Editing RAF Coltishall (section)

{{Short description|Former RAF station in Norfolk, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2012}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name        = RAF Coltishall
|ensign      = Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
|ensign_size = 90px
|native_name = 
|location    = [[Coltishall]], [[Norfolk]]
|country     = England
|image       = RAF Coltishall Station and Squadron Crests on Hangar.jpg
|image_size  = 300
|alt         = 
|caption     = Image of the various badges painted on the central aircraft [[hangar]].  These depict the final full capacity status of RAF Coltishall.<br>From left to right: [[No. 6 Squadron RAF|No.6 Sqn]], RAF Coltishall station badge, [[No. 16 Squadron RAF|No.16 Sqn]] – [[No. 41 Squadron RAF|No.41 Sqn]], [[No. 1 Group RAF|No.1 Group Headquarters RAF]], [[No. 54 Squadron RAF|No.54 Sqn]].
|image2      = RAF Coltishall badge.gif
|image2_size = 160px
|alt2        = 
|caption2    = ''Aggressive in Defence''
|pushpin_map = Norfolk#UK
|pushpin_mapsize= 300
|pushpin_label= RAF Coltishall
|pushpin_map_caption= Location within Norfolk
|pushpin_label_position= left
|coordinates = {{Coord|52|45|17|N|001|21|26|E|region:GB-NFK_type:airport|display=inline,title}}
|gridref     = TG270225{{Sfn|Birtles|2012|p=30}}
|type        = [[List of former Royal Air Force stations|Royal Air Force station]]
|code        = CS{{Sfn|Falconer|2012|p=68}}
|site_area   = 
|height      = 
|ownership   = [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]
|operator    = [[Royal Air Force]]
|controlledby= [[RAF Fighter Command]] 1940-<br>* [[No. 12 Group RAF]]<BR>[[RAF Strike Command]]
|open_to_public= 
|condition   = closed
|built       = February {{Start date|1939}}–1940
|builder     = 
|used        = 29 May 1940 – 30 November {{End date|2006}}
|materials   = 
|fate        = Site sold for civilian uses including [[HM Prison Bure]], a [[Photovoltaic power station|solar farm]] and Scottow Enterprise Park
|battles     = [[European theatre of World War II]]<br>[[Cold War]]
|events      = 
|past_commanders= <!-- past notable commander(s) -->
|garrison    = 
|occupants   = 
|elevation   = {{Convert|17|m|0}}{{Sfn|Falconer|2012|p=68}}
|IATA        = CLF
|ICAO        = EGYC
|GPS         = 
|WMO         = 03495
|r1-number   = 04/22
|r1-length   = {{Convert|2286|m|0}}
|r1-surface  = grooved [[Asphalt concrete|asphalt]]
|website     = 
|footnotes   = Data relevant to operational period
{{Infobox designation list
|embed = yes
|designation1 = England Conservation Area
|designation1_offname = RAF Coltishall
|designation1_date = September 2010
|designation2 = Scheduled Monument
|designation2_offname = World War II fighter pen, Cold War blast walls and associated remains
|designation2_date = 7 March 2008
|designation2_number = [https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1021425 1021425]
|designation3 = Grade II Listed Building
|designation3_offname = Officer's Mess, Former RAF Coltishall, Norfolk
|designation3_date = 16 October 2017
|designation3_number = [https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1424475 1424475]
}}
}}
'''Royal Air Force Coltishall''' more commonly known as '''RAF Coltishall''' {{airport codes|CLF|EGYC}} is a former [[Royal Air Force]] [[List of former Royal Air Force stations|station]] located {{Convert|10|mi|abbr=off}} north-north-east of [[Norwich]], in the [[England|English]] [[Counties of the United Kingdom|county]] of [[Norfolk]], [[East Anglia]], which operated from 1939 to 2006.<ref>Official Commemorative Magazine: ''Royal Air Force Coltishall, 65th Anniversary, 'Aggressive in Defence' 1940-2005''</ref>

It was a fighter airfield in the [[World War II|Second World War]] and afterwards, a station for night fighters, then ground attack aircraft until closure.

After longstanding speculation, the future of the station was sealed once the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] announced that the [[Eurofighter Typhoon]], a rolling replacement aircraft, displacing the ageing [[SEPECAT Jaguar]], would not be located there.  The last of the Jaguar squadrons left on 1 April 2006, and the station finally closed, one month early and £10 million under budget, on {{End date and age|2006|11|30|df=y}}.

The station [[motto]] was ''Aggressive in Defence''.<ref name="A dictionary of mottoes">{{Cite book|last=Pine|first=L.G.|date=1983|title=A dictionary of mottoes|location=[[London]], England|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|isbn=0-7100-9339-X|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmott00tion/page/7 7]|edition=1|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmott00tion/page/7}}</ref>  The [[Heraldic badges of the Royal Air Force|station badge]] was a stone tower surmounted by a mailed fist grasping three bind-bolts (blunt arrows), which symbolised a position of strength in defence of the homeland, indicative of the aggressive spirit which Coltishall fighter aircraft were prepared to shoot down the enemy.