Royal Air Force Dalton or more simply RAF Dalton 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 ...

satellite station located near to

Dalton Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist Entertainment * Dalton (Buffyverse), minor cha ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. The airfield was by

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 of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was a satellite of nearby

RAF Topcliffe Royal Air Force Topcliffe or RAF Topcliffe is a Royal Air Force 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 site in 1974 and the airfield beca ...

History

RAF Dalton was home to No. 102 Squadron beginning in November 1941. No. 102 Squadron returned to Topcliffe in June 1942 and for a time Dalton hosted

No. 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF Conversion units and operational conversion units (OCUs) were training units of the Royal Air Force (RAF). History With the introduction of new heavy bombers, the four-engined Short Stirling, Avro Lancaster, and Handley Page Halifax, the Roya ...

(HCU) flying

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 ...

es. The airfield was improved in 1942 and in early 1943 was allocated to No. 6 Group

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) 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 environm ...

(RCAF). Canadian squadrons stationed here at one time or another included No. 428 Squadron, No. 424 Squadron, No. 420 Squadron, and No. 1666 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF (which moved to

RAF Wombleton Royal Air Force Station Wombleton or RAF Wombleton is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Helmsley, North Yorkshire and north east of Easingwold, North Yorkshire, England. Station history Wombleton opened in 1943 as a sub-statio ...

in October 1943). The station also housed No. 1691 Bomber Gunnery Flight RCAF and its successor, No. 1695 Bomber Defence Training Flight RCAF, the last RCAF unit to serve at this station. In November 1944, control passed from No. 6 Group to the new No. 7 (Training) Group. By August 1945 all units at Dalton were disbanded or transferred.

Operational units and aircraft

Current use

The aerodrome facilities are now being used for commercial and industrial uses. A major employer on the estate is Severfield plc.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

RAF Dalton, Yorkshire on airfields.fotopic.net

RAF Dalton on wikimapia (zoom in for best result)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom History of North Yorkshire Military history of Yorkshire Military history of North Yorkshire