RAF Marston Moor

{{Short description|Former RAF base in Yorkshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Use British English|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox military installation | name = RAF Marston Moor RAF Tockwith | ensign = Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg | ensign_size = 90px | location = [[Tockwith]], [[North Yorkshire]] | country = England | image = Tockwith runway - geograph.org.uk - 249118.jpg | alt = | caption = | coordinates = {{coord|53|57|42|N|001|18|16|W|region:GB_type:airport|display=inline,title}} | gridref = | type = [[List of former Royal Air Force stations|Royal Air Force station]] 41 Base HQ 1943-44 74 Base HQ 1944-45 | pushpin_map = North Yorkshire | pushpin_label = RAF Marston Moor | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within North Yorkshire | site_area =  | floor_area = | height =  | length =  | ownership = [[Air Ministry]] | operator = [[Royal Air Force]] | controlledby = [[RAF Bomber Command]] * [[No. 4 Group RAF]] * [[No. 7 Group RAF|No. 7 (T) Group RAF]] | open_to_public =  | condition = | site_other_label =  | site_other =  | website = | code = MA{{sfn|Falconer|2012|p=137}} | built = {{Start date|1940}}/41 | used = 1941–{{End date|1949}} | builder = John Laing & Son Ltd | materials = | fate =  | demolished = | battles = | events = | past_commanders = Group Captain [[Leonard Cheshire]] | occupants =  | designations = | IATA = | ICAO = | elevation = {{Convert|21|m|0}}{{sfn|Falconer|2012|p=137}} | r1-number = 06/24 | r1-length = {{convert|5,955|ft|0}} | r1-surface = [[Concrete]] | r2-number = 11/29 | r2-length = {{convert|4,142|ft|0}} | r2-surface = Concrete | r3-number = 01/17 | r3-length = {{convert|3,896|ft|0}} | r3-surface = Concrete | airfield_other_label =  | airfield_other =  }} '''Royal Air Force Marston Moor''' or more simply '''RAF Marston Moor''' is a former [[Royal Air Force]] [[Royal Air Force station|station]] located near [[Tockwith]], [[North Yorkshire]], England. It was operational during the [[World War II|Second World War]] and was originally called '''RAF Tockwith''', but confusion with [[RAF Topcliffe]] led to the name change.<ref name="AW">{{cite web|url=http://www.atlantikwall.co.uk/atlantikwall/yorkshire/marston-moor01/html/page02.htm/|title=RAF Marston Moor|publisher=Atlantik Wall|accessdate=8 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="WM">{{cite web|url=http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/airfields/marstenmoor.html|title=RAF Marston Moor|publisher=The Wartime Memories Project|accessdate=8 April 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228221707/http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/airfields/marstenmoor.html|archivedate=28 February 2012}}</ref>

RAF Marston Moor was opened on 11 November 1941,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Otter |first1=Patrick |title=Yorkshire airfields in the Second World War |date=1998 |publisher=Countryside Books |location=Newbury |isbn=978-1-85306-542-2 |page=200}}</ref> the airfield and [[RAF Church Fenton]] were the closest airfields to [[West Yorkshire]] and would act as a defence should [[Leeds]] be attacked. As it happens Leeds was seldom bombed.

In 1943, Group Captain [[Leonard Cheshire]] was made the station commander. He requested to be transferred to the command of [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|617 Squadron]] in November 1943, a vacancy created by the loss of George Holden in July of that year. The move required him to voluntarily step down in rank from group captain to wing commander, which he did.

Marston Moor was also in control of [[RAF Rufforth]] and [[RAF Riccall]].<ref name="AW"/>

==Based units== Work on the site was given authority in September 1940, and the base was opened in November 1941.{{sfn|Delve|2006|p=188}} Living accommodation (the billets) was some distance from the operational areas of the base, so bicycles had to be issued to service personnel.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goulty |first1=James |title=Eyewitness RAF The Experience of War, 1939–1945 |date=2020 |publisher=Pen & Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=9781526752406 |page=161}}</ref> The base was located to the west of the village of Tockwith (after which it was originally supposed to be named), south of the [[River Nidd]], and north of the B1224 road.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Halpenny |first1=Bruce Barrymore |title=Action stations 4; Military Airfields of Yorkshire |date=1982 |publisher=Stephens |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-85059-532-0|page=140}}</ref> The intent had been for an operational bomber squadron to move in, but instead, the site was allocated to training.{{sfn|Jacobs|2021|p=75}}

During the [[Second World War]] the airfield was used by the [[Heavy Conversion Unit|165 Heavy Conversion Unit]] (HCU) to convert pilots from the [[Armstrong Whitworth Whitley|Whitley]] and [[Vickers Wellington|Wellington]] medium bombers to piloting the four-engined [[Handley Page Halifax]] bomber.<ref name="CT">{{cite web|url=http://www.controltowers.co.uk/T-V/Tockwith.htm/|title=RAF Marston Moor|publisher=Control Towers|accessdate=8 April 2012}}</ref> In January 1942 the unit was split into the 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit and the 1665 Heavy Conversion Unit. 1652 HCU continued in operation at Marston Moor till June 1945, while 1665 HCU moved to [[RAF Saltby]], where it trained crews in the Halifaxes and the [[Short Stirling]].<ref name="WM"/> It later moved to [[RAF Linton-on-Ouse]].<ref name="CT"/> Following the war the field was used as the home base for No. 268 Maintenance Unit RAF from 1945 to 1949.<ref name="CT"/>

Although designated a training base, sometimes the aircraft from No. 1652 HCU had to partake in operations, which occurred during 1942. Three aircraft were lost on operations, though casualty rates were higher on the base due to a large number of accidents during training.{{sfn|Delve|2006|p=189}} Whilst training took place on the base, it was part of No. 4 Group, and it took on the responsibility for the nearby airfields at [[RAF Acaster Malbis|Acaster Malbis]], Riccall and Rufforth. In November 1944, all four bases moved under No. 7 Group (training) and then at the war's end, when the HCU was disbanded in October 1945, Marston Moor became part of Transport Command.{{sfn|Jacobs|2021|p=77}}{{sfn|Delve|2006|p=189}}

== Notable personnel == *[[Albert Bonass]] – Bonass, who was a professional footballer before the war, was a wireless operator in a Short Stirling which crashed into the post office in the village of Tockwith in October 1945. Bonass, along with the other crew members (six in all), and one civilian, died.<ref>{{cite web |title=Accident Short Stirling Mk IV LJ622, Tuesday 9 October 1945 |url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/173143 |website=asn.flightsafety.org |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref> *[[Leonard Cheshire]] – Cheshire had been posted to Marston Moor as a group captain, but he wanted to be back on operations, so took a demotion to wing commander to be the officer commanding No. 617 Squadron<ref>{{cite ODNB|first=Christopher|last=Foxley-Norris|title=Cheshire, (Geoffrey) Leonard, Baron Cheshire|id=50944|date=23 September 2004}}</ref> *[[Margot Gore|Margaret Wyndham Gore]] – in 1943, Gore was the first female pilot to attend Marston Moor for conversion training on the Handley-Page Halifax<ref>{{cite ODNB|first=Enid|last=DeBois|title=Gore, Margaret Wyndham|id=67670|date=23 September 2004}}</ref>

==Current use== The airfield is now known as Tockwith Airfield. The runways are used for [[driver's education]] courses.{{sfn|Delve|2006|p=190}} Some of the buildings about the old airfield were incorporated into a business park.<ref name="WM"/> The village of Tockwith has expanded onto the airfield with the eastern side and main section of one runway now dissolved by housing.<ref name="CT"/> Some sources indicate civilian aviation use in the late 20th century, and probably beyond.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Marston-Moor|title=Marston Moor |work= UK Airfield Guide|accessdate=26 September 2020}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} === Sources === *{{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}} *{{cite book |last1=Falconer|first1=Jonathan|title=RAF Airfields of World War 2 |year=2012 |publisher= Ian Allan Publishing|location= UK|isbn=978-1-85780-349-5}} *{{cite book |last1=Jacobs |first1=Peter |title=Bomber Command Airfields of Yorkshire |date=2021 |publisher=Pen & Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1-78346-331-2}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Tockwith Airfield}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120228221707/http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/airfields/marstenmoor.html The Wartime Memories Project - RAF Marston Moor, Tockwith] {{Geographic location |Northwest = |North = [[Tockwith]] |Northeast = |West = [[Wetherby]] |Centre = RAF Marston Moor |East = [[York]] |Southwest = |South = [[Tadcaster]] |Southeast = }} {{Royal Air Force}} {{RAF stations in Yorkshire}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marston Moor}} [[Category:Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire]] [[Category:Military airbases established in 1941]] [[Category:Military airbases closed in 1949]]