{{Short description|Former RAF base in Yorkshire, England}} {{Use British English|date=November 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Infobox military installation | name = RAF Helperby | ensign = [[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg|90px]] | native_name = RAF Brafferton | location = [[Brafferton, North Yorkshire|Brafferton]], [[North Yorkshire]] | country = England | image = Hedgerow in the rain - geograph.org.uk - 2193487.jpg | alt = A field with woodland in the background | caption = Looking south east across the bomb store | coordinates = {{Coord|54.134|-1.318|display=inline, title}} | gridref = | pushpin_map = North Yorkshire | pushpin_map_alt = A relief map of North Yorkshire, showing the location of RAF Helperby | ownership = [[Air Ministry]] | operator = [[Royal Air Force]] | site_area = {{convert|81|acre}} | used = 1916–1918<br>1939–1947 | occupants = [[No. 33 Squadron RAF]]<br>[[No. 76 Squadron RAF]]<br>No. 92 MU RAF }} '''RAF Helperby''' (also known as '''RAF Brafferton'''), was a [[World War I|First World War]] era airfield near to the villages of [[Brafferton, North Yorkshire|Brafferton]] and [[Helperby]] in [[North Yorkshire]], England. It was used initially by [[No. 33 Squadron RAF]], and then later by [[No. 76 Squadron RAF]] in the ''home defence'' (HD) role. During the [[World War II|Second World War]], the site was used as an ammunition supply depot, being operated by No. 92 Maintenance Unit RAF, and also by the [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]]. The site was known to have stored mustard gas and other chemical weapons during the period of the Second World War.
==First World War== The grass meadow of Helperby was requisitioned in 1916 for the use of No. 33 Squadron, which used the site between March and October 1916.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Halpenny |first1=Bruce Barrymore |title=Action stations. |date=1982 |publisher=Stephens |location=Wellingborough |isbn=0-85059-532-0 |page=88}}</ref> Helperby was then used by No. 76 Squadron from October 1916 onwards; it was one of three stations in Yorkshire with flight detachments from the 76 Squadron headquarters airfield at [[RAF Ripon]] (the other two being Copmanthorpe and [[RAF Catterick|Catterick]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clarke |first1=Bob |title=The archaeology of airfields |date=2007 |publisher=Tempus |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0-7524-4401-7 |page=30}}</ref> The detachment at Helperby was designated as ''B Flight'', and flew [[Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2|BE2]] and [[Avro 504]] aircraft.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yorkshire's Lions |url=https://www.key.aero/article/yorkshires-lions |website=www.key.aero |access-date=18 November 2021 |date=19 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Philpott |first1=Ian |title=The birth of the Royal Air Force |date=2013 |publisher=Pen & Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1-78159-333-2 |page=270}}</ref> During this period, No. 76 Squadron were on hand to intercept Zeppelin raids, which they did over Middlesbrough and the east coast of England, frequently during 1917.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sutherland |first1=Jonathan |title=Battle of Britain 1917 : the first heavy bomber raids on England |date=2006 |publisher=Pen & Sword Aviation |location=Barnsley |isbn=1-84415-345-2 |page=106}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Castle |first1=Ian |title=First Blitz. |date=2015 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-4728-1529-3 |page=201}}</ref>
Unusually for a small airfield in Yorkshire used in the Home Defence role, Helperby was furnished with at least two hangars, and the airfield itself was far larger than the grassed fields normally used.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Delve |first1=Ken |title=Northern England : Co. Durham, Cumbria, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire |date=2006 |publisher=Crowood |location=Ramsbury |isbn=1-86126-809-2 |page=293}}</ref> The hangars measured {{convert|90|ft|adj=on}} by {{convert|60|ft|adj=on}} and the overall size of the base was {{convert|81|acre}}.<ref name="MC">{{cite book |last1=Chorlton |first1=Martyn |title=Forgotten airfields of World War I |date=2014 |publisher=Crécy |location=Manchester |isbn=9780859791816|page=167}}</ref>
No. 76 Squadron used the airfield until March 1919, when they were transferred to [[Bramham Moor Aerodrome|Bramham Moor]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Philpott |first1=I. M. |title=The Royal Air Force : an encyclopedia of the inter-war years |date=2008 |publisher=Pen & Sword Aviation |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1844151547 |page=244}}</ref> A relinquishment notice was posted in November 1919, with confirmation of total abandonment by January 1920.<ref name="MC"/>
==Second World War== From 1939, No. 92 Maintenance Unit RAF (No. 92 MU) operated the site, converting it into an Advanced Ammunition Park (AAP), which largely serviced the needs of [[No. 6 Group RCAF|No. 6 Group]] [[Bomber Command]], whose airfields were spread out across Yorkshire.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCamley |first1=N. J. |title=Disasters underground |date=2004 |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire |isbn=1-84415-022-4 |page=8}}</ref> The site also made use of civilian labourers, prisoners-of war (usually Italians) and the USAAF, who also had bomb storage at Brafferton.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCamley |first1=N. J. |title=Disasters underground |date=2004 |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire |isbn=1-84415-022-4 |page=89}}</ref> The site was one of three bomb dumps in the Yorkshire region; the other two being at [[Driffield]] (Southburn - No. 91 MU), and [[RAF Bowes Moor|Bowes Moor]], (No. 81 MU).<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Jones |first1=Trevor |title=Royal Air Force logistics during the Second World War : transformation, sustainment and flexibility |date=2016 |page=78 |publisher=University of Exeter |location=Exeter|oclc=1064904724}}</ref> The site had a cinema known as the ''Brafferdrome'', and a siding was installed from the adjacent [[Pilmoor, Boroughbridge and Knaresborough Railway]] to bring munitions in by train.<ref name="DB">{{cite book |last1=Bottomley |first1=F David |title=Brafferton & Helperby : a millenium miscellany |date=2000 |publisher=Brafferton Parish Council |location=Brafferton |isbn=0-9539109-0-3 |page=76}}</ref> It has been estimated that between 1941 and 1947, {{convert|250,000|tonne}} of ordnance were moved in and out of Brafferton by rail.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Suggitt |first1=Gordon |title=Lost railways of North and East Yorkshire |date=2005 |publisher=Countryside Books |location=Newbury |isbn=978-1-85306-918-5 |page=33}}</ref>
In December 1940, a {{convert|250|lb|adj=on}} still-fused bomb was being offloaded at the site. Unbeknownst to the workers, the bomb had been returned from a live mission aircraft which had landed at [[RAF Linton-on-Ouse]]. As it was being unloaded, it exploded, killing three airmen and wounding several others. A flight sergeant and a corporal were later awarded the [[British Empire Medal]] for retrieving the bodies of the dead from the resulting fire.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wooldridge |first1=Mike |title=Explosives |journal=Journal of the Royal Air Force Historical Society |date=2005 |issue=35 |page=48 |publisher=Royal Air Force Historical Society |issn=1361-4231}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35152 |date=2 May 1941 |page=2570 |supp=y}}</ref>
The site was used up until 1947, when No. 92 MU were disbanded.<ref>{{cite web |title=92 Maintenance Unit, formed at Brafferton August 1939; disbanded December 1947 (MU UK).... |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4100739 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date=18 November 2021}}</ref> No. 92 MU was later reformed and was again responsible for storage of bombs at [[RAF Faldingworth]].<ref>{{cite web |title=No 92 Maintenance Unit RAF Faldingworth |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10771759?descriptiontype=Full&ref=AIR+29/4412 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date=18 November 2021}}</ref>
The shell of at least one of the hangars was still there in the early 1980s,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Halpenny |first1=Bruce Barrymore |title=Action stations 4|date=1982 |publisher=Stephens |location=Wellingborough |isbn=0-85059-532-0 |page=89}}</ref> and in 1985, it was revealed as one of the sites formerly used to store [[mustard gas]] ordnance,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hindmarch |first1=Tamzin |title=Mustard gas alert at Clifton sites |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWGLNB&t=&sort=YMD_date%3AA&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=RAF%20Helperby&docref=news/10D876EBE3806D07 |access-date=18 November 2021 |work=infoweb.newsbank.com |date=3 June 1998|url-access=subscription}}</ref> some of which had been disposed of by burning, and so some of the chemicals may have leached into the ground.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Perera |first1=Judith |last2=Thomas |first2=Andy |title=Alert at Britain's gas dumps |magazine=New Scientist |date=9 May 1985 |volume=106 |issue=1,455 |page=4 |publisher=New Science Publications |location=London |issn=0262-4079}}</ref> Large quantities of mustard gas stocks were sent to the [[Cairnryan Harbour|Port of Cairnryan]] to be disposed of in the [[Irish Sea]] as part of [[Operation Sandcastle]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCamley |first1=N. J. |title=The secret history of chemical warfare |date=2006 |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |location=Barnsley |isbn=1783409096 |page=191}}</ref> Parts of the site have been returned to farmland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Helperby (Brafferton) - Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust UK |url=https://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/helperby-brafferton/ |website=www.abct.org.uk |access-date=18 November 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4100739 92 MU at the TNA]
{{RAF stations in Yorkshire}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helperby}} [[Category:Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Military airbases established in 1916]] [[Category:Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire|Helperby]] [[Category:World War I airfields]] [[Category:World War I sites in England]] [[Category:Military airbases closed in 1947]]