A Brief History Of Lincolnshire RAF Stations

in Photography Lovers6 months ago (edited)

RAF Coleby Grange.jpg
Former RAF Coleby Grange

Lincolnshire (UK) is known as "Bomber County." During WWII Lincolnshire it was well positioned for bombers to reach the continent and so airfields sprang up seemingly every where. My research has identified 58 former and current bases throughout the county (although there may be more). Most of these bases were part of Bomber Command (although there were a few from Fighter Command along with training and RADAR sites). After listing them all I decided to see how many I had visited and how many were still operative.

RAF Wickenby.jpg
Former RAF Wickenby

So far I have been to 16 of them (27.58%). Three of them that I have so far photographed are in this post (you can find more details of each of them at the bottom in the "nerdy bit". I'm planning on trying to visit all of them (or the sites where they located originally). Hopefully, where ever possible I will get a shot of the control tower or something else that is representative of the airfield.

RAF Waddington.jpg
RAF Waddington

Waddington or "Waddo"as it is known locally is perhaps the base I have visited most often (for pleasure - I won't include Scampton where I worked for four years). I'm sure some of the decommissioned bases may be difficult to find but I have a number of friends who have provided me with some good solid information to work on. I hope you will enjoy following my posts on this journey of mine. Waddington is currently the home of The Red Arrows - the RAF Aerobatic Display Team.

visited.jpg
List of Lincolnshire current and closed RAF bases

The Nerdy Stuff

Station Name Status
RAF Coleby Grange Decommissioned. Originally Part of Fighter Command 12 group - 253 and 264 Squadrons) at various times it was occupied by UK, Canadian and Polish fighter squadrons. After the war it closed until 1959 when it re-opened in 1959 as an Intermediate-range ballistic missile launch facility until it was closed and decommissioned in 1963 and sold and returned to farmland in 1965
RAF Wickenby Decommissione. Bomber Command (1 Group - 12 squadron (later 626 squadron)) satellite station. In use from 1942 until 1956. Part of the original station is now Wickenby Aerodrome a privately owned airstrip.
RAF Waddington Still operational and currently part of Number 1 Group (Air Combat). It was operational between 1916 and 1920 and then re-opened in 1937 with 50 and 110 squadrons taking up residence. Squadrons based at Waddington now include 13, 14, 51, 54, 56 and 92 Squadrons

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I can mostly be found shooting models, aviation, motorsports and, when I can, wildlife. But I enjoy most aspects of photography. You can find more of my work on the links below.

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