DRIFFIELD
In 1916, open meadowland two miles south-west of Great Driffield, on the northern side of the road running between that small town and Market Weighton, was requisitioned for use as a landing ground. The purpose was to establish a base for FE2b aircraft where they might have an opportunity of intercepting Zeppelin raids as they crossed the coast. A flight of No. 33 Squadron used the landing ground, known as Eastburn, the hamlet to the west, but was never able to attack one of the raiders. The following year Eastburn was selected for development as a military aerodrome with No. 3 and 27 Training Squadrons that later formed No. 21 Training Depot Station. Several wooden buildings including a number of small hangars were erected to house these units and their equipment. With peace the aerodrome was closed in February 1920 and most of the wartime structures were eventually demolished.
As with many other abandoned Great War aerodromes and landing grounds, when the RAF expanded during the 1930s these were the first sites reviewed for the construction of permanent stations. Eastburn/Driffield was found highly suitable and in 1934 the land was re-acquired and work commenced on what was officially to be known as RAF Station Driffield. The camp, on the Great Driffield side of the landing ground, was made up of closely grouped administrative, technical and barrack buildings, constructed in brick, flat-roofed with many centrally heated. The hallmark of the expansion period - an arc of Type C hangars fronting the bombing circle - comprised four hangars with a fifth tucked in behind that on the extreme right. Bomb stores were in the north-west corner of the holding.
Officially opened at the end of July 1936, construction was far enough advanced by September for the first squadrons selected for residence to move in. These were Nos. 58 and 215 both equipped with Virginias, both from Upper Heyford. At this time the station was under No. 3 Group but plans were afoot to form two more groups in the burgeoning Bomber Command. No. 4 Group, formed in April 1937, took over Driffield in June. At that time Nos. 75 and 215 were resident, the former having been formed from No. 215's `B' Flight in March that year. No. 58 Squadron had moved to Boscombe Down in March a few days after its `B' Flight became No. 51 Squadron, the move made as Driffield could not house the complement of four squadrons. In August and September the same year, Driffield's resident squadrons converted to the Handley Page Harrow and in July 1938 they were both transferred to Honington and No. 3 Group where this bomber type was concentrated. This was an exchange between groups, the two squadrons displaced at Honington coming to Driffield, No. 77 flying Wellesleys and No. 102 Heyfords but before the year was out both had converted to Whitley IIIs.
No. 102 Squadron opened Driffield's war on the night of September 4/5, 1939, with three leaflet-dropping sorties to the Ruhr; more lethal cargoes were not to be carried until 1940. While there were numerous attacks on Bomber Command airfields by single enemy aircraft, Driffield was one of the few subjected to concentrated formation bombing. This occurred on August 15, 1940, when a large formation of Ju 88s of KG3O raided the airfield scoring 171 direct hits causing 14 deaths and the destroying of 12 Whitleys, with damage to others and several buildings. Moreover, the airfield was put out of action for several days before No. 77 Squadron moved its remaining Whitleys to Linton-on-Ouse and No. 102 took theirs to Leeming. For the next four months there was no operational activity at Driffield and it appears from the placing of dummy Whitleys and vehicles around the aerodrome that there was an attempt to keep enemy attention here and hopefully away from other stations. However, Driffield was not attacked again in force.
With defence the prime concern at this stage of the war, when Driffield was returned to operational status in January 1941 it was for use as a fighter station. Hurricanes of No. 213 Squadron and later No. 1 (RCAF) were followed by No. 485 (RNZAF) Squadron with Spitfires before No. 4 Group reclaimed the station in April. The same month, No. 104 Squadron was reformed here to fly Wellingtons, undertaking its first sorties on the night of May 8/9.
A second Wellington-equipped squadron, No. 405 manned largely by RCAF personnel and the first Canadian squadron in Bomber Command, was also formed at Driffield in April 1941 and joined the fray. on the night of June 12/13 with a bombing raid on the Ruhr. Six days later it was moved out to Pocklington.
The crisis situation in the Mediterranean called for air reinforcements and during October 1941 all but a few of No. 104's Wellingtons with air and ground crews were despatched to Malta. The residue at Driffield soldiered on but the main body of the air echelon did not return and the Driffield element became the re-born No. 158 Squadron on St Valentine's Day 1942. In June, the squadron was moved out to East Moor to convert to Halifaxes. Not until the autumn were other bomber squadrons present. No. 466 was formed as an Australian unit in October and No. 196 the following month although neither became operational before being moved to Leconfield in December 1943 to enable hard runways to be laid.
The programme entailed extending the station boundaries to the west. Runways were main 06-24, 2,000 yards long, and the subsidiaries, 10-28 at 1,450 yards and 16-34 at 1,350 yards. It appears that 36 hardstandings had been built in 1940 and of these, 29 pans and one odd shape survived to be linked to the encompassing perimeter track. Ten loop type were added to make the total aircraft standings 40. A new bomb store was built off the north side near the LNER line. Additional camp sites raised the maximum accommodation to 1,884 males and 422 females.
The airfield was re-opened for flying in June 1944 when No. 466 (RAAF) Squadron returned from Leconfield and its Halifaxes remained throughout the rest of hostilities. In August, it provided the nucleus for a reformed No. 462 (RAAF) Squadron partnering No. 466 in main force operations from Driffield until late December 1944. No. 462 was then transferred to No. 100 Group for bomber support operations, moving out to Foulsham before the end of the year. No. 466 Squadron flew its last bombing raid on April 25, 1945 - the last raid from Driffield. All told, a total of 87 Bomber Command aircraft failed to return or crashed in the UK in the course of operations from the station: 22 Whitleys, 33 Wellingtons and 28 Halifaxes.
As with many other Halifax squadrons, on May 7 No. 466 was transferred to transport duties under Transport Command. It was joined later in the month by No. 426 (RCAF) Squadron, which began to shed its Lancasters for cargo-configurated Liberators before moving on to Tempsford after only a month at Driffield. No. 466 Squadron, supplemented by crews from No. 10 Squadron, RAAF, moved out to Bassingbourn in September for transport duties.
Care and maintenance descended on Driffield until the autumn of 1946 when Flying Training Command took over and installed a navigation school. The station supported various training units until September 1955 when it came under the auspices of Fighter Command. Venoms were based there until the summer of 1957 and the Fighter Weapons School until the following March. The next lease of life was as a Thor missile formation headquarters, which lasted from October 1958 to June 1963. A caretaker party held sway for a few months but this was basically the end of the RAF's occupation and, apart for some test flying of Buccaneers when Hawker-Siddeley's normal facilities were not available, flying ceased.
As at several other redundant RAF airfields, the permanent buildings were attractive to the Army seeking escape from spartan Victorian barracks and in January 1977 the station became Alamein Barracks for the Royal Corps of Transport. The RAF ensign was lowered for the last time at a parade on June 28, 1996.
