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RAF Driffield RAF Eastburn Driffield Training Area | |||||||||||
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Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire in England | |||||||||||
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–[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 1935 as RAF Driffield | as RAF Eastburn||||||||||
In use | July 1936 – 1996 | ||||||||||
Battles/wars | European theatre of World War II Cold War | ||||||||||
Airfield information | |||||||||||
Elevation | 19 metres (62 ft)[1] AMSL | ||||||||||
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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.
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 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]
The following units were here at some point:[9]