FULL SUTTON
Full Sutton was a Class A standard airfield built in the parishes of Full Sutton and Fangfoss, largely on Growthorpe Common north of the old York to Pocklington rail line located nine miles east-north-east from the city centre, work on Full Sutton commenced in 1943. Hadsphaltic Ltd constructed the flying field on a £329,000 contract and J. Gerrard & Sons Ltd the buildings for £322,000. The three concrete runways were the main 16-34 at 1,980 yards and the subsidiaries, OS-23 at 1,480 and 11-29 at 1,300 yards. The encircling perimeter track had 36 loop type hardstandings. Two T2 hangars were located on the technical site on the east side, between runway heads 23 and 34, and a S1 in the southwest dispersal area between runways 11 and 16. Bomb stores were off the north-west corner. A dozen domestic sites with utility buildings were dispersed in the parishes of Full Sutton and Growthorpe and allowed for a maximum of 1,443 males and 367 females.
The station opened in May 1944 to receive No. 77 Squadron, which had been moved from Elvington to make way for an all French establishment. No. 77's Halifaxes operated from Full Sutton from May 15, 1944 to April 25, 1945. Ninety-five Halifaxes failed to return or were lost m crashes during wartime operations flown from the airfield. At the end of hostilities No. 77 Squadron was placed under Transport Command and in July traded its Halifaxes for Dakotas. Having thus converted, the squadron was transferred south to Broadwell at the end of August.
Unlike many other wartime stations in the area which were soon placed under care and maintenance after VE-Day, Full Sutton was retained for flying, No. 231 Squadron being formed in November 1945 to train on Lancastrian transports. This unit was in residence until the following April and thereafter Full Sutton's activities subsided with care and maintenance status being reintroduced in the spring of 1947.
The station was given a new lease of life in the 1950s when used as a flying school, while at the same time it was earmarked for USAF occupation if the Cold War had become hot. The next development was a Thor missile installation under the charge of No. 102 Squadron from April 1959 for four years after which it went the way of all Thor units and was disbanded. This marked the end of the RAF's association with Full Sutton. A period of commercial development of the technical site followed and during the past decade part of runway 11-29 came into use for private flying. In 1986 the north end of the airfield was selected as a site for a prison, which was opened in April 1988.
