# RAF Helperby

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Former RAF base in Yorkshire, England

RAF Helperby RAF Brafferton Brafferton, North Yorkshire in England Looking south east across the bomb store Site information Owner Air Ministry Operator Royal Air Force Location RAF Helperby Coordinates 54°08′02″N 1°19′05″W / 54.134°N 1.318°W / 54.134; -1.318 Area 81 acres (33 ha) Site history In use 1916–1918 1939–1947 Garrison information Occupants No. 33 Squadron RAF No. 76 Squadron RAF No. 92 MU RAF

**RAF Helperby** (also known as **RAF Brafferton**), was a [First World War](/source/World_War_I) era airfield near to the villages of [Brafferton](/source/Brafferton%2C_North_Yorkshire) and [Helperby](/source/Helperby) in [North Yorkshire](/source/North_Yorkshire), England. It was used initially by [No. 33 Squadron RAF](/source/No._33_Squadron_RAF), and then later by [No. 76 Squadron RAF](/source/No._76_Squadron_RAF) in the *home defence* (HD) role. During the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II), the site was used as an ammunition supply depot, being operated by No. 92 Maintenance Unit RAF, and also by the [USAAF](/source/United_States_Army_Air_Forces). 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.[1] 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](/source/RAF_Ripon) (the other two being Copmanthorpe and [Catterick](/source/RAF_Catterick)).[2] The detachment at Helperby was designated as *B Flight*, and flew [BE2](/source/Royal_Aircraft_Factory_B.E.2) and [Avro 504](/source/Avro_504) aircraft.[3][4] 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.[5][6]

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.[7] The hangars measured 90-foot (27 m) by 60-foot (18 m) and the overall size of the base was 81 acres (33 ha).[8]

No. 76 Squadron used the airfield until March 1919, when they were transferred to [Bramham Moor](/source/Bramham_Moor_Aerodrome).[9] A relinquishment notice was posted in November 1919, with confirmation of total abandonment by January 1920.[8]

## 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](/source/No._6_Group_RCAF) [Bomber Command](/source/Bomber_Command), whose airfields were spread out across Yorkshire.[10] The site also made use of civilian labourers, prisoners-of war (usually Italians) and the USAAF, who also had bomb storage at Brafferton.[11] The site was one of three bomb dumps in the Yorkshire region; the other two being at [Driffield](/source/Driffield) (Southburn - No. 91 MU), and [Bowes Moor](/source/RAF_Bowes_Moor), (No. 81 MU).[12] The site had a cinema known as the *Brafferdrome*, and a siding was installed from the adjacent [Pilmoor, Boroughbridge and Knaresborough Railway](/source/Pilmoor%2C_Boroughbridge_and_Knaresborough_Railway) to bring munitions in by train.[13] It has been estimated that between 1941 and 1947, 250,000 tonnes (280,000 tons) of ordnance were moved in and out of Brafferton by rail.[14]

In December 1940, a 250-pound (110 kg) 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](/source/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](/source/British_Empire_Medal) for retrieving the bodies of the dead from the resulting fire.[15][16]

The site was used up until 1947, when No. 92 MU were disbanded.[17] No. 92 MU was later reformed and was again responsible for storage of bombs at [RAF Faldingworth](/source/RAF_Faldingworth).[18]

The shell of at least one of the hangars was still there in the early 1980s,[19] and in 1985, it was revealed as one of the sites formerly used to store [mustard gas](/source/Mustard_gas) ordnance,[20] some of which had been disposed of by burning, and so some of the chemicals may have leached into the ground.[21] Large quantities of mustard gas stocks were sent to the [Port of Cairnryan](/source/Cairnryan_Harbour) to be disposed of in the [Irish Sea](/source/Irish_Sea) as part of [Operation Sandcastle](/source/Operation_Sandcastle).[22] Parts of the site have been returned to farmland.[23]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore (1982). *Action stations*. Wellingborough: Stephens. p. 88. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-85059-532-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-85059-532-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Clarke, Bob (2007). *The archaeology of airfields*. Stroud: Tempus. p. 30. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7524-4401-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7524-4401-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Yorkshire's Lions"](https://www.key.aero/article/yorkshires-lions). *www.key.aero*. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Philpott, Ian (2013). *The birth of the Royal Air Force*. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. p. 270. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-78159-333-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-78159-333-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Sutherland, Jonathan (2006). *Battle of Britain 1917 : the first heavy bomber raids on England*. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation. p. 106. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-84415-345-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-84415-345-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Castle, Ian (2015). *First Blitz*. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 201. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4728-1529-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4728-1529-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Delve, Ken (2006). *Northern England : Co. Durham, Cumbria, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire*. Ramsbury: Crowood. p. 293. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-86126-809-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-86126-809-2).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-MC_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-MC_8-1) Chorlton, Martyn (2014). *Forgotten airfields of World War I*. Manchester: Crécy. p. 167. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780859791816](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780859791816).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Philpott, I. M. (2008). *The Royal Air Force : an encyclopedia of the inter-war years*. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation. p. 244. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1844151547](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1844151547).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** McCamley, N. J. (2004). *Disasters underground*. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. p. 8. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-84415-022-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-84415-022-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** McCamley, N. J. (2004). *Disasters underground*. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. p. 89. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-84415-022-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-84415-022-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Jones, Trevor (2016). *Royal Air Force logistics during the Second World War : transformation, sustainment and flexibility* (Thesis). Exeter: University of Exeter. p. 78. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [1064904724](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1064904724).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-DB_13-0)** Bottomley, F David (2000). *Brafferton & Helperby : a millenium miscellany*. Brafferton: Brafferton Parish Council. p. 76. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9539109-0-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9539109-0-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Suggitt, Gordon (2005). *Lost railways of North and East Yorkshire*. Newbury: Countryside Books. p. 33. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-85306-918-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-85306-918-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Wooldridge, Mike (2005). "Explosives". *Journal of the Royal Air Force Historical Society* (35). Royal Air Force Historical Society: 48. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1361-4231](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1361-4231).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["No. 35152"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35152/supplement/2570). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)* (Supplement). 2 May 1941. p. 2570.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["92 Maintenance Unit, formed at Brafferton August 1939; disbanded December 1947 (MU UK)..."](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4100739) *discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk*. Retrieved 18 November 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["No 92 Maintenance Unit RAF Faldingworth"](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10771759?descriptiontype=Full&ref=AIR+29/4412). *discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk*. Retrieved 18 November 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore (1982). *Action stations 4*. Wellingborough: Stephens. p. 89. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-85059-532-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-85059-532-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Hindmarch, Tamzin (3 June 1998). ["Mustard gas alert at Clifton sites"](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). *infoweb.newsbank.com*. Retrieved 18 November 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Perera, Judith; Thomas, Andy (9 May 1985). "Alert at Britain's gas dumps". *New Scientist*. Vol. 106, no. 1, 455. London: New Science Publications. p. 4. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0262-4079](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0262-4079).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** McCamley, N. J. (2006). *The secret history of chemical warfare*. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. p. 191. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1783409096](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1783409096).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** ["Helperby (Brafferton) - Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust UK"](https://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/helperby-brafferton/). *www.abct.org.uk*. Retrieved 18 November 2021.

## External links

- [92 MU at the TNA](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4100739)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [RAF Helperby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Helperby) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Helperby?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.