York Historic Environment Record

NMR Information:

Elvington military airfield is visible on air photographs, centred at SE 674 483. It was used by the RAF in World War II between 1939 and 1942 and between 1952 and 1958 by the American Air Force as a Strategic Air Command base. From the 1960's to 1992 it was used by the RAF for test flights and manoeuvres. It currently houses the Yorkshire Air Museum. The runway structures are visible and earlier runways are visible as cropmarks. Many buildings and other structures survive. Several camps associated with the airfield are identified to the east of the airfield.
(1-2)

Elvington Airfield, SE 665 480. In contrast to the two sources above, the Willis and Holiss gazetteer suggests that the airfield opened in 1942. By 1944 there were three asphalt runways. Site use in 1985 was stated to be RAF. The source includes a sketch map of the airfield's wartime layout. (3)

Elvington Airfield has been the home of the Yorkshire Air Museum since 1986. The focal point of the museum is the restored control tower, but there are other wartime buildings which have been restored. The airfield is used for displays of historic aircraft. The museum website describes the collctions and events at Elvington.(4-5)

Elvington, North Yorkshire, SE 679 485. "Opened in 1942, with two runways on the airfield, the Halifaxes of Elvington were heavily engaged in the Battle of the Ruhr in early 1943. May and June 1944 saw the formation of two heavy bomber squadrons of the Free French Air Force (seving under the RAF), which made their first attacks on the 5th of June near the invasion beaches of Normandy". (6)

Elvington Airfield, SE 668 482 (NAT). The 1972 edition of the OS 1:10000 sheet SE 64 NE depicts the post war airfield greatly extended to the west in comparison to the sketch of the wartime layout provided in source 1. (7)

1 Oblique aerial photograph reference number NMR SE 6748/4 (12939/18) 01-OCT-1996
2 Vertical aerial photograph reference number RAF 543/374 (F22) 0091-6 03-SEP-1958
3 Military airfields in the British Isles 1939-1945 77 Steve Willis and Barry Holliss
4 Airfield review 7 8, 1986
5 World Wide Web page Pete Wilkins. 2004. "Yorkshire Air Museum"; http://www.yorkshireairmuseum
6 VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION English Heritage Thematic Listing Programme, May 2003: "Survey of Military Aviation Sites and Structures, Summary Report", Annexe 1, unpaged.
7 Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date) 1:10000, 1972

Historic England 2023:
RAF Elvington was originally completed in 1940 as a grass-surfaced aerodrome; however, no
sooner had it been completed, the increasing size and all up weight of newly introduced
bomber aircraft made it out of date. As a consequence, the aerodrome was completely
re-built, with three concrete runways linked by a perimeter track that led to 36 'frying-pan'
aircraft dispersals, a bomb store sited in Dodsworth Plantation on the southern side of the
airfield, two T2 and one B1 aircraft sheds or hangars, and the technical site, which was
situated on the eastern side of the airfield, north of Brinkworth Grange. All domestic
accommodation was dispersed off site. The control tower was complete by April 1942;
however, the airfield wasn't opened until October 1942, under the auspices of No.4 Group,
Bomber Command. No.77 Squadron was the first unit to take up residence, flying twin-engine
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bombers, before converting to the heavier and more capable
four-engine Handley Page Halifax BII bombers.

The squadron quickly became fully operational taking part in a number of main force targets in
Germany, including the Battle of the Ruhr, which commenced in March 1943, and it remained
at RAF Elvington until May 1944, when it moved to RAF Full Sutton, making way for the arrival
of two French Air Force heavy-bomber units, equipped with Halifax Mk. V bombers: No.346
(Guyenne) Squadron and No.347 (Tunisie) Squadron. RAF Elvington then became the only
Free French operated Bomber Command airfield in the whole of Great Britain. The personnel
of both squadrons were all French and only the adjutant was English; consequently, Elvington
became a French airfield, with every man having the right to a glass of Algerian wine with
each meal, even if only British food was served in the messes. Both units began operations in
June 1944, No.346 Sqd attacking a radar station at Ferme d'Urville and enemy gun positions
at Grandcamps Maisy, ahead of the D-Day landings, and No.347 Sqd attacking a V1
'Doodlebug' site at Mont Candon, Bacqueville-en-Caux. A major incident occurred at Elvington
on the night of 3/4 March 1945, when Luftwaffe Junkers 88 and 188 intruder aircraft slipped
into the No.4 Group Halifax bomber stream returning from a raid on Kamen; bidding their time, they joined the aircraft in the circuit and waited until the runway lights were turned on, before
pouncing on the unsuspecting bombers. The control tower immediately turned the lights off
and ordered the aircraft to their diversionary airfields; unfortunately, one aircraft was shot
down north-west of the airfield and others had to crash-land due to lack of fuel. The final
bombing mission by both squadrons was mounted against gun batteries on the island of
Wangerooge, covering the entrance to the German Bight and the naval base at Bremerhaven.

Post-war the French Squadrons were involved in dumping large quantities of bombs that were
surplus to requirements and eventually, they returned to France and officially ceased being
part of the RAF in October 1945. Elvington had been placed in Care and Maintenance in
November 1945 and acted as a sub-station of No 14 Maintenance Unit, RAF Carlisle. During
this period, the RAF made some minor alterations to the watch office, including the installation
of an external staircase to the observation gallery and the painting of an RAF crest on the wall
above the rear door. The secondary external staircase has since been removed. In June
1953, with the Cold War gaining momentum, the airfield was passed to the United States Air
Force (USAF), who wished to establish a Forward Operating Base (FOB), extending the main
runway to approximately 3.09km (10,152 ft, the second largest in the UK), laying a massive
19.8 hectares (49 acres) Aircraft Servicing Platform (ASP) designed to operate B-66, RB-66
bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, and allowing the very large B-36 and B-52 nuclear
bombers, flying directly from the United States of America to land and to be rapidly serviced
and re-fuelled. In addition to the runway extension, a new control tower, radar head, crash
tender shed, mess and offices were built approximately half-way along the length of the
runway, making the wartime watch office redundant in its original role. The USAF did not ever
use these facilities fully and left Elvington in 1958 and after a short hiatus, the runway was
used during the early 1960s by the Blackburn Aircraft Company, to conduct trials with the
prototype NA.39, later to become the Blackburn Buccaneer low-level bomber. Once the trials
work had been completed, the airfield became a Relief Landing Ground (RLG) for No 7 Flying
Training School at RAF Church Fenton, and from 1970 it became the RLG for No 1 Flying
Training School at RAF Linton on Ouse until March 1992, when it was put up for disposal.

On-Site Archaeology, 2018, Brinkworth Rush, Elvington GP (Unpublished document). SYO2217.

Historic England, 2023, Elvington Watch Tower Consultation Report (Unpublished document). SYO3005.