Historic
15 Wing Transport and Communication
It was on February 01, 1948 that the Chief of Staff, General Lucien Leboutte decided of the creation of the 15 Wing Transport and Communication. This Wing included the 20 and 21 Squadron, former 366 and 367 Squadron from the 169 Wing. But the origins goes back to 1944, when the British Air Ministry decided to withdraw all Her Majesty pilots from the 525 Squadron, which in terms became exclusively a Belgian squadron. During April 1946, 525 Squadron was established definitively in Belgium at the airport of Evere, followed by the 'Belgian Flight of Metropolitan Communication Squadron' from hendon.
These two units were to from the 169 Wing still headed by the Royal Air Force. The 366 Squadron was equipped with with 5 C-47 Dakota, where as the 367 Squadron flew 9 Avro Anson, 6 Airspeed Oxford, 4 DH89 Dominie and 3 Percival Proctor. The 366 Squadron was to enlarge its fleet by one C-47 Dakota a week, chosen between the surplus of the USAF stock at Furstenfelbruck.
In 1947 the inventory of the 169 Wing recorded also 3 Hawker Hurricane used mainly for fast liaison- or meteorogical reconnaissance flights. Also to be said is that one of the other missions entrusted to the 169 Wing was the transport of VIP (Very Important Persons). After the war, the Belgian Prince Regent flew back to Belgium aboard one of these C-47 Dakota.
Melsbroek in 1955
Now back to the 15 Wing.
In 1950, the Wing left Evere to be established definitively at Melsbroek (military part of the airport of Brussels National). 1950 was also marked by the acquisition of 2 C-54 Skymaster (DC-4) which were used for flights to the Belgian colonies in Congo.
As the acquisition of a tactical military aircraft was a necessity, the choice fell on the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar and October 07, 1952 saw the inaugural flight in Belgian colors.
The C-119 was undoubtedly the speerhead of the 15 Wing during those early years. However, one need to know that delivery of these aircraft took place in several stages: 18 C-119F, 22 C-119G and finaly 6 more G-types in 1958 totalling 46 airplanes.
These 46 planes were never used simultaneously as cut-saving plans already existed in 1954. 18 F-type aircraft were resold : 8 to Norway and 10 to the USAF. Regarding the number of aircraft left a third squadron was integrated into the 15 Wing, the 40 Squadron (Green Sioux), but, due to the cut-savings, lasted only for a short period of time - from November 01, 1954 till April 30, 1955.
1953 saw the 21 Squadron modernising its inventory. 12 Percival Pembroke are ordered to replace all the aging planes, except for the DC-4. These last ones were replaced in 1960 by 2 DC-6A (ex-USAF) and 2 DC-6B (ex-Sabena).
Melsbroek in 2002
1960 was also the year of the independence of Congo and the aircraft and crew from the 15 Wing were to live hard times. Missions flown were mainly transport of troops and the evacuation of Belgian colonial residents. As the demand for aerial transport was increasing, the 40 Squadron was reinitiated on December 01, 1960 and stayed operational untill the retirement of the C-119G in 1972.
During the 60's, the 21 Squadron became the Royal Transport Squadron and it was aboard aircraft of this squadron that King Baudouin 1 flew numbers of his official visits.
With the arrival of the C-130H Hercules in 1972, the 15 Wing underwent a drastic reorganisation. These 12 C-130H replaced about 30 C-119 and so the personnel involved was also reduced.
Loading Material drop Para drop
1976 saw the last withdrawal of the trusted "DAK" but also of the Pembroke and DC-6 from the 21 Squadron. This squadron is then equipped with 2 Falcon 20E, 6 Fairchild Swearingen Merlin III, 3 Hawker Siddeley HS748 and 2 Boeing B727-29qc acquired from Sabena.
The C-130H Hercules were also to boost the humanitary missions of the 20 Squadron. Everyone recalls the deployements in the Sahel desert, in Angola, Guatemala, Somalia, etc... These aircraft lived also hard times in 1978 during operation 'Red Bean' with the dramatic events in Kolwezi (Shaba).
Nairobi (Kenya) in 1994 : evacuation of Belgian people during the even,ts in Rwanda. Other C-130's are involved (© Guy Liesse)
The 21 Squadron was again to modernise its fleet at the beginning of 2000. The HS748 Merlin III were abandoned in favour of the Brasilian Embraer ERJ135 and ERJ145. The Falcon 20E were upgraded, a Falcon 900D was added tot the inventory and the 2 Boeing 727 were replaced by two Airbus A310 bought from Singapore Airlines.
In 60 years, the 15 Wing made its path distinguishing itself during critical missions wherever needed in the world, but also during exercises like f.e. 'Airlift Rodeo'.
It is quite difficult to emphasize the complete story of the Belgian 'Sioux' so if you are realy interested in this rich history do not miss the splendid publication recalling those 60 years and which will be on sale at the open door !
The catchword of the 15 Wing demonstrates the spirit of its personnel, past, present and to come : TENACITY !
| Fleet 1946 - 2008 | ||
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Percival P.31C Protor 4 P1 to P6 1947 - 1954 |
Avro Anson C.1 NA1 to NA13 1947 - 1955 |
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Avro Anson C.12 NB1 to NB2 1946 - 1953 |
Airspeed AS.40 Oxford O1 to O42 1948 - 1959 |
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De Havilland DH.89A Dominie C.1 D1 to D7 1946 - 1955 |
De Havilland DH.104 Dove D10 to D22 1950 - 1960 |
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De Havilland DH.114 Heron OT-CGG 1950 - 1960 |
Douglas C-47B Dakota K1 to K41 1946 - 1976 |
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Douglas C-54A / DC-4 Skymaster KX1 to KX2 1950 - 1971 |
Douglas DC-6A / C KY1 to KY4 1958 - 1976 |
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Fairchild C-119F Flying Boxcar CP1 to CP18 1952 - 1956 |
Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar CP9 to CP46 1953 - 1973 |
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Aero Commander 560F OT-CWB 1961 - 1973 |
Percival P.66 Pembroke C.51 RM1 to RM12 1954 - 1976 |
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Lockheed C-130H Hercules CH01 to CH12 awaiting CH14 1972 - Active |
Boeing B727-29QC CB01 to CB02 1976 - 1998 |
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Dassault Falcon (Mystère) 20E CM01 to CM02 1973 - Active |
Hawker Siddeley HS.748-288 Srs.2 CS01 to CS03 1976 - 2002 |
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Fairchild-Swearingen Merlin IIIA CF01 to CF06 1976 - 2001 |
Dassault Falcon 900D CD01 1995 - Active |
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Airbus A310-200 CA01 to CA02 1997 - Active |
Embraer ERJ-135 CE01 to CE02 2001 - Active |
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Embraer ERJ-145 CE03 to CE04 2001 - Active |
Airbus Military A400M CT01 to CT07 ? Forseen between 2015 - 2020 |
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 Click on the affiche to get the open door infos |
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