Royal Air Force Topcliffe or RAF Topcliffe is a

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 ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

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 ...

. It was established as a

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the Strategic bombing during World War II#Europe, strategic bombing of Germany in W ...

station in 1940. The

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

took over a large part of the site in 1974 and the airfield became an enclave within Alanbrooke Barracks. The last remaining RAF unit is No. 645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron which operates the Grob Viking T.1 glider.

History

Second World War

Royal Air Force Topcliffe opened in September 1940 as a bomber station in

and was home to No. 77 Squadron and No. 102 Squadron, both flying the

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium/heavy bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the World W ...

heavy bomber. There was a decoy site at Raskelf. No. 419 Squadron and No. 424 Squadron of the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF) moved in flying

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of t ...

bombers and later, the

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 ...

III. On 1 January 1943 the station was transferred to No. 6 Group RCAF and became a training station. No. 61 (RCAF) Base RAF was here between 25 March 1943 and November 1944 and became No. 76 (RCAF) Base RAF with the unit disbanding on 1 September 1945, the unit controlled sub-stations at Wombleton, Dalton and Dishforth. ;Units: * 801 Naval Air Squadron * 812 Naval Air Squadron * 813 Naval Air Squadron * 824 Naval Air Squadron * No. 405 Squadron RCAF between 1 and 6 March 1943 with the Halifax II * No. 16 Blind Approach Training Flight RAF between 22 September 1941 and October 1941 became No. 1516 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF until 17 November 1941 * No. 102 Conversion Flight RAF between 10 June 1942 and 7 August 1942 * No. 405 Conversion Flight RAF between 7 August and 7 October 1942 * No. 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF between 14 March and 16 September 1943 * No. 2805 Squadron RAF Regiment

Cold War

No. 1 Air Navigation School was initially here between 9 April 1947 and 1 May 1954 with Wellingtons and Ansons. Navigation Staff Pilot(s) Training Flight RAF was here between October 1948 and December 1949 within No. 1 ANS. The School was reformed here and operated between 15 March 1957 and 1 December 1961. The Air Electronics School RAF arrived on 14 January 1962 and from 30 January 1967 became the Air Electronics and Engineers School RAF, flying the Vickers Varsity T.1 until 26 October 1973. From 1 October 1964, the Northern Communications Squadron RAF flew the

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), R ...

C.19, replacing them with Beagle Basset CC.1 before the squadron departed on 6 January 1969. The Airman Aircrew Initial Training School was located at Topcliffe from 30 January 1967 until February 1970 when it was disbanded into 6 FTS. No. 15 Aviation Flight of the Army Air Corps flew the

de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined high-wing Propeller (aircraft), propeller-driven STOL, short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft developed and manufactured by de Havilland Canada. It has been primarily operated as a b ...

AL.1 from the early 1970s and No. 666 Aviation Squadron AAC flew

Westland Scout The Westland Scout is a light helicopter developed by Westland Helicopters. Developed from the Saro P.531, it served as a land-based general purpose military helicopter, sharing a common ancestor and numerous components with the naval-orientat ...

AH.1 helicopters between 1973 and 1978. Between 1972 and 1973, most of the station was transferred to the

and became Alanbrooke Barracks. During the 1980s, Topcliffe was home of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Elementary Flying Training Squadron. From 24 April 1995 it was temporarily home to a Short Tucano squadron of the RAF Central Flying School. It was the home of the Tucano Air Navigation Squadron, teaching student navigators of both the RAF and the Royal Navy until 2003, when it moved to

RAF Linton-on-Ouse Royal Air Force Linton-on-Ouse or more simply RAF Linton-on-Ouse is a former Royal Air Force station at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, England, north-west of York. It had satellite stations at RAF Topcliffe and Dishforth Airfield (Brit ...

. During the 1990s and until 2001, the airfield was utilised by Merlin Parachute Club, home to both the 4th Battalion, Parachute Regiment parachute display team and the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

Sport Parachute Club. ;Units: *

No. 24 Squadron RAF No. 24 Squadron (also known as No. XXIV Squadron) of the Royal Air Force is the Air Mobility Operational Conversion Unit (AM OCU). Based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, 24 Squadron is responsible for aircrew training on Airbus A400M Atlas, A ...

between 9 February 1951 and 6 May 1953 with the Hastings * No. 36 Squadron RAF between 1 July 1953 and 28 February 1957 with the Lockheed Neptune MR.1 * No. 47 Squadron RAF between 22 August 1949 and 13 May 1953 with the Hastings *

No. 53 Squadron RAF No. 53 Squadron was a Royal Air Force Squadron (aviation), squadron that saw service in both the First World War, First and Second World Wars. History No. 53 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at RAF Catterick, Catterick on 15 May ...

between 1 August 1949 and 9 February 1951 with the Hastings * No. 203 Squadron RAF between 15 August 1952 and 1 September 1956 with the Neptune MR.1 * No. 210 Squadron RAF between 26 September 1952 and 31 January 1957 with the Lancaster ASR.3 and Neptune MR.1 * No. 297 Squadron RAF between 22 August 1949 and 15 November 1950 with the Hastings * No. 5 Air Navigation School RAF between 17 September 1946 and 9 April 1947. * No. 28 Gliding School RAF between February 1948 and February 1949 * Relief Landing Ground for No. 242 Operational Conversion Unit RAF from 1 April 1958 * No. 1453 Flight RAF between 5 May 1953 and 30 June 1956 * Aircrew Holding Unit RAF between 9 December 1966 and 26 November 1970

21st century

No. 645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron moved to the airfield in 2003, after their previous home at the former RAF Catterick became increasingly unusable. No. 635 Volunteer Gliding Squadron also operated from Topcliffe from 2009 when it moved from its former home at RAF Samlesbury. The unit disbanded in 2016 as part of the relaunch of air cadet aviation. RAF Topcliffe was a satellite station which served in the role of a Relief Landing Ground for Short Tucano T.1 aircraft of No. 1 Flying Training School previously based nearby at

(one of two, the other being Dishforth Airfield). Tucano Element of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF between April 1995 and March 1996 and Joint Elementary Flying Training School RAF between 1 April 1993 and 1 April 1995. In 2012, Yorkshire Air Ambulance moved their second base to RAF Topcliffe from nearby Bagby Airfield.

Role and operations

Since the

took over a large part of the site in 1974 to establish Alanbrooke Barracks, the airfield is now enclosed within the Barracks. The last remaining RAF unit based at Topcliffe is No. 645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, which teaches Air Cadets to fly the Grob Viking T.1. As of March 2012, the station is the permanent base of G-YOAA one of the two Yorkshire Air Ambulances.

Based units

Units based at RAF Topcliffe.

Royal Air Force

No. 22 Group (Training) RAF * No. 2 Flying Training School ** No. 645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron

Civilian

* Yorkshire Air Ambulance – Airbus H145

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

645 VGS

UK Military Aeronautical Information Publication – Topcliffe (EGXZ)
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RAF Topcliffe Royal Air Force Topcliffe or RAF Topcliffe is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in North Yorkshire, England. It was established as a RAF Bomber Command station in 1940. The British Army took over a large part of the s ...

645 VGS Topcliffe Topcliffe Topcliffe Military history of North Yorkshire