RAF Colerne

RAF Colerne was an airfield in Wiltshire that opened in 1940 and served first under Maintenance Command before becoming a Fighter Command station within No. 10 Group. Early in the war it was used for aircraft storage and servicing, and during the Battle of Britain it functioned as a forward base supporting the defence of the south-west and the Bristol area.

For most of the conflict Colerne was a busy night-fighter and intruder station. A succession of squadrons flew from it on Hawker Hurricanes, Boulton Paul Defiants, Bristol Beaufighters and de Havilland Mosquitoes, including Polish and Commonwealth units alongside RAF squadrons. The base also hosted Turbinlite flights, which paired radar-equipped Havocs with single-seat fighters in an early attempt at illuminated night interception, and it played a part in the build-up to the Normandy invasion of 1944. In 1945 it became home to the RAF’s first jet-fighter conversion work, introducing pilots to the Gloster Meteor.

After the war Colerne passed to Transport Command and supported aircraft such as the Handley Page Hastings, while also housing a substantial historic aircraft collection. The RAF station closed in 1976 and the site was transferred to the Army as Azimghur Barracks, with limited flying continuing in later decades.