British Forces Cyprus

Dhekelia Garrison

Following the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, the UK retained two Sovereign Base Areas in Akrotiri and Dhekelia and an RAF air marshal was appointed as the Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas.[1] The Treaty of Establishment also provided British access to 40 'retained sites' in the republic of Cyprus; these included numerous radar stations, several ports, a range of accommodation and support facilities and a firing range.[2] The following year the British Forces Near East organization was created, the command of which was then held concurrently with that of the post of Administrator.[3] On 1 March 1961 the Southern Group of Middle East Air Force became Near East Air Force and was based in Cyprus. By 1962 the title British Forces in Cyprus was in official use.[4] British Forces Cyprus retains the right to use 13 retained sites with the remaining 27 having been returned to Cyprus after the Ministry of Defence no longer required them. The most recent sites to be returned were the Berengaria Married Quarters in 2011 because they had become obsolete and the firing range on the Akamas peninsula in 1999-2001 because the area's training value was deemed less important than the environmental damage inflicted on an ecologically important area and the consequent political liability to British Forces Cyprus.[5][6][7][8]

UK Sovereign Base Areas (pink)

Episkopi is the current command centre of British Forces Cyprus. The commander of the Sovereign Base Areas/British Forces Cyprus (CBF) is a two-star appointment, alternating every three years between the Army and the RAF. Consequently, the Chief of Staff British Forces Cyprus (COS) is a one-star appointment from the opposite service of the commander. Episkopi Cantonment is home to the Sovereign Base Areas Administration, the civilian authority in the territory.[2]

July 2020 organisation of British Forces Cyprus.

Within British Forces Cyprus are a number of permanently based units; however, the large proportion of British forces in Cyprus are rotated between Cyprus and the UK:

• Permanent Units
  • HQ, British Forces Cyprus
  • Joint Service Signal Unit (Cyprus)[9] (Ayios Nikolaos Station)
    • Regimental Headquarters
    • 234 Signal Squadron
    • 840 Signal Squadron RAF
    • Engineering Squadron
    • Support Squadron
  • Cyprus Communications Unit, (an amalgamation of 12 Signals Unit RAF & 259 Signal Squadron, Royal Signals)
  • Cyprus Operations Support Unit
    • Military Transport Squadron
    • Joint Movement Squadron
    • Joint Engineer Squadron
    • Air Operations Squadron
  • No 84 Squadron, RAF
  • Resident infantry battalions — two light role infantry battalions, one at Dhekelia and one at Episkopi, are permanently based on the island; the battalions are usually rotated every two years.
    • 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires)
    • 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcesters & Foresters, and Staffords)
  • Cyprus Military Working Dog Troop, Episkopi
  • Cyprus Joint Police Unit (CJPU), a Tri-Service Military Police Unit consisting of Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and RAF Police.
    • HQ CJPU — Episkopi
    • 1 Platoon CJPU — Dhekelia
    • 2 Platoon CJPU — Episkopi
    • 3 Platoon CJPU — Akrotiri (closed 2003)
    • SIB Cyprus
    • ESBA Section SIB
• Civilian Components
  • Sovereign Base Areas Customs
  • Sovereign Base Areas Police
  • Security Force Police
• Public Health and Environmental Health Services
  • Joint Services Health Unit
    • HQ Akrotiri
    • No. 1 detachment RAF Akrotiri
    • No. 2 detachment Episkopi
    • No. 4 detachment Dhekelia

The Queen's and King's Divisions continue to rotate battalions through Cyprus every three years.[10]

The following officers have been in command of British Forces Cyprus:[11]

General Officer Commanding Cyprus District

• 18 March 1955 — Major-General Abdy Ricketts[12]
• 19 October 1956 — Major-General Douglas Kendrew[13]
• 11 October 1958 — Major-General Kenneth Darling[14]

Commander, British Forces Cyprus

• 16 August 1960 — Air Marshal Sir William MacDonald[15] (Administrator from 1960, also Commander British Forces Near East from 1961)
• 16 July 1962 — Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Barnett[16]
• 25 September 1964 — Air Marshal T O Prickett[17]
• 21 November 1966 — Air Marshal E G Jones[18]
• 6 May 1969 — Air Marshal D G Smallwood[19]
• 2 July 1970 — Air Marshal W D Hodgkinson[20]
• 25 June 1973 — Air Marshal Sir John Aiken[21]
• 1 April 1976 — Air Vice-Marshal R D Austen-Smith[22]
• 28 April 1978 — Major-General W R Taylor[23]
• 3 October 1980 — Air Vice-Marshal R L Davis
• 31 March 1983 — Major-General Sir Desmond Langley[24]
• 29 October 1985 — Air Vice-Marshal K W Hayr[25]
• 21 April 1988 — Major-General J P W Friedberger[26]
• 1990 — Air Vice-Marshal A F C Hunter
• 25 March 1993 — Major-General A G H Harley
• 17 February 1995 — Air Vice-Marshal P Millar
• 16 January 1998 — Major-General A I Ramsay[27]
• 5 September 2000 — Air Vice-Marshal T W Rimmer
• 5 September 2003 — Major-General P T C Pearson
• 26 April 2006 — Air Vice-Marshal R H Lacey
• 16 October 2008 — Major-General J H Gordon[28]
• 4 November 2010 — Air Vice-Marshal G E Stacey[29]
• 3 January 2012 — Major-General R Cripwell[30]
• 20 January 2015 — Air Vice-Marshal M Wigston[31]
• February 2017 — Major-General James Illingworth[32]
• 25 September 2019 - Major-General Robert Thomson[33]

Operation TOSCA is the name given to the British contribution to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The British Contingent (BRITCON) numbers 278, and consists of three distinct parts:

• HQ BRITCON — responsible for the administration and support of the British Contingent.
• Force Military Police Unit — the FMPU is commanded by a major of the Royal Military Police, with seven other members of the RMP as part of the multi-national unit.
• UN Roulement Regiment — the URR has responsibility for patrolling Sector 2 of the Green Line in Nicosia.

The URR is drawn from across the Field Army, and will not necessarily be a specialist combat unit (infantry or cavalry), or even part of the Regular Army, as, since 2008, units of the Territorial Army / Army Reserve have undertaken deployments to the Green Line.[34][35][36]

One of the roles of the support units of BFC is to assist as needed the British units deployed with UNFICYP, which are not part of BFC, but are instead under the direct command of the United Nations.

• Cyprus
• Cyprus Seven Trial
• Episkopi Cantonment
• Sovereign Base Areas
• List of British Army installations

• British Army deployment Cyprus
• Permanent Joint HQ Overseas Bases Cyprus