RAF Full Sutton

RAF Full Sutton opened in May 1944 in the East Riding of Yorkshire, a few miles south-east of Stamford Bridge. It has the distinction of being the last airfield completed for RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War, and it was assigned to No. 4 Group.

The station’s principal wartime occupant was No. 77 Squadron, which flew Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers (Marks III and VI) from there from May 1944 until the summer of 1945. As the war in Europe drew to a close the squadron began converting to transport duties, briefly operating Douglas Dakotas. A flight of No. 231 Squadron, equipped with Avro Lancastrian transports, also passed through over the winter of 1945-46.

After the war Full Sutton became a flying training base, home to jet-equipped units including No. 103 Flying Refresher School and later No. 207 Advanced Flying School, all flying the Gloster Meteor. In its final military phase from 1959 it hosted No. 102 Squadron operating the American-supplied Thor ballistic missile, before the RAF gave up the site in 1963.

The airfield survives today as a civilian flying centre, while part of the former site is occupied by HMP Full Sutton, a high-security prison opened in 1988.