RAF Hutton Cranswick

Royal Air Force Hutton Cranswick or more simply RAF Hutton Cranswick is a former Royal Air Force station located to the south of Driffield and immediately south west of the village of Hutton Cranswick in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, opened in 1942 and closed in 1946.

RAF Hutton Cranswick
Hutton Cranswick, East Riding of Yorkshire in England
Landing strip of the former airfield
RAF Hutton Cranswick
Shown within East Riding of Yorkshire
Coordinates
Site information
OwnerAir Ministry
OperatorRoyal Air Force
Controlled byRAF Fighter Command
Site history
Built1941 (1941)
In use1942-1946 (1946)
Battles/warsSecond World War

History

RAF Hutton Cranswick opened in January 1942 as a fighter airfield within No. 12 Group RAF. Unusually for the time its three runways were concrete "from new", many airfields (particularly fighter airfields) were initially built with grass runways which were later upgraded to concrete.[1]

Many squadrons rotated through the airfield including 610, 19, 308 (City of Kraków), 316 (City of Warsaw), 195, 306 (City of Torun), 302 (City of Poznan), 315 (City of Deblin), 234, 168 and No. 170 Squadron RAF. From December 1943 the Anti Aircraft Co-operation 291 Squadron was formed at the airfield for target towing and similar uses.[1]

Whilst in use by 291 other fighter squadrons continued to rotate through including 401, 403, 412, 441, 442, 443 (all flying Supermarine Spitfires) and 439 using Hawker Typhoons. The final unit to operate from Hutton Cranswick was No. 124 Squadron RAF using Spitfire IXs.[1]

Hutton Cranswick was used by No. 16 Armament Practice Camp RAF for about a year until it finally closed in mid 1946.[1]

Units

A number of other units also used the airfield:[2]

  • No. 2 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF
  • No. 2 Tactical Exercise Unit RAF
  • No. 4 Aircraft Delivery Flight RAF
  • No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF
  • No. 8 Fighter Command Servicing Unit RAF
  • No. 13 Fighter Command Servicing Unit RAF
  • No. 123 Airfield
  • 885 Naval Air Squadron
  • No. 1489 (Fighter) Gunnery Flight RAF
  • No. 1495 (Target Towing) Flight RAF
  • No. 1613 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF
  • No. 1629 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF
  • No. 1634 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF
  • No. 2731 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • No. 2739 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • No. 2805 Squadron RAF Regiment

Current use

The site is now used for farming and light industrial work.[2]

References
  1. Patrick Otter, Yorkshire Airfields of WWII (pp48-50)
  2. "Hutton Cranswick". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
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