RAF Coleby Grange - Station Timeline and Resident Units

Station Timeline and Resident Units

Date Event or Unit Notes
1938 Airfield and accommodation site construction commences
Spring 1939 RAF Coleby Grange opened as a relief landing ground (RLG) for RAF Cranwell
Station Identity Code: CG
May 1940 No. 253 Squadron RAF Operating Hawker Hurricane Mark 1s and relocated from RAF Cranwell. Left the station in July 1940 and relocated to RAF Turnhouse
May 1940 No. 264 Squadron RAF Flying Boulton Paul Defiants and training for a night fighter role. Relocated to RAF Colerne near Bristol.
May 1941 Control of RAF Coleby Grange switched to No. 12 Group RAF The station became a satellite field for RAF Digby
May 1941 No. 402 Squadron RCAF Operating Hawker Hurricane Mark IIs relocated from RAF Digby. Squadron re-equipped with Supermarine Spitfire Mark Vbs and left for RAF Colerne in March 1942
26 July 1941 No. 409 Squadron RCAF Operating Boulton Paul Defiants and arrived from RAF Digby. Re-equipped in August 1941 with Bristol Beaufighter Mark IIfs and in June 1942 with Mark VIs. Relocated to RAF Acklington on 23 February 1943.
February 1943 No. 410 Squadron RCAF Operating de Havilland Mosquito and arrived from RAF Acklington. Departed in October 1943 for RAF West Malling
March 1943 No. 288 Squadron RAF 288 Squadron formed at RAF Digby on 18 November 1941 from No. 12 Group AAC Flight. It continued to provide anti-aircraft cooperation training to ground based gun crews, towing targets with a variety of aircraft, mainly the Miles Martinet. Squadron departed for Yorkshire in November 1943
21 November 1943 No. 264 Squadron RAF Returned from night defence duties over the Bristol Channel ports from the base at RAF Colerne and re-equipped with de Havilland Mosquitos in November 1943. Now operating as a night defence force for bomber operations.
19 December 1943 No. 409 Squadron RCAF Squadron returned from RAF Acklinton until 5 February 1944 when they relocated to RAF Hunsdon
February 1944 No. 68 Squadron RAF Operating Bristol Beaufighters and arrived from RAF High Ercall in Shropshire. Relocated to RAF Coltishall in March 1944
1 March 1944 No. 2882 Flight, RAF Regiment (LAA Squadron) The RAuxAF unit of Light Anti Aircraft gunners for airfield defence formed at Coleby Grange
March 1944 No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron Operating de Havilland Mosquito Mark NFXIIs in a night intruder unit over enemy airfields in occupied France. Squadron was disbanded on 2 January 1947
20 March 1944 No. 17 SFTS RAF The Service Flight Training School moved to Coleby Grange from RAF Cranwell and remained until March 1945 when it relocated to RAF Spitalgate in Grantham
May 1944 425th Fighter Squadron USAAF Flying Northrop P-61 Black Widows and P70 Havocs in support of the US 9th Armored Division during D-Day and early operations during the European campaign. The squadron departed for operations from captured airfields in France soon after the D-Day invasion.
February 1945 Control of RAF Coleby Grange reverted to RAF Cranwell
February 1945 No. 1515 BAT Flight RAF Operating Airspeed Oxfords. The Beam Approach Training flight had moved to Shropshire's RAF Peplow in Jan 1945, but there were difficulties caused by beam approach conflict at Peplow and nearby RAF Hinstock as the beams were almost parallel. Both stations were taken over by the Fleet Air Arm as the twin HMS Godwit carrier landing training facilities and the Navy were given precedence, so 1515 Flight were only able to operate when the cloud base was above 1,000 feet (300 m). The conflicting needs were only solved a month later when 1515 Flight was relocated to Coleby Grange. The flight relocated to RAF Spitalgate and was disbanded on 9 January 1946
February 1945 No. 107 EGS The Elementary Gliding School was relocated from RAF Cranwell and remained at Coleby Grange until it moved to RAF Syerston where it still exists, renumbered as No. 643 Volunteer Gliding School
May 1946 Operational flying ceased from RAF Coleby Grange. Station placed on a care and maintenance basis
September 1946 Battle of Britain Air Display mounted at Coleby Grange
1959 Control of RAF Coleby Grange was handed to RAF Bomber Command. Station ID code WC2 RAF Coleby Grange formed part of "No 5 (Lincolnshire) Missile nDispersal Sites" with missiles also rotated around RAF Hemswell, RAF Bardney, RAF Caistor and RAF Ludford Magna
1959 No. 142 Squadron RAF Operating the 3 mobile Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles while they were on site. When the UK Thor IRBM Force was stood down in 1963 the missiles were returned to the US and their warheads removed before the launch vehicles were reused in the space programme - predominantly launching communications satellites.
1963 RAF Coleby Grange was decommissioned and closed. The land was sold by auction in 1964/65 and returned to agricultural uses.

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