RAF Coleby Grange
Encyclopedia
RAF Coleby Grange was a Royal Air Force station situated alongside the western edge of the A15 on open heathland between the villages of Coleby
and Nocton Heath
and lying 7.4 mi (11.9 km) due south of the county town Lincoln, Lincolnshire
, England.
Opened in 1939 and operated as a fighter and night fighter base during World War II
, occupied at various times by UK, US, Canadian and Polish fighter squadrons, the station briefly switched to a training role post-war before being placed on a care and maintenance basis.
Reopened in 1959 as an RAF Bomber Command
Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) launch facility and placed on a high DEFCON 2
launch alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis
, the station was finally closed and decommissioned in 1963. The site has been returned to agricultural use and now has little evidence of its former use, other than several lengths of perimeter track and the original air traffic control tower.
although quite quickly, in early 1940, two squadrons No. 253 Squadron RAF
and No. 264 Squadron RAF
took up residence at Coleby Grange.
The station was destined never to be upgraded with concrete or tarmac runways and throughout its operational life used three grass runways. Aircraft remained parked outdoors on permanent flight readiness and initially only a single Type T1 hangar was constructed for use during aircraft repairs. Much later one blister type hangar and seven extended over-blister hangars were added.
The station’s technical and communal accommodation sites were located on the northern rim of the station with a vehicle access from Heath Road and the headquarters site was on the eastern edge adjacent to the A15. The B1202 Heath Lane on the southern boundary was closed to traffic and became part of the airfield’s perimeter track. With only a few exceptions the buildings were of the temporary Nissen
or Quonset
hutting type and the station never developed the air of permanence achieved by many other RAF stations. The nearby Coleby Hall, built in 1628, was requisitioned by the Air Ministry for the duration of the war and adopted as the station’s officers’ mess. Living accommodation on the station was graded for 1,800 RAF and WAAF personnel including officers.
In May 1941 the station was transferred to No. 12 Group RAF
and severed its link with RAF Cranwell. Instead Coleby Grange became a satellite field of nearby RAF Digby
and was occupied in turn by No. 402 Squadron RCAF
, No. 409 Squadron RCAF
, No. 410 Squadron RCAF
and No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron
In 1751 a 100 ft (30.5 m) high landmark and former inland lighthouse known as the Dunston Pillar
had been erected less than a mile north of the station on Tower Road to aid travellers crossing the wild heathland south of Lincoln. As the tower was within the flying circuit of the new airfield 40 ft (12.2 m) was removed from the tower's height and its top-piece statue of King George III was removed to Lincoln Castle, where it remains today.
Until 1943 RAF Coleby Grange formed only part of a ring of fighter stations around Lincoln but, when the German daylight offensive wound down, RAF Digby shifted to a non-flying radar calibration role, RAF Kirton in Lindsey re-roled as a training establishment and RAF Hibaldstow closed. For the remainder of the war Coleby Grange remained as the only local station still operating in the night fighter role across Lincolnshire.
During the D-Day landings
RAF Coleby Grange was used as a base by the 425th Fighter Squadron
US Army Air Force, flying Northrop P-61 Black Widows and P70 Havocs in support of the US 9th Armored Division. The squadron was under the command of the US Ninth Air Force
from its headquarters at St Vincents, a large mansion in the centre of Grantham
.
When the war came to a close the control of Coleby Grange was returned to No. 17 Flying Training School at RAF Cranwell and the station became home to No. 1515 Beam Approach Training Flight flying Airspeed Oxford
s and No. 107 Elementary Glider School. No. 1515 BAT Flight left for RAF Spitalgate
in 1946 and the glider squadron relocated to RAF Barkston Heath
in 1947.
The station was mothballed and placed on a care and maintenance basis from 1947 until 1958 when it was reactivated as an IRBM missile facility.
just north of Lincoln was established as an RAF Bomber Command
missile unit, maintaining and operating nine mobile mounted Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Nuclear Missile
launchers of No 97(Strategic Missile) Squadron RAF
. Each missile with a range of 1500 mi (2,414 km) was tipped with a 1.44 megaton nuclear warhead, jointly controlled by the Royal Air Force
and the United States Air Force
under the so-called "dual-key arrangements".
In 1959 RAF Hemswell became the headquarters for the "No 5 (Lincolnshire) Missile Dispersal Sites" located at RAF Bardney
, RAF Caistor, RAF Ludford Magna
and RAF Coleby Grange. The missiles were rotated around the five airfields in groups of three launchers, always with two locations not containing deployed missiles as an attempt to confuse the USSR military planners. The missiles at Coleby Grange were maintained and operated by No. 142 Squadron RAF
.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
brought the entire UK based Thor missile force to maximum strategic alert and readiness for a ten day period during October and November 1962. On 26 October 1962 the NATO alert level was raised to DEFCON 2
and the missiles were made ready for launching, on a phased-hold leaving the missiles eight minutes from launch in the vertical unfuelled condition or two minutes from launch in the fuelled position. Several Lincoln residents can remember the Coleby Grange missiles standing erect on their mobile launchers and ready to fire. Politically, the following day came to be referred to as "Black Saturday" and was very tense until a negotiated stand-down by both sides was reached
The graves of many airmen that died while serving at the station can be found in the graveyard at nearby Scopwick. In the same graveyard is the final resting place of the poet John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
, author of the classic aviation poem "High Flight". Magee was flying from nearby RAF Wellingore when his Spitfire
collided in mid-air with an Airspeed Oxford
from RAF Cranwell.
The long distance footpath known as the Viking Way
passes less than a mile from the Coleby Grange site.
File:Northrop P-61 green airborne.jpg|A Northrop P-61 Black Widow used during the invasion of Europe during 1944 in a ground support role
File:The former control tower at RAF Coleby Grange - geograph.org.uk - 139755.jpg|Former control tower and watch office at RAF Coleby Grange
File:A Thor ICBM blast wall on RAF Coleby Grange - geograph.org.uk - 139761.jpg|Remains of the Thor IRBM blast wall at Coleby
File:Boothby Graffoe Heath - geograph.org.uk - 95729.jpg|View looking north over the heathland that was RAF Coleby Grange, photographed from Boothby Graffoe
File:Thor IRBM.jpg|A Thor missile ready to launch, with its nuclear warhead replaced by a communications satellite payload
Coleby, North Kesteven
Coleby is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the A607 approximately south of Lincoln....
and Nocton Heath
Nocton
Nocton is a village south of Lincoln in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. To the east of the village is Nocton Fen, and a small area known locally as Wasps Nest....
and lying 7.4 mi (11.9 km) due south of the county town Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, England.
Opened in 1939 and operated as a fighter and night fighter base during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, occupied at various times by UK, US, Canadian and Polish fighter squadrons, the station briefly switched to a training role post-war before being placed on a care and maintenance basis.
Reopened in 1959 as an RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) launch facility and placed on a high DEFCON 2
DEFCON
A defense readiness condition is an alert posture used by the United States Armed Forces. The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and unified and specified combatant commands. It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness for the U.S...
launch alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
, the station was finally closed and decommissioned in 1963. The site has been returned to agricultural use and now has little evidence of its former use, other than several lengths of perimeter track and the original air traffic control tower.
World War II
The station was constructed during late 1938 and opened early in 1939 initially as a relief landing ground (RLG) for the training facility at RAF CranwellRAF Cranwell
RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. It is currently commanded by Group Captain Dave Waddington...
although quite quickly, in early 1940, two squadrons No. 253 Squadron RAF
No. 253 Squadron RAF
RAF 253 Squadron was based at RAF Waterbeach in the two years 1955 to 1957. It flew Vampire and Venom fighter aircraft.253 squadron Nighthawks.Squadron commander wing commander FinlaysonOne Vampire T Mk 11...
and No. 264 Squadron RAF
No. 264 Squadron RAF
No. 264 Squadron RAF also known as No 264 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force formed from two former Royal Naval Air Service flights, No. 439 and No. 440, on 27 September 1918 at Souda Bay, Crete to perform anti-submarine patrols. It operated the Short 184 floatplanes on patrols in the...
took up residence at Coleby Grange.
The station was destined never to be upgraded with concrete or tarmac runways and throughout its operational life used three grass runways. Aircraft remained parked outdoors on permanent flight readiness and initially only a single Type T1 hangar was constructed for use during aircraft repairs. Much later one blister type hangar and seven extended over-blister hangars were added.
The station’s technical and communal accommodation sites were located on the northern rim of the station with a vehicle access from Heath Road and the headquarters site was on the eastern edge adjacent to the A15. The B1202 Heath Lane on the southern boundary was closed to traffic and became part of the airfield’s perimeter track. With only a few exceptions the buildings were of the temporary Nissen
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...
or Quonset
Quonset hut
A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semicircular cross section. The design was based on the Nissen hut developed by the British during World War I...
hutting type and the station never developed the air of permanence achieved by many other RAF stations. The nearby Coleby Hall, built in 1628, was requisitioned by the Air Ministry for the duration of the war and adopted as the station’s officers’ mess. Living accommodation on the station was graded for 1,800 RAF and WAAF personnel including officers.
No. 12 Group RAF
No. 12 Group of the Royal Air Force was a command organization that exisited over two separate periods, namely the end of World War I when it had a training function and from just prior to World War II until the early 1960s when it was tasked with an air defence role.No. 12 Group was first formed...
and severed its link with RAF Cranwell. Instead Coleby Grange became a satellite field of nearby RAF Digby
RAF Digby
RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station which, since March 2005, has been operated by the Ministry of Defence's Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Intelligence Collection Group. Formerly a training and fighter airfield, it is currently a tri-service military signals installation located...
and was occupied in turn by No. 402 Squadron RCAF
No. 402 Squadron RCAF
402 "City of Winnipeg" Squadron is about to be renamed , as a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada-Pre-war history:...
, No. 409 Squadron RCAF
No. 409 Squadron RCAF
409 Tactical Fighter Squadron is a unit of the Canadian Forces under Royal Canadian Air Force. The squadron operates the CF-18 Hornet from CFB Cold Lake in Alberta, Canada.-History:...
, No. 410 Squadron RCAF
No. 410 Squadron RCAF
410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron, nicknamed the "Cougars", is a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft squadron currently located at Canada's primary training base for the CF-18 , at Cold Lake, Alberta...
and No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron
No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron
No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron was a Polish night fighter squadron formed in Great Britain on 24 August 1940 as a result of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom...
In 1751 a 100 ft (30.5 m) high landmark and former inland lighthouse known as the Dunston Pillar
Dunston Pillar
Dunston Pillar is a grade II listed stone tower in Lincolnshire, England and a former 'land lighthouse'. It stands beside the A15 road approximately south of Lincoln near the junction of the B1178 , in the village of Dunston....
had been erected less than a mile north of the station on Tower Road to aid travellers crossing the wild heathland south of Lincoln. As the tower was within the flying circuit of the new airfield 40 ft (12.2 m) was removed from the tower's height and its top-piece statue of King George III was removed to Lincoln Castle, where it remains today.
Until 1943 RAF Coleby Grange formed only part of a ring of fighter stations around Lincoln but, when the German daylight offensive wound down, RAF Digby shifted to a non-flying radar calibration role, RAF Kirton in Lindsey re-roled as a training establishment and RAF Hibaldstow closed. For the remainder of the war Coleby Grange remained as the only local station still operating in the night fighter role across Lincolnshire.
During the D-Day landings
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
RAF Coleby Grange was used as a base by the 425th Fighter Squadron
425th Fighter Squadron
The 425th Fighter Squadron is part of the 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting advanced fighter training....
US Army Air Force, flying Northrop P-61 Black Widows and P70 Havocs in support of the US 9th Armored Division. The squadron was under the command of the US Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
from its headquarters at St Vincents, a large mansion in the centre of Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
.
Post war years
Immediately after the war the RAF mounted an annual series of air displays to commemorate the Battle of Britain. The first of these displays in Lincolnshire took place in September 1946 at RAF Coleby Grange, as the only remaining fighter station in the county amid all the many bomber stations.When the war came to a close the control of Coleby Grange was returned to No. 17 Flying Training School at RAF Cranwell and the station became home to No. 1515 Beam Approach Training Flight flying Airspeed Oxford
Airspeed Oxford
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:...
s and No. 107 Elementary Glider School. No. 1515 BAT Flight left for RAF Spitalgate
RAF Spitalgate
RAF Spitalgate formerly known as RFCS Grantham and RAF Grantham was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station, located south east of the centre of Grantham, Lincolnshire, England fronting onto the main A52 road.-History:...
in 1946 and the glider squadron relocated to RAF Barkston Heath
RAF Barkston Heath
RAF Barkston Heath is a Royal Air Force station near Grantham, Lincolnshire.RAF Barkston Heath is the home of the Defence Elementary Flying Training School which, for a period between approximately 1995-2010 operated the Slingsby T67M260 Firefly two seat trainer. The school now operates the Grob...
in 1947.
The station was mothballed and placed on a care and maintenance basis from 1947 until 1958 when it was reactivated as an IRBM missile facility.
Cold War
In January 1956 RAF HemswellRAF Hemswell
RAF Hemswell was an airfield used by RAF Bomber Command for 20 years between 1937 and 1957 and saw most of its operational life during World War II. Later used by RAF Fighter Command as a nuclear ballistic missile base during the Cold War it closed to military use in 1967...
just north of Lincoln was established as an RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
missile unit, maintaining and operating nine mobile mounted Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Nuclear Missile
PGM-17 Thor
Thor was the first operational ballistic missile of the U.S. Air Force . Named after the Norse god of thunder, it was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate range ballistic missile with thermonuclear warheads. Thor was in height and in diameter. It was...
launchers of No 97(Strategic Missile) Squadron RAF
No. 97 Squadron RAF
No. 97 Squadron, was a Royal Air Force squadron formed on December 1, 1917 at Waddington, Lincolnshire, first as a training unit, until moving to Netheravon in March 1918, and re-equipping with the Handley Page O/400 heavy bomber. The squadron served in France for the remainder of the war...
. Each missile with a range of 1500 mi (2,414 km) was tipped with a 1.44 megaton nuclear warhead, jointly controlled by the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
under the so-called "dual-key arrangements".
In 1959 RAF Hemswell became the headquarters for the "No 5 (Lincolnshire) Missile Dispersal Sites" located at RAF Bardney
RAF Bardney
RAF Bardney was a RAF station situated near Bardney, in Lincolnshire, England. It was built as a satellite to RAF Waddington in 1943.-Time line:* Opened on 13 April 1943 as home to No. 9 Squadron...
, RAF Caistor, RAF Ludford Magna
RAF Ludford Magna
RAF Ludford Magna was a Royal Air Force airfield operated by Bomber Command during World War II and the Cold War. The station lay on agricultural farmland immediately south of the village of Ludford, Lincolnshire and was sited 21.4 miles north east of the county town of Lincoln, Lincolnshire...
and RAF Coleby Grange. The missiles were rotated around the five airfields in groups of three launchers, always with two locations not containing deployed missiles as an attempt to confuse the USSR military planners. The missiles at Coleby Grange were maintained and operated by No. 142 Squadron RAF
No. 142 Squadron RAF
-History:No. 142 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at RFC Ismailia, Egypt in 1918, flying a mixed bag of reconnaissance and bomber aircraft. On the formation of the Royal Air Force, on 1 April 1918, 142 Squadron was at RFC Julis in Palestine, becoming No. 142 Squadron RAF...
.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
brought the entire UK based Thor missile force to maximum strategic alert and readiness for a ten day period during October and November 1962. On 26 October 1962 the NATO alert level was raised to DEFCON 2
DEFCON
A defense readiness condition is an alert posture used by the United States Armed Forces. The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and unified and specified combatant commands. It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness for the U.S...
and the missiles were made ready for launching, on a phased-hold leaving the missiles eight minutes from launch in the vertical unfuelled condition or two minutes from launch in the fuelled position. Several Lincoln residents can remember the Coleby Grange missiles standing erect on their mobile launchers and ready to fire. Politically, the following day came to be referred to as "Black Saturday" and was very tense until a negotiated stand-down by both sides was reached
The station closes
RAF Coleby Grange was decommissioned and closed in 1963. In 1964 and 1965 the land was sold at auction and returned to agricultural use. Most of the buildings have been demolished with a small number adapted to alternate uses in farm complexes. The original air operations control tower and part of a Thor blast wall still stand in view of the A15 in derelict conditions. The control tower is reputed locally to be haunted.The graves of many airmen that died while serving at the station can be found in the graveyard at nearby Scopwick. In the same graveyard is the final resting place of the poet John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr. was an American aviator and poet who died as a result of a mid-air collision over Lincolnshire during World War II. He was serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, which he joined before the United States officially entered the war. He is most famous for his poem "High...
, author of the classic aviation poem "High Flight". Magee was flying from nearby RAF Wellingore when his Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
collided in mid-air with an Airspeed Oxford
Airspeed Oxford
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:...
from RAF Cranwell.
The long distance footpath known as the Viking Way
Viking Way
The Viking Way is a long distance footpath in England running between the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire and Oakham in Rutland. The Countryside Commission recognised the significance of the Viking Way as a high quality long distance walk linking other major routes in Eastern England, these...
passes less than a mile from the Coleby Grange site.
Station timeline and resident units
| Date | Event or Unit | Notes |
| 1938 | Airfield and accommodation site construction commences | |
| Spring 1939 | RAF Coleby Grange opened as a relief landing ground (RLG) for RAF Cranwell RAF Cranwell RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. It is currently commanded by Group Captain Dave Waddington... Station Identity Code: CG |
|
| May 1940 | No. 253 Squadron RAF No. 253 Squadron RAF RAF 253 Squadron was based at RAF Waterbeach in the two years 1955 to 1957. It flew Vampire and Venom fighter aircraft.253 squadron Nighthawks.Squadron commander wing commander FinlaysonOne Vampire T Mk 11... |
Operating Hawker Hurricane Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force... Mark 1s and relocated from RAF Cranwell RAF Cranwell RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. It is currently commanded by Group Captain Dave Waddington... . Left the station in July 1940 and relocated to RAF Turnhouse |
| May 1940 | No. 264 Squadron RAF No. 264 Squadron RAF No. 264 Squadron RAF also known as No 264 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force formed from two former Royal Naval Air Service flights, No. 439 and No. 440, on 27 September 1918 at Souda Bay, Crete to perform anti-submarine patrols. It operated the Short 184 floatplanes on patrols in the... |
Flying Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant The Boulton Paul Defiant was a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force early in the Second World War. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any forward-firing guns. It was a contemporary of the Royal Navy's Blackburn Roc... s and training for a night fighter role. Relocated to RAF Colerne RAF Colerne RAF Colerne now known as Colerne Airfield or AEF Colerne is a former World War II RAF Fighter Command and Bomber Command airfield located on the outskirts of the village of Colerne, Wiltshire... near Bristol. |
| May 1941 | Control of RAF Coleby Grange switched to No. 12 Group RAF No. 12 Group RAF No. 12 Group of the Royal Air Force was a command organization that exisited over two separate periods, namely the end of World War I when it had a training function and from just prior to World War II until the early 1960s when it was tasked with an air defence role.No. 12 Group was first formed... |
The station became a satellite field for RAF Digby |
| May 1941 | No. 402 Squadron RCAF No. 402 Squadron RCAF 402 "City of Winnipeg" Squadron is about to be renamed , as a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada-Pre-war history:... |
Operating Hawker Hurricane Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force... Mark IIs relocated from RAF Digby RAF Digby RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station which, since March 2005, has been operated by the Ministry of Defence's Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Intelligence Collection Group. Formerly a training and fighter airfield, it is currently a tri-service military signals installation located... . Squadron re-equipped with Supermarine Spitfire Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s... Mark Vbs and left for RAF Colerne RAF Colerne RAF Colerne now known as Colerne Airfield or AEF Colerne is a former World War II RAF Fighter Command and Bomber Command airfield located on the outskirts of the village of Colerne, Wiltshire... in March 1942 |
| 26 July 1941 | No. 409 Squadron RCAF No. 409 Squadron RCAF 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron is a unit of the Canadian Forces under Royal Canadian Air Force. The squadron operates the CF-18 Hornet from CFB Cold Lake in Alberta, Canada.-History:... |
Operating Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant The Boulton Paul Defiant was a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force early in the Second World War. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any forward-firing guns. It was a contemporary of the Royal Navy's Blackburn Roc... s and arrived from RAF Digby. Re-equipped in August 1941 with Bristol Beaufighter Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the Beau, was a British long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design... Mark IIfs and in June 1942 with Mark VIs. Relocated to RAF Acklington RAF Acklington The former Royal Air Force Station Acklington, commonly known as RAF Acklington, was a Royal Air Force airfield airbase situated near Acklington, in Northumberland, England.... on 23 February 1943. |
| February 1943 | No. 410 Squadron RCAF No. 410 Squadron RCAF 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron, nicknamed the "Cougars", is a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft squadron currently located at Canada's primary training base for the CF-18 , at Cold Lake, Alberta... |
Operating de Havilland Mosquito and arrived from RAF Acklington. Departed in October 1943 for RAF West Malling RAF West Malling RAF West Malling was a Royal Air Force station near West Malling in Kent, England.Originally used as a landing area during the first World War, the site opened as a private landing ground and in 1930, then known as Kingshill, home to the Maidstone School of Flying, before being renamed West Malling... |
| March 1943 | No. 288 Squadron RAF No. 288 Squadron RAF No. 288 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed as an anti-aircraft co-operation unit in World War II.-Formation in World War II:The squadron formed at RAF Digby on 17 November 1941 and was equipped with Lysanders, Blenheims and Hurricanes to provide practice for the anti-aircraft... |
288 Squadron formed at RAF Digby on 18 November 1941 from No. 12 Group AAC Flight. It continued to provide anti-aircraft cooperation training to ground based gun crews, towing targets with a variety of aircraft, mainly the Miles Martinet Miles Martinet |-See also:-Bibliography:* Amos, Peter. and Brown, Don Lambert. Miles Aircraft Since 1925, Volume 1. London: Putnam Aeronautical, 2000. ISBN 0-85177-787-0.... . Squadron departed for Yorkshire in November 1943 |
| 21 November 1943 | No. 264 Squadron RAF No. 264 Squadron RAF No. 264 Squadron RAF also known as No 264 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force formed from two former Royal Naval Air Service flights, No. 439 and No. 440, on 27 September 1918 at Souda Bay, Crete to perform anti-submarine patrols. It operated the Short 184 floatplanes on patrols in the... |
Returned from night defence duties over the Bristol Channel ports from the base at RAF Colerne and re-equipped with de Havilland Mosquito De Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"... s in November 1943. Now operating as a night defence force for bomber operations. |
| 19 December 1943 | No. 409 Squadron RCAF No. 409 Squadron RCAF 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron is a unit of the Canadian Forces under Royal Canadian Air Force. The squadron operates the CF-18 Hornet from CFB Cold Lake in Alberta, Canada.-History:... |
Squadron returned from RAF Acklinton until 5 February 1944 when they relocated to RAF Hunsdon |
| February 1944 | No. 68 Squadron RAF No. 68 Squadron RAF The name No. 68 Squadron has been used by the Royal Air Force for two quite different units.No. 2 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps was formed at Heliopolis, Egypt in 1916. For a while it was known to the British military as "No. 68 Squadron RFC" - according to some accounts in order to avoid... |
Operating Bristol Beaufighter Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the Beau, was a British long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design... s and arrived from RAF High Ercall RAF High Ercall RAF High Ercall was an RAF air base situated to the east of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.... in Shropshire. Relocated to RAF Coltishall RAF Coltishall The former Royal Air Force Station Coltishall, more commonly known as RAF Coltishall , was a Royal Air Force station, a military airbase, North-North-East of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, from 1938 to 2006.... in March 1944 |
| 1 March 1944 | No. 2882 Flight, RAF Regiment (LAA Squadron) | The RAuxAF unit of Light Anti Aircraft gunners for airfield defence formed at Coleby Grange |
| March 1944 | No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron was a Polish night fighter squadron formed in Great Britain on 24 August 1940 as a result of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom... |
Operating de Havilland Mosquito De Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"... Mark NFXIIs in a night intruder unit over enemy airfields in occupied France. Squadron was disbanded on 2 January 1947 |
| 20 March 1944 | No. 17 SFTS RAF | The Service Flight Training School moved to Coleby Grange from RAF Cranwell and remained until March 1945 when it relocated to RAF Spitalgate RAF Spitalgate RAF Spitalgate formerly known as RFCS Grantham and RAF Grantham was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station, located south east of the centre of Grantham, Lincolnshire, England fronting onto the main A52 road.-History:... in Grantham |
| May 1944 | 425th Fighter Squadron 425th Fighter Squadron The 425th Fighter Squadron is part of the 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting advanced fighter training.... USAAF |
Flying Northrop P-61 Black Widows and P70 Havocs in support of the US 9th Armored Division during D-Day and early operations during the European campaign. The squadron departed for operations from captured airfields in France soon after the D-Day invasion. |
| February 1945 | Control of RAF Coleby Grange reverted to RAF Cranwell RAF Cranwell RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. It is currently commanded by Group Captain Dave Waddington... |
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| February 1945 | No. 1515 BAT Flight RAF | Operating Airspeed Oxford Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:... s. The Beam Approach Training flight had moved to Shropshire's RAF Peplow in Jan 1945, but there were difficulties caused by beam approach conflict at Peplow and nearby RAF Hinstock as the beams were almost parallel. Both stations were taken over by the Fleet Air Arm as the twin HMS Godwit carrier landing training facilities and the Navy were given precedence, so 1515 Flight were only able to operate when the cloud base was above 1000 feet (304.8 m). The conflicting needs were only solved a month later when 1515 Flight was relocated to Coleby Grange. The flight relocated to RAF Spitalgate RAF Spitalgate RAF Spitalgate formerly known as RFCS Grantham and RAF Grantham was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station, located south east of the centre of Grantham, Lincolnshire, England fronting onto the main A52 road.-History:... and was disbanded on 9 January 1946 |
| February 1945 | No. 107 EGS | The Elementary Gliding School was relocated from RAF Cranwell and remained at Coleby Grange until it moved to RAF Syerston RAF Syerston RAF Syerston is a Royal Air Force station in the parish of Flintham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire. It was used as a bomber base during World War II.-Bomber Command:... where it still exists, renumbered as No. 643 Volunteer Gliding School |
| May 1946 | Operational flying ceased from RAF Coleby Grange. Station placed on a care and maintenance basis | |
| September 1946 | Battle of Britain Air Display mounted at Coleby Grange | |
| 1959 | Control of RAF Coleby Grange was handed to RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental... . Station ID code WC2 |
RAF Coleby Grange formed part of "No 5 (Lincolnshire) Missile nDispersal Sites" with missiles also rotated around RAF Hemswell RAF Hemswell RAF Hemswell was an airfield used by RAF Bomber Command for 20 years between 1937 and 1957 and saw most of its operational life during World War II. Later used by RAF Fighter Command as a nuclear ballistic missile base during the Cold War it closed to military use in 1967... , RAF Bardney RAF Bardney RAF Bardney was a RAF station situated near Bardney, in Lincolnshire, England. It was built as a satellite to RAF Waddington in 1943.-Time line:* Opened on 13 April 1943 as home to No. 9 Squadron... , RAF Caistor and RAF Ludford Magna RAF Ludford Magna RAF Ludford Magna was a Royal Air Force airfield operated by Bomber Command during World War II and the Cold War. The station lay on agricultural farmland immediately south of the village of Ludford, Lincolnshire and was sited 21.4 miles north east of the county town of Lincoln, Lincolnshire... |
| 1959 | No. 142 Squadron RAF No. 142 Squadron RAF -History:No. 142 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at RFC Ismailia, Egypt in 1918, flying a mixed bag of reconnaissance and bomber aircraft. On the formation of the Royal Air Force, on 1 April 1918, 142 Squadron was at RFC Julis in Palestine, becoming No. 142 Squadron RAF... |
Operating the 3 mobile Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles while they were on site. When the UK Thor IRBM Force was stood down in 1963 the missiles were returned to the US and their warheads removed before the launch vehicles were reused in the space programme - predominantly launching communications satellites. |
| 1963 | RAF Coleby Grange was decommissioned and closed. The land was sold by auction in 1964/65 and returned to agricultural uses. |
Gallery
File:Northrop P-61 green airborne.jpg|A Northrop P-61 Black Widow used during the invasion of Europe during 1944 in a ground support role
File:The former control tower at RAF Coleby Grange - geograph.org.uk - 139755.jpg|Former control tower and watch office at RAF Coleby Grange
File:A Thor ICBM blast wall on RAF Coleby Grange - geograph.org.uk - 139761.jpg|Remains of the Thor IRBM blast wall at Coleby
File:Boothby Graffoe Heath - geograph.org.uk - 95729.jpg|View looking north over the heathland that was RAF Coleby Grange, photographed from Boothby Graffoe
File:Thor IRBM.jpg|A Thor missile ready to launch, with its nuclear warhead replaced by a communications satellite payload