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7 views

Chapter-1-History

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sevencuiwen
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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAF MOUNTAIN RESCUE SERVICE

Chapter 1

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE


RAF MOUNTAIN RESCUE SERVICE
During the early stages of the Second World War the discovery of an aircraft crash in the mountains
was often a matter of chance and the subsequent removal of casualties a difficult problem. Stations
near mountainous areas made their own arrangements for the organisation of search parties, and
used the most readily available equipment for their purposes. Early in 1942 one such party was
organised under the direction of Flight Lieutenant George Graham, the Station Medical Officer at
No. 9 Air Gunners School Llandwrog, North Wales. It soon became clear to him that the equipment
and personnel at his disposal were inadequate to deal with the number of aircraft crashes in the
mountainous Snowdonia area. Flight Lieutenant Graham adapted what equipment he could for
mountain rescue and trained selected volunteers from the station. By the end of 1943, 33 survivors
had been rescued from 22 crashes.

At this stage, Flying Training Command decided to inaugurate rescue units, under the direction of the
Senior Medical Officer, at three other stations within their Command, to co-ordinate the rescue work of
all units, supply special equipment, and supervise the training of volunteers. From this work evolved
the present RAF Mountain Rescue Service. Further recognition followed when it was decided to place
responsibility for the organisation of the Service with the Air Ministry. This responsibility first lay with
the Director of Flying Control and Rescue. His successor today is the Director of Air Offensive (MOD)
(RAF).

It was found that during 1943, despite the rescue efforts in some mountain areas, 571 aircrew lost
their lives in 220 crashes in other mountainous and upland districts in the UK. Home Command was
therefore invited to form Mountain Rescue Units and four more were inaugurated. The areas covered
by the Service were the North Wales mountains, the Northern and Western Grampians, South West
Scotland, the Pennine Chain and North Yorkshire Moors, the Lake District, and the South Wales hills.
From that time to this, the story is one of slow and sometimes painful development, of continual
changes in team personnel, and innumerable problems. However, the foundations of the Mountain
Rescue Service had been laid, and the experience, hard work and enthusiasm of the early pioneers
and those who have since passed through the various units and teams has stood the present day
service in good stead.

From small beginnings at RAF Llandwrog in North Wales, the RAF Mountain Rescue Service
expanded in the 50’s to include teams based in Cyprus, Hong Kong and the Middle East. However,
during the 70’s the Service reverted to being UK based only, as the final non-UK based team at
Akrotiri was disbanded in 1976. Despite this the MRS has still operated in numerous overseas
locations since including Borneo, Albania, and Alaska in order to recover aircraft and rescue military
personnel.

The 90’s saw a series of studies into the continued viability of the MRS, linked to the general
drawdown of the Services. In 1992 the post of Mountain Rescue Chief Instructor was created and in
1995 the Inspector of Land Rescue post was moved from MOD to Headquarters 3 Group at
Northwood, where it was re-titled Squadron Leader Mountain Rescue Service. A direct result of the
continued drawdown was the closure in 1996 of the MRT at Valley; leaving teams at Kinloss,
Leuchars, Leeming, Stafford and St Athan. This was followed in 1997 by the creation of two
Flight Commander Mountain Rescue Service posts to provide the MRS with a more conventional
management structure. This was then followed in January 2000 by the formation of the
MRS Headquarters Flight at Stafford.

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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAF MOUNTAIN RESCUE SERVICE
In Dec 2004, further planned reductions to the RAF’s core manpower and the long-term
future of the Search And Rescue Force led to the rebrigading of the MRS. Teams at RAF
Stafford and RAF St Athan were closed and RAF Valley MRT was re-opened. The Squadron Leader
was relocated to Valley and became OC MRS. The Flight Commanders posts were also relocated to
Valley to manage Operations and Logistics. Flt Cdr(Ops) would command all the permanent staff with
Flt Cdr (Logs) managing the MRS HQ Flight. The new look Training and Standards Cell would consist
of the MRS Chief Instructor, the MRS Assistant Chief Instructor and two training JNCO’s. The overall
management of the MRS would now be directly through the SAR Force Commander.

In the early years many of the teams were not trained for difficult rescues on rock faces, the nucleus of
a team consisted of fell and hill walkers, rather than climbers and mountaineers. Experience showed,
however, that a practical knowledge of mountaineering was essential if teams were to function
efficiently. As a result, the development of individual rock, snow and ice climbing skills has been
actively encouraged over the years with numerous training courses being held. This is reflected
by a steady increase in technical climbing ability and members of the RAF MRS now rank amongst
the most proficient of Service mountaineers. This was demonstrated in 2001, when
Flight Sergeant ‘Dan’ Carroll and Corporal ‘Rusty’ Bale reached the summit of Everest by its
North Ridge during the MRS millennium expedition.

Over the years, the co-operation of civilian rescue organisations has proved invaluable to the
RAF Mountain Rescue Service and many strong bonds have been formed. Liaison and joint
operations with these organisations, coupled with an ongoing programme of training and exercises
throughout the world will continue to enhance the efficiency of the RAF MRS and we can look towards
the 21st century as an effective and integral part of the UK Search and Rescue Organisation.

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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAF MOUNTAIN RESCUE SERVICE

ABOVE: Flt Lt George Graham (right) instructing a stretcher lowering practice circa 1943

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