RAF Middleton St George

RAF Middleton St George, a few miles east of Darlington in County Durham, opened in January 1941 as the most northerly of Bomber Command’s airfields. It began under No. 4 Group with Nos. 76 and 78 Squadrons, flying Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys and then Halifaxes, and from 1943 it passed to No. 6 Group of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The Canadian squadrons based there — No. 419 “Moose”, No. 420 “Snowy Owl” and No. 428 “Ghost” — flew Halifaxes and, later, Lancasters.

It was from Middleton St George that Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski of No. 419 Squadron flew his last operation on the night of 12–13 June 1944. With his Lancaster ablaze and going down, he stayed at his post trying to free the trapped rear gunner, was himself badly burned, and died of his injuries; he was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. The RAF left in 1964 and the airfield became a civil airport, operating today as Teesside International.