The historic aircraft made its first arrival at a Hampshire base, RAF Odiham, on November 22 1980.
To mark the milestone the RAF is running its 40 Faces Campaign to show off the significant contribution the Chinook has made to UK defence.
People with stories of their time with the Chinook Force have been asked to share their memories covering its full 40 years of service.
MORE RETRO PHOTOS: The heroes of D-Day | Memories of Portsmouth Airspeed | Canoe Lake
The Chinook has been involved in every major conflict since the Falklands War, including seeing action in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Afghanistan.
Here are a selection of great photos showing the life of the Chinook.
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5. Celebrating 40 years of the Chinook helicopter
Royal Marines turned Angels to rescue comrades from the battlefield in the Arizona desert. Personnel from 45 Cdo joined their counterparts from Turkey, Denmark, Peru and and the USA for the three-week Exercise Angel Thunder – billed as the world’s largest combat search-and-rescue exercise. Photo: LPhot Will Haigh
6. Celebrating 40 years of the Chinook helicopter
Sand and dust gets thrown up as No 3 Company he First Battalion The Grenadier Guards deploy out of an RAF Chinook Helicopter. British soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), alongside their Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) counterparts have launched a further operation to drive the Taliban out of the Upper Gereshk Valley in Helmand Province, Southern Afghanistan. 24th July 2007. Central Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Picture: Sergeant Will Craig/Crown Copyright Photo: Sergeant Will Craig
7. Celebrating 40 years of the Chinook helicopter
A Chinook HC2 at Airbourne, Eastbourne's International Airshow, August 11th 2012 Picture: Stephen Curtis E34553N Photo: Stephen Curtis
8. Celebrating 40 years of the Chinook helicopter
Chinooks landing at Sangin District Centre, Afghanistan. Protected by a fire plan own defence systems Apache Harrier and 105 mm guns firing from FOB Robinson Photo: The News archive