RAF Driffield
RAF Driffield RAF Eastburn Driffield Training Area | |
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Summary | |
Airport type | Military |
Owner | Ministry of Defence |
Operator | Royal Air Force |
Location | Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire, England |
Built | 1918 as RAF Eastburn 1935 as RAF Driffield |
In use | 1918–1920 Royal Air Force 1936–1977 Royal Air Force 1977–1992 British Army 1992–1996 Royal Air Force 1996–Present Defence Training Estate |
Elevation AMSL | 82 ft / 25 m |
Coordinates | 53°59′41″N 000°29′11″W / 53.99472°N 0.48639°W |
Map | |
RAF Driffield Location in the East Riding of Yorkshire |
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.
History[]
The site was first opened in 1918 by the Royal Air Force under the name of RAF Eastburn, and closed in 1920.[1] 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.[2]
The station was the initial posting of Leonard Cheshire[3] VC, who was at that time a member of 102 Squadron.[4]
On 15 August 1940 there was a German air raid on the airfield. Casualties included the first fatality in the Women's Royal Air Force.[5][6]
On 1 August 1959, the station was armed with PGM-17 Thor ballistic missiles, which were subsequently decommissioned by April 1963.[7]
Units[]
The following units were here at some point:[8]
- No. 1 Fighter Command Modification Centre RAF
- No. 2 Blind Approach Training Flight RAF
- No. 2 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF
- No. 2 School of Aerial Fighting RAF
- No. 5 Service Flying Training School RAF
- No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF
- No. 8 Flying Training School RAF
- No. 43 Base RAF
- No. 102 Squadron RAF
- No. 104 Squadron RAF
- No. 203 Advanced Flying School RAF
- No. 204 Advanced Flying School RAF
- No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit RAF
- No. 642 Gliding School RAF
- No. 1502 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF
- No. 1613 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF
- (No. 4 Group)
- Air Fighting Development Unit
- Fighter Weapons School
References[]
Citations[]
- ^ 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.
Bibliography[]
- 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.
- 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.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Driffield. |
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- Military units and formations established in 1918
- Buildings and structures in the East Riding of Yorkshire
- Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire
- World War I airfields
- 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom
- Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
- Driffield
- World War I sites in England