RAF Middleton St George
RAF Middleton St George is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Bomber Command station during the Second World War. It was located in County Durham, 6 mi (9.7 km) east of Darlington, England. The station's motto was Shield and Deter.[2] The aerodrome remains active as Teesside International Airport.
| RAF Middleton St George | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middleton St George, County Durham in England | |||||||||||
A crew of No. 78 Squadron RAF watch as engine adjustments are made to an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber, Z6743, before they take off for a raid from Middleton St George. | |||||||||||
RAF Middleton St George Shown within County Durham RAF Middleton St George RAF Middleton St George (the United Kingdom) | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 54°30′33″N 001°25′46″W / 54.50917°N 1.42944°W | ||||||||||
| Grid reference | NZ375130[1] | ||||||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force | ||||||||||
| Controlled by | RAF Bomber Command 1941-45 RAF Fighter Command 1945-47 & 1956-64 RAF Flying Training Command 1947-56 | ||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||
| Built | 1939 | ||||||||||
| In use | January 1941 - April 1964 | ||||||||||
| Fate | repurposed to Teesside International Airport | ||||||||||
| Battles/wars | European theatre of World War II Cold War | ||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
History edit
Second World War edit
Like many similar airfields; RAF Middleton St George was commissioned in 1938 in anticipation of WWII and opened in 1941 under the auspices of Bomber Command. Contrary to popular belief the airfield was never called RAF Goosepool, Goosepool being the name of the farm which made way for the airfield, with the name sticking amongst the local population.
Initial Squadrons based here were 76 Squadron with Handley Page Halifaxes and 78 Squadron which flew Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys.
In 1943 it was allocated to No. 6 Group, Royal Canadian Air Force. A sub-station was located at RAF Croft, Yorkshire although RAF Thornaby was closer yet never held sub-station status.[3] Canadian Squadrons based here were 419 "Moose" Squadron, which flew Vickers Wellingtons, Halifaxes, and Avro Lancasters, 420 "Snowy Owl" Squadron, which flew Wellingtons, and 428 "Ghost" Squadron, which flew Wellingtons, Halifaxes, and Lancasters.[4][5]
There are two stories of heroism linked with RAF Middleton St George, the most notable being that of Andrew Mynarski, a member of 419 Squadron, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. It was bestowed for his actions on 13 June 1944, in a raid on Cambrai, France, in support of the Normandy landings. A statue of Mynarski was dedicated in 2005 outside the former Officers' Mess. The second belongs to William McMullen of 428 Squadron, who was killed during a routine training sortie on 13 January 1945 when his Lancaster crashed on the outskirts of Darlington after he remained with the aircraft to steer it away from houses, having ordered his crew to bail out. McMullen Road adjacent to the crash site was renamed in his honour.
A memorial garden for all aircrew at Middleton St George is also located near the Mess.[6]
Post war edit
After the war, the aerodrome changed hands regularly between Bomber Command, Fighter Command and Flying Training Command, serving various squadrons and units including No. 13 Operational Training Unit (OTU) using de Havilland Mosquitos, No. 2 Air Navigation School using Avro Ansons and Vickers Wellingtons, No. 205 Advanced Flying Training School (later rebranded No. 4 Flying Training School) using de Havilland Vampires and Gloster Meteors, 92 Squadron using Hawker Hunters, 264 Squadron (later rebranded No. 33 Squadron) using Gloster Meteors, the Javelin Instrument Rating Squadron (IRS) using Gloster Javelins and the Lightning Conversion Unit (LCU) (later rebranded the Lightning Conversion Squadron) using English Electric Lightnings. The IRS and LCS were later merged to form 226 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU).[7]
In 1962 Flying Officer Jean Oakes became the first woman to fly at over 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h). The Times of 14 September 1962 reported that a Lightning from RAF Middleton St George flew out over the North Sea, and at 35,000 feet (11,000 m), she took over the controls from Flight Lieutenant John Smith and flew up and down the north east coast at about Mach 1.6.[8]
The RAF left the station in 1964 and handed it over to the Ministry of Civil Aviation who reopened the site as a civil airport.[9] The airfield was named Tees-Side Airport until 1987, then Teesside International Airport until 2004 when it became Durham Tees Valley Airport before reverting to Teesside International in 2019.[10]
From 1968 to 1979, some of the former station buildings housed Middleton St George College of Education, a teacher training college.[11]
The officers' mess at the base was converted into the St George Hotel, complete with the RAF Middleton St George memorial room. The hotel was mothballed in late 2018; the museum is to be relocated in the future.[12][13]
The Sergeants' mess remains in use by Serco, who operate the International Fire Training Centre located on the site, and the Armoury currently houses a flying school, Scenic Air Tours and Flight Training.
Units and aircraft edit
| Unit | Dates | Aircraft | Variant | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bomber Command No.4 Group RAF | ||||
| No. 76 Squadron RAF | 1941-1942 | Handley Page HP.57 Halifax | Mk.I | Four-engined piston heavy bomber.[14] |
| Handley Page HP.59 Halifax | Mk.II | |||
| No. 78 Squadron RAF | 1941 | Armstrong AW.38 Whitworth Whitley | Mk.V | Twin-engined medium bomber.[14] |
| 1942 | Handley Page HP.57 Halifax | Mk.II | Four-engined piston heavy bomber.[14] | |
| No. 1516 BAT Flight RAF | 1941-1942 | Airspeed AS.10 Oxford | Mk.I | Twin-engined training aircraft. |
| No. 1535 BAT Flight RAF | 1942-1943 | Airspeed AS.10 Oxford | Mk.I | Twin-engined training aircraft. |
| Bomber Command No.6 Group RCAF | ||||
| No. 419 "Moose" Squadron RCAF | 1942-1944 | Handley Page HP.59 Halifax | Mk.II | Four-engined piston heavy bomber.[15] |
| 1943-1945 | Avro 683 Lancaster | Mk.X | Four-engined piston heavy bomber.[15] | |
| No. 420 "Snowy Owl" Squadron RCAF | 1942-1943 | Vickers 417 Wellington | Mk.III | Twin-engined medium bomber.[15] |
| Vickers 440 Wellington | Mk.X | |||
| No. 428 "Ghost" Squadron RCAF | 1943-1944 | Handley Page HP.59 Halifax | Mk.II | Four-engined piston heavy bomber.[15] |
| Handley Page HP.63 Halifax | Mk.V | |||
| 1944-1945 | Avro 683 Lancaster | Mk.X | Four-engined piston heavy bomber.[15] | |
| Fighter Command RAF | ||||
| No. 13 Operational Training Unit RAF | 1945-1947 | De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito | FB.VI | Twin-engined fighter-bomber. |
| NF.II | Twin-engined night fighter. | |||
| T.3 | Twin-engined training aircraft. | |||
| No. 26 Gliding School Air Cadets | 1946-1955 | Slingsby T.7 Kirby Cadet | TX.1 | Training glider. |
| Slingsby T.21B Sedbergh | TX.1 | Training glider. | ||
| No. 28 Gliding School Air Cadets | 1946-1948 | Slingsby T.7 Kirby Cadet | TX.1 | Training glider. |
| TX.2 | ||||
| Flying Training Command RAF | ||||
| No. 2 Air Navigation School RAF | 1947-1950 | Avro 652A Anson | Mk.I | Twin-engined multi-role aircraft. |
| Vickers 440 Wellington | B.X | Twin-engined medium bomber.[15] | ||
| 1949-1950 | Vickers 619 Wellington | T.10 | ||
| No. 205 Advanced Flying Training School RAF | 1950-1954 | De Havilland DH.100 Vampire | FB.5 | Single-engined fighter-bomber. |
| Gloster Meteor | F.4 | Twin-engined single-seat fighter. | ||
| T.7 | Twin-engined two-seat training aircraft. | |||
| No. 4 Flying Training School RAF | 1954-1956 | De Havilland DH.100 Vampire | FB.5 | Single-engined fighter-bomber. |
| Gloster Meteor | F.4 | Twin-engined single-seat fighter. | ||
| T.7 | Twin-engined two-seat training aircraft. | |||
| 1955-1956 | De Havilland DH.115 Vampire | T.11 | Single-engined training jet. | |
| Fighter Command No.13 Group RAF | ||||
| No. 92 Squadron RAF | 1957-1961 | Hawker Hunter | F.6 | Single-engined jet fighter/fighter-bomber.[16] |
| No. 264 Squadron RAF | 1957 | Gloster Meteor | NF.14 | Twin-engined jet night-fighter.[17] |
| Middleton St George Station Flight RAF | 1957 | Avro 652A Anson | Mk.I | Twin-engined multi-role aircraft. |
| De Havilland DH.115 Vampire | T.11 | Single-engined training jet. | ||
| Gloster Meteor | T.7 | Twin-engined two-seat training aircraft. | ||
| No. 33 Squadron RAF | 1958-1962 | Gloster Javelin | FAW.7 | Twin-engined jet fighter/interceptor.[18] |
| 1960-1962 | FAW.9 | |||
| No. 645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron Air Cadets | 1958-1960 | |||
| Instrument Rating Squadron RAF | 1961-1963 | Gloster Javelin | T.3 | Twin-engined jet fighter/interceptor.[18] |
| Lightning Conversion Unit RAF | 1961-1963 | English Electric Lightning | F.1 | Twin-engined single-seat fighter-interceptor. |
| Lightning Conversion Squadron RAF | T.4 | Twin-engined two-seat fighter-interceptor. | ||
| No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit RAF | 1963-1964 | English Electric Lightning | F.1 | Twin-engined single-seat fighter-interceptor. |
| T.4 | Twin-engined two-seat fighter-interceptor. | |||
References edit
Citations edit
- ^ Birtles 2012, p. 41.
- ^ Pine, L.G. (1983). A dictionary of mottoes (1 ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 212. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
- ^ Halpenny 1982, p. 54.
- ^ Delve 2006, p. 197.
- ^ "Stations-M". www.rafweb.org. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ Middleton St George Memorial Association: http://www.middleton-st-george-memorial-association.org/ ; The Wartime Memories Project: "RAF Middleton St George During the Second World War." https://wartimememoriesproject.com/ww2/airfields/airfield.php?pid=1804
- ^ Halpenny 1982, pp. 149–150.
- ^ Haley, William, ed. (14 September 1962). "Woman Flew JET at 1,125 mph". The Times. No. 55496. p. 10. ISSN 0140-0460.
- ^ Halpenny 1982, pp. 150–151.
- ^ Lloyd, Chris (24 January 2015). "Getting airborne at Middleton St George 50 years ago". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ Reunion website
- ^ "A Brief History of Middleton St George from 1800" (PDF). Middleton-st-george.org. p. 11. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ Teesside Live Website | [url=https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/everything-must-go-entire-contents-15542008
- ^ a b c Jefford 1988, p. 48.
- ^ a b c d e f Jefford 1988, p. 91.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 52.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 80.
- ^ a b Jefford 1988, p. 36.
Bibliography edit
- Birtles, P. (2012). UK Airfields of the Cold War. Midland Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-346-4.
- Delve, Ken (2006). The Military Airfields of Britain, Northern England: Co. Durham, Cumbria, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire. Marlborough: Crowood Press. ISBN 1-86126-809-2.
- Halley, James J. (1988). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918-1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
- Halpenny, Brue Barrymore (1982). Action Stations 4; Military Airfields of Yorkshire. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens ltd. ISBN 0-85059-532-0.
- Jefford, C G (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
- Moyes, Philip J.R. (1976). Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 0-354-01027-1.
External links edit
- 76 Squadron History
- 78 Squadron history and current status
- 608 Squadron History