RAF Pocklington

England — County: Yorkshire

53.9275, -0.7986 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Pocklington opened in June 1941 on the flat farmland of the East Riding of Yorkshire, a wartime-built station of No. 4 Group with the Halifax as its principal aircraft. Its first occupants were the Canadians of No. 405 Squadron RCAF, flying Vickers Wellingtons; in 1942 they exchanged bases with No. 102 Squadron, which then made Pocklington its home until the end of the war, operating Handley Page Halifaxes on the long night offensive against Germany. Like its neighbours the station paid a steady price in aircraft and crews over four years of operations.

Pocklington closed to the RAF in 1946. Its hangars were turned over to grain storage and the technical site became an industrial estate, but flying never quite stopped: the Wolds Gliding Club took on the airfield in 1971 and bought it outright in 1983, and gliders still use the old bomber runways today.

Photographs

Armourers check over a mixed bomb load of three 1,000-lb MC bombs and small bomb containers (SBCs) filled with 30-lb incendiary bombs, loaded into the bomb-bay and wing cells of a [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) Mark II of [No. 405 Squadron](/squadrons/42/) RCAF at [Pocklington](/airfields/41/), Yorkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RCAF_Halifax_bomb_load_WWII_IWM_CH_17362.jpgView source & full licence →
RAF Bomber Command Aircrew of [No. 405 (Vancouver) Squadron](/squadrons/42/) RCAF board their Wellington Mk II at [Pocklington](/airfields/41/), July 1941.
ⓘ licence & creditUnknown authorUnknown author / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_Bomber_Command_HU108387.jpgView source & full licence →
Armourers loading the ammunition servo-feed to the rear turret in a [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) at [Pocklington](/airfields/41/), Yorkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loading_gun_ammunition_in_Halifax_WWII_IWM_CH_6640.jpgView source & full licence →
The nose of [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) B Mark II, W7710 'LQ-R' "Ruhr Valley Express", of [No. 405 Squadron](/squadrons/42/) RCAF, at [Pocklington](/airfields/41/), Yorkshire. An extra truck was added to the nose insignia after each mission. W7710 crashed at Liehuus, Denmark, on the night of 1/2 October 1942 while returning from a raid on [Flensburg](/airfields/8778/), Germany. --- (An addition from Wikimedia-Commons-User̠ Soenke Rahn from Flensburg: Liehuus? It must be "Niehuus" on the border. But Niehuus ist part of Germany.)
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halifax_nose_art_Ruhr_Valley_Express_IWM_CH_6614.jpgView source & full licence →
'Pinocchio', a veteran Halifax of [No 102 Squadron](/squadrons/26/) at [Pocklington](/airfields/41/), has the bomb symbol for its 26th operation painted on its fuselage by a member of the ground crew, April 1943. The ice cream cornets represent raids on Italian targets and the key indicates the aircraft's 21st operation.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Trievnor J (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halifax_nose_art_Pinocchio_April_1943_IWM_CH_9331.jpgView source & full licence →
An electrical fitter making adjustments to "George", the automatic pilot on a [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) at [RAF Pocklington](/airfields/41/), Yorkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halifax_automatic_pilot_maintenance_WWII_IWM_CH_6607.jpgView source & full licence →
A Chance Light, a powerful runway floodlight on a trailer, in operation at [Pocklington](/airfields/41/), Yorkshire. Behind the Chance Light is the Airfield Identification Beacon, also on a trailer.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chance_light_at_RAF_Pocklington_WWII_IWM_CH_6695.jpgView source & full licence →
Armourers 'bombing up' a [Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) Mk II of [No. 405 Squadron](/squadrons/42/) RCAF at [Pocklington](/airfields/41/) in Yorkshire, August 1942. Armourers wheel a trolley of 1,000-lb MC bombs into position for hoisting into Handley Page Halifax Mark II, 'LQ-Q' of No. 405 Squadron RCAF, at Pocklington, Yorkshire. On the right, another armourer is fitting the release gear to Small Bomb Containers (SBCs) filled with 30-lb incendiary bombs.
ⓘ licence & creditForward (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armourers_%27bombing_up%27_a_Handley_Page_Halifax_Mk_II_of_No._405_Squadron_RCAF_at_Pocklington_in_Yorkshire,_August_1942._CH6609.jpgView source & full licence →
[Handley Page Halifax](/aircraft/2/) Mark II Series 1A, JD206 'DY-T' of [No. 102 Squadron](/squadrons/26/) RAF, about to be towed from its dispersal by a David Brown tractor at [RAF Pocklington](/airfields/41/), Yorkshire. This aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 22 June 1943, and ditched off Overflakkee Island, Holland.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:102_Squadron_Halifax_at_RAF_Pocklington_WWII_IWM_CH_10776.jpgView source & full licence →

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