RAF Search and Rescue Force
Combat SAR begun during the Battle of Britain, with British and German seaplanes, such as the Heinkel He 59B-2 and the Supermarine Walrus landing on the sea to pick up downed aircrew. Additional types of aircraft would seek out downed aircrew or ship survivors and drop lifeboats, liferafts and survival equipment to them until an amphibian or surface vessel could arrive to pick them up.
The first RAF ASR squadrons were 269, 275, 276, 277, 278, 281 and 282 Squadrons, with 283, 284, 293 and 294 forming in the Middle East. No.277 was one of the most successfully squadron, being credited with 598 aircrew personnel rescued during the war. These ASR squadrons were backed up by RAF ASR launches of The Marine Branch. By 1944, rescue aircraft were carrying radar and could identify dinghies at longer ranges and in poorer weather than the human eye.
In the Pacific, Walrus ASR aircraft also operated with the British Pacific Fleet, retrieving downed aircrew. A task which was later taken over by the Sea Otter and the Catalina which formed the backbone of the RAF coastal Command ASR squadrons along with the Short Sunderland. Consolidated B-24 Liberators and Lockheed Hudsons also served in the ASR role.
The helicopter entered service in May 1944, with the US 1st Air Commando Group in Burma, assigned to the 10th Air Jungle Rescue Detachment in Burma. The Westland Dragonfly was first deployed in Operations in Malaya as a reconnaissance, medical evacuation and ASR helicopter. The Dragonfly served during the Korean War and American helicopters were stationed aboard Royal Navy aircraft carriers during this conflict for ASR work.
The RAF helicopters services developed alongside the Royal Navy ones, developing into the specialised Search Air and Rescue services serving the UKs' highlands and the busy waters around the UK in the SAR capacity. Since the Falklands War, the RAF has also maintained an SAR detachment in the Falkland Islands.
The RAF SAR helicopters are traditionally painted in yellow, the first were Bristol Sycamores which entered service for Search and Rescue duties in 1955, followed by the Westland Whirlwind, then the Westland Wessex, superseded by the Sea King and due to be succeeded by a new SAR vehicle, either bought outright or possibly as part of a PFI deal. The RAF's SAR Training Unit is currently situated at RAF Valley. The RAF's primary SAR squadrons are Nos. 22 and 202 squadrons, with No.22 spread around the country in flights. Their primary role being to provide assistance to aircrew in trouble, but the majority of their call-outs are to save civilian lives, including rescuing stranded mountaineers, pulling casualties from floundering vessels or evacuating emergency medical cases to the mainland from ships or off-shore islands and installations.
RAF Mountain Rescue Teams
RAF Marine Branch
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