Royal Air Force Snaith or RAF Snaith is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

station which was located south west of

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. According to the 2011 UK census, Goole parish had a population of 19,518, an increa ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and close to the village of

Pollington Pollington is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately south-west of the town of Snaith and south of the M62 motorway. It lies on the north bank of the Aire and Calder Navigation. Acco ...

. The airfield opened 1941 before closing in 1946.

Based units

The airfield opened in July 1941, and was called RAF Snaith, rather than RAF Pollington (the village that it was nearest to), so as to avoid confusion with

RAF Pocklington RAF Pocklington was an operational flying station of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, forming part of Bomber Command, and operating primarily Wellington and Halifax bombers. The station, adjacent to the town of Pocklington at ...

. A large number of different squadrons used the airfield firstly No. 150 Squadron RAF flew

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was 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 the aircraft is its g ...

s between July 1941 and October 1942 before moving to

RAF Kirmington Royal Air Force Kirmington or more simply RAF Kirmington was a Royal Air Force station located north east of Brigg, Lincolnshire and south west of Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England. History Second World War It took its name from the village of ...

, then being replaced by

No. 51 Squadron RAF Number 51 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Since 2014 it has operated the Boeing RC-135W Airseeker R.1, more commonly referred to as the Rivet Joint, from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. It had previously flown the Hawker Siddel ...

from October 1942 until May 1945 using 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 ...

. During this period the airfield also had another squadron join as a flight from No.51 Sqn RAF turned its aircraft and crew over to make another squadron which was No. 578 Squadron RAF which flew from the airfield temporarily between January 1944 until February 1944 before moving to the empty

RAF Burn Royal Air Force Burn or more simply RAF Burn is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located south of Selby and east of Burn in North Yorkshire, England which opened in 1942 before closing in 1946. Station history The airfield was open ...

. A number of units also used the airfield such as No 6266 Servicing Echelon between 27 April 1944 and 6 May 1944 repairing the various aircraft and No. 17 Air Crew Holding Unit between 20 June 1945 and 27 May 1946. During this time a small Beam Approach Flight using

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

s used the airfield for a short period learning beam approach landings.

Units and aircraft

Current use

During the construction of the

M62 motorway The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of ...

the airfield was cut in half with the motorway going east to west through the top third of the airfield. However a number of technical buildings are still in place including the sergeants mess.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

BBC History - Nearly a Somebody
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snaith Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire Military units and formations established in 1941

Snaith Snaith is a market town and parish in the civil parish of Snaith and Cowick in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town is close to the River Aire and the M62 and M18 motorways. The town is located west of Goole, east of Knottingley ...