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Royal Air Force and USAAF Station memorials, where they exist, have been erected on, or close to the airfield, primarily to honour those who served and to perpetuate the memory of those who lost their life during the Second World War.
They differ in size, from large, striking memorials, sometimes with flagpoles completing the setting, often with depictions of aircraft, squadron badges and the basic layout of the airfield itself etched into the memorial, to minimalist, and even almost commercial, but nevertheless equally sincere in their remembrance and gratitude to those who served and to the sacrifices made in times of war.
In many instances, much of the Air Station will have been demolished in the intervening years, and returned to agriculture, or converted into an industrial or housing estate, eventually to fade from the landscape altogether, but hopefully will remain a little longer in the memory of those who encounter the memorials along the roads and pathways.
Most were operational from 1939, until just after end of the War in 1945. The bases were home to brave young men and women who served the allied forces flying fighters and bombers from the runways of the airfield, sometimes never to return.

The station opened in 1939 as a fighter airfield during WW2. It later became a station for night fighters and then for ground attack aircraft until it was closed in 2006. Coltishall was the last surviving operational RAF airfield involved in the Battle of Britain other than RAF Northolt. The station was home to more than 80 fighter squadrons during its time of operation and 207 enemy aircraft were destroyed during the war. The airfield is currently owned by Norfolk County Council, with most of the former domestic site now being occupied by HMP Bure. See also: Link