It was stationed at RAF Leeming, controlling the deployable subunits of the base (but not the flying squadrons).
It was activated on 1 April 2006 as part of a modernisation package to make the RAF more deployable on an expeditionary basis.
[4][5] From September 1944 until May 1945, still with 84 Group, moving forward in North West Europe, it included 33, 222, 274 (Typhoon) and 349 (Belgian) Squadrons with Spitfires.
[6] The wing was equipped with Hawker Tempests by the time the Allied forces were reaching the German borders in 1945.
Hubert Lange, a Me 262 pilot, said: "the Messerschmitt Me 262's most dangerous opponent was the British Hawker Tempest—extremely fast at low altitudes, highly manoeuvrable and heavily armed.
The aim was to attack jets on their landing approach, when they were at their most vulnerable, travelling slowly, with flaps down and incapable of rapid acceleration.
The German response was the construction of a "flak lane" of over 150 emplacements of the 20 mm Flakvierling quadruple autocannon batteries at Rheine-Hopsten to protect the approaches.
[10] As well as the anti-aircraft guns, several piston-engine fighter units based in the area were tasked to cover the jets as they landed.