RAF_Driffield

RAF Driffield

Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

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.

Quick Facts RAF DriffieldRAF Eastburn Driffield Training Area, Coordinates ...

RAF Driffield
RAF Eastburn
Driffield Training Area

Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire in England

Station badge

RAF Driffield

Shown within East Riding of Yorkshire

Coordinates

53°59′41″N 000°29′11″W

Type

Royal Air Force station
* Parent station 1936–43
* 43 Base HQ 1943–^[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 (1918) as RAF Eastburn
1935 as RAF Driffield

In use

July 1936 – 1996 (1996)

Battles/wars

European theatre of World War II
Cold War

Airfield information

Elevation

19 metres (62 ft)^[1] AMSL

Runways
Direction	Length and surface
00/00	Concrete
00/00	Concrete
00/00	Concrete

History

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk Vs of No. 102 Squadron RAF being prepared for a leaflet-dropping sortie at Driffield, Yorkshire, 7 March 1940

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 Squadron.^[5]

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.^[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

The 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. 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

Citations

[1]
Falconer 2012, p. 84.
[2]
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.
[3]
"RAF Driffield". Hull & East Riding at War. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
[4]
"No. 35005". The London Gazette. 3 December 1940. p. 6862
[5]
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.
[6]
"WAAF". www.rauxaf.net. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
[7]
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.
[8]
Delve 2006, p. 114.
[9]
"Driffield (Eastburn)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
[10]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 137.
[11]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 233.
[12]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 43.
[13]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 188.
[14]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 153.
[15]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 71.
[16]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 154.
[17]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 59.
[18]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 295.
[19]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 299.
[20]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 79.
[21]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 39.
[22]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 40.
[23]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 230.
[24]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 136.
[25]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 143.
[26]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 45.
[27]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 52.
[28]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 55.
[29]
Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 120.

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.
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

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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