RAF Coltishall BBC 2 tonight

Nothing to do with Colt but….Parade ground rubbish…
At Marham in the mid 70’s and along with other ‘volunteers’ for our Freedom of Kings Lynn parade we were out towards the airfield being told how good we were at drill :rolleyes: by the Station Warrant Officer,we were facing the runway and right in front of us a 100 sqdn canberra had an engine blow up on take off with a fifty foot blowtorch out the back(uncontained compressor failure).
I will never forget the look on the SWO’s face,looking round,mouth wide open … a rare sight,a speachless SWO.
Anyway the canberra crew got away with it!! but had to fly round for 3 ? hours to burn off fuel for landing,I was back in the Hangar when the cowlings came off and various avon bits tinkled onto the floor !!!

What an awful programme , a wasted chance. Who the hell decided to show all that parade ground practice rubbish.

That was my first though when I saw it on BBC1 when it was first shown early in the year, However that was because it was advertised as a History of RAF Coltishall. My comments on a early thread on the topic, result in an e-mail landing in my work account from Mick Jennings with an explanation of how the show came about. Originally it was just going to be about the last days of operations and it was Mick that pushed for the history aspects to be added. As for the parade practice rubbish, My Brother and about 400 hundred other servicemen spent 2 weeks doing that, as well as preparing for the move to Coningsby of the remainder of the Jaguar force. I’ve no problems with that being shown at all, In fact I spent that bit of the show looking out for mates that were on the parade (The Rock DI Cpl I know very well). The one thing you have to remember is that an Airfield is more than just aeroplanes, its more about people, and the closure of that Station will result in a lot of people chucking the job in, as it was without doubt on of the best postings in the RAF.

I though it was a well thought out programme. As an ex member of the RAF and having served on squadrons that have been decommissioned, the Parade is a final part of said closure and is relevant to the documentary.

There are people out there that are not “aviation enthusiasts” and the media have to cater for the majority not the minority. A225HVY

Agreed.

Only slight oversight was the lack of mention of Colt’s career as a PAF Station 1945-47 but can’t cram everything into 30 mins I guess

Lack of time was the reason, However to do the history of that Station would take at least 2 Hours, minimum. However RAF (Polish) Station Coltishall did get a mention on the attached.

Only slight oversight was the lack of mention of Colt’s career as a PAF Station 1945-47 but can’t cram everything into 30 mins I guess

I’ve still got it on tape if you want to borrow/copy it? Send a PM if you do.

B*llocks I missed it will it be shown again?

JAmes

Anyone else notice the theme from Jurassic Park being played in the background during the take off sequence?…………appropriate or just a tad sarcastic….?

What an awful programme , a wasted chance. Who the hell decided to show all that parade ground practice rubbish.

I though it was a well thought out programme. As an ex member of the RAF and having served on squadrons that have been decommissioned, the Parade is a final part of said closure and is relevant to the documentary.

There are people out theere that are not “aviation enthusiasts” and the media have to cater for the majority not the minority.

A225HVY

What an awful programme , a wasted chance. Who the hell decided to show all that parade ground practice rubbish.

Incidentally, how many Jags are still flying and what exactly are their missions, any chance of a glorious finale in Afghanistan, whatever that represents.

The figure I’ve been told is 16 GR3A’s and 3 T4s with 6 Sqn and I’ve heard on the Grapevine that Strafing practice is the order of the day on the squadron at the minute. Above that, your guess is as good as mine on wither the Jags get a final war in before they depart the scene.

Incidentally, how many Jags are still flying and what exactly are their missions, any chance of a glorious finale in Afghanistan, whatever that represents.