Type

Monument

Title / Name

Colerne Airfield

Summary

A military airfield, opened in 1940, and operational before its building programme was actually completed. Originally the site was conceived as an Aircraft Storage Unit/Maintenance Unit base but because of the desperate situation in 1940 it was also used as a fighter base during the Battle of Britain.

MILITARY AIRFIELD, Second World War (1939 to 1945)

Source Detail: Priddle, R., 2003

Title: Wings Over Wiltshire: An Aeronautical History of Wiltshire

Summary: Publication Source ID: SWI22354

Description: Colerne Aerodrome/RAF Colerne. ST 814 722. Opened in 1940, and operational before its building programme was actually completed. Initially the airfield had a grass runway but this was replaced by three hard runways late in 1940. Construction of site buildings and facilities continued into late 1941. Originally the site was conceived as a Aircraft Storage Unit / Maintenance Unit base but because of the desperate situation in 1940 was also used as a fighter base. The wartime base was used by a large number of Squadrons, including British, Canadian and Polish units. Priddle recounts the actions of each squadron in detail, the list of units is too long to be given here. Post war the base was used to store surplus aircraft and mainly by transport and communications units. There was a hiatus in flying from 1976-1993 when the base was redesignated as Azimghur Barracks. In 1989 a Ministry of Defence satellite system was built at the airfield. In 1993 RAF flying resumed at a reduced level. Colerne now also houses a collection of historic aircraft, which is also listed in detail by Priddle. A number of the wartime buildings had survived until their demolition in 2002. Now only three type 'L' hangars survive.

Source Detail: Willis, S. + Holliss, B., 1987

Title: Military Airfields in the British Isles 1939-1945

Summary: No summary information. Source ID: SWI26227

Description: Colerne airfield: ST 803 715. The Willis and Holliss gazeteer gives a statistical 'snapshot' of the base as it appeared in 1944.

Source Detail: Berryman, D., 2002

Title: Wiltshire Airfields in the Second World War

Summary: No summary information. Source ID: SWI26229

Additional Information: Countryside Books

Description: Colerne airfield: ST 803 715. An additional reference providing a briefer synopsis of the use of Colerne airfield.

Source Detail: Slocombe, P., 2008

Title: A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Wiltshire

Summary: Gazetteer Source ID: SWI28692

Additional Information: Association for Industrial Archaeology

Description: Planned as a permanent station arising out of the government decision in 1934 to expand the Air Force. J, K and L type hangars remain along with the runways and some other buildings. In 1976, RAF Colerne became Azimghur army baracks but there has been some subsequent use by the RAF.

Source Detail: Historic England, Various

Title: National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) Entry

Summary: Data held by the NRHE database. The data is made available and licenced under the Open Government Licence version 3. Source ID: SWI29488