RAF Coltishall Norfolk: UK February 2015

RAF Coltishall is an abandoned air base in Norfolk.

Work started at the Scottow aerodrome in 1939 to build RAF Coltishall. Most RAF bases are named after the nearest Railway station which was Buxton however to avoid confusion with Buxton in Derbyshire it was named after the nearest village.

In May 1940 the airfield was completed and started service as a fighter base. Nearing the end of WWii it became a base for a bomber squadron while they were bombing V2 launch sites across the Netherlands.

After being home to various aircraft Coltishall became a Jaguar only base in the late 1970's.

Retirement of the Jaguars started due to the arrival of the Eurofighter Typhoon. For various reasons Coltishall was not chosen as a base for the Typhoons and was earmarked for closure.

In April 2006 the last of the Jaguars left the site and it eventually closed seven months later.

I was rather lucky to get to Visit RAF Coltishall. Based right next to a small prison and on site security it will certainly be no walk in. However I drove in thanks to Dibs Photography and his employers being able to organise a selection of permission visits to the site.