RAF Oulton
Encyclopedia
Royal Air Force Oulton is located to the west of the market town of Aylsham
in Norfolk
and was built over 1939 and 1940 as a bomber airfield with T2 type hangars and grass runways, the facility operating as a satellite airfield of nearby RAF Horsham St. Faith between July 1940 and September 1942 after which it operated as a satellite airfield of RAF Swanton Morley
.
In September 1943 Oulton was transferred from 2 Group to 3 Group and closed to flying for re-construction as a heavy bomber base with concrete runways, taxiways and parking areas. The work was completed in April 1944 and the airfield transferred to No. 100 Group RAF
.
Aylsham
Aylsham is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, about north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, although it was only made navigable after 1779, allowing grain,...
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
and was built over 1939 and 1940 as a bomber airfield with T2 type hangars and grass runways, the facility operating as a satellite airfield of nearby RAF Horsham St. Faith between July 1940 and September 1942 after which it operated as a satellite airfield of RAF Swanton Morley
RAF Swanton Morley
The former Royal Air Force Station Swanton Morley, more commonly known as RAF Swanton Morley, was a Royal Air Force Station in Norfolk, England, located near to the village of Swanton Morley...
.
In September 1943 Oulton was transferred from 2 Group to 3 Group and closed to flying for re-construction as a heavy bomber base with concrete runways, taxiways and parking areas. The work was completed in April 1944 and the airfield transferred to No. 100 Group RAF
No. 100 Group RAF
No. 100 Group was a special duties group within RAF Bomber Command.It was formed on 11 November 1943 to consolidate the increasingly complex business of electronic warfare and countermeasures within one organisation. The group was responsible for the development, operational trial and use of...
.
| Squadron | Aircraft | Dates at RAF Oulton |
|---|---|---|
| 114 No. 114 Squadron RAF -Formation and World War I:No. 114 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed In Lahore, India on 27 Sep 1917. It was equipped with the B.E.2 and Bristol F2B and operated on the North-West Frontier... |
Blenheim Mk.IV Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter... |
August 1940 to March 1941 |
| 18 No. 18 Squadron RAF No. 18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the CH-47 Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham. No. 18 Squadron was the first and is currently the largest RAF operator of the Chinook.-First World War:... |
Blenheim Mk.IV Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter... |
April 1941 to July 1941 and December 1941 |
| 139 No. 139 Squadron RAF No. 139 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was fighter unit in World War I and a bomber unit from World War II until the 1960s.-Formation and World War I:... |
Blenheim Mk.IV Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter... and Mosquito Mk.IV |
July 1941 to October 1941 and June 1942 |
| 1428 Hudson Conversion Flight | Hudson Mk.III Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter... |
December 1941 to May 1942 |
| 114 No. 114 Squadron RAF -Formation and World War I:No. 114 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed In Lahore, India on 27 Sep 1917. It was equipped with the B.E.2 and Bristol F2B and operated on the North-West Frontier... |
Blenheim Mk.IV Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter... |
August 1940 to March 1941 |
| 236 No. 236 Squadron RAF The squadron was formed on 20 August 1918 from No's 493, 515 & 516 Flights at Mullion, in Cornwall. Equipped with DH6s, it carried out anti-submarine patrols along the coast until the end of the war, disbanding on 15 May 1919.... |
Beaufighter Mk.IC 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... |
July 1942 to October 1942 |
| 88 No. 88 Squadron RAF No 88 Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force formed at Gosport, Hampshire in July 1917.-Involvement in World War I:The squadron was moved to France in April 1918 where it undertook fighter-reconnaissance duties... |
Boston Mk.III and IIIA | September 1942 to March 1943 |
| 21 No. 21 Squadron RAF No. 21 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1915 and was disbanded for the last time in 1979.The squadron is famous for Operation Jericho: on 18 February 1944, the crews of de Havilland Mosquitoes breached the walls of a Gestapo prison at Amiens, France, allowing members of the French... |
Ventura Mk.I and II Lockheed Ventura The Lockheed Ventura was a bomber and patrol aircraft of World War II, used by United States and British Commonwealth forces in several guises... |
April 1943 to September 1943 |
| 1699 (Bomber Support) C.U. | Fortress Mk.II and III and Liberator B24H B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber... |
May 1944 to June 1945 |
| 214 No. 214 Squadron RAF -History:No 214 Squadron was formed from No. 14 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service , itself formerly No. 7A Squadron RNAS only taking on the new number in 9 December 1917. With the creation of the RAF from the Royal Flying Corps and the RNAS on 1 April 1918 it received the number 214. It was later... |
Fortress Mk.II and IIIA | May 1944 to July 1945 |
| 803rd Bomb Squadron USAAF | B-17F and B-17G and B-24H and B-24J B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber... |
May 1944 to August 1944 |
| 223 No. 223 Squadron RAF No. 223 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Originally formed as part of the Royal Naval Air Service , the Squadron flew in both World Wars.-History:... |
Fortress Mk.II and III and Liberator B24H B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber... |
August 1944 to July 1945 |