RAF Driffield

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Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 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 Script error: No such module "convert". south-west of Driffield and Script error: No such module "convert". north-west of Beverley. It is now operated by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, as the Driffield Training Area.

History

File:Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk Vs of No. 102 Squadron RAF being prepared for a leaflet-dropping sortie at Driffield, Yorkshire, 7 March 1940. C921.jpg
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk Vs of No. 102 Squadron RAF being prepared for a leaflet-dropping sortie at Driffield, Yorkshire, 7 March 1940
File:Target Dossier for Driffield, York, England - DPLA - cac3723f19c02200d255e6ed4ced9660 (page 1).jpg
RAF Driffield on a target dossier of the German Luftwaffe, 1940

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 Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF).[5][6]

On 4 June 1941 RAF Driffield was attacked by German aircraft which resulted in one Wellington, of No. 405 (RCAF) Squadron, being destroyed and another damaged.[7]

On 1 August 1959, the station was armed with PGM-17 Thor ballistic missiles, which were subsequently decommissioned by April 1963.Template:Sfn

Units

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References

Citations

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ "No. 35005". The London Gazette. 3 December 1940. p. 6862
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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Bibliography

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  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>Halpenny, B. B. Action Stations: Military Airfields of Yorkshire v. 4. Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1982. Template:ISBN.
  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>Philpott, Ian. The Royal Air Force 1930 to 1939, Volume II Rearmament. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword, 2008. Template:ISBN.
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External links

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