RAF Leconfield
RAF Leconfield
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Leconfield, East Riding of Yorkshire | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1936 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In use | 1936–1977 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 23 ft / 7 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53°52′37″N 000°26′15″W / 53.87694°N 0.43750°WCoordinates: 53°52′37″N 000°26′15″W / 53.87694°N 0.43750°W | ||||||||||||||||||
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 RAF Leconfield
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The former RAF Leconfield, or 'Leconfield Camp' was a Royal Air Force station in Leconfield (near Beverley), East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The site is now used by the MoD Defence School of Transport Leconfield (DST Leconfield).
Leconfield opened on 3 December 1936 as part of RAF Bomber Command with Handley Page Heyford bombers from No. 166 Squadron RAF using the airfield from January 1937 until early September 1939.
On the night of 3 September 1939, the first night of the war, ten Whitley bombers from Leconfield became the first British aircraft to penetrate German airspace, dropping propaganda leaflets over Germany. In October 1939 it was taken over by RAF Fighter Command and the Mk I Spitfires of 72 squadron arrived from RAF Church Fenton. During the Battle of Britain, the station was a temporary home to many other squadrons of Fighter Command which made short stays here to rest and re-group. During this period there was also a decoy airfield at nearby Routh.
During the war the RAF squadrons based at Leconfield were:
The station was also the place of formation of the Polish No. 302 Squadron "Poznański", and the place of rest of the Polish No. 303 "Kościuszko" Squadron after it had its turn in the defence of London.
In the 1950s Leconfield was a nominated 'dispersal base' for the RAF V bomber force. Also, after being transferred from RAF Catfoss in October 1945, and into the early 1950s, it was home to the Central Gunnery School which, among other functions, trained air gunnery instructors in Wellington bombers and pilot attack instructors in Spitfire and Mosquito aircraft. This School was later transformed into the Fighter Weapons School. The aircraft then flown were mainly single-seat Venoms and Meteors, plus twin-seat Vampire T11, Meteor trainers and Hawker Hunters for trials with ADEN cannons in 1957.Bristol Sycamore HR 14 helicopters of No. 275 Squadron RAF arrived on 9 October 1957 before being re-equipped with the Westland Whirlwind HAR 4 in March 1959 with the HAR 2 version being added in August 1959, however on 1 September 1959 the squadron was disbanded.
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