Second World War RAF Sculthorpe was built between the villages of
Sculthorpe (to its east) and
Syderstone (to its west-north-west) as the second satellite
airfield of
RAF West Raynham (itself a few miles to the south), the first satellite airfield being
RAF Great Massingham. Work began on Sculthorpe in the spring of , and the airfield was laid out as one of only two
Royal Air Force (RAF)
heavy bomber airfields (the other was the nearby
RAF Marham), with the familiar wartime
triangular three runway layout expanded by , the main
runway being long (compared to the standard ) and the subsidiary runways being 6,000 feet (compared to around ). The work involved construction of the
concrete runways,
dispersals site,
mess facilities, and accommodation. Much of the work was completed by
Irish labour working for the company
Bovis Construction. As work was drawing to a close in , the first
aircraft squadrons started to arrive. The first was
No. 342 Squadron (Lorraine) of the
Free French Air Forces within
No. 2 Group RAF from RAF West Raynham. This
squadron operated two
flights of the
Douglas Boston aircraft, along with the related Douglas Havoc aircraft for training. No. 342 Squadron stayed until 19 July 1943, when they moved to
RAF Great Massingham. On , the
Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) moved in with
No. 487 Squadron RNZAF and
No. 464 Squadron RAAF taking up residence, with their
Lockheed Ventura aircraft having moved from
RAF Methwold, before converting at Sculthorpe onto the
de Havilland Mosquito. On 20 September 1943,
21 Squadron moved in from
RAF Oulton, also with Mosquitos, to form the Sculthorpe Wing (
No. 140 Wing RAF). The
wing stayed at Sculthorpe, completing more than 100 missions, before departing for
RAF Hunsdon in
Hertfordshire on 31 December 1943. In January 1944,
No. 214 Squadron RAF of
100 Group RAF moved in with
Boeing Fortress II aircraft for use in
electronic warfare support of
RAF Bomber Command, to be joined by crews from the
United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)
96th Bomb Group from
RAF Snetterton Heath, known at Sculthorpe and thereafter as the
803rd 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: The annual
JCET Exercise Flintlock has frequently involved RAF Sculthorpe, for instance Flintlock V (1972), Flintlock 86, Flintlock 88. Between 1976 and 1978, numbers of French AF
North American F-100 Super Sabres,
Dassault Mystère IVA, and
Lockheed T-33A originally financed under the American
Mutual Assistance Program were returned to US ownership and flown to Sculthorpe for de-commissioning. Between May and June 1978, 18
Republic F-105D Thunderchiefs from
465th TFS, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma were deployed to Sculthorpe under Coronet Oriole. In 1979,
Handley Page Victor aerial tankers from
55 and
57 Squadrons, and Canberra target towing aircraft of
100 Squadron operated from Sculthorpe when the
runway at
RAF Marham was re-surfaced. In spring 1982, units from
RAF Coltishall in north-east Norfolk moved to Sculthorpe while the Coltishall runway was resurfaced. In March 1983 24 A-7Ds from Ohio ANG were deployed to Sculthorpe as part of Exercise Coronet Castle. During the spring and summer of 1983, units of the
48th Tactical Fighter Wing deployed to RAF Sculthorpe because their home station,
RAF Lakenheath was having its runway resurfaced. During the summer of 1984, the
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II F-4E and F-4G squadrons from
Spangdahlem Air Base,
West Germany, operated from RAF Sculthorpe to allow runway re-surfacing at Spangdahlem to take place. In June/July 1986 24 A-7Ds from Ohio ANG were deployed to Sculthorpe as part of Exercise Coronet Miami. During most of 1988 and part of 1989, USAF
Lockheed C-130 Hercules units from the
314th Airlift Wing,
317th Airlift Group, and
463rd Tactical Airlift Wing, on TDY rotation in Europe, re-located to RAF Sculthorpe due to runway resurfacing at
RAF Mildenhall. In June 1989 A-7Ds from Ohio ANG were once again deployed to Sculthorpe, Exercise Coronet Pine. During June - August 1989, the
Lockheed TR-1A squadron from
RAF Alconbury operated from RAF Sculthorpe whilst Alconbury's runway was re-surfaced. ==Post RAF use==