RAF Burn

RAF Burn was a bomber airfield in North Yorkshire, lying a short distance south of Selby and just east of the village from which it took its name. Built during 1942, it opened as a station of Bomber Command’s No. 4 Group and was later transferred to No. 6 (RCAF) Group, reflecting the strong Canadian presence among the crews who flew from it. Its first resident formation, No. 431 Squadron RCAF, was raised at Burn in November 1942 and operated the Vickers Wellington before moving on the following summer.

From January 1944 the airfield was home to No. 578 Squadron RAF, flying the four-engined Handley Page Halifax on the night-bombing offensive against Germany. Several army co-operation and air observation units, including Auster-equipped squadrons, also passed through the station, and a number of training and holding establishments used the site during the war.

Burn’s most celebrated chapter came on the night of 30 March 1944, when Pilot Officer Cyril Barton took off in a Halifax for the costly raid on Nuremberg. Pressing home his attack despite severe damage and bringing his crippled aircraft back over England, Barton was killed in the ensuing crash and was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. Operational flying ended in 1945 and the station closed soon after. The three runways survived, and in the post-war years the site found a new life with the Burn Gliding Club, which continues to fly there.