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.
| RAF Driffield RAF Eastburn Driffield Training Area  | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire in England | |||||||||||
 | |||||||||||
  RAF Driffield Shown within East Riding of Yorkshire | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53°59′41″N 000°29′11″W / 53.99472°N 0.48639°W | ||||||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force station * Parent station 1936–43 * 43 Base HQ 1943–45[1] | ||||||||||
| Code | DR[1] | ||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||||
| Operator | 1918–1920 Royal Air Force 1936–1977 Royal Air Force 1977–1992 British Army 1992–1996 Royal Air Force 1996–Present Defence Training Estate | ||||||||||
| Controlled by | RAF Bomber Command * No. 2 Group RAF * No. 4 Group RAF * No. 6 Group RCAF | ||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||
| Built | 1918 as RAF Eastburn 1935 as RAF Driffield | ||||||||||
| In use | July 1936 – 1996 | ||||||||||
| Battles/wars | European theatre of World War II Cold War | ||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||
| Elevation | 19 metres (62 ft)[1] AMSL | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
History
editThe 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 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 1 August 1959, the station was armed with PGM-17 Thor ballistic missiles, which were subsequently decommissioned by April 1963.[8]
Units
editThe following units were here at some point:[9]
- 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)[10]
- No. 2 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF (October 1940 – 1941)[11]
- No. 2 School of Aerial Fighting RAF (October 1917 – May 1918) became No. 3 School of Aerial Fighting and Gunnery RAF (May 1918)[12]
- No. 4 Group Target Towing Flight RAF (February 1940 – November 1941)[13]
- No. 5 Group Target Towing Flight RAF (February 1940 – April 1941)[13]
- Detachment of No. 5 Service Flying Training School RAF (March 1941)[14]
- Detachment of No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (June – July 1943)[15]
- No. 8 Flying Training School RAF (June 1954 – August 1955)[16]
- No. 10 Air Navigation School RAF (September 1946 – March 1948)[17]
- No. 21 Training Depot Station (July 1918 – July 1919)[18] became No. 21 Training Squadron (July 1919 – February 1920)[19]
- No. 43 Base RAF (June 1943 – September 1945)[20]
- No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF
- No. 102 Squadron RAF
- No. 104 Squadron RAF
- No. 203 Advanced Flying School RAF (September 1949 – June 1954)[21]
- No. 204 Advanced Flying School RAF (March 1948 – August 1949)[22]
- No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (August 1949)[23]
- 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)[24]
- No. 1613 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF (February – July 1943)[25]
- Air Bomber Training Flight, No. 4 Group (June 1942 – March 1943)[26]
- Aircrew Transit Unit (November 1949 – December 1951)[27]
- Detachment of Air Fighting Development Unit RAF[28]
- Fighter Weapons School (October 1957 – March 1958)[29]
References
editCitations
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". www.lincolnshirelife.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ "WAAF". www.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.
- ^ 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
editWikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Driffield.