Operation Granby Colours

The RAF aircraft that took part in Operation Granby wore very different schemes to those normally employed in service. The Jaguar, Buccaneer and Tornado strike aircraft were given an overall coat of "Desert Sand", as were many of the Chinook, Puma and Hercules support aircraft. Additionally, several Chinooks were given a mottle of black stripes for night special operations. The Nimrods, Victors and VC10s remained in their overall "Hemp" schemes, but several of the Tristar tankers were given a coat of "Desert Sand" on thier fuselages. In addition, many of the in theatre aircraft began to sport nose art from the earliest days of the conflict. These pages contain a selection of these colours and markings.

Please note - Some (in fact much) of the nose art carried by RAF aircraft during Operation Granby can be termed as "risque". If you are easily offended, please be warned!!

To view representative colour schemes of each type, simply click on the aircraft below.

Strike Aircraft

Buccaneer

The Bucaneers in theatre came from No 12 and 208 Squadrons and 237 OCU

Jaguar

The Jaguars in theatre came from No 6, 41 and 54 Squadrons

Tornado GR1 and 1a

The Strike and Reconnaisance Tornados in theatre came from No II(AC), IX, 13, 14, XV, 16, 17, 27, 31 and 617 Squadrons

Fighter Aircraft

Tornado F3

The Tornado F3s in theatre came from No 5, XI, 29 and 43 Squadrons

Maritime Patrol

Nimrod

The detached Nimrods in theatre came from all of the Kinloss based Squadrons

Tankers and Transports

Hercules

The Hercules in theatre came from No 24, 30, 47, 57, and 70 Squadrons and 242 OCU

VC10

The VC10s in theatre came from No 101 Squadron

Victor

The Victor K2s in theatre came from No 55 Squadron

Tristar

The Tristars in theatre came from No 216 Squadron

Support Helicopters

Chinook

The Chinooks in theatre came from No 7 and 18 Squadrons

Puma

The Pumas in theatre came from No 33 and 230 Squadrons

[ Air Power | Day by Day | Background | Commanders ]
[ Squadrons | Galleries | Colours | Honours | Bases ]

[ Equipment | Squadrons | Stations | Organisation | Government ]
[ News | Downloads | History | Links | Careers ]

[ Home ]

© Crown Copyright 2003 and © Deltaweb International Ltd 2003