RAF East Moor

RAF East Moor was a wartime Bomber Command airfield in North Yorkshire, lying some seven miles north of York between the city and Easingwold. It opened in June 1942 and was first used by No. 158 Squadron, which flew Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers under No. 4 Group during that summer and autumn.

The station’s defining chapter was its Canadian one. As Bomber Command expanded the Royal Canadian Air Force presence over Yorkshire, East Moor passed into No. 6 Group RCAF and became home to a succession of Canadian squadrons. No. 429 (Bison) Squadron operated Vickers Wellingtons here from late 1942, while No. 432 (Leaside) Squadron flew Wellingtons, Avro Lancaster Mk.IIs and later Halifaxes from 1943 until the closing months of the war. No. 415 (Swordfish) Squadron added further Halifax operations from the summer of 1944, and heavy conversion units also passed through the base.

After the bombing war ended the airfield’s role changed, with No. 54 Operational Training Unit bringing de Havilland Mosquitoes in late 1945 and a brief spell of anti-aircraft co-operation flying by No. 288 Squadron in 1946. The station was wound down in the later 1940s, its buildings were demolished, and the land has since returned largely to agriculture.