RAF Ludham

52.7222, 1.5444 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Ludham opened in the Norfolk Broads in 1941 as a fighter satellite of nearby Coltishall. It was home mostly to Supermarine Spitfire squadrons, with a spell of Hawker Typhoons, flying air defence and convoy patrols over the North Sea; King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited in January 1943, the day one of its squadrons intercepted a German raider. For a period in 1944–45 it passed to the Royal Navy as HMS Flycatcher, a depot for mobile naval air bases. Most of the site is now farmland, though two control towers survive and a stretch of runway is still flown.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Ludham — Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust and RAF Ludham — Wikipedia. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Photographs

Aerial photograph of Ludham airfield, 2 July 1942. Photograph taken by No. 8 Operational Training Unit, sortie number RAF/FNO/35. English Heritage (RAF Photography).
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_Ludham_-_2_Jul_1942_Airphoto.jpgView source & full licence →
RAF Ludham Control Tower
ⓘ licence & creditVespasean / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ludhamtower1.jpgView source & full licence →
Control tower, Ludham Airfield At some time during the 1990s the control tower of this WWII fighter airfield had been renovated and opened as a museum. In 2005 the tower was up for sale at auction with planning permission for conversion to a holiday home - http://property.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14049-1699010,00.html . I don't know if a buyer was found, but in July 2006 the building appeared empty and derelict.
ⓘ licence & creditPhil Champion / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Control_tower,_Ludham_Airfield_-_geograph.org.uk_-_270164.jpgView source & full licence →
Armourers loading bombs onto a Spitfire Mk XVI of No. 603 Squadron RAF at Ludham in Norfolk, March 1945. Armourers set the tail fuses on a clutch of 500-pounders in front of a Spitfire XVI of No 603 Squadron at Ludham, March 1945. The bombs were destined for V-2 sites in the Netherlands. Rangers and interdiction sorties were also flown from this Norfolk location, but the advancing land forces would soon take the ground battle beyond the range of UK-based Spitfires.
ⓘ licence & creditLamonby J (Sgt) SPRO, Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armourers_loading_bombs_onto_a_Spitfire_Mk_XVI_of_No._603_Squadron_RAF_at_Ludham_in_Norfolk,_March_1945._CH14808.jpgView source & full licence →
Airfield remains, Ludham. At the end of this track is a piece of sectional concrete hard-standing, once part of the WWII airfield.
ⓘ licence & creditKaty Walters / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Airfield_remains,_Ludham_-_geograph.org.uk_-_196334.jpgView source & full licence →

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