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.
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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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17. Celebrating 40 years of the Chinook helicopter
Boeing, Chinook HC3 ZH904 Coming into Daedalus (Lee-on-Solent Airfield) for handling tests taken with a Canon 7D 100-400mm L Lens. Picture: Richard Davies. Photo: Richard Davies
18. Celebrating 40 years of the Chinook helicopter
HMS Bulwark practices deck landing training as part of NATO Exercise Trident Juncture. Trident Juncture is the largest NATO exercise in over 10 years and consists of dozens of warships and over 36000 troops. HMS Bulwark carries out a Vertrep with HMS Ocean. It shows an RAF Chinook from HMS Ocean re-supplying HMS Bulwark by a vertical replenishment at sea. Photo: L(Phot) JJ Massey
19. Stunning Portsmouth and Southsea
Lovely scene of when the helter-skelter sat on South Parade Pier at Southsea. Picture: Raymond Clarke Photo: The News archive