RAF Croft
Dalton-on-Tees,North Yorkshire in England
A building at Cockleberry Saw Mill which was part of RAF Croft during the Second World War
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force satellite station 1941–43 64 (RCAF) Base substation 1943–[1]
Code	CR[1]
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force (RAF) Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command *No. 4 Group RAF *No. 6 Group RCAF[1]
Location
RAF Croft Shown within North Yorkshire Show map of North Yorkshire RAF Croft RAF Croft (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	54°27′09″N001°33′11″W / 54.45250°N 1.55306°W /54.45250; -1.55306
Site history
Built	1940 (1940)/41
In use	October 1941 – 1952 (1952)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	55 metres (180 ft)[1]AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Tarmac 00/00  Tarmac 00/00  Tarmac

Royal Air Force Croft or more simplyRAF Croft is a formerRoyal Air Forcesatellite station located 4.6 miles (7.4 km) south ofDarlington,County Durham,England and 8 miles (13 km) north-east ofRichmond,North Yorkshire. The site is also known locally asCroft Aerodrome orNeasham. Constructed at the same time as many other airfields, it was originally namedRAF Dalton-on-Tees after the nearby villageDalton-on-Tees. However, it was quickly renamed RAF Croft (afterCroft-on-Tees) after initial confusion with the also newly openedRAF Dalton near Thirsk, just 25 miles (40 km) away.

The airfield was opened in 1941 for use by the Royal Air Force (RAF) but by 1942 the aerodrome had been taken over by theRoyal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) for training as part ofNo. 6 Group RCAF.

The station is now the site ofCroft Circuit, a motor racing circuit which hosts various car championships including theBritish Touring Car Championship.

The first squadron stationed at Croft wasNo. 78 Squadron RAF which arrived on 20 October 1941 flying both theArmstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk.V and theHandley Page Halifax Mk. II before leaving on 10 June 1942^[2] when no units were stationed during the summer but on 1 October 1942No. 419 Squadron RCAF has arrived with their Mk. IIIVickers Wellingtons before re-equipping with the Halifax II and leaving on 10 November 1942. During this time on 7 November 1942,427 Squadron RCAF was formed at the airfield with a mixture of Mk III's and Mk X's Wellington before leaving on 4 May 1943.^[3]

In 1943, Croft became a sub-station ofRAF Middleton St George which was allocated to No. 6 Group, Royal Canadian Air Force.^[4]

The airfield also hostedNo. 1664 (Royal Canadian Air Force) Heavy Conversion Unit RAF starting from 10 May 1943 which trained new pilots to fly the new heavy bombers using the Mk II and the Mk IV Halifax before leaving on 7 December 1943.^[4] When three days later on the tenthNo. 431 Squadron RCAF began using the airfield with the Halifax Mks V and III and theAvro Lancaster Mk.X before leaving on 7 June 1945 going toCanada.^[3] This squadron was joined by434 Squadron RCAF which had joined on 11 December 1944 also flying the Halifax and the Lancaster before leaving on 15 June 1945 to also go to Canada.^[5]

After the RCAF left in 1945, Croft saw little wartime activity. Later in 1945 the aerodrome became a satellite ofNo. 13 Operational Training Unit RAF based at Middleton St. George flyingde Havilland Mosquitoes. The station was closed in the summer of 1946.^[4][6]

The following units were also here at some point:^[7]

• Detachment ofNo. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (January 1943)^[8]
• No. 78 Conversion Flight (January – June 1942)^[9]
• Relief Landing Ground forNo. 205 Advanced Flying School RAF (2 February 1951 - 1 June 1954)^[10]
• No. 205 AFS between 12 December 1952 and 1 January 1954 while runways at home base resurfaced^[10]
• 822 Naval Air Squadron
• No. 1516 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF (September – October 1942)^[11]

On 22 March 1945, a Royal Canadian Air Force Lancaster aircraft was taking off from Croft when it was caught in a crosswind and blown off the runway where a punctured tyre led to it crashing and the port engine catching fire. The crew extricated themselves and as the 4-pound (1.8 kg) incendiary bombs were exploding in the fire, the base and local residents were evacuated to shelter in a cutting of the nearby railway line. At 11:27 am, the 4,000-pound (1,800 kg)blockbuster bomb on board the Lancaster exploded and took the roofs off several buildings in the immediate vicinity.^[12]

The Croft aerodrome is nowCroft Circuit, a venue for theBritish Touring Car Championship andBritish Superbike Championship.

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

• RAF Croft on RafWeb

• Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
• Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire
• Military history of North Yorkshire
• Croft-on-Tees

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use British English from January 2020
• Use dmy dates from January 2020
• Coordinates on Wikidata