RAF Full Sutton
Full Sutton,East Riding of Yorkshire in England
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force station
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command
Location
RAF Full Sutton Shown within East Riding of Yorkshire Show map of East Riding of Yorkshire RAF Full Sutton RAF Full Sutton (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	53°58′47″N000°51′53″W / 53.97972°N 0.86472°W /53.97972; -0.86472
Site history
Built	1943 (1943)/44
In use	May 1944 - April 1963 (1963)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	16 metres (52 ft)AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00 1,810 metres (5,938 ft) Asphalt 00/00 1,600 metres (5,249 ft) Asphalt 00/00 1,200 metres (3,937 ft) Asphalt

Royal Air Force Full Sutton orRAF Full Sutton is a formerRoyal Air Forcestation located 2 miles (3.2 km) south east ofStamford Bridge,East Riding of Yorkshire and 4.7 miles (7.6 km) north west ofPocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire,England. The base did not open until May 1944, and so was the last airfield built forRAF Bomber Command.

The airfield opened in 1944 underNo. 4 Group, as part ofRAF Bomber Command, withNo. 77 Squadron RAF arriving at RAF Full Sutton on 15 May 1944 with theHandley Page Halifax Mks III and VI.^[1] The base was the last operational airfield constructed for Bomber Command in the Second World War.^[2] The base was laid out in the standard design of a heavy bomber station, having three runways in an 'A' shape. The longest was 5,940 feet (1,810 m) long, the second was 5,100 feet (1,600 m), and the shortest was 3,900 feet (1,200 m).^[1] The runways, which crossed in an almost perfect triangular pattern, were laid down with different lengths to a standard heavy bomber base design. The non-standard runway distance has been put down to the land boundaries of the base.^[3] To the south-west side of the airfield, was a railway line connecting York to Beverley.^[4]

No. 77 Sqn switched to theDouglas Dakota aircraft in July 1945, then the squadron moved toRAF Broadwell on at the end of August 1945.^[5] RAF Full Sutton was switched toRAF Transport Command being used by a flight ofNo. 231 Squadron RAF between 1 December 1945 and 15 January 1946 operating theAvro Lancastrian C.2 before being disbanded.^[6]

In the 1950s it was part ofRAF Flying Training Command,^[7] as No. 103 Flying Refresher School RAF was here between May and November 1951^[8] which became No. 207 Advanced Flying School RAF, which was here between November 1951 and June 1954,^[9] this unit then became No. 207 Flying Training School RAF and was here between June and July 1954 when the unit was disbanded.^[10] These schools held training onGloster Meteor aircraft as a response to the Korean War.^[11] One of the aircraft,WF831, crashed onto the railway line in 1952 just as a goods train was passing.^[12]

The airfield was then placed on care and maintenance until 1959 whenNo. 102 Squadron RAF arrived and the airfield was re-modelled as aPGM-17 Thor missile site, operating until 27 April 1963.^[13][14]

The area is now used as the civilianFull Sutton Airfield, being home to the Full Sutton Flying Centre,^[15] and another part of the site housesHMP Full Sutton, which opened in April 1988.^[7]

• Delve, Ken (2006).Northern England : Co. Durham, Cumbria, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire. Ramsbury: Crowood.ISBN 1-86126-809-2.
• Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore (1982).Action stations 4: military airfields of Yorkshire. Wellingborough: Stephens.ISBN 0-85059-532-0.
• Jacobs, Peter (2021).Bomber Command Airfields of Yorkshire. Barnsley: Pen and Sword.ISBN 978-1-78346-331-2.
• Jefford, C. G. (2001).RAF squadrons : a comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912 (2 ed.). Shrewsbury: Airlife.ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• Lake, Alan (1999).Flying units of the RAF : the ancestry, formation and disbandment of all flying units from 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife.ISBN 1-84037-086-6.
• Otter, Patrick (1998).Yorkshire airfields in the Second World War. Newbury: Countryside Books.ISBN 1-85306-542-0.
• Sturtivant, Ray; Hamlin, John (2007).Royal Air Force flying training and support units since 1912.Tonbridge, UK: Air-Britain (Historians).ISBN 978-0851-3036-59.

• Airfield Information Exchange

• Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire
• Buildings and structures in the East Riding of Yorkshire
• Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
• Military airbases established in 1944
• Military airbases closed in 1963

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