Royal Air Force Stations in Lincolnshire

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RAF North Cotes

Airfield Code: NC; Grid reference centred on: TA 370 022







The camp at North Cotes was requisitioned by the army in 1914 and occupied by men of the Lincolnshire Regiment. In 1916 it was converted into a forward landing ground for aircraft from the Royal Flying Corps' No. 33 (Home Defence) Squadron, based at Brattleby (now Scampton), and tasked with coastal patrols in North Lincolnshire. From October 1918 it was occupied by 248 Squadron RAF, but after the armistice the airfield was gradually run down and eventually closed in March 1919, and the land was returned to its original owner.
However a few years later it was leased, with an option to purchase more land was taken up in 1927 and the airfield was designated an Armament Practice Camp for aircraft using the bombing range at nearby Donna Nook.
By now the RAF were reorganising and modernising the structure of the service and as a result North Cotes came under the jurisdiction of a new Training Command which was formed on May 1st 1936, however prior to that, on October 1st 1935 a station Headquarters was formed at North Cotes to control the range at Donna Nook and a new range at Theddlethorpe near Mablethorpe as well as the airfields resident units. Accommodation was in wooden huts as were the workshops etc. Six single-span end-opening General Service Flight Sheds arranged with their doors at 90-degrees to the grass landing ground.
Following the declaration of war on 3 September 1939, the training units were transferred elsewhere, and No. 2 Recruit Training Pool was formed at the airfield, followed by the Ground Defence Gunnery School in November. In February 1940 the station was transferred to 16 Group, Coastal Command, and was first occupied by Nos. 235, 236 and 248 Squadrons, flying the Blenheim in both bomber and long-range fighter variants, until April 1940. North Cotes was then occupied by a number of Coastal Command squadrons over the next two years, mostly RAF, but including Fleet Air Arm and Royal Canadian Air Force units, flying a variety of aircraft, mainly Beaufort and Hudson light bombers, but also Hampden and Swordfish torpedo bombers, Avro Anson reconnaissance aircraft and Maryland light bombers.
In September 1942 it became the base for the North Cotes Strike Wing formed from Nos. 143, 236 and 254 Squadrons, flying the Beaufighter in the heavy fighter, bomber, and "Torbeau" torpedo bomber variants, tasked with attacking enemy shipping in the North Sea. The first operation of the Strike Wing took place on 20 November 1942 and was a disaster. As a result, only three enemy ships were damaged, but three Beaufighters were shot down and four so badly damaged that they crashed or made forced landings. The Strike Wing was promptly withdrawn from service for intensive training, during which time, between November 1942 and early 1943, the east-west concrete runway was laid. Subsequent operations were much more successful.
North Cotes was closed in August 1946 and transferred to Maintenance Command, becoming a storage site for 25 MU (Maintenance Unit), and was then transferred to 61 MU in October. In December 1946 the station was transferred to Flying Training Command, and in January 1947 became 1 Initial Training School (ITS). However the airfields isolation during the severe winter of 1947 meant that the Officer Cadets were soon relocated.
In August 1953 the station became the home of 54 MU, tasked with breaking up redundant and crashed aircraft for spare parts, coming under 43 Group, Maintenance Command, in December 1954. Between February 1955 and October 1957 North Cotes was the base of ASR (Air Sea Rescue) "B" Flight, 275 Squadron flying Bristol Sycamore HR.14. helicopters.
In April 1956 the airfield was selected as the site of the RAF's first Surface to Air Guided Weapons base, housing forty-eight Bloodhound surface-to-air missiles. In July 1956 work began on the construction of the missile facility, including missile pads, Tactical Control Centre, Missile Repair Section, and Servicing Hangar.
In October 1957 No. 17 Joint Services Trials Unit was formed there to carry out operational trials of the Bloodhound Mk. II. The Bloodhounds remained at North Cotes until mid-1990, and the station was finally closed in December.
In January 1992 the married quarters were sold off, and over the next few years most of the other buildings were sold or demolished, and the concrete runway, hard standings and the taxiways were removed and the land returned to agricultural use. One hangar is still used by the North Cotes Flying Club. (abridged from Wikipedia)

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