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Coordinates: 53°52′01″N 1°39′43″W / 53.867°N 1.662°W / 53.867; -1.662
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RAF Yeadon
Yeadon, Bradford in England
Coordinates53°52′01″N 1°39′43″W / 53.867°N 1.662°W / 53.867; -1.662
Grid referenceSE222410

RAF Yeadon was a Royal Air Force flying station at Yeadon, near Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. The site was used in the Second World War' and by some flying squadrons after the war had ended. It is now known as Leeds Bradford Airport. Flying activity ceased during wartime and the airfield was requisitioned for military use, though normal RAF use ceased by 1941, with the site mostly being used for training or by ferry pool pilots flying aircraft out from the adjacent aircraft factory. No. 609 Squadron returned after the war but had left the site permanently in 1957.

History

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The first significant RAF presence came in the form of No. 609 Squadron RAuxAF, which formed at Yeadon on 10 February 1936.[1] Originally, 609 Squadron formed as a light bomber unit, and so was assigned to Bomber Command, but by December 1938, the squadron had been transferred to Fighter Command.[2] The outbreak of war saw a curtailment of civilian aircraft flights and most aerodromes and airfields were requisitioned for military flying, which included Yeadon.[3] Initially allocated to No. 13 Group, the base was later moved into No. 12 Group for the duration of the war under Fighter Command.[4][5]

No. 51 Group Communications moved their headquarters to RAF Yeadon in August 1939, having formed at Hendon some three months earlier.[6] By 1940, the RAF footprint had increased exponentially with the intention of building five Bellman hangars, and new accommodation huts had been erected. A watchtower was built in 1940, which had a good overall sight of the airfield area.[3] The site was predominantly used as a scatter airfield for Whitley Armstrong aircraft of No.s 51 and 58 Squadrons, based at RAF Driffield and RAF Linton on Ouse respectively.[3][7]

By early 1941, neither Fighter nor Bomber Command had a use for the station, so it was turned over to Training Command and came under the responsibility of No. 51 Group Flying Training Command.[3] With the completion of the aircraft factory, the site was handed over to the Ministry of Aircraft Production, with the flying training activities becoming a lodger unit.[3][note 1] No. 20 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) formed at Yeadon in 1941, with Tiger Moths being sent in from No. 12 EFTS at Prestwick which had been disbanded.[11] Training of pilots carried on until January 1942, when No. 20 EFTS was disbanded. The EFTS had trained over 250 pilots during its tenure, and responsibility for the airfield and the environs, was handed over to Blackburn Aircraft Factory, who had a presence with the aircraft factory at the northern end of the site.[12]

Shadow factory

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In 1940, the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) built a shadow factory just to the north of the airfield and set about forming the site to be a launch airfield for new aircraft.[3] Extensive effort was made into keeping the site of the factory a secret from aerial observation; grassed banks were built up on all sides at a 45 degree angle, a duck pond and fake animals were placed upon the roof (which were moved from time to time), the pattern of the fields before the factory's construction was painted out on the roof, and the hedges and trees were foliated or de-foliated depending upon the time of year.[13]

The factory produced over 4,000 Ansons and enough spares for 900 more.[14]

Based units

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The following military units were based at RAF Yeadon:

Units based at RAF Yeadon[15]
Units Dates Details Ref
No. 4 Group Central Maintenance Organisation 6 October 1940 – March 1941 Formed at Yeadon, moved to Dishforth, then Clifton [11]
No. 6 AACU
No. 9 Air Experience Flight 8 September 1958 Became a flight within the Yorkshire University AirSquadron [16]
No. 20 Elementary Flying Training School 1 March 1941 – 9 January 1942 Formed and disbanded at Yeadon [17]
No. 23 Gliding School May 1943 – Formed at Yeadon, departed for [18]
No. 51 Group Communications Flight January 1940 – 14 July 1947 Formed and disbanded at Yeadon [19]
No. 609 Squadron 10 February 1936 Formed at RAF Yeadon in 1936, departed for Catterick in September 1939 [20][1]
No. 1964 Reserve Air Observation Post Flight 1 September 1949 – 10 March 1957 Formed as a flight of No, 664 Squadron, based at Andover [21]
N0. 3609 Fighter Control Unit (West Riding)
Leeds University Air Squadron Later moved to Church Fenton[note 2]

Notes

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  1. ^ In United Kingdom military parlance, a lodger unit is one that does not belong to the administrative hierarchy of the base that it is located on. For example, at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire is JFACTSU, but they are part of the Joint Force Air Component Headquarters based in Air Command at RAF High Wycombe.[8][9][10]
  2. ^ Leeds University Air Squadron merged with Hull University Air Squadron in March 1969 to become Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron (YUAS).[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b Phillips 2012, p. 23.
  2. ^ Myers 1995, p. 13.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Phillips 2012, p. 24.
  4. ^ Delve 2006, p. 279.
  5. ^ Oliver, David (2000). Fighter Command 1939-45 : From the Battle of Britain to the Fall of Berlin. London: Harper Collins. p. 232. ISBN 0007629087.
  6. ^ Ranter, Harro. "Incident Miles Magister Mk I L8344, 07 Nov 1939". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  7. ^ Myers 1995, p. 17.
  8. ^ "HULL BALLOON BARRAGE". www.suttonandwawnemuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Security upgrades to Boscombe Down military base approved". BBC News. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  10. ^ "No.11 Group". raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  11. ^ a b Myers 1995, p. 29.
  12. ^ Myers 1995, p. 30.
  13. ^ Myers 1995, pp. 28–29.
  14. ^ Myers 1995, p. 31.
  15. ^ "Yeadon (Leeds/Bradford) - Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust UK". www.abct.org.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  16. ^ Lake 1999, p. 15.
  17. ^ Lake 1999, p. 62.
  18. ^ Lake 1999, p. 111.
  19. ^ Lake 1999, p. 123.
  20. ^ Lake 1999, p. 270.
  21. ^ Lake 1999, p. 101.
  22. ^ Lake 1999, p. 314.

Sources

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  • Delve, Ken (2006). Northern England : Co. Durham, Cumbria, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire. Ramsbury: Crowood. ISBN 1-86126-809-2.
  • Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore (1982). Action Stations 4. Military Airfields of Yorkshire. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens. ISBN 0-85059-532-0.
  • Lake, Alan (1999). Flying units of the RAF : the ancestry, formation and disbandment of all flying units from 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-84037-086-6.
  • Myers, Gerald (1995). Mother worked at Avro. Warrington: Compaid Graphics. ISBN 0-9517965-7-7.
  • Otter, Patrick (1998). Yorkshire airfields in the Second World War. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-542-0.
  • Phillips, Alan (2012). Leeds Bradford Airport Through Time. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-0609-5.
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