Full WW2 control tower details and photos for this wartime airfield are coming soon. Please check back later as this is work progress. If you would like to contribute information or photos please get in touch.
Overview
RAF Driffield, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, had a long military life that began in the final year of the First World War (as RAF Eastburn) and expanded dramatically in the rearmament years. Rebuilt in the mid-1930s and opened for modern use in 1936, it became a Bomber Command station under No. 2 Group, and in 1940 it was one of the northern airfields thrust into the realities of direct attack.
Bomber Command and early-war operations
In the opening phase of the Second World War, Driffield hosted bomber units operating aircraft such as the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. The station was associated with No. 102 (Ceylon) Squadron, a unit that flew a mix of operational and special tasks early in the war – including leaflet operations – while Britain’s offensive strategy evolved and bomber tactics were still being refined. Driffield also carried the human stories common to many stations: among its early postings was Leonard Cheshire, who would later become one of Bomber Command’s most celebrated figures.
The air raids of 1940 and 1941
On 15 August 1940, Driffield was hit by a German air raid. The attack is remembered not only for the damage inflicted but also because casualties included the first fatality of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), a stark marker of how total the war had become. Driffield was attacked again on 4 June 1941; during this raid a Vickers Wellington of No. 405 Squadron RCAF was destroyed and another damaged, underscoring that the station remained in the enemy’s sights even as the main focus of the air war shifted.
A multi-role station: training and support
As the conflict progressed, Driffield’s role broadened into training and support work essential to sustaining the wider air effort. The station hosted blind approach and beam-approach training flights, target towing and bombing/gunnery support units, and operational training activity, reflecting the RAF’s need to produce skilled crews and maintain readiness across a range of specialties. Units connected to anti-aircraft co-operation and related training also passed through, providing realistic practice for ground defences and aircrew alike.
Beyond the war
RAF Driffield’s post-war story included further training functions and later Cold War developments: it became one of the bases associated with Thor ballistic missiles from 1959 until 1963, before evolving again in subsequent decades. While much of that sits outside the Second World War narrative, it highlights how the station’s location and infrastructure remained strategically useful.
Legacy today
Today the site is associated with defence training use rather than flying, yet Driffield’s Second World War identity remains compelling: a bomber station with a long runway heritage, a target of enemy raids, and a place where operational flying and essential training coexisted. For visitors, the landscape and surviving traces help tell a story that links early-war bomber operations, home-front vulnerability, and the RAF’s enormous behind-the-scenes training and support system.