Dishforth Airfield | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Near Dishforth, North Yorkshire in England | |||||||||
Coordinates | 54°08′13″N001°25′12″W / 54.13694°N 1.42000°W | ||||||||
Type | Army base | ||||||||
Site information | |||||||||
Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||
Operator | British Army | ||||||||
Controlled by | Royal Logistics Corps | ||||||||
Condition | Operational | ||||||||
Site history | |||||||||
Built | 1936 | (as RAF Dishforth)||||||||
In use |
| ||||||||
Garrison information | |||||||||
Garrison | 6 Regiment RLC | ||||||||
Airfield information | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Airfield no longer in use |
Dishforth Airfield( ICAO : EGXD) is a former Royal Air Force and current British Army station in North Yorkshire, England. It was previously an Army Air Corps helicopter base and a Relief Landing Ground for RAF Linton-on-Ouse. 6 Regiment RLC is currently located at Dishforth. It is located next to the A1(M) at Junction 49 with the A168. Dishforth airfield is built over part of the Great North Road which is also the old A1. It is 4.4 miles (7.1 km) east of Ripon, North Yorkshire and 11.5 miles (18.5 km) north east of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.
The site is set to close in 2031.
Royal Air Force Dishforth opened in 1936. [1] At the beginning of the Second World War, it became part of 4 Group, RAF Bomber Command, and was used for recruit training. Between September 1939 and April 1941, No. 78 Squadron RAF used it to launch night operations using Armstrong Whitworth Whitley medium bombers. Between 1943 and 1945, the station was used by No. 6 (RCAF) Group Bomber Command and was a sub-station of RAF Topcliffe. Immediately after the war, the station was used to convert aircrew to the Douglas Dakota transport aircraft. [2]
After the war, the station was occupied by training and transport units. No. 241 Operational Conversion Unit RAF were at the site from 5 January 1948 – 16 April 1951; No. 47 Squadron RAF from 14 September 1948 – 22 August 1949; No. 297 Squadron RAF from 1 November 1948 to 22 August 1949; and then conversion units again, No. 240 Operational Conversion Unit RAF briefly in March – April 1951 before being merged into the new No. 242 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (at the station from 16 April 1951 – 29 January 1962). [3]
No. 30 Squadron RAF arrived on 14 April 1953, operating the Blackburn Beverley, and was based here until November 1959. No. 215 Squadron RAF arrived on 30 April 1956, equipped with Scottish Aviation Pioneer CC Mk. 1 aircraft, but it was renumbered No. 230 Squadron RAF on 1 September 1958. 230 Squadron was at Dishforth from 1 September – 27 November 1958, and then briefly in April 1959. [4]
No. 1325 (Transport) Flight RAF comprising three Douglas Dakota aircraft formed at Dishforth on 1 August 1956. [5] It was established to support Operation Buffalo and Operation Antler, the British nuclear tests at Maralinga in Australia. 1325 Flight was soon relocated to Christmas Island (Kiritimati) to support the Grapple series of nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean. [6]
Headquarters No. 23 Group RAF of Flying Training Command arrived at Dishforth on 8 March 1962. It stayed until 11 July 1966. 23 Group's Communications Flight had arrived just under a month earlier, on 12 February 1962, and was at the station until 1 October 1964. Two other units were also present in 1962–66: Leeds University Air Squadron flying the de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T Mk 10; [7] and No. 60 Maintenance Unit RAF between 1 March 1962 and 2 February 1966. [8]
From 1962, the station also became a Relief Landing Ground, successively for 1 FTS and 3 FTS. Jet Provosts from RAF Leeming used the site in this fashion, with personnel deployed from RAF Leeming on a day-to-day basis. Avro Vulcan V-Bomber aircraft were dispersed to Dishforth during exercises, and would have been dispersed from RAF Scampton during any hostilities during the Cold War. [9]
During the 1970s and 1980s, part of the base was used as a police training centre for northern English police forces from Northumbria down to Hertfordshire. [10]
Dishforth was transferred from the RAF to Army Air Corps use by 9 Regiment Army Air Corps in 1992 and became known as Dishforth Airfield. [11]
Dishforth was the first base to receive the Apache helicopter, [12] and had 16, divided between 2 squadrons. Following a reshuffle of AAC units in 2006/2007 Apaches were concentrated on Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk. Between 2007 and 2016, Dishforth had three squadrons of Lynx Mk.7 helicopters & Lynx Mk.9A helicopters. In 2007, personnel and Apache helicopters from the Army Air Corps took part in the rescue mission at Jugroom Fort, [13] which involved marines being strapped to the sides of the helicopter as it flew into Taliban held territory to recover their dead colleague. [14]
Dishforth Airfield underwent a major expansion in 2016 as 6 Force Logistic Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps moved from Gutersloh in Germany to Dishforth. [15] The official handover took place on 30 June 2016. 9 Regiment Army Air Corps disbanded and most of its soldiers merged with 1 Regiment Army Air Corps who also moved from Germany to RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset. [16]
Notable units based at Dishforth Airfield. [17]
In November 2016, the Ministry of Defence announced that it intended to close the site in 2031. [19]
The Army Air Corps (AAC) is a component of the British Army, first formed in 1942 during the Second World War by grouping the various airborne units of the British Army. Today, there are eight regiments of the AAC as well as two Independent Flights and two Independent Squadrons deployed in support of British Army operations around the world. Regiments and flights are located in the United Kingdom, Kenya, and Canada. Some AAC squadrons provide the air assault elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade through Joint Helicopter Command.
Royal Air Force Waddington otherwise known as RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force station located beside the village of Waddington, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in England.
Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove or more simply JHC FS Aldergrove is located 4.4 miles (7.1 km) south of Antrim, Northern Ireland and 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Belfast and adjoins Belfast International Airport. It is sometimes referred to simply as Aldergrove which is the name of a nearby hamlet. The military flying units share the Aldergrove runways but have their own separate facilities and helipad.
Royal Air Force Dishforth or more simply RAF Dishforth is a former Royal Air Force station near Thirsk in North Yorkshire, England. Opened in 1936, the base was used as a bomber airfield during the Second World War with both British and Canadian squadrons flying missions from the airfield. After the war, the base was used by various squadrons and training units before being disposed of in 1992 and handed over to the Army Air Corps.
Royal Air Force Honington or more simply RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located 6 mi (9.7 km) south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. It was used as a bomber station during the Second World War and through the Cold War, hosting Handley Page Victors and Hawker Siddeley (Blackburn) Buccaneers. RAF Honington has been the RAF Regiment depot since 1994.
Royal Air Force Leconfield or more simply RAF Leconfield is a former Royal Air Force station located in Leconfield, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Royal Air Force Syerston, commonly known simply as RAF Syerston, is a Royal Air Force station in the parish of Flintham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, England. Opened in 1940, it was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber base during the Second World War, operating Vickers Wellingtons, Avro Manchesters, and the Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. Post-war, it became home to Jet Provosts of the 2 Flying Training School. It is now home to the Royal Air Force Central Gliding School.
Royal Air Force Topcliffe or RAF Topcliffe is a Royal Air Force station in North Yorkshire, England.
Royal Air Force North Luffenham or more simply RAF North Luffenham is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England. It is near to the villages of Edith Weston and North Luffenham.
Royal Air Force Catterick or RAF Catterick is a former Royal Air Force airfield located near Catterick, North Yorkshire in England. It is located alongside the A6055 road on the outskirts of Catterick Village.
Royal Air Force Watton or more simply RAF Watton is a former Royal Air Force station located 9 mi (14 km) southwest of East Dereham, Norfolk, England.
Army Aviation Centre (AAC) Middle Wallop is a British Army airfield located near the Hampshire village of Middle Wallop, used for Army Air Corps training. The base hosts 2 (Training) Regiment AAC and 7 (Training) Regiment AAC under the umbrella of the Army Aviation Centre. 2 (Training) Regiment performs ground training; 7 (Training) Regiment trains aircrew on AAC aircraft after they complete basic training at RAF Shawbury.
Royal Air Force Colerne or more simply RAF Colerne is a former Royal Air Force station which was on the outskirts of the village of Colerne in Wiltshire, England, and was in use from 1939 to 1976.
Royal Air Force Beaulieu or more simply RAF Beaulieu is a former Royal Air Force station in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It was also known as Beaulieu airfield, Beaulieu aerodrome and USAAF Station AAF 408. It is located on Hatchet Moor 1 mile (2 km) west of the village of East Boldre, about 2 miles (3 km) west-southwest of the village of Beaulieu and 4 miles (6 km) north-east of Lymington.
Wattisham Airfield is an operational Army Airfield located next to the village of Wattisham in Suffolk, England. It is home to 3 Regiment Army Air Corps and 4 Regiment Army Air Corps. They are part of the Attack Helicopter Force (AHF) within the Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), whose headquarters is at Army Headquarters. They fly the Westland WAH-64 Apache helicopter.
Royal Air Force Burn or more simply RAF Burn is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located 5 miles (8 km) south of Selby and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) east of Burn in North Yorkshire, England which opened in 1942 before closing in 1946.
Breighton Aerodrome is a private aerodrome primarily used for general aviation flying located on the former Royal Air Force Breighton or more simply RAF Breighton, a former Royal Air Force station located near to the village of Breighton, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Cawdor Barracks is a British Army installation located 6.3 miles (10.1 km) east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire and 9.8 miles (15.8 km) south west of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
664 Squadron AAC is a squadron of the British Army's Army Air Corps.