We Fly the Line: The AAC in Cyprus, 1957-1994 - 23 September 2024
When the Army Air Corps (AAC) was established on 1st September 1957, it immediately inherited three live operations; the Malayan Emergency, operations to counter the IRA's Border Campaign and the Cyprus Emergency. The latter was a response to ethnic and nationalist unrest between the Greek and Turkish populations in Cyprus. Although the Emergency came to an end in 1959 violence quickly resurfaced between the two communities resulting in United Nations intervention in 1964. A buffer zone, the 'Green Line' was established to separate Greek from Turk and the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) was created to keep the peace. The AAC provided UNFICYP's aviation capability from the very start and had a grand stand view when Turkish forces invaded the north of Cyprus in 1974. The AAC maintained aviation support in difficult and often dangerous conditions for another 20 years. The AAC's contribution to British Forces Cyprus continued until 2003 ensuring that more than one generation of AAC soldiers had the opportunity to live, work and fly on the island.
To explain the AAC's role and experience in Cyprus former AAC officer and Gazelle pilot, Dr John Greenacre, uses the detailed research and copious interviews and personal accounts he has compiled while co-writing the new AAC operational history.
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When the Army Air Corps (AAC) was established on 1st September 1957, it immediately inherited three live operations; the Malayan Emergency, operations to counter the IRA's Border Campaign and the Cyprus Emergency. The latter was a response to ethnic and nationalist unrest between the Greek and Turkish populations in Cyprus. Although the Emergency came to an end in 1959 violence quickly resurfaced between the two communities resulting in United Nations intervention in 1964. A buffer zone, the 'Green Line' was established to separate Greek from Turk and the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) was created to keep the peace. The AAC provided UNFICYP's aviation capability from the very start and had a grand stand view when Turkish forces invaded the north of Cyprus in 1974. The AAC maintained aviation support in difficult and often dangerous conditions for another 20 years. The AAC's contribution to British Forces Cyprus continued until 2003 ensuring that more than one generation of AAC soldiers had the opportunity to live, work and fly on the island.
To explain the AAC's role and experience in Cyprus former AAC officer and Gazelle pilot, Dr John Greenacre, uses the detailed research and copious interviews and personal accounts he has compiled while co-writing the new AAC operational history.
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