{{Short description|Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}} {{Use British English|date=October 2017}} {{Infobox military installation | name = RAF Riccall | ensign = Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg | ensign_size = 90px | native_name = | partof = <!-- for elements within a larger site --> | location = [[Riccall]], [[North Yorkshire]] | country = England | image = <!--[[File:|250px]]--> | caption = | image2 = <!--secondary image, major command emblems for airfields --> | alt2 = | caption2 = | type = [[List of former Royal Air Force stations|Royal Air Force satellite station]] | coordinates = {{coord|53|49|26|N|001|01|50|W|region:GB_type:airport|display=inline,title}} | gridref = | pushpin_map = North Yorkshire#UK | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within North Yorkshire | pushpin_label = RAF Riccall | pushpin_label_position = left | ownership = [[Air Ministry]] | operator = [[Royal Air Force]] | controlledby = [[RAF Bomber Command]] | open_to_public = <!-- for out of use sites/sites with museums etc --> | site_other_label = <!-- for renaming "Other facilities" in infobox --> | site_other = <!-- for other sorts of facilities radar types etc --> | site_area = <!-- area of site m2, km2 square mile etc --> | code = <!--facility/installation code --> | built = {{Start date|1941}} | used = 1942 - {{End date|1958}} | builder = | fate = | condition = | battles = [[European theatre of World War II]] | events = | past_commanders = <!-- past notable commander(s) --> | garrison = <!-- such as the 25th Bombardment Group --> | occupants = <!-- squadrons only --> | designations = | website = | footnotes = <!-- catchall in case it's needed to preserve something in infobox --> <!-- begin airfield information --> | IATA = | ICAO = | LID = | GPS = | WMO = | elevation = {{Convert|10|m|0}} | r1-number = 00/00 | r1-length = {{Convert|1810|m|0}} | r1-surface = [[Asphalt concrete|Asphalt]] | r2-number = 00/00 | r2-length = {{Convert|1310|m|0}} | r2-surface = Asphalt | r3-number = 00/00 | r3-length = {{Convert|1410|m|0}} | r3-surface = Asphalt | h1-number = | h1-length = <!-- {{Convert| |m|0}} --> | h1-surface = | airfield_other_label = <!-- for renaming "Other facilities" in infobox --> | airfield_other = <!-- for other sorts of airfield facilities --> <!-- end airfield information --> }} '''RAF Riccall''' is a former [[Royal Air Force]] [[List of former Royal Air Force stations|satellite station]] located {{Convert|3.1|mi|0}} north east of [[Selby]], [[North Yorkshire]] and {{Convert|7.9|mi}} south west of [[Elvington, City of York|Elvington]], North Yorkshire, [[England]].

==History== The airfield was opened in September 1942 as a satellite to [[RAF Marston Moor]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.controltowers.co.uk/R/Riccall.htm |title=RAF Riccall Airfield |website=controltowers.co.uk|accessdate=6 December 2012}}</ref> It had three runways of the [[Class A airfield|A-style airfield]]; the longest was {{convert|5,940|ft}} long, the second was {{convert|4,290|ft}} long and the third was {{convert|4,620|ft}} long. All were {{convert|50|yd}} wide.{{sfn|Halpenny|1982|p=157}}{{sfn|Delve|2006|p=212}} The technical site consisted of six T2 hangars and one B1 hangar.{{sfn|Otter|1998|p=210}} The first runways built on the site sank into the soft earth of the low-lying ground, and had to be built back up again.<ref>{{cite book |title=Riccall in World War II |date=2004 |publisher=Riccall Local History Group |isbn=1-903833-58-2 |page=85}}</ref>

During October 1942, No. 76 and No. 80 Conversion Flights (along with No. 10 Conversion Flight from another airfield) joined together to make [[No. 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF]].{{sfn|Delve|2006|pages=211&ndash;213}}<ref>{{cite web |title=RAF Riccall [concept] |url=https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/6464 |website=ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk |access-date=17 March 2022}}</ref>

The following units were based at the airfield: * [[No. 35 Maintenance Unit RAF]].<ref name="ABCT">{{cite web|url=http://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/riccall |title=Riccall |website=abct.org.uk|accessdate=6 December 2012}}</ref> * [[No. 91 Maintenance Unit RAF]].<ref name="ABCT"/> * [[No. 261 Maintenance Unit RAF]].<ref name="ABCT"/> * [[No. 268 Maintenance Unit RAF]].<ref name="ABCT"/> * [[Barrage Balloon Organisations of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force#Barrage Balloon Squadrons|No. 939 (West Riding) Balloon Squadron AAF]].<ref name="ABCT"/> * [[No. 1332 (Transport) Heavy Conversion Unit RAF]].<ref name="ABCT"/> * [[No. 1341 (Special Duties) Flight RAF]].<ref name="ABCT"/> * [[Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment]].<ref name="ABCT"/> * [[York & District Flying Group]].<ref name="ABCT"/>

After 1945, flying ceased, although the site was used as storage until 1958. The south west side of the airfield and storage area is now part of [[Skipwith Common]] [[National Nature Reserve]].<ref>{{cite report|last=Schofield|first=Peter|title=Skipwith Common North Yorkshire, Phase 3; Airfield Survey and archaeological Landscape Survey|date=September 2010|website=library.thehumanjourney.net|url=https://library.thehumanjourney.net/4952/1/L10235_SkipwithPhase3FullReport.pdf|publisher=Natural England|access-date=17 March 2022|page=21}}</ref> Part of the site was also used for mining coal as part of the [[Selby Coalfield]] operation between the 1980s and 2004.{{sfn|Jacobs|2021|p=97}}

==Current use== The site is now used for farming.<ref name="ABCT"/>

==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=Jacobs |first1=Peter |title=Bomber Command Airfields of Yorkshire |date=2021 |publisher=Pen and Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1-78346-331-2}} *{{cite book |last1=Halpenny |first1=Bruce Barrymore |title=Action stations 4: military airfields of Yorkshire |date=1982 |publisher=Stephens |location=Wellingborough |isbn=0-85059-532-0}} *{{cite book |last1=Jefford |first1=C.&nbsp;G. |title=RAF squadrons : a comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912 |date=2001 |publisher=Airlife |location=Shrewsbury |isbn=1-84037-141-2 |edition=2}} *{{cite book |last1=Lake |first1=Alan |title=Flying units of the RAF : the ancestry, formation and disbandment of all flying units from 1912 |date=1999 |publisher=Airlife |location=Shrewsbury |isbn=1-84037-086-6}} *{{cite book |last1=Otter |first1=Patrick |title=Yorkshire airfields in the Second World War |date=1998 |publisher=Countryside Books |location=Newbury |isbn=1-85306-542-0}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20111230035338/http://www.atlantikwall.co.uk/atlantikwall/yorkshire/riccall01/html/page01.htm Atlantik Wall - RAF Riccall] * [https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw011497 Image of RAF Riccall from 1947] {{Royal Air Force}} {{RAF stations in Yorkshire}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Riccall}} [[Category:Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire]] [[Category:Riccall]] [[Category:Military airbases established in 1942]] [[Category:Military airbases closed in 1958]]