STEVEN TAYLOR RELATES 72 SQUADRON’S THREE DECADES OF OPERATIONS AT THE ‘SHARP END’ IN NORTHERN IRELAND
100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
72 SQUADRON
On June 14, 1969 a trio of Westland Wessex HC.2 helicopters of 72 Squadron touched down briefly at Ballykelly, before travelling the short distance to Aldergrove, Belfast. At this early stage of what came to be known as ‘The Troubles’, nobody in the RAF could have envisaged that the unit would remain in Northern Ireland for the next 33 years.
The Wessex had positioned from Odiham, Hampshire, and they were followed by four more three days later. Under the command of Wg Cdr Peter Wilson, the seven formed the Support Helicopter Detachment Northern Ireland (SHDNI).
Along with several Army Air Corps (AAC) Westland Sioux already stationed in Northern Ireland, mainly to carry out observation tasks, SHDNI was intended to support the hard-pressed security forces. They were struggling to deal with the inter-communal violence between nationalists and unionists that had been escalating.
In Northern Ireland the main tasks of the SHDNI Wessex were moving troops and officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), re-supplying isolated bases, casualty evacuation, and search and rescue.
