RAF Bircham Newton

The closure was a result of the post-World War II rationalisation and downsizing of the UK's military estate. With the changing strategic needs of the Royal Air Force during the Cold War, the rise of jet aircraft requiring longer runways, and subsequent defence budget cuts, many WWII-era airfields were deemed surplus to requirements. Bircham Newton's role had already shifted from a front-line operational base to a training facility before its eventual closure.

The site has been completely repurposed. The main domestic site, including the officers' mess and barracks, was sold and is now the home of the National Construction College (NCC), the main training facility for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). The former technical site, including several of the original hangars, has been converted into the Bircham Newton Business Centre, an industrial estate housing various businesses. Most of the original runways and taxiways have been removed and the land returned to agricultural use, although faint outlines of the perimeter track are still visible from the air. An on-site heritage centre, run by volunteers, preserves the history of the airfield.

RAF Bircham Newton has a rich history dating back to World War I, when it was established in 1918 as a bomber and fighter station to counter Zeppelin raids. During the inter-war years, it was a prominent bomber station, home to squadrons flying aircraft like the Handley Page Heyford. Its most significant role was during World War II as a key station for RAF Coastal Command. Squadrons based here operated aircraft such as the Avro Anson, Lockheed Hudson, and later, American-made Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators. These aircraft flew critical missions including anti-submarine patrols, convoy escorts, anti-shipping strikes, and meteorological reconnaissance over the North Sea and the Atlantic. The station is famously associated with the first Victoria Cross awarded to a Coastal Command pilot in WWII, Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell of No. 22 Squadron, for his heroic attack on the German battleship Gneisenau in 1941. After the war, its operational role diminished, and it became home to the RAF School of Administration and other training units until its closure.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening RAF Bircham Newton as an airport. The site has been extensively redeveloped over several decades. The removal of the airfield's primary infrastructure, such as runways, and the establishment of the large National Construction College and a business park make any conversion back to an aviation facility economically and logistically unfeasible.