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| Sculthorpe Training Area previously RAF Sculthorpe    | |||||||||||
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| NearFakenham,Norfolk in England | |||||||||||
 1946 aerial photograph of RAF Sculthorpe | |||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force flying station (former), relief military training airfield (current) | ||||||||||
| Code | SCTH (SPEC 024 Code)[1] | ||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence (MoD) | ||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force (1943–1945) United States Air Force (1952–1992) | ||||||||||
| Open to the public | airfield & MOD training areas closed to public | ||||||||||
| Condition | airfield in continued (limited) military use | ||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||
  RAF Sculthorpe Location in Norfolk Show map of Norfolk RAF Sculthorpe RAF Sculthorpe (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 52°50′54″N000°45′38″E / 52.84833°N 0.76056°E /52.84833; 0.76056 | ||||||||||
| Grid reference | TF 85993 31439 | ||||||||||
| Area | 539 hectares (1,332 acres)[1] | ||||||||||
| Height | 65 metres (213 ft) | ||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||
| Built | 1942 (1942) | ||||||||||
| Built by | Bovis Construction | ||||||||||
| In use | 15 January 1943 (1943-01-15) – 2 October 1992 (1992-10-02)[2] | ||||||||||
| Fate | airfield retained by MoD; now known as Sculthorpe Training Area;[1] technical and administrative buildings, and base housing sold off | ||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: | ||||||||||
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Sculthorpe Training Area,[1][3] previouslyRoyal Air Force Sculthorpe / (RAF Sculthorpe), is amilitary training site administered by theDefence Training Estate, part of theMinistry of Defence (MoD). It is approximately 3 miles (4.8 kilometres) west ofFakenham in thecounty ofNorfolk inEngland.
The training area occupies the larger part of the formerRAF Sculthorpe, a militaryairbase used byRAF bombers in the later stages of theSecond World War (1942–45), byUnited States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) units from 1952 to 1962, and thereafter temporary visiting airmen and support crews of both theRoyal Air Force (RAF) andUnited States Air Force (USAF) until its closure as an active airfield on 2 October 1992 (1992-10-02). In 1997, the Ministry of Defence sold the technical, domestic and administrative site, but retained the airfield itself, including the runways, taxiways, dispersal areas and the adjacentdispersed secureweapon storage area.[4][5]
RAF Sculthorpe was built between the villages ofSculthorpe (to its east) andSyderstone (to its west-north-west) as the second satelliteairfield ofRAF West Raynham (itself a few miles to the south), the first satellite airfield beingRAF Great Massingham. Work began on Sculthorpe in the spring of 1942 (1942), and the airfield was laid out as one of only twoRoyal Air Force (RAF)heavy bomber airfields (the other was the nearbyRAF Marham), with the familiar wartimetriangular three runway layout expanded by50 per cent, the mainrunway being 9,000 feet (2,743 metres) long (compared to the standard 6,000 feet (1,829 metres)) and the subsidiary runways being 6,000 feet (compared to around 4,000 feet (1,219 metres)). The work involved construction of theconcrete runways,dispersals site,mess facilities, and accommodation. Much of the work was completed byIrish labour working for the companyBovis Construction.
As work was drawing to a close in May 1943 (1943-05), the firstaircraft squadrons started to arrive. The first wasNo. 342 Squadron (Lorraine) of theFree French Air Forces withinNo. 2 Group RAF from RAF West Raynham.[6] Thissquadron operated twoflights of theDouglas Boston aircraft, along with the related Douglas Havoc aircraft for training. No. 342 Squadron stayed until 19 July 1943, when they moved toRAF Great Massingham.
On 20 July 1943 (1943-07-20), theRoyal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) andRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF) moved in withNo. 487 Squadron RNZAF andNo. 464 Squadron RAAF taking up residence, with theirLockheed Ventura aircraft having moved fromRAF Methwold, before converting at Sculthorpe onto thede Havilland Mosquito. On 20 September 1943,21 Squadron moved in fromRAF Oulton, also with Mosquitos, to form the Sculthorpe Wing (No. 140 Wing RAF). Thewing stayed at Sculthorpe, completing more than 100 missions, before departing forRAF Hunsdon inHertfordshire on 31 December 1943.
In January 1944,No. 214 Squadron RAF of100 Group RAF moved in withBoeing Fortress II aircraft for use inelectronic warfare support ofRAF Bomber Command, to be joined by crews from theUnited States Army Air Forces (USAAF)96th Bomb Group fromRAF Snetterton Heath, known at Sculthorpe and thereafter as the803rd Bomb Squadron of the USAAF. In April 1944, the 803rd and 214 Squadron departed for RAF Oulton, leaving Sculthorpe empty for its redevelopment as a 'very heavy bomber base', with the work not being completed until the spring of 1946.
A number of units were also posted here:[2]
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I was sent to RAF Sculthorpe the summer of 1968 and left in 1969 after 1 and 1/2 years duty there.
The base had no planes. No usable buildings and only about 25 personnel. As a detatchment (36 support group) we were assigned to a dorm at RAF West Raynham.
The majority or personnel were security police and Fire department. As a member of the fire department we would be driven to RAF Sculthorpe each day to the base to provide a response if there was an emergency. We had one truck for fire response. No bunker room to sleep in. So two quonset huts were provide for the three man response team required at night.That changed after four months and all the single enlistes were moved to RAF Sculthorpe from RAF West Raynham.
As there was not chow hall, the fire department was the first building that had cooking facilities. Contractors and base personnel would check with the fire department as to the meal for the day. Those who wished to share that days meal would chip in to buy the food and share the meal.
After about 6 to 8 months the base dorm and chow hall opened and all those living at RAF West Raynham were moved to RAF Sculthorpe.
During my assignment there we never had any aircraft land at RAF Sculthorpe as the runway had be damaged by those wishing to remove the copper wire from it. The buildings had also been robbed of wire and anything else one thought would be of value or useful.
By the time I left we had approximately 150 personnel on base.
Information provided by: Chris Grant, MSGT retired
RAF Sculthorpe was refurbished for use by theUnited States Air Force (USAF) during theBerlin Crisis in 1949, and then later, in 1952, it became home for the49th Air Division (Operational) (49th AD) and the47th Bombardment Wing (47th Bomb Wg), who were to stay for a decade. The 49th Air Division maintained operational control of the 47th Bomb Wg and the20th Fighter-Bomber Wing (20th FB Wg), which providedtactical nuclear weapons support to theSupreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). Later, the81st Fighter-Bomber Wing (81st FB Wg) was provided a nuclear capability and assigned to the operational control of the 49th Air Division.
TheSoviet Union's enormous conventional force ineastern Europe posed a major problem forNATO, due to the Soviets' maintaining high personnel levels afterWorld War II, when most of the American andBritish forces had demobilised.
To counter this Soviet threat to Western Europe, NATO decided to expand their tactical nuclear force by introducing theNorth American B-45 Tornado to the United Kingdom. The U.S.Tactical Air Command had about 100 of these four-engine jet bombers, each capable of delivering five tactical nuclear bombs. In the summer of 1952,The Pentagon decided to forward-deploy the 47th Bomb Wing to Sculthorpe in Norfolk, from its then home base ofLangley Air Force Base inVirginia, USA. The movement of the 49th AD, 47 Bomb Wg and the 20th FB Wg was the first unit deployment since World War II.
| unit | aircraft | from | to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 84th Bombardment Squadron | B-45,B-66 | 17 November 1952 | 22 June 1962 |
| 85th Bombardment Squadron | B-45, B-66 | 17 November 1952 | 22 June 1962 |
| 86th Bombardment Squadron | B-45, B-66 | 23 March 1954 | 22 June 1962 |
| 19th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron | RB-45C | 7 May 1954 | 1 December 1958 |
| 420th Air Refueling Squadron | KB-29,KB-50 | 25 September 1955 | 23 March 1962 |
Due to a shortage of space at Sculthorpe, the 86th BS operated fromRAF Alconbury as a detachment of the 47th. In addition to the B-45 squadrons at Sculthorpe, the 47th's sister wing, the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing with the nuclear capableNorth American F-84G Thunderjet were transferred toRAF Wethersfield inEssex.
From 1954 to 1958, the19th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (19th TRS) also flew theaerial reconnaissance version of theNorth American B-45 Tornado known as the RB-45. The 19th TRS was assigned to the 47th Bomb Wing from May 1954 to December 1958. When the 19th TRS began to re-equip withDouglas RB-66's in 1957, its RB-45's were transferred to other squadrons of the 47th Bomb Wing.
By 1957, hosting 10,000 personnel it was the biggestUnited States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) base in Europe. In May 1958, the re-equipping of the 47th Bombardment Wing began andDouglas B-66 Destroyers began to replace the B-45s. With this equipment change, the 47th's squadrons were redesignated 'Bombardment Squadron (Tactical)'.
During 1960 to 1962, the 47th performedaerial refuelling missions assigningBoeing KB-50J tankers to the420th Air Refueling Squadron from 15 March 1960 to 22 June 1962. The KB-50s were specially equipped with twoGeneral Electric J47 turbojet engines that enabled the tanker aircraft to match the speed of the fasterjet fighters during refuelling; however most of the KB-50s were more than fifteen years old, and were too slow to refuel the faster tactical jets of USAFE. The 420th ARS was inactivated on 25 March 1964.
In 1962,Project Clearwater halted large scale rotational bomber deployments to Britain with Sculthorpe, along withRAF Fairford,RAF Chelveston, andRAF Greenham Common, being turned over to USAFE for tactical air use. As a result, the 47th Bomb Wing was inactivated on 22 June 1962. A number of the aircraft were reassigned to the42d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (42nd TRS),10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing atRAF Chelveston, and modified with theelectronic counter-measures tail system. With the inactivation of the 47th, Sculthorpe was put under the command of the7375th Combat Support Group, the 7375th was later replaced by the Detachment 1,48th Tactical Fighter Wing.
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Following the inactivation of the 47th BW in 1962, no aircraft were permanently based at RAF Sculthorpe, although it regularly hosted visiting units. These frequently included aircraft flown over from the US and remaining at Sculthorpe for several weeks, e.g. as part of the Coronet series of exercises such as Coronet Castle / Checkered Flag, March 1983.[7]
The annualJCET Exercise Flintlock has frequently involved RAF Sculthorpe, for instance Flintlock V (1972),[8] Flintlock 86,[9] Flintlock 88.[10]
Between 1976 and 1978, numbers of French AFNorth American F-100 Super Sabres,Dassault Mystère IVA, andLockheed T-33A originally financed under the AmericanMutual Assistance Program were returned to US ownership and flown to Sculthorpe for de-commissioning.[11]
Between May and June 1978, 18Republic F-105D Thunderchiefs from465th TFS, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma were deployed to Sculthorpe under Coronet Oriole.[12]
In 1979,Handley Page Victor aerial tankers from55 and57 Squadrons, and Canberra target towing aircraft of100 Squadron operated from Sculthorpe when therunway atRAF Marham was re-surfaced.[13]
In spring 1982, units fromRAF Coltishall in north-east Norfolk moved to Sculthorpe while the Coltishall runway was resurfaced.[14]
In March 1983 24 A-7Ds from Ohio ANG were deployed to Sculthorpe as part of Exercise Coronet Castle.[15]
During the spring and summer of 1983, units of the48th Tactical Fighter Wing deployed to RAF Sculthorpe because their home station,RAF Lakenheath was having its runway resurfaced.
During the summer of 1984, theMcDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIF-4E and F-4G squadrons fromSpangdahlem Air Base,West Germany, operated from RAF Sculthorpe to allow runway re-surfacing at Spangdahlem to take place.[16]
In June/July 1986 24 A-7Ds from Ohio ANG were deployed to Sculthorpe as part of Exercise Coronet Miami.[17]
During most of 1988 and part of 1989, USAFLockheed C-130 Hercules units from the314th Airlift Wing,317th Airlift Group, and463rd Tactical Airlift Wing, on TDY rotation in Europe, re-located to RAF Sculthorpe due to runway resurfacing atRAF Mildenhall.
In June 1989 A-7Ds from Ohio ANG were once again deployed to Sculthorpe, Exercise Coronet Pine.During June - August 1989, theLockheed TR-1A squadron fromRAF Alconbury operated from RAF Sculthorpe whilst Alconbury's runway was re-surfaced.[18]
Royal Air Force Sculthorpe was officially closed on 2 October 1992 (1992-10-02).[2] However, the airfield itself, together with thedispersed secureweapon storage area, was retained by theMinistry of Defence (MoD), and continues to be used by the USAF352nd Special Operations Wing based atRAF Mildenhall, to perform training in low flyingairdrops and rescue and recovery missions. Theseexercises are conducted byLockheed MC-130 Hercules andCV-22 Ospreys.[19] In October 2022, aAgustaWestland Apache AH.1, military registration ZJ221, operated by theArmy Air Corps (AAC) fromWattisham Flying Station (formerly known asRAF Wattisham) in Suffolk was witnessed conducting exercises, including ground refuelling on the airfield.[5] During the week commencing 3 March 2025 aircraft tracking sites evidenced ZM416, an Airbus A400M Atlas, doing circuits at the base.
During the mid-1990s the entire technical and domestic site was sold to Roger Byron-Collins' Welbeck Estate Group byDefence Estates. The domestic married quarters site included a number of single storey 'tobacco houses'. The housing estate was renamedWicken Green Village and, after refurbishment, the houses were sold on the open market. The remaining technical site includingbarrack blocks, post exchange (PX), church, guardroom, gymnasium, community centres, and extensive storage and industrial units were sold, and are now known as Tattersett Business Park.[20][21]
The only military buildings on the airfield that had remained were thecontrol tower, the fire station (next to the control tower) and a small half-moon concrete shelter, now used by a farmer for machinery and equipment storage. As of week commencing 21 February 2022, demolition of the control tower had begun.[22] The fire station is to be retained, for USAF use.
RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Centre opened in a room at Green Park Rural Centre, Wicken Green Village, in August 2019. It features many Sculthorpe-related items and has parts of aDouglas RB-66 Destroyer including itsAllison J71 jet engine, which is the only known surviving example in the country.[23]Queen Elizabeth II made a private visit to the centre and met the curator and volunteers in February 2022.
As of January 2023, the Heritage Centre is moving into its new home in the former Chapel building.This will include the UK's only B-29 wreckage on public display.
Whilst its usual purpose is to facilitate training for the USAF; primarily the CV-22 Ospreys and C130 Hercules' based at RAF Mildenhall, this week we have had the British Army Air Corps up at RAF Sculthorpe with their Apaches. The one in this video is specifically ZJ221, a Westland WAH-64 Apache built in 2002 and based at Wattisham.
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Part of theUnited States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) | |||||||||||||||
