Royal Air Force Coleby Grange or more simply RAF Coleby Grange was a
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
satellite station situated alongside the western edge of the
A15 on open heathland between the villages of
Coleby and
Nocton Heath and lying due south of the county town
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
,
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
, England.
Opened in 1939 and operated as a fighter and night fighter airfield during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, occupied at various times by UK,
US,
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
and
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
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.
History
Second World War
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 Cranwell
Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which tra ...
although quite quickly. In early 1940, two squadrons
No. 253 Squadron RAF and
No. 264 Squadron RAF
No. 264 Squadron RAF, also known as No. 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron, was a squadron of the Royal Air Force.
World War I
The squadron was first formed during the First World War, from two former Royal Naval Air Service flights, No. 439 ...
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 Lincoln to Sleaford road.
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
Quonset may refer to:
Places
* Quonset Point, a peninsula in North Kingstown, Rhode Island
** Naval Air Station Quonset Point
** Quonset State Airport
** Rhode Island Route 403, signed as Quonset Freeway
* Quonset Glacier, a glacier in Antar ...
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 WAAF may refer to:
* w3af, (short for web application attack and audit framework), an open-source web application security scanner
* Women's Auxiliary Air Force, a British military service in World War II
** Waaf, a member of the service
* WAAF (AM ...
personnel including officers.
In May 1941 the station was transferred to
No. 12 Group RAF
No. 12 Group of the Royal Air Force was a group, a military formation, that existed over two separate periods, namely the end of the First World War when it had a training function and from just prior to the Second World War until the early 1960s ...
and severed its link with RAF Cranwell. Instead Coleby Grange became a satellite field of nearby
RAF Digby
Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the J ...
and was occupied in turn by
No. 402 Squadron RCAF,
No. 409 Squadron RCAF
The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...
,
No. 410 Squadron RCAF and
No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron
In 1751 a high landmark and former inland lighthouse known as the
Dunston Pillar
Dunston Pillar is a Grade II listed building, listed stone tower in Lincolnshire, England and a former 'land lighthouse'. It stands beside the A15 road (Great Britain), A15 road approximately south of Lincoln, England, Lincoln near the junctio ...
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 was removed from the tower's height and its top-piece statue of King
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
was removed to
Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle is a major medieval castle constructed in Lincoln, England, during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is one of only ...
, 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
Royal Air Force Kirton in Lindsey or more simply RAF Kirton in Lindsey is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.
It's an RAF habit (inherited from the RFC) to name its bases after the nearest railwa ...
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 fighter station by the
425th Fighter Squadron
The 425th Fighter Squadron is part of the 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It operates the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting advanced fighter training for Republic of Singapore Air Force F-16 pilot ...
US Army Air Force, flying
Northrop P-61 Black Widow
The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed specifically as a night figh ...
s and
Douglas P70 Havocs in support of the
US 9th Armored Division. The squadron was under the command of the US
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...
from its headquarters at
St Vincents, a large mansion in the centre of
Grantham
Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...
.
Post war years
Immediately after the war the RAF mounted an annual series of air displays to commemorate the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
. 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
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...
s and No. 107 Elementary Glider School. No. 1515 BAT Flight left for
RAF Spitalgate
Royal Air Force Spitalgate or more simply RAF Spitalgate formerly known as RFC 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 th ...
in 1946 and the glider squadron relocated to
RAF Barkston Heath
Royal Air Force Barkston Heath or RAF Barkston Heath is a Royal Air Force station near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England.
RAF Barkston Heath has the Naval Element of No. 3 Flying Training School RAF (No. 3 FTS) which, for a period between appr ...
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 Hemswell
Royal Air Force Hemswell or more simply RAF Hemswell is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located east of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England.
Located close to the village of Hemswell in Lincolnshire, England the disestablished airfield ...
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 was tipped with a 1.44 megaton nuclear warhead, jointly controlled by the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
and the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
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
Royal Air Force Bardney or RAF Bardney is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Bardney, Lincolnshire, England and east of the County town of Lincoln. It was built as a satellite to RAF Waddington in 1943 and the airfield closed i ...
,
RAF Caistor,
RAF Ludford Magna
Royal Air Force Ludford Magna or more simply RAF Ludford Magna is a former Royal Air Force station located on agricultural farmland immediately south of the village of Ludford, Lincolnshire and was sited 21. 4miles (34.4 km) north east of ...
and RAF Coleby Grange. 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
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
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 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. Unfortunately 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
Scopwick is a small village and civil parish in the district of North Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England, situated south from Lincoln. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 815. The parish includes Kirkby Green, a hamlet to t ...
. 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
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
collided in mid-air with an
Airspeed Oxford
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...
from RAF Cranwell.
The long-distance footpath known as the
Viking Way
The Viking Way is a long distance trail in England running between the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire and Oakham in Rutland.
History
The route was officially opened on Sunday 5 September 1976 at Tealby, by the Deputy Chairman of Lincol ...
passes less than a mile from the Coleby Grange site.
Viking Way
/ref>
Station timeline and resident units
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
See also
* List of former Royal Air Force stations
This list of former RAF stations includes most of the stations, airfields and administrative headquarters previously used by the Royal Air Force.
The stations are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the du ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*Bruce Barrymore Halpenny
Bruce Barrymore Halpenny (1937 – 3 May 2015) was an English military historian and author, specialising in airfields and aircraft, as well as ghost stories and mysteries. He was also a broadcaster''Framlington Times'' - Journal of the 390t ...
''Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2'' ()
External links
RAF Coleby Grange photos
Aerial photograph of the current site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleby Grange
Royal Air Force stations in Lincolnshire
Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
Military units and formations established in 1939
Military units and formations disestablished in 1963