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RAF Colerne

Summary

Royal Air Force Colerne or more simply RAF Colerne is a former Royal Air Force station which was on the outskirts of the village of Colerne in Wiltshire, England, and was in use from 1939 to 1976.

RAF Colerne
Colerne, Wiltshire in England
An aerial view of the airfield.
An aerial view of the airfield.
RAF Colerne is located in Wiltshire
RAF Colerne
RAF Colerne
Location in Wiltshire
Coordinates51°26′28″N 002°16′57″W / 51.44111°N 2.28250°W / 51.44111; -2.28250
TypeRoyal Air Force station
* Sector Station 1940-[1]
CodeCQ[1]
Area110 hectares
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRoyal Air Force
Controlled byRAF Fighter Command
* No. 10 Group RAF[1]
ConditionClosed
Site history
Built1938 (1938)/39
In useJanuary 1940 – 1976 (1976)
FateTransferred to the British Army and became Azimghur Barracks.
Airfield retained for occasional flying.
Battles/warsEuropean theatre of World War II
Cold War
Airfield information
IdentifiersICAO: EGUO
Elevation175 metres (574 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
01/19 1,095 metres (3,593 ft) Asphalt
07/25 1,664 metres (5,459 ft) Asphalt
00/00  Asphalt
Aerial photograph of Colerne Airfield looking north, technical site and barracks at upper right, 4 December 1943

The site is now known as Azimghur Barracks and is home to 21 Signal Regiment, Royal Signals and 93 (City of Bath) Air Training Corps detached flight.

History edit

Second World War edit

Originally there had been a farm called Doncombe and a vineyard on the site of the airfield, the names of Doncombe Lane and Doncombe Hill being the last link to the farm.

From 1940 to 1955 RAF Fighter Command units were based here. During the Battle of Britain the airfield served as a satellite field to RAF Middle Wallop, and squadrons rotated back and forth from there on a daily basis.[2]

Later it was a training station for night fighter navigators. Using the latest night fighter procedures, the unit involved was No. 238 Operational Conversion Unit RAF from June 1952 until January 1957 and Bristol Brigand twin engine aircraft were used for this purpose. They also operated Bristol Buckmaster Aircraft for pilot training, and a number of Boulton Paul Balliol aircraft – an advanced pilot trainer powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The pilot and trainee sat side-by-side in the wide fuselage, and the Balliols were used as targets for the Brigand aircraft to practice radar interceptions on.

Squadron Equipment From To Departed To Notes
No. 19 Squadron RAF Supermarine Spitfire VB 23 July 1942 31 July 1942 RAF Perranporth [3]
No. 29 Squadron RAF de Havilland Mosquito XIIII/XXX 22 February 1945 11 May 1945 RAF Manston [4]
No. 87 (United Provinces) Squadron RAF Hawker Hurricane I
Hurricane IIC		 28 November 1940
7 August 1941		 18 December 1940
27 January 1942		 RAF Charmy Down Detachment at RAF Charmy Down.
Det at RAF St Mary's.[5]
No. 89 Squadron RAF Bristol Beaufighter IF 25 September 1941 19 November 1941 en route Egypt Reformed here.[5]
No. 118 Squadron RAF Spitfire IIA 7 April 1941 9 April 1941 RAF Warmwell [6]
No. 124 (Baroda) Squadron RAF Spitfire VII March 1943 26 July 1943 RAF Northolt As a detachment from RAF North Weald.[7]
No. 125 (Newfoundland) Squadron RAF Boulton Paul Defiant I
Defiant II
Beaufighter IIF		 16 June 1941
25 January 1942		 7 August 1941
14 May 1942		 RAF Charmy Down
RAF Fairwood Common		 Full Squadron
Det at RAF Fairwood Common
Det at RAF Charmy Down.[7]
No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron RAF Spitfire IX
Spitfire VII		 10 February 1944
29 February 1944		 22 February 1944
24 March 1944		 RAF Fairwood Common
Harrowbeer		 [8]
No. 137 Squadron RAF Hurricane IV
Hawker Typhoon IB		 2 January 1944 4 February 1944 RAF Lympne [9]
No. 151 Squadron RAF Defiant I
Mosquito II/XII/VI/XIII		 30 April 1943
17 November 1943		 16 August 1943
25 March 1944		 RAF Middle Wallop
RAF Predannack		 [10]
No. 165 (Ceylon) Squadron RAF Spitfire VC/IXB 10 February 1944
7 March 1944		 1 March 1944
10 March 1944		 RAF Fairwood Common
RAF Culmhead		 [11]
No. 175 Squadron RAF Hurricane IIB
Typhoon IB		 8 April 1943 29 May 1943 RAF Lasham [12]
No. 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF Typhoon IB 24 March 1943 8 April 1943 RAF Gatwick [13]
No. 184 Squadron RAF Hurricane IID 1 December 1942 1 March 1943 RAF Chilbolton Det at RAF Milfield.[13]
No. 219 (Mysore) Squadron RAF Mosquito XVII 26 March 1944 1 April 1944 RAF Bradwell Bay [14]
No. 256 Squadron RAF Defiant I 6 February 1941 26 March 1941 RAF Squires Gate Det at RAF Middle Wallop.[15]
No. 263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Squadron RAF Westland Whirlwind I 28 January 1942
15 August 1942		 10 February 1942
13 September 1942		 RAF Fairwood Common
RAF Warmwell		 [16]
No. 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF Defiant II
Mosquito II
Mosquito XIII		 1 May 1942
30 November 1944		 30 April 1943
1 December 1944		 RAF Odiham [16]
No. 285 Squadron RAF Defiant III
Miles Martinet I		 25 August 1943 19 November 1944 RAF Andover As a detachment from RAF Woodvale.[17]
No. 286 Squadron RAF Miles Master III
Defiant III/I
Hurricane I
Airspeed Oxford		 30 December 1941
2 March 1942		 24 January 1942
30 April 1942		 RAF Lulsgate Bottom
RAF Lulsgate Bottom		 [17]
No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron Defiant I 26 March 1941 26 April 1941 RAF Exeter [18]
No. 316 Polish Fighter Squadron Hurricane I/IIA/IIB 18 June 1941 2 August 1941 RAF Northolt [19]
No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron Hurricane I 26 June 1941 27 June 1941 RAF Fairwood Common [19]
No. 402 Squadron RCAF Hurricane IB
Spitfire VB		 4 March 1942 17 March 1942 RAF Fairwood Common [20]
No. 406 Squadron RCAF Mosquito XXX 17 September 1944 27 November 1944 RAF Manston [20]
No. 410 Squadron RCAF Mosquito XIII/XXX 28 July 1944 9 September 1944 RAF Hunsdon [21]
No. 417 Squadron RCAF Spitfire IIA/VB 26 January 1942 24 February 1942 RAF Tain [22]
No. 456 Squadron RAAF Beaufighter IIF/VIF
Mosquito II
Mosquito VI		 December 1942

17 August 1943		 29 March 1943

17 November 1943		 RAF Middle Wallop

RAF Fairwood Common		 [23]
No. 488 Squadron RNZAF Mosquito XIII 3 May 1944
29 July 1944		 12 May 1944
9 October 1944		 RAF Zeals
RAF Hunsdon		 [24]
No. 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron RAuxAF Spitfire I/IIA 9 April 1941 25 June 1941 RAF Chilbolton [24]
No. 504 (County of Nottingham) Squadron RAuxAF Spitfire IXE
Meteor III		 28 March 1945 10 August 1945 Disbanded Dets at RAF Andrews Field and Lübeck.[25]
No. 587 Squadron RAF Oxford
Hawker Henley III
Hurricane IV
Miles Martinet
Hurricane IIC		 10 April 1944 1 October 1944 RAF Weston Zoyland As a detachment from RAF Culmhead.[25]
No. 600 (City of London) Squadron RAuxAF Beaufighter IIF 27 April 1941
27 June 1941		 18 June 1941
6 October 1941		 RAF Fairwood Common
RAF Predannack
Det at RAF Predannack.[26]
No. 604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron RAuxAF Mosquito XIII
Mosquito XII		 13 July 1944
28 July 1944		 25 July 1944
6 August 1944		 RAF Zeals
A-8 Picauville
Det at A-15 Maupertus.[27]
No. 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron RAuxAF Meteor I/III 17 January 1945 28 February 1945 RAF Andrews Field Det at B 58 Melsbroek.[28]

The following units were here during the Second World War:[29]

  • Aircraft Delivery Flight, Colerne RAF became No. 2 Aircraft Delivery Flight RAF (March 1941 – July 1943)[30]
  • No. 2 Supplementary School of Technical Training RAF (March – May 1941)[31]
  • No. 4 Aircraft Assembly Unit RAF (July 1940 – March 1942)[32] became No. 218 Maintenance Unit RAF (March 1942 – February 1948)
  • No. 10 Group Communication Flight RAF (July 1940 – April 1945)[33]
  • No. 149 (Long Range Fighter) Wing RAF (July – September 1944)[34]
  • No. 1454 (Fighter) Flight RAF (June 1941 – January 1942)[35]
  • No. 1457 (Fighter) Flight RAF (September – November 1941)[35]
  • Detachment of No. 1487 (Fighter) Gunnery Flight RAF (January – February 1943)[36]
  • No. 1498 (Target Towing) Flight RAF (August – September 1943)[37]
  • Fortress Flight RAF (1942 – October 1942)[38]
  • Special Installation Flight RAF (August 1942 – February 1948 & October 1953 – March 1962)[39]

Cold War and closure edit

Between 4 May 1948 and 1 March 1962, No. 49 Maintenance Unit RAF was based at the airfield.[40]

 
Handley Page Hastings of No. 24 Squadron Transport Command at RAF Colerne in 1967

After this period it became a Transport Command airfield, and Handley Page Hastings aircraft were flown from RAF Colerne. After the demise of the Hastings and the introduction of the new Lockheed C-130 Hercules to the RAF Air Support Command, the front-line transport role was relinquished. The Hercules were based at RAF Lyneham, also in Wiltshire, and for many years major servicing of the Hercules was carried out at RAF Colerne by the Air Engineering Squadron, until the station closed in 1976.[41]

C-130 Hercules aircraft XV198 crashed, killing all crew on board, here in September 1973.[citation needed]

Colerne was also the home of No. 2 Field Squadron RAF Regiment from 1962 to 1975. For a number of years up until its closure as an RAF station it housed one of the RAF's regional collections of historic aircraft, including Neville Duke's world-record-breaking Hawker Hunter and a rare example of the rocket-engined Messerschmitt Me 163 B, Werknummer 191904 (since returned to Germany).

From 1966, the Skynet satellite communications system, a Signal Unit with its main base at RAF Oakhanger, had a detachment at Colerne.

Squadron Equipment From To Departed To Notes
No. 24 Squadron RAF Handley Page Hastings C.1 1 January 1957 5 January 1968 RAF Lyneham [42]
No. 36 Squadron RAF Hastings C.1/C.2 1 September 1958 1 July 1967 RAF Lyneham [43]
No. 74 (Trinidad) Squadron RAF Gloster Meteor F.3 15 February 1946
9 June 1946		 2 June 1946
14 August 1946		 RAF Bentwaters
RAF Horsham St Faith		 [44]
No. 114 (Hong Kong) Squadron RAF Hastings C.1/C.2 13 April 1959 30 September 1961 Disbanded Reformed here.[6]
No. 245 (Northern Rhodesian) Squadron RAF Meteor F.3 10 August 1945 18 February 1946 RAF Fairwood Common Reformed here.[45]
No. 511 Squadron RAF Hastings C.1/C.2 1 May 1957 1 September 1958 Disbanded [25]
No. 662 Squadron RAF Auster AOP 5/6/4 1 February 1949 10 March 1957 Disbanded [46]

The following units were here during the Cold War:[29]

British Army units edit

The site was used[when?] by the British Army as its training facility for the Junior Leaders Regiment of the Royal Corps of Transport and Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Young men from the age of 16 were trained in a variety of the skills needed to enable them to become better soldiers in the army. Basic driver training was done on simulators, and car driver training to licence level and motorcycle training were undertaken here.

The Regiment consisted of 30 (Junior Leader) Squadron RCT, 57 (Junior Leader) Squadron RCT and 90 (Junior Leader) Squadron RCT, together with 88 (Junior Leader) Coy RAOC.

Estranged from the regiment, at Driffield in Yorkshire, was 32 Driver Training Squadron RCT. Here, young soldiers were sent to the ASMT at Defence School of Transport (Leconfield) to be taught to drive the basic vehicles of the Army (typically a Land Rover and a 4-tonne lorry) and to qualify as Driver Trade B3 before being posted to a full-time working regiment where their technical trade training would be continued.

Post-RAF use edit

After the RAF station closed in 1976, the site was taken over by the Army; occasional flying by Air Cadets continues. The airfield is expected to be closed in 2025.[61]

Units edit

The following units were here at some point:[29]

See also edit

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c d Falconer 2012, p. 66.
  2. ^ RAF, Groups in the Battle of Britain, accessed February 2009
  3. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 30.
  4. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 34.
  5. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 51.
  6. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 57.
  7. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 58.
  8. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 59.
  9. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 60.
  10. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 62.
  11. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 64.
  12. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 65.
  13. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 66.
  14. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 72.
  15. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 79.
  16. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 80.
  17. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 83.
  18. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 85.
  19. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 86.
  20. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 89.
  21. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 90.
  22. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 91.
  23. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 93.
  24. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 94.
  25. ^ a b c Jefford 1988, p. 95.
  26. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 98.
  27. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 99.
  28. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 101.
  29. ^ a b c "Colerne". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  30. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 49.
  31. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 285.
  32. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 47.
  33. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 180.
  34. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 324.
  35. ^ a b Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 133.
  36. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 136.
  37. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 137.
  38. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 157.
  39. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 274.
  40. ^ "RAF Colerne". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  41. ^ Berryman, David (2002). Wiltshire Airfields in the Second World War. Newbury: Countryside Books. pp. 63–77. ISBN 9781853067037.
  42. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 32.
  43. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 37.
  44. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 48.
  45. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 77.
  46. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 104.
  47. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 53.
  48. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 182.
  49. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 173.
  50. ^ a b Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 183.
  51. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 95.
  52. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 184.
  53. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 165.
  54. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 230.
  55. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 215.
  56. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 99.
  57. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 147.
  58. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 148.
  59. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 46.
  60. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 306.
  61. ^ Sables, Tom (27 November 2020). "Is Your Military Base Closing?". Forces Network. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  62. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 206.

Bibliography edit

  • Falconer, J. (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
  • Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988. ISBN 1-84037-141-2
  • Sturtivant, R.; Hamlin, J.; Halley, J. (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.

External links edit

  Media related to RAF Colerne at Wikimedia Commons

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