RAF Elvington

England — County: Yorkshire

53.9244, -0.9711 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Elvington opened in October 1942 a few miles south-east of York as a heavy-bomber station of No. 4 Group. Its first unit, No. 77 Squadron, flew Halifaxes from Elvington until the spring of 1944, losing some eighty aircraft and more than five hundred aircrew in the process. In May 1944 the station took on a role unique in Bomber Command: it became the base of the two Free French heavy-bomber squadrons, No. 346 “Guyenne” and No. 347 “Tunisie”, whose French crews flew Halifaxes from Elvington until the war’s end, at a cost of close to half their number killed.

After the war Elvington was rebuilt in the 1950s as a dispersal field for the United States Strategic Air Command, with a greatly extended runway, before reverting to occasional RAF use and finally closing in 1992. The site is now home to the Yorkshire Air Museum, whose exhibits include a complete Handley Page Halifax.

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

Photographs

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Farm labourers stack a load of late hay by a dispersal at Elvington, Yorkshire, in which Handley Page Halifax B Mark II Series I (Special), DT807 'KN-R' "Rita", of No. 77 Squadron RAF is standing.
ⓘ licence & creditClarke N S (Pilot Officer), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handley_Page_Halifax_-_Elvington_-_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH10598.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Handley Page Halifax B Mark II Series I (Special), JB781 'KN-W', of No. 77 Squadron RAF gathers speed on the runway at Elvington, Yorkshire as it takes off for a bombing raid on Dusseldorf, Germany. This was the first occasion on which more than 200 Halifaxes took part in a raid, of which 12 were lost. Extensive damage was caused to the centre of Dusseldorf, which suffered its most destructive attack of the war. The aerial of the 'Monica' tail-warning radar can be seen protruding below the rear turret of JB781.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handley_Page_Halifax_-_Elvington_-_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH10240.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command Low-level 'beat-up'. A Halifax II, JB911/KN-X of No 77 Squadron roars low over an audience of appreciative 'erks' during air tests at Elvington, Yorkshire, July 1943.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handley_Page_Halifax_-_Elvington_-_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Bomber_Command_CH10593.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945-handley Page Hp.57 Halifax. Halifax B Mark III of No. 77 Squadron RAF, taking off from Elvington, Yorkshire. Note the censor’s attempt to obliterate the H2S radome under the fuselage
ⓘ licence & creditBellamy W (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-handley_Page_Hp.57_Halifax._CH12532.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Handley Page Hp.57 Halifax. Halifax B Mark II Series 1 (Special), JB911’ KN-X’, of No. 77 Squadron RAF, making a low level pass over other aircraft of the squadron at Elvington, Yorkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditClarke N S (Pilot Officer), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Handley_Page_Hp.57_Halifax._CH10594.jpgView source & full licence →

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