No. 658 Squadron AAC

No. 658 Squadron traces its lineage to the Royal Air Force No. 658 Squadron formed in April 1943 and disbanded in November 1955.[8]

No. 658 Squadron AAC was formed on 24 October 1969 at Minden as part of the 1 Division Aviation Squadron AAC.[9][10] In 1978, squadron moved to Soest as part of 4 Regiment AAC and disbanded.[9] The squadron reformed c. 1982 as part of 7 Regiment AAC based at Airfield Camp, Netheravon.[9] In April 1995, the squadron became a Territorial Army unit part of 7 Regiment AAC (Volunteers).[9]

On 1 April 2009, the squadron was disbanded at Netheravon.[1]

8 Flight traces it lineage to the Royal Air Force No. 1908 AOP Flight formed on 31 December 1946, disbanded on 7 October 1955 and later reformed on 16 October that year.[11]

Westland Scout XR628 of 8 Flight deployed to RAF Habilayn in 1967.

On 1 September 1957, 8 Flight AAC was formed as 8 Reconnaissance Flight with the transfer of No. 1908 AOP Flight based at RAF Idris in Libya to the newly formed Army Air Corps.[11] The flight relocated to Kenya where it was re-designated as 8 Flight AAC.[12][13] The flight subsequently relocated to Aden operating the Westland Scout helicopter.[13][14] The flight later deployed to Northern Ireland operating the Scout and Bell Sioux helicopters.[15] In 1979, the flight was based at Airfield Camp, Netheravon.[16] In 1984, the Agusta A109A/AM helicopter entered service with the flight.[17][18] In 1984, the flight was part of 7 Regiment AAC.[19][18] The flight operated a fleet of four A109As in civilian livery, two of which were captured from the Argentine forces in the Falklands War and allocated to the flight.[20][21] In 1995, 7 Regiment re-roled as a Territorial Army unit 7 Regiment AAC (V).[19] In 2000, the flight relocated to Stirling Lines.[13]

In 2001, the flight was incorporated into the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing (JSFAW).[7] The flight operated the Westland Gazelle AH1 helicopter c. 2007.[22][23] In 2009, the flight converted from the A109A to four Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin helicopters in civilian livery.[24][25] The flight operated the Gazelle AH1 c. 2012.[26]

The squadron provides dedicated aviation support to 22 SAS with domestic CT operations[2] based at Stirling Lines.[3] The helicopters have been filmed taking part in fast-roping exercises.[28][29]

Just after midnight on 4 June 2017, the squadron landed a Dauphin on London Bridge to provide support to the Metropolitan Police Service in response to the London Bridge terrorist attack.[30] On 21 December 2018, a Dauphin helicopter was forward-deployed in the early stages of Operation Buckthorn.[31]