# RAF Colerne

Royal Air Force Colerne or more simply RAF Colerne is a former Royal Air Force station which was on the outskirts of the village of Colerne in Wiltshire, England, and was in use from 1939 to 1976.
The site is now known as Azimghur Barracks and is home to 21 Signal Regiment, Royal Signals and 93 (City of Bath) Air Training Corps detached flight.

## History
### Second World War

Originally there had been a farm called Doncombe and a vineyard on the site of the airfield, the names of Doncombe Lane and Doncombe Hill being the last link to the farm.
From 1940 to 1955 RAF Fighter Command units were based here. During the Battle of Britain the airfield served as a satellite field to RAF Middle Wallop, and squadrons rotated back and forth from there on a daily basis.
Later it was a training station for night fighter navigators. Using the latest night fighter procedures, the unit involved was No. 238 Operational Conversion Unit RAF from June 1952 until January 1957 and Bristol Brigand twin engine aircraft were used for this purpose. They also operated Bristol Buckmaster Aircraft for pilot training, and a number of Boulton Paul Balliol aircraft – an advanced pilot trainer powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The pilot and trainee sat side-by-side in the wide fuselage, and the Balliols were used as targets for the Brigand aircraft to practice radar interceptions on.
| Squadron | Equipment | From | To | Departed To | Notes |
| No. 19 Squadron RAF | Supermarine Spitfire VB | 23 July 1942 | 31 July 1942 | RAF Perranporth | |
| No. 29 Squadron RAF | de Havilland Mosquito XIIII/XXX | 22 February 1945 | 11 May 1945 | RAF Manston | |
| No. 87 (United Provinces) Squadron RAF | Hawker Hurricane I Hurricane IIC | 28 November 1940 7 August 1941 | 18 December 1940 27 January 1942 | RAF Charmy Down | Detachment at RAF Charmy Down. Det at RAF St Mary's. |
| No. 89 Squadron RAF | Bristol Beaufighter IF | 25 September 1941 | 19 November 1941 | en route Egypt | Reformed here. |
| No. 118 Squadron RAF | Spitfire IIA | 7 April 1941 | 9 April 1941 | RAF Warmwell | |
| No. 124 (Baroda) Squadron RAF | Spitfire VII | March 1943 | 26 July 1943 | RAF Northolt | As a detachment from RAF North Weald. |
| No. 125 (Newfoundland) Squadron RAF | Boulton Paul Defiant I Defiant IIBeaufighter IIF | 16 June 194125 January 1942 | 7 August 194114 May 1942 | RAF Charmy DownRAF Fairwood Common | Full SquadronDet at RAF Fairwood Common Det at RAF Charmy Down. |
| No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron RAF | Spitfire IX Spitfire VII | 10 February 1944 29 February 1944 | 22 February 1944 24 March 1944 | RAF Fairwood Common Harrowbeer | |
| No. 137 Squadron RAF | Hurricane IV Hawker Typhoon IB | 2 January 1944 | 4 February 1944 | RAF Lympne | |
| No. 151 Squadron RAF | Defiant I Mosquito II/XII/VI/XIII | 30 April 1943 17 November 1943 | 16 August 1943 25 March 1944 | RAF Middle Wallop RAF Predannack | |
| No. 165 (Ceylon) Squadron RAF | Spitfire VC/IXB | 10 February 1944 7 March 1944 | 1 March 1944 10 March 1944 | RAF Fairwood Common RAF Culmhead | |
| No. 175 Squadron RAF | Hurricane IIB Typhoon IB | 8 April 1943 | 29 May 1943 | RAF Lasham | |
| No. 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF | Typhoon IB | 24 March 1943 | 8 April 1943 | RAF Gatwick | |
| No. 184 Squadron RAF | Hurricane IID | 1 December 1942 | 1 March 1943 | RAF Chilbolton | Det at RAF Milfield. |
| No. 219 (Mysore) Squadron RAF | Mosquito XVII | 26 March 1944 | 1 April 1944 | RAF Bradwell Bay | |
| No. 256 Squadron RAF | Defiant I | 6 February 1941 | 26 March 1941 | RAF Squires Gate | Det at RAF Middle Wallop. |
| No. 263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Squadron RAF | Westland Whirlwind I | 28 January 1942 15 August 1942 | 10 February 1942 13 September 1942 | RAF Fairwood Common RAF Warmwell | |
| No. 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF | Defiant II Mosquito II Mosquito XIII | 1 May 1942 30 November 1944 | 30 April 1943 1 December 1944 | RAF Odiham | |
| No. 285 Squadron RAF | Defiant III Miles Martinet I | 25 August 1943 | 19 November 1944 | RAF Andover | As a detachment from RAF Woodvale. |
| No. 286 Squadron RAF | Miles Master III Defiant III/I Hurricane I Airspeed Oxford | 30 December 1941 2 March 1942 | 24 January 1942 30 April 1942 | RAF Lulsgate Bottom RAF Lulsgate Bottom | |
| No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron | Defiant I | 26 March 1941 | 26 April 1941 | RAF Exeter | |
| No. 316 Polish Fighter Squadron | Hurricane I/IIA/IIB | 18 June 1941 | 2 August 1941 | RAF Northolt | |
| No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron | Hurricane I | 26 June 1941 | 27 June 1941 | RAF Fairwood Common | |
| No. 402 Squadron RCAF | Hurricane IB Spitfire VB | 4 March 1942 | 17 March 1942 | RAF Fairwood Common | |
| No. 406 Squadron RCAF | Mosquito XXX | 17 September 1944 | 27 November 1944 | RAF Manston | |
| No. 410 Squadron RCAF | Mosquito XIII/XXX | 28 July 1944 | 9 September 1944 | RAF Hunsdon | |
| No. 417 Squadron RCAF | Spitfire IIA/VB | 26 January 1942 | 24 February 1942 | RAF Tain | |
| No. 456 Squadron RAAF | Beaufighter IIF/VIF Mosquito II Mosquito VI | December 1942 17 August 1943 | 29 March 1943 17 November 1943 | RAF Middle Wallop RAF Fairwood Common | |
| No. 488 Squadron RNZAF | Mosquito XIII | 3 May 1944 29 July 1944 | 12 May 1944 9 October 1944 | RAF Zeals RAF Hunsdon | |
| No. 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron AAF | Spitfire I/IIA | 9 April 1941 | 25 June 1941 | RAF Chilbolton | |
| No. 504 (County of Nottingham) Squadron AAF | Spitfire IXE Meteor III | 28 March 1945 | 10 August 1945 | Disbanded | Dets at RAF Andrews Field and Lübeck. |
| No. 587 Squadron RAF | Oxford Hawker Henley III Hurricane IV Miles Martinet Hurricane IIC | 10 April 1944 | 1 October 1944 | RAF Weston Zoyland | As a detachment from RAF Culmhead. |
| No. 600 (City of London) Squadron AAF | Beaufighter IIF | 27 April 1941 27 June 1941 | 18 June 1941 6 October 1941 | RAF Fairwood Common RAF Predannack | Det at RAF Predannack. |
| No. 604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron AAF | Mosquito XIII Mosquito XII | 13 July 1944 28 July 1944 | 25 July 1944 6 August 1944 | RAF Zeals A-8 Picauville | Det at A-15 Maupertus. |
| No. 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron AAF | Meteor I/III | 17 January 1945 | 28 February 1945 | RAF Andrews Field | Det at B 58 Melsbroek. |
The following units were here during the Second World War:
* Aircraft Delivery Flight, Colerne RAF became No. 2 Aircraft Delivery Flight RAF (March 1941 – July 1943)
* No. 2 Supplementary School of Technical Training RAF (March – May 1941)
* No. 4 Aircraft Assembly Unit RAF (July 1940 – March 1942) became No. 218 Maintenance Unit RAF (March 1942 – February 1948)
* No. 10 Group Communication Flight RAF (July 1940 – April 1945)
* No. 149 (Long Range Fighter) Wing RAF (July – September 1944)
* No. 1454 (Fighter) Flight RAF (June 1941 – January 1942)
* No. 1457 (Fighter) Flight RAF (September – November 1941)
* Detachment of No. 1487 (Fighter) Gunnery Flight RAF (January – February 1943)
* No. 1498 (Target Towing) Flight RAF (August – September 1943)
* Fortress Flight RAF (1942 – October 1942)
* Special Installation Flight RAF (August 1942 – February 1948 & October 1953 – March 1962)

### Cold War and closure

Between 4 May 1948 and 1 March 1962, No. 49 Maintenance Unit RAF was based at the airfield.
After this period it became a Transport Command airfield, and Handley Page Hastings aircraft were flown from RAF Colerne. After the demise of the Hastings and the introduction of the new Lockheed C-130 Hercules to the RAF Air Support Command, the front-line transport role was relinquished. The Hercules were based at RAF Lyneham, also in Wiltshire, and for many years major servicing of the Hercules was carried out at RAF Colerne by the Air Engineering Squadron, until the station closed in 1976.
C-130 Hercules aircraft XV198 crashed, killing all crew on board, here in September 1973.
Colerne was also the home of No. 2 Field Squadron RAF Regiment from 1962 to 1975. For a number of years up until its closure as an RAF station it housed one of the RAF's regional collections of historic aircraft, including Neville Duke's world-record-breaking Hawker Hunter and a rare example of the rocket-engined Messerschmitt Me 163 B, Werknummer 191904 (since returned to Germany).
From 1966, the Skynet satellite communications system, a Signal Unit with its main base at RAF Oakhanger, had a detachment at Colerne.
| Squadron | Equipment | From | To | Departed To | Notes |
| No. 24 Squadron RAF | Handley Page Hastings C.1 | 1 January 1957 | 5 January 1968 | RAF Lyneham | |
| No. 36 Squadron RAF | Hastings C.1/C.2 | 1 September 1958 | 1 July 1967 | RAF Lyneham | |
| No. 74 (Trinidad) Squadron RAF | Gloster Meteor F.3 | 15 February 1946 9 June 1946 | 2 June 1946 14 August 1946 | RAF Bentwaters RAF Horsham St Faith | |
| No. 114 (Hong Kong) Squadron RAF | Hastings C.1/C.2 | 13 April 1959 | 30 September 1961 | Disbanded | Reformed here. |
| No. 245 (Northern Rhodesian) Squadron RAF | Meteor F.3 | 10 August 1945 | 18 February 1946 | RAF Fairwood Common | Reformed here. |
| No. 511 Squadron RAF | Hastings C.1/C.2 | 1 May 1957 | 1 September 1958 | Disbanded | |
| No. 662 Squadron RAF | Auster AOP 5/6/4 | 1 February 1949 | 10 March 1957 | Disbanded | |
The following units were here during the Cold War:
* No. 3 Air Experience Flight RAF (1993 – ?)
* No. 24 Group Communication Flight RAF (January 1960 – April 1964)
* No. 27 (Signals Training) Group RAF (September 1949 – July 1953)
* No. 27 Group Communication Flight RAF (September 1949 – July 1952)
* No. 62 Group Communication Flight RAF (January 1948 – July 1952) became Colerne Communication Squadron RAF (August 1942 – July 1957) absorbed by No. 81 Group Communication Flight RAF (January 1952 – April 1958)
* No. 92 Gliding School RAF (February 1948 – September 1955)
* Detachment of No. 228 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (January – May 1957)
* Detachment of No. 238 Maintenance Unit RAF (April 1956 – July 1958)
* No. 1335 (Meteor) Conversion Unit RAF (March – July 1945)
* No. 1956 Reserve Air Observation Post Flight RAF (February 1949 – March 1957)
* No. 1963 Reserve Air Observation Post Flight RAF (February 1949 – March 1957)
* Airborne Interception School RAF (June 1952) became 238 OCU
* Bristol University Air Squadron (November 1992 – ?)

### British Army units

The site was used by the British Army as its training facility for the Junior Leaders Regiment of the Royal Corps of Transport and Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Young men from the age of 16 were trained in a variety of the skills needed to enable them to become better soldiers in the army. Basic driver training was done on simulators, and car driver training to licence level and motorcycle training were undertaken here.
The Regiment consisted of 30 (Junior Leader) Squadron RCT, 57 (Junior Leader) Squadron RCT and 90 (Junior Leader) Squadron RCT, together with 88 (Junior Leader) Coy RAOC.
Estranged from the regiment, at Driffield in Yorkshire, was 32 Driver Training Squadron RCT. Here, young soldiers were sent to the ASMT at Defence School of Transport (Leconfield) to be taught to drive the basic vehicles of the Army (typically a Land Rover and a 4-tonne lorry) and to qualify as Driver Trade B3 before being posted to a full-time working regiment where their technical trade training would be continued.

## Post-RAF use

After the RAF station closed in 1976, the site was taken over by the Army; occasional flying by Air Cadets continues. The airfield is expected to be closed in 2025.

## Units

* No. 10 Fighter Command Servicing Unit RAF
* 27th Fighter Squadron
* No. 39 Maintenance Unit RAF (January 1940 – October 1953)
* No. 1337 Wing RAF Regiment
* No. 2743 Squadron RAF Regiment
* No. 2750 Squadron RAF Regiment
* No. 2794 Squadron RAF Regiment
* No. 2800 Squadron RAF Regiment
* No. 2810 Squadron RAF Regiment