RAF Rufforth

53.9483, -1.1844 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Rufforth opened near York in 1942 as a Bomber Command station. No. 158 Squadron flew Handley Page Halifaxes from it for a few months, after which it became the home of No. 1663 Heavy Conversion Unit, training crews on the four-engined Halifax and Lancaster before they joined operational squadrons. The RAF left in 1974, and the airfield is now a busy gliding centre.

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

Photographs

date = 1943
ⓘ licence & creditGermany. Luftwaffe / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Target_Dossier_for_Rufforth,_Yorkshire,_England_-_DPLA_-_3d16ce3df840e0b3318a42a9d53efb58.jpgView source & full licence →
Rufforth control tower ( ex RAF ) - Holiday - June 2013 - North Yorkshire
ⓘ licence & creditPSParrot / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rufforth_control_tower_(_ex_RAF_)_-_Holiday_-_June_2013_-_North_Yorkshire_(9169845114).jpgView source & full licence →
IWM text : "Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. A Handley Page Halifax B Mark III Series 1A of No. 1663 Heavy Conversion Unit undergoes maintenance at night in a T2 Type hangar at Rufforth, Yorkshire". Comment : This has Merlin engines so it can't be a Mk III. Appears to be a B Mk II Series I as it has no nose gun provision.
ⓘ licence & creditHQ No. 74 Base, Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH14223.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Handley Page Halifax B Mark III Series 1As of No. 1663 Heavy Conversion Unit undergo maintenance at night in a T2 Type hangar at Rufforth, Yorkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, HQ No. 74 Base / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH14222.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Ground crew warm themselves on a stove in the snow at Rufforth, Yorkshire, before venturing onto the dispersal behind them to service a Handley Page Halifax of No. 1663 Heavy Conversion Unit.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH12430.jpgView source & full licence →

No people are cross-referenced to this airfield yet. Links appear as squadron postings, crews and service records are added.