly magazine. Upon returning to Britain in 1962, he reapplied for language training, spending a year at RAF Tangmere in Tangmere, Sussex, and
8100-531: Was the revelation of 'Project Sambo', a programme designed to track the secret radio transmissions of Soviet submarines. In conjunction with SOSUS, a joint UKUSA undersea microphone project, and airborne maritime patrol craft fitted with sonar, the West tracked Soviet submarines. Following Prime's arrest and trial, the Security Commission was charged to investigate any breaches of security that may have occurred as
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