RAF Scorton

Royal Air Force Scorton or more simply RAF Scorton is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located next to the village of Scorton in North Yorkshire, England. The base was opened in October 1939 as part of 13 Group RAF Fighter Command and a satellite station of RAF Catterick. It was used by the Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force during the war.
The famous No. 56 Squadron RAF flew Supermarine Spitfires from Scorton during the Second World War. Also the USAAF 422d and 425th Night Fighter Squadrons were stationed at Scorton flying the Northrop P-61 Black Widow fighter.
After the war, it was kept for a while as a Maintenance Unit base, then disposed of in the 1950s. It is now a site of gravel extraction.

History

The location was chosen for its flat terrain and its situation close to the now disbanded Eryholme-Richmond branch line that had a sub branch line to Catterick Garrison and RAF Catterick. The first unit to use the airfield was a detachment of Bristol Blenheim aircraft from No. 219 (Mysore) Squadron, which had reformed at RAF Catterick in the same month that Scorton had opened.
Although originally designated as a satellite station, in 1941, the site was extended into a 'full' RAF station with 12 hangars and three tarmac runways, with the main east/west runway measuring compared to RAF Catterick's runway which was. This was done because Catterick could not be extended as it was sandwiched between the Great North Road and the River Swale. At the same time, the decoy landing site at Birkby near Cherbourg and Vannes in Brittany France to intercept German night fighters and bombers attacking Allied positions.
After the two American squadrons vacated the base, it was quiet again for a period before the site was transferred from Fighter Command to Balloon Command who used the site for storage. At the end of the war, the airfield was surplus to requirements, but was used first by No. 224 Maintenance Unit, and then with No. 91 Maintenance Unit, who vacated the site in 1952.

Units

The following squadrons were here at some point:

No. 26 (South African) Squadron RAF – North American Mustang I
No. 56 Squadron RAF – Supermarine Spitfire IX
No. 122 (Bombay) Squadron RAF – Supermarine Spitfire IIA, IIB and VB
No. 130 (Punjab) Squadron RAF – Supermarine Spitfire VB
No. 167 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF – Supermarine Spitfire VB
No. 219 (Mysore) Squadron RAF – Bristol Beaufighter IF
No. 406 Squadron RCAF – Bristol Beaufighter IIF
No. 410 Squadron RCAF – Bristol Beaufighter IIF
No. 604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron AAF – Bristol Beaufighter IF

The airfield was also home to the following units:

No. 142 Airfield Headquarters RAF formed here on 1 January 1944
No. 911/923 Squadron
No. 950 Squadron

Postwar use

The Aerodrome closed in 1945 and most of the concreted areas have been extensively quarried away for sand and gravel extraction. Most of what was the airfield is now under a lake and a quarry. There are a few military pre-fab buildings remaining in the area – they were dismantled after the war and moved to local farms to be used as agricultural buildings. The site does still have some remnants from the era, such as accommodation huts and brick-built pillboxes. Some of the newer roads in Scorton have been named after Second World War Aircraft.