| RAF Marham
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| IATA: KNF – ICAO: EGYM | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military: RAF Station | ||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||
| Location | Marham | ||
| Built | 1916 | ||
| In use | 1916 - present | ||
| Commander | Group Captain C Basnett ADC MA RAF | ||
| Occupants | |||
| Elevation AMSL | 75 ft / 23 m | ||
| Coordinates | 52°38′54″N 000°33′02″E / 52.64833°N 0.55056°E | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 01/19 | 6,086 | 1,855 | Concrete |
| 06/24 | 9,140 | 2,786 | Asphalt |
Royal Air Force Station Marham, commonly known as RAF Marham, (IATA: KNF, ICAO: EGYM) is a Royal Air Force station, a military airbase, near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia.
It is home to the No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (138 EAW), and as such, is one of the RAFs "Main Operating Bases". 138 EAW houses two Tornado GR4A and two Tornado GR4 squadrons.
The station crest is a Blue Bull - this was awarded with the arrival of nuclear capability in 1957, and the station motto is simply Deter; the glaring bull symbolises a deterrent which aptly refers to the acquirement of a nuclear deterrent capability - hence the motto "DETER".
Contents |
History
Beginnings
Opened in 1916, close to the former Royal Naval Air Station Narborough, later RAF Narborough, Marham was opened in August 1916 as a military night landing ground on an 80 acre site within the boundary of the present day RAF Marham. In 1916 the aerodrome was handed over to the Royal Flying Corps. The aerodrome was closed in 1919 when the last units moved out.
Rearmament
In 1935 work started on a new airfield, this became active in 1 April 1937, with a resident heavy bomber unit from within 3 Group, RAF Bomber Command. The first squadron, No 38, arrived in May 1937 with Fairey Hendon bombers. In June No. 115 Squadron RAF re-formed at Marham with Handley Page Harrows while 38 Sqn received Wellington I bombers in December 1938, followed in 1939 by 115 Squadron.
During March 1944, Marham closed for the construction of new concrete runways, perimeter track, and dispersal areas, marking the end of wartime operations at Marham.
Post War
In the postwar period the airfield was home to RAF units operating the Boeing Washington aircraft, and later the V-bomber force and tankers: Vickers Valiant and Handley Page Victor. The station is also one of the few large enough for the operation of the Boeing B-52 and a number of these aircraft visited on exercise in the 1970s and 1980s.
During 1977, 24 Hardened Aircraft Shelters were constructed to house future strike aircraft, which would eventually see the arrival of the Panavia Tornado in 1982. These shelters were equipped with the US Weapon Storage Security System (WS3), each able to store 4 WE.177 nuclear bombs.[1]
No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing was formed at Marham on 1 April 2006 encompassing most of the non-formed unit personnel on station. The EAW does not include the flying units at the station.
The current Station Commander is dual-hatted; as the commander of the Wing and Station.
Current occupation
Wings
Six Wings are currently lodged at RAF Marham:
- Operations Wing
- Base Support Wing (BSW)
- Depth Support Wing
- Forward Support Wing (FSW)
- Tactical Imagery Intelligence Wing
- 3(RAF) Force Protection Wing
Squadrons
- No. 2 Squadron RAF - operating Tornado GR4/GR4A
- No. IX Squadron RAF - operating Tornado GR4/GR4A
- No. 13 Squadron RAF - operating Tornado GR4/GR4A
- No. 31 Squadron RAF - operating Tornado GR4/GR4A
The GR4A is the reconnaissance variant of the Panavia Tornado, however the modern reconnaissance equipment used on the Tornado is interchangeable between the GR4 and GR4A variants and as such each squadron uses a mix of the two variants. (As the reconnaissance equipment originally used in the GR4A variant is now obsolete.)
- 93 (Expeditionary Armament) Squadron
Formerly the Tactical Armament Squadron (TAS), its Mission statement is "To deliver and develop specialist, expeditionary armament capability to support UK defence policy".
- 2620 (County of Norfolk) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment (2620 RAuxAF Regt)
Other units
- The Tornado (IDS) Engineering Development and Investigation Team (Tor (IDS) EDIT)
Supported units
RAF Marham is "parent" to
- RAF Holbeach Bombing Range
- RAF Neatishead
Former squadrons
See also
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- Airport information for EGYM at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
Notes
- ^ Robert S. Norris and Hans M. Kristensen (November/December 2004), U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe, 1954–2004, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, http://thebulletin.metapress.com/content/82558p4j65585158/fulltext.pdf, retrieved 2009-06-11
- ^ Disbanded on 28 July 2006, ending 55 years of RAF Canberra operations.
References
External links
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