RAF Wombleton

RAF Wombleton
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type Military
Owner Air Ministry
Operator Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
Location Wombleton
Elevation AMSL 118 ft / 36 m
Coordinates 54°13′59″N 000°58′09″W / 54.23306°N 0.96917°W / 54.23306; -0.96917Coordinates: 54°13′59″N 000°58′09″W / 54.23306°N 0.96917°W / 54.23306; -0.96917
Map
RAF Wombleton

Location in North Yorkshire

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
00/00 0 0 Concrete
00/00 0 0 Concrete
00/00 0 0 Concrete

Royal Air Force Station Wombleton or RAF Wombleton is a former Royal Air Force station located 3.8 miles (6.1 km) east of Helmsley, North Yorkshire and 11.8 miles (19.0 km) north east of Easingwold, North Yorkshire, England.

Station history

Wombleton opened in 1943 as a sub-station of RAF Topcliffe. It was part of RAF Bomber Command's No. 6 Group RCAF, and along with the main station at Topcliffe and the station at Dishforth, was designated part of No 61 (Training) Base.[1][2] In November 1944, No 61 Base was transferred to No 7 (Training) Group and it was renumbered No 76 Training Base. No 1666 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) was the first unit to move to Wombleton. Aircrew who were originally trained on twin-engined aircraft such as Wellingtons or Whitleys received conversion training on heavy four-engined bombers such as the Halifax or Lancaster. No 1666 HCU remained at Wombleton until the end of the war. The RAF took over the station and stayed for several years.

Units and aircraft

Unit From To Aircraft Version Notes
No 1666 'Mohawk' HCU 21 October 1943 3 August 1945 Handley Page Halifax
Avro Lancaster 		Mks.II, III, V
Mks.I, II, III, X 		[3]
No 1679 HCU 13 December 1943 27 January 1944 Avro Lancaster Mk.II [3]
No. 261 Maintenance Unit RAF 15 November 1945 10 September 1946 [4]

Current use

Wombleton airport is now used for recreational flying.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Delve 2006, p. 272
  2. ↑ Halpenny 1982, p. 195
  3. 1 2 Sturtivant and Hamlin 2007, p. 99.
  4. ↑ Sturtivant and Hamlin 2007, p. 183.

Bibliography

  • Delve, Ken. The Military Airfields of Britain: Northern England: Co. Durham, Cumbria, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire. Ramsbury, Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press, 2006. ISBN 1-86126-809-2
  • Delve, Ken. The Source Book of the RAF. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1994. ISBN 1-85310-451-5.
  • Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore. Action Stations: 4: Military airfields of Yorkshire. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens, 1982. ISBN 0-85059-532-0
  • Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin. RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. ISBN 0-85130-365-X.
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