June 2018 FLYPAST 103new ones (as had previously been
attempted in a huge, and aborted
building programme in the UK
during the 1950s) was emphasised
by the USAF top brass. USAFE’s
commander, General Charles E
Gabriel, described COBs as the
“biggest bargain in Europe”.
According to author Duncan
Campbell in his book The Unsinkable
Aircraft Carrier, a study of American
military power in Britain, by 1979
the US had obtained agreement
to use 53 bases in ten countries.
The first UK sites identified were
Finningley and Leeming in Yorkshire,
Waddington in Lincolnshire,
Wittering in Cambridgeshire,
Coltishall in Norfolk, Odiham
(Hants), Abingdon, Benson and
Brize Norton (all Oxfordshire) and
Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. Brize
Norton was later removed, while
Cranwell (Lincs) and Thurleigh, near
Bedford, were added. If the inclusion
of Wittering and Coltishall appear
surprising, it must be remembered
that their RAF Harriers and
Jaguars had their own wartimefrom NATO’s military structure
three years later in 1966 meant
more were needed. This resulted
in a further agreement allowing
the dual use of some RAF stations,
which became known as Co-located
Operating Bases (COBs).
This paved the way for flocks of
migrant metal birds from the USAF,
its Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and
the Air National Guard (ANG) to
come to the UK in the 1970s and
1980s. The ANG aircraft attracted
more interest as they included
hand-me-downs which had been
retired from frontline service, as
well as types which had never
served with the USAF in Europe.
These reinforcement exercises were
commonly codenamed Coronet.
A precursor was a deployment of
Republic F-105F Thunderchiefs
of the Virginia and District of
Columbia ANGs to Lakenheath in
October 1976. This gave UK air
enthusiasts a rare sighting of the
Century Series attack aircraft, which
had previously been based in Europe
until its withdrawal to make up for
losses suffered in Vietnam. Involving
16 aircraft and 200 personnel and
supported by 16 Boeing KC-135
Stratotankers on the transatlantic
flight, evaluation of the logistics
involved in the mission was likely
to have been its main raison d’être
rather than the actual flying task
performed. The latter entailed use
of the east coast bombing ranges
and cross-country flights to acquaint
pilots with the very different
operating conditions of Western
Europe.CO-LOCATED OPERATING BASES
The UK was not the only NATO
member in which the USAF sought
increased basing rights, as it was a
pan-European policy designed to
quintuple the size of US Air Forces
in Europe in the event of war. By
the end of the 1960s the USAF had
identified 73 additional locations
across Europe from which its aircraft
could operate in conflict stretching
from Norway to Turkey.
The economic benefits of utilising
existing sites rather than developingCoronet Cactus brought F-4C Phantoms of the Missouri ANG to Leeming. Practice decontamination work on an F-4C at Leeming. JOSE LOPEZ VIA MICK BRITTON
Top
A number of Republic
F-105Ds were deployed to
Sculthorpe, Norfolk, from
Tinker AFB, Oklahoma,
as part of Coronet Oriole
in the summer of 1978.
Illustrated is tail number
729 at Sculthorpe during
the exercise.
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