RAF Pocklington

England — County: Yorkshire

53.9275, -0.7986 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Pocklington opened in June 1941 on the flat farmland of the East Riding of Yorkshire, a wartime-built station of No. 4 Group with the Halifax as its principal aircraft. Its first occupants were the Canadians of No. 405 Squadron RCAF, flying Vickers Wellingtons; in 1942 they exchanged bases with No. 102 Squadron, which then made Pocklington its home until the end of the war, operating Handley Page Halifaxes on the long night offensive against Germany. Like its neighbours the station paid a steady price in aircraft and crews over four years of operations.

Pocklington closed to the RAF in 1946. Its hangars were turned over to grain storage and the technical site became an industrial estate, but flying never quite stopped: the Wolds Gliding Club took on the airfield in 1971 and bought it outright in 1983, and gliders still use the old bomber runways today.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust — Pocklington and Wikipedia: RAF Pocklington. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Photographs

IWM caption : 'Pinocchio', a veteran Halifax of No 102 Squadron at Pocklington, has the bomb symbol for its 26th operation painted on its fuselage by a member of the ground crew, April 1943. The ice cream cornets represent raids on Italian targets and the key indicates the aircraft's 21st operation.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Trievnor J (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halifax_nose_art_Pinocchio_April_1943_IWM_CH_9331.jpgView source & full licence →
An electrical fitter making adjustments to "George", the automatic pilot on a Handley Page Halifax at RAF Pocklington, Yorkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halifax_automatic_pilot_maintenance_WWII_IWM_CH_6607.jpgView source & full licence →
IWM caption : A Chance Light, a powerful runway floodlight on a trailer, in operation at Pocklington, Yorkshire. Behind the Chance Light is the Airfield Identification Beacon, also on a trailer.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chance_light_at_RAF_Pocklington_WWII_IWM_CH_6695.jpgView source & full licence →
Armourers 'bombing up' a Handley Page Halifax Mk II of No. 405 Squadron RCAF at Pocklington in Yorkshire, August 1942. Armourers wheel a trolley of 1,000-lb MC bombs into position for hoisting into Handley Page Halifax Mark II, 'LQ-Q' of No. 405 Squadron RCAF, at Pocklington, Yorkshire. On the right, another armourer is fitting the release gear to Small Bomb Containers (SBCs) filled with 30-lb incendiary bombs.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armourers_%27bombing_up%27_a_Handley_Page_Halifax_Mk_II_of_No._405_Squadron_RCAF_at_Pocklington_in_Yorkshire,_August_1942._CH6609.jpgView source & full licence →
IWM caption : Handley Page Halifax Mark II Series 1A, JD206 'DY-T' of No. 102 Squadron RAF, about to be towed from its dispersal by a David Brown tractor at RAF Pocklington, Yorkshire. This aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 22 June 1943, and ditched off Overflakkee Island, Holland.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:102_Squadron_Halifax_at_RAF_Pocklington_WWII_IWM_CH_10776.jpgView source & full licence →

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