RAF Leconfield

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Coordinates: 53°52′37″N 000°26′15″W / 53.87694°N 0.43750°W / 53.87694; -0.43750
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RAF Leconfield
AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
01/19 1,829 metres (6,001 ft) Concrete
04/22 1,280 metres (4,199 ft) Concrete
14/32 1,280 metres (4,199 ft) Concrete

Royal Air Force Leconfield or more simply RAF Leconfield is a former Royal Air Force station located in Leconfield (near Beverley), East Riding of Yorkshire, England.

The site is now used by the MoD Defence School of Transport Leconfield or DST Leconfield.

History

Leconfield opened on 3 December 1936[5] as part of RAF Bomber Command[6] with Handley Page Heyford bombers from No. 166 Squadron RAF using the airfield from January 1937 until early September 1939.[7]

Second World War

On the night of 3 September 1939, the first night of the war, ten Whitley bombers from Leconfield became the first British aircraft to penetrate German airspace, dropping propaganda leaflets over Germany. In October 1939 it was taken over by RAF Fighter Command[8] and the Mk I Spitfires of 72 squadron arrived from RAF Church Fenton.[9] During the Battle of Britain, the station was a temporary home to many other squadrons of Fighter Command which made short stays here to rest and re-group. During this period there was also a decoy airfield at nearby Routh.

During the war the RAF squadrons based at Leconfield were:

The station was also the place of formation of the Polish

No. 303 "Kościuszko" Squadron after it had its turn in the defence of London.[16] One of 303's pilots, Tadeusz Sawicz
, was at the time of his death in 2011 believed to be the last surviving Polish pilot to have fought in the Battle of Britain.

Post War

In the 1950s Leconfield was a nominated 'dispersal base' for the RAF V bomber force.[17] Also, after being transferred from RAF Catfoss in October 1945, and into the early 1950s,[18] it was home to the Central Gunnery School[5] which, among other functions, trained air gunnery instructors in Wellington bombers and pilot attack instructors in Spitfire and Mosquito aircraft.[19] This school was later transformed into the Fighter Weapons School. The aircraft then flown were mainly single-seat Venoms and Meteors, plus twin-seat Vampire T11, Meteor trainers and Hawker Hunters for trials with ADEN cannons in 1957.[20] Bristol Sycamore HR 14 helicopters of No. 275 Squadron RAF arrived on 9 October 1957 before being re-equipped with the Westland Whirlwind HAR 4 in March 1959 with the HAR 2 version being added in August 1959, however on 1 September 1959 the squadron was disbanded.[21]

On 29 June 1959

No. 60 Maintenance Unit RAF (MU) and also 202 'B' Flight with Westland Whirlwind helicopters. 60MU was responsible for the major servicing of the EE/BAC Lightnings, plus several other tasks.[20] No. 202 Squadron became the first SAR unit to rescue people off of Britain's first offshore oil rig, the Sea Gem. The rig had capsized on the 27 December 1965 and the crew of a Whirlwind rescued three men from the freezing water in a horrendous snowstorm. The crew were later awarded medals and commendations for their actions.[25]

In the 1970s the control tower at Leconfield developed a reputation for being haunted by a Flight Lieutenant who had been killed, along with an airman passenger, when a Meteor 7 he was piloting crashed when coming in to land in 1956. RAF Leconfield closed on 1 January 1977.[5]

RAF Leconfield archive footage from summer 1961 shows Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother going to tea at the home of Sgt Denys French and family, including his daughter Dawn French, aged 3 years and 9 months. A section of the footage was included in French's comedy tour/video Thirty Million Minutes.

Units

The following units were here at some point:[5]

Current role

Main article: Defence School of Transport

Leconfield is now home to the Defence School of Transport (DST Leconfield) and is one of the Schools that make up the Defence College of Logistics Policing and Administration (DCLPA) it is a Tri-Service establishment.

DST Leconfield is Europe's largest driver training establishment, the accommodation is designated as Normandy Barracks.[19]

Although flying operations were not the main role of Leconfield, two

Search and Rescue role[34] however this changed as a private company took over the services and the aircraft were retired.[35] Flying operations ceased on 1 April 2015 with the departure of the two Sea King helicopters. The Search and rescue function has been assumed by the Maritime and Coastguard agency based at Humberside Airport
.

References

  1. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X
    .
  2. ^ Birtles 2012, p. 35.
  3. ^ "Defence Estates Development Plan (DEDP) 2009 – Annex A" (PDF). GOV.UK. Ministry of Defence. 3 July 2009. p. 11. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  4. ^ Falconer 1998, p. 57.
  5. ^ a b c d "Leconfield". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  6. ^ Halpenny 1982, p. 99.
  7. ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 64.
  8. ^ "RAF Leconfield". The Wartime Memories Project. Archived from the original on 15 February 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2007.
  9. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 47.
  10. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 41.
  11. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 67.
  12. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 75.
  13. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 94.
  14. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 99.
  15. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 101.
  16. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 85.
  17. ISBN 978-1-84799-237-6
    .
  18. ^ Halpenny 1982, p. 104.
  19. ^ a b Delve 2006, p. 164.
  20. ^ a b "Leconfield". www.forgottenairfields.com. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  21. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 83.
  22. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 31.
  23. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 52.
  24. ^ Abraham 2002, p. 53.
  25. ISBN 978-0-7509-4309-3
    .
  26. ^ Lake 1999, p. 120.
  27. ^ Lake 1999, p. 157.
  28. ^ Lake 1999, p. 112.
  29. ^ a b Lake 1999, p. 53.
  30. ^ Lake 1999, p. 91.
  31. ^ Lake 1999, p. 92.
  32. ^ Lake 1999, p. 50.
  33. ^ Lake 1999, p. 72.
  34. ^ "RAF Search and Rescue (SARF)". Royal Air Force. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  35. ^ "Takeover plan for Leconfield rescue service". This is Hull and East Riding. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2012.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Leconfield.
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