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.[2] 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.[3] In March of the following year British Forces Near East was created, the command of which was then held concurrently with that of the post of Administrator.[4]
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.[5] In 1976, as part of a Foreign and Commonwealth Office brief in preparation for the visit of the CENTO Secretary-General to the UK, it was recorded that:
..two Vulcan medium bomber squadrons, one Lightning all-weather fighter squadron, one Hercules transport squadron and one Whirlwind helicopter squadron were stationed on the island. It would be very difficult to relocate these forces and their training facilities to a base in a CENTO member state since an agreement would have to be negotiated. Besides, the United Kingdom would also have to pay the host nation for facilities granted. The sites in Cyprus were guarded by one infantry battalion, defended by a Bloodhound anti-aircraft missile squadron and one armoured car squadron. In fact, the Vulcans based at Akrotiri were ‘the only declared nuclear force in CENTO’ and the island played a unique part in the capacity of the air route of CENTO for the transfer of forces east of Suez in times of war. The radar sites and the fighter squadron were considered an extension of the NATO air defence system."[6]
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. Its 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.[7][8][9][10]
Force structure
UK Sovereign Base Areas (pink)
Episkopi is the current location of Headquarters British Forces Cyprus. Commander British Forces Cyprus (CBF) and Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas is a two-star appointment, alternating every three years between a British Army major-general and a Royal Air Force air vice-marshal. Consequently, the Chief of Staff British Forces Cyprus (COS) is a one-star appointment from the opposite service of the commander.
July 2020 organisation of British Forces Cyprus.Atlas pallet loader of Joint Movement Squadron at Akrotiri
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:
Resident infantry battalions — usually two light role infantry battalions, one at Dhekelia and one at Episkopi, are permanently based on the island; the battalions are usually rotated every 1-2 years.
25 September 1964 — Air Marshal T O Prickett; Air Vice-Marshal T O Prickett CB, DSO, DFC, was "appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Near East Air Force and Commander, British Forces in Cyprus, with the acting rank of Air Marshal in succession to" Air Chief Marshal Barnett, 25 Sept 1964.[20]
21 November 1966 — Air Marshal E G Jones "appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Near East Air Force and Commander, British Forces in Cyprus, with the acting rank of Air Marshal in succession to Air Marshal Sir Thomas Prickett"[21]
25 June 1973 — Air Marshal Sir John Aiken as Commander, British Forces Near East and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Near East Air Force[24] Still Commander British Forces Near East in 1974.[25]
Operation TOSCA is the name given to the British contribution to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The British Contingent (BRITCON) numbers between 200 and 300, 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.[39][40][41]
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.
Units
Listed is the unit that provided the Regimental Headquarters and the bulk of the troops. Often soldiers from a number of Territorial Army units would also deploy as part of the force.
In addition to the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, 1960 Treaty of Establishment between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Cyprus granted the UK the right to permanently make use of 40 further sites on the island for military purposes.[106][107]
The accommodation is used by BFC, visiting troops and youth services in support of adventurous training. Site also contains married-quarters, NAAFI and Works Unit.[106] Contiguous with RAF Troodos.
A secure water supply for the Akrioti Sovereign Base Area[109][110]
Occupied Northern Cyprus
Three retained Military facilities are located within the territory of Northern Cyprus. They are not currently in use by British Forces Cyprus because the UK does not acknowledge the Government of Northern Cyprus.[106]
The two British enclaves in the Republic of Cyprus, act as platforms for the projection of British military assets in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.[111] The enclaves serve as centres for regional communications monitoring from the eastern Mediterranean through the Middle East to Iran.[112][113] Facilities within the retained areas also support British military activities on retained sites in the Republic of Cyprus and provide unique training opportunities.[114]
The Joint Service Signal Unit (JSSU). JSSU is a static communications organisation maintaining secure links from Cyprus to the rest of the world.[116] The station is a significant centre for GCHQ collection of signals data and intelligence from the Eastern Mediterranean Region and Middle East.[117][118]
Headquarters of the Eastern Sovereign Base Area, a resident infantry battalion, an engineer squadron, and various logistic units, as well as UK-based civilians and dependents.[120]
^FCO brief for visit of CENTO Secretary-General to the UK, 6–13 March 1976, FCO 8/2652 TNA/Panagiotis Dimitrakis, "The Value to CENTO of UK Bases on Cyprus," Middle Eastern Studies journal, 45:4, 611-624, 2009, DOI: 10.1080/00263200903009676, accessed via [1], June 2021.
^Henn, Francis. A Business of Some Heat: The United Nations Force in Cyprus Before and During the 1974 Turkish Invasion, Casemate Publishers, 2004, 244.
United Kingdom
British Army 
Royal Air Force
Royal Navy
