1/144 Raf Coltishall, Norfolk, United Kingdom, 1950s-1970s

Kits-World - 1/144 Raf Coltishall, Norfolk, United Kingdom, 1950's-1970's. 438mm(W) x 225mm(H) 17 inches x 9 inches(H)

Scottow Aerodrome was built in 1939. Renamed Coltishall, it was activated in May 1940 and one of the first units to operate from the station was No. 242 Squadron flying the Hawker Hurricane and led by Douglas Bader. 242 Squadron left for Raf Duxford shortly afterwards. The station became a night fighter base for most of the remaining part of the war, and was also home to No. 124 Squadron which flew fighter bomber sweeps over Holland, mainly targeting V2 missile sites.

After the war, Coltishall became operational as a dispersal base for Britain's V-Force. The purpose of this was, in the event of hostilities, to provide V bomber squadrons an alternative landing base should their home base be destroyed or put out of action. At this time, Coltishall was also used by a number of other units and among other types, operated Gloster Javelin interceptors. In June 1959, the station saw the arrival of No. 74(F) Squadron, which became the first Raf unit to be equipped with the English Electric Lightning F.1 in June 1960. The squadron stayed at Coltishall until early March 1964 when it moved to Raf Leuchars. The station then became home to No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU), which arrived in April 1964 and equipped with Lightnings. During the latter half of the 1960's, 226 Ocu was tasked with training pilots of the Royal Saudi Air Force on the complex fighter, although Saudi operations on the Lightning continued until 1986. 226 Ocu was disbanded as a fighter unit at Coltishall in September 1974. Reactivating as a strike unit, it reactivated at Raf Lossiemouth the same month equipped with the new Sepecat Jaguar.

At the time of 226 OCU's departure, Coltishall saw the arrival of No. 54(F) Squadron in August 1974 after relocating from Raf Coningsby and being equipped with Jaguars.In November of that year, No. 6 Squadron arrived also flying Jaguars. Ex-Phantom FGR.2 unit No. 41 Squadron had been disbanded at Raf Coningsby and was reformed at Coltishall in October 1976 becoming a third Jaguar unit at the base. It officially became operational in April 1977.

In June 1978, Coltishall saw the brief arrival and stay of the USAF's 62nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron operating the RF-4C Phantom, as part of Deployment Coronet Heron. In June/July 1983, the 106th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron of the Alabama Air National Guard operated from the base also flying RF-4C's (Coronet Joust), and returned in September 1986 again with RF-4C's as part of Coronet Mobile.

Jaguars from all three of the Coltishall squadrons were deployed to Muharraq Airfield in Bahrain as part of Operation Granby in 1990, and in September 1991 took part in Operation Warden flying from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. From 1993 to 1995, Coltishall's Jaguars were deployed to Gioia de Colle Air Base in Italy as part of Operation Deny Flight during the Balkan's War. 1997 saw the Jaguars again deploy to Italy as part of Operation Deliberate Guard, and again to Incirlik as part of Operation Reinstate.

In July 2000, another Jaguar unit, No. 16(Reserve) Squadron was relocated from Raf Lossiemouth to Coltishall.

Although Coltishall was considered as a potential base for the new Eurofighter Typhoon, it was not chosen due to unsuitability. Pending the arrival of the Typhoon, the Jaguar began retirement from the RAF. Nos. 16(Reserve) and 54(F) Squadrons were the first to disband, both going in early March 2005. In April 2006, No. 6 Squadron went to Raf Coningsby where it was disbanded in May 2007 pending reformation and delivery of Typhoons at Raf Leuchars. No. 41(F) Squadron went to Raf Coningsby to form the Fast Jet and Weapons Operational Evaluation Unit (FJWOEU).

Coltishall was finally closed as a military base in November 2006 and as of 2021, the land is owned by Norfolk County Council.

The base shown here depicts one of the main dispersal areas as it was back in the 1950's, flanked by blast walls.

Main aircraft operated for the period (1950's to 1970's) given:

Gloster Javelin FAW.4. Shown is an FAW.4 of No. 23 Squadron during the late 1950's
English Electric Lightning F.1
GPS- 52º45'18.95' N 1º21'55.71' E