Royal Air Force Lissett or more simply RAF Lissett is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

satellite station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

located south west of

Bridlington Bridlington (previously known as Burlington) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part (Flamborough Head to the Humber estuary) of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

History

Originally required as satellite airfield for

RAF Catfoss Royal Air Force Catfoss, or more simply RAF Catfoss, is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station during the World War II, Second World War. It was located west of Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England and ...

the land was requisitioned in 1940. Although constrained by three roads and the Gransmoor Drain the builders constructed a standard three-runway bomber airfield. It had two hangars and 36 dispersals and three concrete runways. Lissett opened in February 1943 and

No. 158 Squadron RAF No. 158 Squadron RAF was a World War I proposed ground attack squadron that did not become operational in time to see action, and a World War II bomber squadron. After World War II had ended in Europe the squadron operated in the transport role ...

arrived from

RAF Rufforth Royal Air Force Rufforth or RAF Rufforth is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located near Rufforth in North Yorkshire, England. It was used by only one operational squadron on long-range bombing missions ...

to be the resident squadron on 28 February. 158 Squadron was a heavy bomber squadron equipped with the four-engined

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its or ...

. The squadron flew the first operational mission on the night of 11/12 March 1943 when ten aircraft were flown to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. One aircraft failed to return. The squadron carried out operations up to the end of the war from Lissett. Apart from a few weeks in early 1944 only 158 Squadron operated out of the station, which was unusual for an RAF base. Over the course of the 2 years 158 Squadron was stationed there they completed 250 missions, suffering the loss of 144 aircraft, either destroyed in combat or in accident. In addition, 851 of the squadron's airmen were lost in the war. In May 1945 with the war at an end the squadron re-equipped with transport aircraft and was transferred to

RAF Transport Command RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 19 ...

. The squadron flew early-war four engine

Short Stirling The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the war (the earlier Handley ...

bombers before departing to

RAF Stradishall Royal Air Force Stradishall or more simply RAF Stradishall is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Haverhill, Suffolk and south west of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. History In his memoirs, Murray Peden, a Royal Can ...

in August 1945. With the departure of 158 Squadron the station was relegated to a care and maintenance status but by the end of the year the airfield was abandoned and the technical areas used for storage.

Based units

Current use

In December 2008 a wind farm housing 12 turbines (Nordex N90s) each standing high was constructed on the western end of the airfield. One turbine commemorates six ground crew killed in an accident at the airfield, and the remainder are named after bombers which were based there. A memorial metal sculpture to 158 Squadron in the form of seven airmen representing the typical crew of a Halifax bomber, was erected on the base and dedicated to the memory of the 851 airmen who did not return from operations at the airfield. The monument is situated on the edge of the old airfield site on Gransmoor Road, Lissett.Latitude 54° 0'40.11"N Longitude 0°15'37.98"W in Google Earth The memorial was designed by Peter W. Naylor and received the 2010

Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture The Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture is an annual award for public sculpture in the UK or Ireland. The Award is funded by the Marsh Charitable Trust and is made on the recommendation of a panel of judges under the auspices of the ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Royal Air Force Station Lissett official history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisset Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Wind farms in England