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RAF Driffield
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Royal Air Force Driffield or RAF Driffield is a former Royal Air Force station in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in England. It lies about 2 miles (3 km) south-west of Driffield and 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Beverley. It is now operated by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, as the Driffield Training Area.
Key Information
History
[edit]
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The site was first opened in 1918 by the Royal Air Force under the name of RAF Eastburn, and closed in 1920.[2] In 1935 a new airfield was built, initially training bomber crews. In 1977 the site was turned over to the British Army for use as a driving school, and was renamed Alamein Barracks, a satellite to Normandy Barracks of the Defence School of Transport at Leconfield.[3]
The station was the initial posting of Leonard Cheshire[4] VC, who was at that time a member of 102 (Ceylon) Squadron.[5]
On 15 August 1940 there was a German air raid on the airfield. Casualties included the first fatality in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF).[6][7]
On 4 June 1941 RAF Driffield was attacked by German aircraft which resulted in one Wellington, of No. 405 Squadron RCAF, being destroyed and another damaged.[8]
On 1 August 1959, the station was armed with PGM-17 Thor ballistic missiles, which were subsequently decommissioned by April 1963.[9]
Units
[edit]The following units were here at some point:[10]
- No. 1 Fighter Command Modification Centre RAF
- No. 2 Blind Approach Training Flight RAF (April – October 1941) became No. 1502 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF (October 1941 – July 1943)[11]
- No. 2 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF (October 1940 – 1941)[12]
- No. 2 School of Aerial Fighting RAF (October 1917 – May 1918) became No. 3 School of Aerial Fighting and Gunnery RAF (May 1918)[13]
- No. 4 Group Target Towing Flight RAF (February 1940 – November 1941)[14]
- No. 5 Group Target Towing Flight RAF (February 1940 – April 1941)[14]
- Detachment of No. 5 Service Flying Training School RAF (March 1941)[15]
- Detachment of No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (June – July 1943)[16]
- No. 8 Flying Training School RAF (June 1954 – August 1955)[17]
- No. 10 Air Navigation School RAF (September 1946 – March 1948)[18]
- No. 21 Training Depot Station (July 1918 – July 1919)[19] became No. 21 Training Squadron (July 1919 – February 1920)[20]
- No. 43 Base RAF (June 1943 – September 1945)[21]
- No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF
- No. 102 (Ceylon) Squadron RAF
- No. 104 Squadron RAF
- No. 203 Advanced Flying School RAF (September 1949 – June 1954)[22]
- No. 204 Advanced Flying School RAF (March 1948 – August 1949)[23]
- No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (August 1949)[24]
- No. 1484 (Target Towing) Flight RAF (November 1941 – January 1942) became No. 1484 (Target Towing and Gunnery Flight) RAF (January – December 1942) became No. 1484 (Bombing) Gunnery Flight RAF (December 1942 – July 1943)[25]
- No. 1613 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF (February – July 1943)[26]
- Air Bomber Training Flight, No. 4 Group (June 1942 – March 1943)[27]
- Aircrew Transit Unit (November 1949 – December 1951)[28]
- Detachment of Air Fighting Development Unit RAF[29]
- Fighter Weapons School (October 1957 – March 1958)[30]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c Falconer 2012, p. 84.
- ^ Chorlton, Martyn (2014). Forgotten aerodromes of World War I : British military aerodromes, seaplane stations, flying-boat and airship stations to 1920. Manchester: Crecy. p. 43. ISBN 9780859791816.
- ^ "RAF Driffield". Hull & East Riding at War. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
- ^ "No. 35005". The London Gazette. 3 December 1940. p. 6862
- ^ Jackson, Leonard (November 2011). "Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC, OM, DSO and two bars, DFC – Lincolnshire Life". lincolnshirelife.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ "WAAF". rauxaf.net. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Goss, Chris (23 August 2018). "The Many: RAF Ground Crew in the Battle of Britain | Britain at War". britainatwar.keypublishing.com. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ "Bomber Command Museum of Canada Archives – 405 Squadron ORBs". www.bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
- ^ Delve 2006, p. 114.
- ^ "Driffield (Eastburn)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 137.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 233.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 43.
- ^ a b Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 188.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 153.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 71.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 154.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 59.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 295.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 299.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 79.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 39.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 40.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 230.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 136.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 143.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 45.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 52.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 55.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 120.
Bibliography
[edit]- Delve, Ken (2006). The military airfields of Britain : Northern England: Co. Durham, Cumbria, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire. Marlborough: Crowood Press. ISBN 1-86126-809-2.
- Falconer, J. (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
- Halpenny, B. B. Action Stations: Military Airfields of Yorkshire v. 4. Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1982. ISBN 978-0850595321.
- Philpott, Ian. The Royal Air Force 1930 to 1939, Volume II Rearmament. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84415-391-6.
- Sturtivant, R.; Hamlin, J.; Halley, J. (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Driffield.
- UK Airfields – Driffield
- Derelict Places – RAF Driffield – May 2011
- Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust – RAF Driffield (Eastburn)
- Control Towers – RAF Driffield airfield
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