Coltishall
*COLTISHALL: Military aerodrome
Note: These pictures were obtained from Google Earth ©
Military users: WW2: RAF Fighter Command
*Battle of Britain RAF Sector Station 12 Group
66 Sqdn (Vickers-Supermarine Spitfires)
242 Sqdn (Hawker Hurricanes)
Both squadrons still based here through to 1st September 1940
Later, 133 (Eagle) Sqdn (Hurricanes)
Later in WW2:
19, 64, 74, 118, 124, 167, 229, 303 (Polish), 453 (RAAF), 504, 602 & 603 Sqdns (Vickers-Supermarine Spitfires)
306, 315 & 316 (Polish) Sqdns (North American P-51Mustangs)
68, 141 & 255* Sqdns (Bristol Beaufighters)
25, 96, 125, 151, 168, 219, 264, 307 (Polish) & 488 (RNZAF) Sqdns (DH98 Mosquitos)
Post WW2:
'V' Bomber dispersal airfield
23 Sqdn (Gloster Javelins)
41 Sqdn (Gloster Javelins later SEPCAT Jaguars)
74 Sqdn (English Electric Lightnings)
226 OCU (English Electric Lightnings)
2002: 54 Sqdn? (Jaguars)
RAF Strike Command 6, 41 and 54 Sqdns (Jaguars)
1998 snapshot: RAF Offensive Support
6 Sqdn 13 x SEPCAT Jaguar GR.1A/B 1 x Jaguar T 2A
54 Sqdn 14 x SEPCAT Jaguar GR.1A/B 1 x Jaguar T 2A
RAF Reconnaissance
41 Sqdn 13 x SEPCAT Jaguar GR 1A 1x Jaguar T 2A
202 Sqdn (Sea Kings)
Operated by: 2000: MoD by Royal Air Force
Flying school: Post 1945: RAF Coltishall Flying Club
Location: W of B1150, NNW of Coltishall, 8 nm NNE of Norwich
Period of operation: 1940 to 2007 (The Jaguars departed in 2006)
Note: This map is reproduced with the kind permission of Pooleys Flight Equipment Ltd. Copyright Robert Pooley 2014.
Runways: WW2: Grass with steel matting runways 09/27 1828 05/23 1463 15/33 1280
1990/2000: 04/22 2286x46 hard
(Also a grass strip very nearby - see seperate entry - COLTISHALL airstrip)
NOTES: COLTISHALL was originally planned to be a bomber station and construction began in 1939. However, it was impressed into service as a fighter Station in May 1940, whilst still incomplete, and has served as basically a fighter station until being closed in 2007. As Peter Foster points out in his book SPECAT JAGUAR (first published in 2006): “Coltishall is one of the last surviving Battle of Britain front line fighter stations, the other being RAF Northolt, and, when it finally closes at the end of October 2006, it will have been at the heart of the UK defence structure continuously for sixty-six years. For over half of that it will have been home to the Jaguar, and it is perhaps a travesty that the loss of both do not go hand in hand.”
Peter Foster also explains that is was: “…on 29 May 1940 when RAF Coltishall welcomed its first squadron. Under the command of Squadron Leader Rupert Leigh, No.66 Squadron, with their Spitfire Mk.1s, moved the short distance from another Norfolk airfield at RAF Watton. They were joined three days later by No.242 Squadron, a Hurricane squadron manned mainly by Canadian pilots who had joined the Royal Air Force prior to the start of the war. Coinciding with their arrival at RAF Coltishall was the appointment of a new squadron commander, a thirty-year old fighter pilot with artificial legs – Squadron Leader Douglas Bader.”
THE MYTH MACHINE
When WW2 ended in Europe it took a few years to get going, but, the propaganda machine in the UK really got going as the ‘Cold War’ developed. The British had won the Second World War! The Americans might have aided us, just a bit, but basically the plucky Brits had won the day. It was of course a gross distortion of history, but one I was fed with, time and time again, at a tender age. As we now know the most effective indoctrination techniques apply to the age span from seven to seventeen.
THE FIRST ENGAGEMENT IN ‘THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN’?
I have no reason whatsoever to doubt that Patrick Bishop has this nailed in his book Wings but experience has long since taught me to be wary. He always spins a good yarn anyway, and this is one which I reckon is worth repeating: “When dawn broke on 10 July 1940 the Channel was smothered with cloud and rain drenched the sandbagged Observer Corps posts on clifftops and headlands. Behind them the radar stations probed the skies for intruders. The station at West Beckham on the Norfolk coast was the first to register a blip on one of the cathode-ray tube displays.”
What a lovely description. Except for one minor detail, the ‘Channel’ usually referred to by the British as the ‘English Channel’ ends in the Straits of Dover. Beyond and north it is the ‘North Sea’. I do wonder how many similar mistakes I have made? But back to the story: “At 7.30 a.m. pilots of 66 Squadron, based at Coltishall in Essex, got the order to scramble and three of its Spitfires took off into the wet skies.” Oh dear, yet another basic mistake. COLTISHALL is of course in NORFOLK, about 70 miles north from the nearest boundary with ESSEX. But, back to the story;
“Led by Pilot Officer Charles Cooke, the section climbed fast through the rain and cloud and at 10,000 feet broke through into brilliant sunshine. Cooke was given a vector bearing, which lead him to where the enemy aircraft had been last spotted. At 8.15 a.m. the intruder came into sight. It was a lone Dornier 17 bomber, probably on a reconnaissance mission to report back on the weather over the coast. As they swooped down, the pilot of the Dornier threw his aircraft around the sky in a desperate attempt to avoid the stream of fire floating towards him and to give his gunners a chance to shoot back. One bullet from the Dornier’s 7.9mm machine guns smashed through Cooke’s windscreen, flooding the cockpit with freezing air.”
“Then on the fighter, attacking from underneath, found the belly of the bomber with its eight Browning machine guns. Smoke began to spout from the Dornier. It went into a banking turn and glided smoothly down, until it struck the grey seas off Yarmouth to be swallowed, swiftly, by the waves. All four crew were killed. The Spitfires returned to base, the victors of the first small clash of the battle.”
ANOTHER VERSION
I find it quite astonishing, after all the years since, that two quite separate accounts by experts in the subject of the “first kill’ by the RAF in WW2 still exist. In his book SEPECAT JAGUAR Peter Foster gives us another quite different account: “The first recorded kill of the Battle of Britain is credited to No.66 Squadron. Following a 04.00 hrs take-off, Sergeant F.N. Robertson, flying his Spitfire Mk.1 (aircraft N3035), and accompanied by two other Spitfires, climbed to 15,000ft and intercepted a lone Dornier 17 bomber in the skies over Winterton. The gunner of the enemy aircraft successfully hit one of the Spitfires, forcing him to return to base. The remaining pair continued the assault until Sergeant Robertson mortally wounded the Dornier that crashed into the sea.”
MAKE YOUR CHOICE
So, two very specific accounts, full of detail, but quite different regarding the same conflict. As said many times elsewhere, thank heavens that from the start of this project I had the good sense to make this just a ‘Guide’. Then again it now appears that Fleet Air Arm aircraft actually shot down the first aircraft in WW2.
NOTES ON THE DOUGLAS BADER LEGEND
As a youngster for me Douglas Bader, along with Guy Gibson, were the archetypal RAF heroes of WW2. Having watched, in the local cinema, The Dambusters in 1955 and then Reach for the Sky in 1956 at the highly impressionable ages of eight and nine. Over the years, and as expected I suppose, those two major hero figures have now become rather fragile and flawed. In my estimation Guy Gibson still commands considerable respect, but, Douglas Bader seems a more difficult case. Although becoming a national hero it does now appear he lacked respect at nearly every level in the RAF, hence being relegated to duties well away from the main ‘Battle of Britain’ arena. I have yet to find a single account from anybody in the RAF who has anything kind to say about Bader.
During the ‘Battle of Britain’, at least when it kicked off in July 1940, Douglas Bader was commanding 242 Squadron flying Hurricanes here. One of our favourite national heroes for many a year I have since heard it reported that many senior RAF officers, even up to Air Chief Marshall Dowding, had little regard for ‘tin-legs’Bader, being thought of as a ‘hot- head’ and a generally undisciplined sort.
Many loved him, including some of those who flew with him but one pilot, John Freeborn serving with 74 Sqdn is on record for saying; “He made me sick, I’ve never met such a self-opinionated fool in all my life.” It would appear this was the most general opinion amongst RAF pilots during and after WW2? The 1956 film Reach For The Sky certainly endeared him to the British public.
THE FLAWED 'BIG WING' STRATEGY
Bader was a big supporter of Air Vice-Marshall Leigh-Mallory who proposed the ‘Big-Wing’ defense approach whereby a large amount of fighters would be assembled in advance to oppose the incoming Luftwaffe forces. Quite obviously a strategy impractical in the circumstances but one which Leigh-Mallory clung to throughout the Battle-of-Britain period. It appears fairly obvious that even during the most desperate and critical phases of the Battle- of-Britain, even when help was needed and requested to support 11 Group by 12 Group squadrons, such requests were, (how should I say?), provided in small numbers. Often late in arriving. It does appear today that Leigh-Mallory put his self-interest before the task of defending this country?
Or did he? The so called ‘Battle of Britain’ was nothing of the sort. It only really affected mostly the south-east of England and even then, because Goering had adopted the ‘Big Wing’ approach, (which takes so long to formate), even London could not be effectively attacked by bombers in daylight with fighter cover. It needs to be remembered that up to that time the strategy of night bombing was virtually unknown so therefore, if the Luftwaffe had gained aerial supremacy over the south-east of England, the threat of large bomber fleets ranging further inland, the defense of the Midlands would most certainly have fallen on 12 Group initially. And, without adequate fighter cover the Luftwaffe bombers would have been decimated.
THE NIGHT BOMBING CAMPAIGN
It is not often written about but it certainly does now appear that the British were taken completely by surprise when the Luftwaffe demonstrated that their bomber crews could fly in formation and navigate at night and had almost nothing arranged to defend the country except a handful of Boulton-Paul Defiants lacking airborne radar. Hence the astonishing effectiveness of the Blitz campaign. To counter this ‘Bomber’ Harris was totally correct in insisting that the only possible way to defend the UK was to train RAF crews in exactly the same way and attack Germany, and German held territory, with vast numbers of bombers flying at night, obviously without fighter cover.
ANOTHER ASPECT
Getting back to Bader I have read somewhere that Dowding insisted that Bader should be relegated to the ‘second-front’ in 12 Group. If this is correct the obvious question today is to ask what Dowding thought of the many foreign pilots under his command at this stage? Many if not most of them had little regard for RAF procedures, and quite rightly so. Indeed, a very convincing argument can now be made that the contribution of the Polish and Czech pilots especially may well have been decisive in the winning of the ‘Battle of Britain’. It was after all largely a ‘numbers game’, and, the Polish and Czech pilots do seem to have gained a reputation for being very aggressive and effective in combat. This being acknowleged by British pilots who saw them in action.
THE ‘BATTLE of BRITAIN’ AND SOME FAMOUS NAMES
Peter Foster in his book SEPECAT JAGUAR tells us: “As the battle progressed, the station was used as a base for resting squadrons from 11 Group in south-east England, but the station’s own squadrons played an aggressive part, belonging to the celebrated ‘Duxford Wing’ and destroying a total of eighty enemy aircraft. Famous ‘aces’ such as Stanford Tuck, ‘Sailor’ Malan, ‘Cat’s Eyes’ Cunningham and Johnnie Johnson all flew from the base during the Second World War.”
255 SQUADRON
*It appears that by the end of 1941, 255 Squadron were just one of nine RAF squadrons, equipped with Beaufighters having the A1 radar, assigned to the night-fighter role defending the UK. This was later increased to thirteen squadrons when the threat of Luftwaffe night bombing raids had mostly subsided. But this is how the military mind seems to work? On the other hand I believe that it is not often realised today that by 1943 at least, RAF night-fighters such as the Beaufighter and Mosquito were ranging over enemy held territory seeking targets. 141 Squadron based here, flying Beaufighters was one of them.
229 SQUADRON (1945)
It appears that in December 1944 229 Squadron had twenty-three Spitfire IX, seventeen Spitfire XVI, a single Spitfire V and a Miles Magister. The Squadron 'run around' or communications type.
OPERATION 'BIG BEN'
There is a little known, rather unusual but very important history behind the four Spitfire squadrons based here, (and also at MATLASKE and SWANNINGTON), in that during the latter half of 1944 and the first few months of 1945 they were involved in Operation Big Ben. This involved these squadrons dive bombing and generally harassing by strafing the V2 rocket sites in the Netherlands. It would appear these operations had quite a degree of success although it is very difficult to find quantifiable proof, the results being mainly deduced by inference. Equipped with a variety of Spitfire Marks, (Vb, IXB, F & HF, XIV& XVI), are there other instances of Spitfires Squadrons being used primarily for dive-bombing duties in Europe? A book published in 2004, ‘Operation Big Ben – The Anti-V2 Spitfire Missions 1944-45)’ by Craig Cabell and Graham A Thomas provides substantial details.
Note: If you find this 'Guide' to be very 'dry' reading, their book is positively sub-Saharan by comparison.
Other airfields involved were LUDHAM and MANSTON, and the Squadrons involved were 124, 229, 303, 453, 504, 602 and 603. There is something that needs to be explained. Contrary to popular myth the Nazi war machine was seriously under resourced and lacking in mechanised transport right from the start. In fact they employed half a million horses to provide logistical back-up when WW2 started! What they did have, and employed in the 'Blizkreig' regime was very effective at the start, against neighbouring countries, but as the war expanded in North Africa and into Russia, it soon ran out of the materiel means.
In effect, as most of the German military senior staff realised, by mid 1943 the war was already lost, and Hitler assumed overall military control. Only the deluded fanatics kept the faith, and these included many of their top scientists. And of course, scientists typically have a very slim appreciation of reality, being totally consumed by their research and concentration on detail. And, not in the slightest bit concerned about the consequences of developing terror weapons such as the V.1 and V.2, the latter of which was truly horrific.
Faced with this latest bizarre regime, Bomber Command, (and the USAAF), did not have an answer, except to keep pounding German cities to rubble, which of course was totally justified. The only partial solution was to use Spitfires as dive-bombers, to hit very accurately not only identified sites, but also to disrupt the road, rail and canal bridges along which the V.2s were being transported into The Netherlands. Looked at today, with the evidence available, it would appear that the 'Operation Big Ben' Spitfire Squadrons, based around and centred on COLTISHALL made a significant contribution to the V.2 menace in the closing stages of WW2.
ANOTHER ANSWER
General Spaatz, in charge of the 8th Air Force, realised that if the fuel supply to the Nazi regime could be decimated, the war would be ended. But his views were overridden. We must of course remember that huge industrial concerns were making a fortune supplying arms, and had no interest in the war ending - and they had a lot of influence. It didn't bother them in the slightest that hundreds of thousands of innocent Germans were being slaughtered by bombing their towns and cities.
But, in the end, even they had to realise that the massive invasion of western Europe by the Russians had to be stopped before their potential post-war markets were obliterated. And this meant getting 'boots on the ground' to stop the advance.
A POLISH INTERLUDE
Peter Foster also tells us: “On 8 August 1945 RAF Coltishall was handed over to the Polish Air Force and became RAF Coltishall (Polish) under the command of Group Captain T.H. Polski. (My note; was there ever a more apt name?). This change was to see the transfer of personnel from No.133 Polish Wing HQ, Squadron Nos 306, 309 and 315, as well as (Polish) Servicing Echelons Nos 6306, 6309, and 6315. The station was handed back to RAF Fighter Command in February 1946.”
THE JAVELIN ARRIVES
Again from Peter Foster: “Early in 1957 a contract was let to extend the runway and to strengthen both the runway and taxiways.” I far as I can ascertain there are a couple of anoraky points here, because, it seems, the decision had been made to lay just one hard runway on the axis of the WW2 05/23. Prior to this the runways had been grass with steel matting. But, in WW2, the 09/27 runway was the longest. As the longest runway, for take-offs, was supposed to be that which favoured the prevailing winds, something appears adrift here. Did those charged with laying out the WW2 runways cock it up?
“During this period the aircraft were moved to RAF Horsham St Faith (My note: Now Norwich Airport) near Norwich. While on this detachment both Coltishall squadrons began to re-equip with the Gloster Javelin FAW.4 aircraft, and in doing so became the first Javelin Wing in Fighter Command.” Have I missed something? On paper at least the Javelin appeared quite a formidable aircraft, but failed to make its mark as a classic. Could somebody kindly explain why?
THE COLD WAR PERIOD
When the ‘Cold War’ period quickly developed after WW2, when basically the USA became very aggressive about resisting an apparent Soviet Union motive to conquer western Europe – which has never been proved – the U.K. had by then become a 'lap dog' to support US foreign strategies in western Europe. In the late 1950s the front-line RAF fighter was the Hawker Hunter which RAF Bomber Command Vickers Valiant V-bomber crews had no difficulty in evading at high altitude.
THE LIGHTNING
When the English Electric Lightning came along, of operational capability in 1960, it was sensational. Nothing like it in terms of sheer performance had been designed before and in some ways, arguably since? For example the Lightning F.Mk.1 had an initial rate of climb of over 50,000 feet per minute whereas the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle had a maximum rate of climb of 33,000 feet per minute although the F-15C claims 50,000 feet per minute. The problem being that so much myth and legend surrounds the Lightning that the truth of the matter will, quite probably, never be established.
The first operational RAF squadron equipped with the Lightning F.1 was 74 Squadron based here, after the Air Fighting Development Squadron, also based here had received the first examples in December 1959. 74 Squadron became operational on the 29th June 1960. As there were no two-seater versions then available one can only wonder what these pilots, previously flying Hawker Hunters, made of the Lightning when attempting their first flights.
It has been said that the ‘official’ top speed of 1,500mph was simply a somewhat arbitary operational constraint and it could actually fly very much faster - if anybody was brave enough to try it out. One story is that somebody actually tried this but it got so fast in level flight with just one engine on afterburner, he bottled out. I know somebody who flew the early single-seat F.Mk.1 (a two-seater trainer version didn’t fly until 1959), and, in a zoom climb, exceeded the 120,000ft limitation, (imposed due to cockpit pressurisation constraints), pulled the power and the stick back and looped over to descend. But, the Lightning was still climbing at quite a rate. In the middle of a summer day he told me that the sight of having a black sky full of stars in front was so captivating, he had overlooked keeping an eye on the altimeter. Also, looking back and seeing East Anglia laid out like a map was awesome.
NOTE: In February 2021 I was kindly contacted by Mr Trevor Mills who served in the RAF. He tells us that the Lightning could never have reached 120,000ft. Indeed, even claims that it could reach 80,000ft when new were regarded as being rather dubious - the official limiting altitude, he recalls, as being 50,000ft on operations. It could of course be that I mis-remembered the story? Does anybody else have information and advice?
In his excellent book Britain’s Greatest Aircraft Robert Jackson opens the English Electric Lightning chapter with this quote by Squadron Leader John F.G. Howe: “We know that we can catch the bombers and, going on past experience, we know that we can outfight any fighter equivalent to the US Century-series. The performance of the aircraft, coupled with the ease with which it is flown, gives the pilots confidence, and the fact that it felt to be the best fighter in operational service in the world today gives our Lightning pilots the highest possible morale.”
Mr Jackson then says: “The man who made this statement to members of the Press at RAF Coltishall, Norfolk, in the spring of 1961 knew what he was talking about. He was the Officer Commanding No.74 Squadron – the first unit of RAF Fighter Command to arm with the English Electric (BAC) Lightning F.Mk.1 fighter.” The ‘Achilles Heel’ was its lack of endurance. As Mr Jackson explains: “The Lightning F.1’s most serious shortcoming was its very limited endurance. It burned 20 gallons of fuel per minute in the cruise and this rose to about 200 gallons per minute in the climb with full afterburner. To alleviate the problem, a flight refuelling probe was fitted to the aircraft, which was then designated Mk.1A, and thereafter Fighter Command’s Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Lightning force operated in conjunction with the Vickers Valiant B(K)1 tankers of the Marham Tanker Wing, these aircraft later being replaced by Handley Page Victor B(K)1As and B(K)2s.”
SOMETHING TO WONDER AT?
I can only wonder in amazement at the capabilities of those Lightning pilots given the very limited time frame. Obviously they had some assistance (being given radar vectors etc) but even so the concentration required to take-off, intercept an ‘enemy’ and then steer to and latch onto a tanker, refuel and then set off after another target (possibly repeating the exercise for more than two targets per sortie?) must have been exhausting.
Other Lightning squadrons were; 56 & 111 Squadrons at RAF WATTISHAM (SUFFOLK) from early 1961, 19 & 92 Squadrons at RAF LECONFIELD (YORKSHIRE) in early 1963. In the summer of 1962 a Lightning Conversion Squadron was established at RAF MIDDLETON St GEORGE (COUNTY DURHAM) known as 226 OCU and flying both the two-seat T.4 as well as the single-seat F.1. In the mid-1960s 5 Squadron at RAF BINBROOK (LINCOLNSHIRE) was equipped with Lightnings as were 11 & 23 Squadrons at RAF LEUCHARS (FIFE). The last of the Lightnings departed in 1974.
MORE LIGHTNING DETAILS
In his book SEPECAT JAGUAR Peter Foster provides us with more information regarding this period: “The year 1958 saw extensive alterations to the station, in preparation for the arrival of the Air Fighter Development Squadron (AFDS) of the Central Fighter Establishment (CFE) and the very first Lightnings in RAF service. The first of the pre-production aircraft to be delivered was XG334/A, which arrived at Coltishall on 23 December 1959, followed by XG335/B and XG336/C a few days after Christmas. Towards the end of 1959, Coltishall’s resident Hunter unit, No.74 Squadron, was informed that they were to be the first front line operational squadron in the RAF to be equipped with the Mach 2-capable English Electric Lightning. The squadron became operational on 29 June 1960.”
This is what I have loved after making the decision to produce a ‘Guide’ in around 2004 after just a few years of research. Nearly every perception I have had about British aviation history has been trashed. For example, up to discovering this in 2014 I had assumed, (I cannot explain why), that RAF BINBROOK was the natural home for the Lightning. Again from Peter Foster: “From 13 April 1964 to 30 September 1974, Coltishall was the home of No.226 Operational Conversion Unit. Its role was to train pilots to fly the Mach 2 Lightning interceptor. Prior to the disbandment of the OCU in 1974, 810 pilots had been trained to fly this mighty aircraft.”
Given that only 337 Lightnings were built (including exports) one might today wonder at the apparent discrepancy. The main reason being that for many years during the Cold War a number of these interceptors, (just like the V-bombers), were kept on constant readiness 24/7 all year round.
BBMF HISTORY
It appears that in 1975/77 the “Spitfires and Hurricane of Battle of Britain Flight” were based here. (No Lancaster in those days, or was it based elsewhere?). These being Spitfire Vb G-AISU (AB910), Hurricane IIC G-AMAU (PZ865) and Spitfire IIIA G-AWIJ (P7350). I later learnt from Jarrod Cotter’s excellent book Battle of Britain Memorial Flight that the then Historic Aircraft Flight moved here on the 1st April 1963 and in those days comprised just two aircraft; the Hurricane LF363 and Spitfire Mk.XIX PM631. The Spitfire Mk.Vb G-AISU (AB910) was presented to the Flight in 1965 by Vickers-Armstrong and was delivered by no less than Jeffrey Quill. According to Jarrod Cotter on the 20th November 1973 the Lancaster 1 PA474 was officially transferred from RAF WADDINGTON to the now named ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’.
Possibly a more accurate title should then have been chosen for this Flight? The ‘Battle of Britain’ period is well defined and did not include the bomber offensive, and in those days the Lancaster was still on the drawing boards. Then again, as taken today, the ‘Battle of Britain’ Memorial Flight is intended to be inclusive of the entire conflictduring WW2. Surely it would be hard to think of a more appropriate title?
Typically of the RAF, having now established a secure base, the BBMF were moved, from COTTISHALL on the 1st March 1976 to RAF CONINGSBY (LINCOLNSHIRE). Jarrod Cotter goes some way to explain local ‘tribal instincts’. For example some people objecting to the Flight moving to LINCOLNSHIRE, the Lancaster was of course the focus. The Hurricane and Spitfire were deployed throughout the UK, but the heartland of the Lancaster operations surely has to be LINCOLNSHIRE? More operating from this than any other County? I don’t think it was purely accidental that Avro named the successor to the Lancaster the ‘Lincoln’. The reason for moving the BBMF was that more room was needed for the Jaguar.
THE JAGUAR PERIOD
As Peter Foster says in his book SEPECAT JAGUAR RAF COLTISHALL, “…will always be considered the home of the Jaguar.” He goes on to tell us: “The first Jaguar squadron at RAF Coltishall was No.54 (Fighter) Squadron, arriving on 8 August 1974 from Coningsby under the command of Wing Commander Terry Carlton.” Which, I suppose, rather neatly explains why CONINGSBY now had excess space to house the BBMF. “Wing Commander John Quarterman then led No.6 Squadron south from RAF Lossiemouth in November 1974, from where it had also re-equipped with the Jaguar. No.41 (F) Squadron arrived at Coltishall in April 1977. This squadron, like both Squadron Nos.6 and 54, was converted from the Phantom FGR.2, and had also been based at Coningsby.”
“The first Jaguars to visit RAF Coltishall, however, had done so several months earlier, when GR.1 XX723 and T.2 XX137 both visited from Lossiemouth on 13 May 1974. The first recorded overshoot had pre-dated these by several months, with XX116 from Warton undertaking an approach on 12 September 1973, and XX109, in company with the ill-fated XX136, doing the same on 27 September while operating from Boscombe Down.” Perhaps, arguably, the Jaguar heralded the start of an era whereby it takes many years from a first flight to get a ‘complex’ aircraft into service.
“Until 1990, sixteen years after its arrival, the Jaguar was never used in anger. However, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait changed this situation. Once the backbone of the RAF Ground Attack Force, the Jaguar had largely been replaced by the Tornado GR.1. Despite their age, Jaguars could offer vital low-level ground attack capability as ‘Tank Busters’ should the Iraqi army advance into Saudi Arabia.” Was this ever a realistic scenario? “As the situation progressed RAF Coltishall assembled a composite squadron, together with 300 personnel to support them. The desert camouflage paint arrived at the station shortly before midnight the day before the Jaguars’ departure. It was all hands to the pumps, including the employment of Air Training Corps cadets on summer camp. Their achievement was superb: ten aircraft were re-painted in full desert camouflage in less than five hours.”
And this, it seems, was the high point in the thirty two years that the Jaguar served at this Station. “With the drawdown of the Jaguar Force and RAF Coltishall, Squadron Nos.54 (F) and 16 (R) disbanded on 11 March 2005. No.41 (F) Squadron would disband in March 2006 and, at the same time, No.6 Squadron would re-locate to RAF Coningsby. The station itself continues to support Jaguar operations through the retention of the Jaguar simulator and engine test cell.” Peter Foster’s book was first published in 2006.
A FLYING CLUB
In 2006 the RAF Coltishall Flying Club were operating a Cessna C150 Aerobat and a Piper PA-38 Tomahawk.
COLTISHALL see also NORFOLK MEAD HOTEL
Rachael Tranter
This comment was written on: 2016-05-30 19:37:38Hi. I am looking for some more information regarding the crash crew teams at RAF Coltishall. My partners father was stationed there from 55-59. If anyone has any information please make contact. He's 80 this year and would to get a bit more back ground of what he did and where. Many thanks Rachael
Reply from Dick Flute:
Hi Rachel, I shall post your request and hope that somebody can kindly assist to help you. Best regards, Dick
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