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

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.

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

Second World War

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.

SquadronEquipmentFromToDeparted ToNotes
No. 19 Squadron RAFSupermarine Spitfire VB23 July 194231 July 1942RAF Perranporth[3]
No. 29 Squadron RAFde Havilland Mosquito XIIII/XXX22 February 194511 May 1945RAF Manston[4]
No. 87 (United Provinces) Squadron RAFHawker Hurricane I
Hurricane IIC		28 November 1940
7 August 1941		18 December 1940
27 January 1942		RAF Charmy DownDetachment at RAF Charmy Down.
Det at RAF St Mary's.[5]
No. 89 Squadron RAFBristol Beaufighter IF25 September 194119 November 1941en route EgyptReformed here.[5]
No. 118 Squadron RAFSpitfire IIA7 April 19419 April 1941RAF Warmwell[6]
No. 124 (Baroda) Squadron RAFSpitfire VIIMarch 194326 July 1943RAF NortholtAs a detachment from RAF North Weald.[7]
No. 125 (Newfoundland) Squadron RAFBoulton 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 RAFSpitfire IX
Spitfire VII		10 February 1944
29 February 1944		22 February 1944
24 March 1944		RAF Fairwood Common
Harrowbeer		[8]
No. 137 Squadron RAFHurricane IV
Hawker Typhoon IB		2 January 19444 February 1944RAF Lympne[9]
No. 151 Squadron RAFDefiant 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 RAFSpitfire VC/IXB10 February 1944
7 March 1944		1 March 1944
10 March 1944		RAF Fairwood Common
RAF Culmhead		[11]
No. 175 Squadron RAFHurricane IIB
Typhoon IB		8 April 194329 May 1943RAF Lasham[12]
No. 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAFTyphoon IB24 March 19438 April 1943RAF Gatwick[13]
No. 184 Squadron RAFHurricane IID1 December 19421 March 1943RAF ChilboltonDet at RAF Milfield.[13]
No. 219 (Mysore) Squadron RAFMosquito XVII26 March 19441 April 1944RAF Bradwell Bay[14]
No. 256 Squadron RAFDefiant I6 February 194126 March 1941RAF Squires GateDet at RAF Middle Wallop.[15]
No. 263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Squadron RAFWestland Whirlwind I28 January 1942
15 August 1942		10 February 1942
13 September 1942		RAF Fairwood Common
RAF Warmwell		[16]
No. 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAFDefiant II
Mosquito II
Mosquito XIII		1 May 1942
30 November 1944		30 April 1943
1 December 1944		RAF Odiham[16]
No. 285 Squadron RAFDefiant III
Miles Martinet I		25 August 194319 November 1944RAF AndoverAs a detachment from RAF Woodvale.[17]
No. 286 Squadron RAFMiles 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 SquadronDefiant I26 March 194126 April 1941RAF Exeter[18]
No. 316 Polish Fighter SquadronHurricane I/IIA/IIB18 June 19412 August 1941RAF Northolt[19]
No. 317 Polish Fighter SquadronHurricane I26 June 194127 June 1941RAF Fairwood Common[19]
No. 402 Squadron RCAFHurricane IB
Spitfire VB		4 March 194217 March 1942RAF Fairwood Common[20]
No. 406 Squadron RCAFMosquito XXX17 September 194427 November 1944RAF Manston[20]
No. 410 Squadron RCAFMosquito XIII/XXX28 July 19449 September 1944RAF Hunsdon[21]
No. 417 Squadron RCAFSpitfire IIA/VB26 January 194224 February 1942RAF Tain[22]
No. 456 Squadron RAAFBeaufighter 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 RNZAFMosquito XIII3 May 1944
29 July 1944		12 May 1944
9 October 1944		RAF Zeals
RAF Hunsdon		[24]
No. 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron RAuxAFSpitfire I/IIA9 April 194125 June 1941RAF Chilbolton[24]
No. 504 (County of Nottingham) Squadron RAuxAFSpitfire IXE
Meteor III		28 March 194510 August 1945DisbandedDets at RAF Andrews Field and Lübeck.[25]
No. 587 Squadron RAFOxford
Hawker Henley III
Hurricane IV
Miles Martinet
Hurricane IIC		10 April 19441 October 1944RAF Weston ZoylandAs a detachment from RAF Culmhead.[25]
No. 600 (City of London) Squadron RAuxAFBeaufighter IIF27 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 RAuxAFMosquito 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 RAuxAFMeteor I/III17 January 194528 February 1945RAF Andrews FieldDet 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

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.

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.

SquadronEquipmentFromToDeparted ToNotes
No. 24 Squadron RAFHandley Page Hastings C.11 January 19575 January 1968RAF Lyneham[42]
No. 36 Squadron RAFHastings C.1/C.21 September 19581 July 1967RAF Lyneham[43]
No. 74 (Trinidad) Squadron RAFGloster Meteor F.315 February 1946
9 June 1946		2 June 1946
14 August 1946		RAF Bentwaters
RAF Horsham St Faith		[44]
No. 114 (Hong Kong) Squadron RAFHastings C.1/C.213 April 195930 September 1961DisbandedReformed here.[6]
No. 245 (Northern Rhodesian) Squadron RAFMeteor F.310 August 194518 February 1946RAF Fairwood CommonReformed here.[45]
No. 511 Squadron RAFHastings C.1/C.21 May 19571 September 1958Disbanded[25]
No. 662 Squadron RAFAuster AOP 5/6/41 February 194910 March 1957Disbanded[46]

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

British Army units

The site was used 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

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

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

See also

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 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. 1 2 Jefford 1988, p. 51.
  6. 1 2 Jefford 1988, p. 57.
  7. 1 2 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. 1 2 Jefford 1988, p. 66.
  14. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 72.
  15. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 79.
  16. 1 2 Jefford 1988, p. 80.
  17. 1 2 Jefford 1988, p. 83.
  18. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 85.
  19. 1 2 Jefford 1988, p. 86.
  20. 1 2 Jefford 1988, p. 89.
  21. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 90.
  22. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 91.
  23. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 93.
  24. 1 2 Jefford 1988, p. 94.
  25. 1 2 3 Jefford 1988, p. 95.
  26. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 98.
  27. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 99.
  28. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 101.
  29. 1 2 3 "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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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

  • 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.

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