RAF Riccall
Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England
title: "RAF Riccall" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["royal-air-force-stations-of-world-war-ii-in-the-united-kingdom", "royal-air-force-stations-in-yorkshire", "riccall", "military-airbases-established-in-1942", "military-airbases-closed-in-1958"] description: "Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Riccall" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox military installation"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | RAF Riccall |
| ensign | Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg |
| ensign_size | 90px |
| partof | |
| location | Riccall, North Yorkshire |
| country | England |
| image | |
| image2 | |
| type | Royal Air Force satellite station |
| coordinates | |
| 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 | |
| site_other_label | |
| site_other | |
| site_area | |
| code | |
| built | |
| used | 1942 - |
| battles | European theatre of World War II |
| past_commanders | |
| garrison | |
| occupants | |
| footnotes | |
| elevation | 10 m |
| r1-number | 00/00 |
| r1-length | 1810 m |
| r1-surface | Asphalt |
| r2-number | 00/00 |
| r2-length | 1310 m |
| r2-surface | Asphalt |
| r3-number | 00/00 |
| r3-length | 1410 m |
| r3-surface | Asphalt |
| h1-length | |
| airfield_other_label | |
| airfield_other | |
| :: |
| name = RAF Riccall | ensign = Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg | ensign_size = 90px | native_name = | partof = | location = Riccall, North Yorkshire | country = England | image = | caption = | image2 = | alt2 = | caption2 = | type = Royal Air Force satellite station | coordinates = | 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 = | site_other_label = | site_other = | site_area = | code = | built = | used = 1942 - | builder = | fate = | condition = | battles = European theatre of World War II | events = | past_commanders = | garrison = | occupants = | designations = | website = | footnotes = | IATA = | ICAO = | LID = | GPS = | WMO = | elevation = 10 m | r1-number = 00/00 | r1-length = 1810 m | r1-surface = Asphalt | r2-number = 00/00 | r2-length = 1310 m | r2-surface = Asphalt | r3-number = 00/00 | r3-length = 1410 m | r3-surface = Asphalt | h1-number = | h1-length = | h1-surface = | airfield_other_label = | airfield_other = RAF Riccall is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located 3.1 mi north east of Selby, North Yorkshire and 7.9 mi south west of Elvington, North Yorkshire, England.
History
The airfield was opened in September 1942 as a satellite to RAF Marston Moor. It had three runways of the A-style airfield; the longest was 5,940 ft long, the second was 4,290 ft long and the third was 4,620 ft long. All were 50 yd wide. The technical site consisted of six T2 hangars and one B1 hangar. 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.
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.
The following units were based at the airfield:
- No. 35 Maintenance Unit RAF.
- No. 91 Maintenance Unit RAF.
- No. 261 Maintenance Unit RAF.
- No. 268 Maintenance Unit RAF.
- No. 939 (West Riding) Balloon Squadron AAF.
- No. 1332 (Transport) Heavy Conversion Unit RAF.
- No. 1341 (Special Duties) Flight RAF.
- Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment.
- York & District Flying Group.
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. Part of the site was also used for mining coal as part of the Selby Coalfield operation between the 1980s and 2004.
Current use
The site is now used for farming.
References
Sources
References
- "RAF Riccall Airfield".
- (2004). "Riccall in World War II". Riccall Local History Group.
- "RAF Riccall [concept]".
- "Riccall".
- Schofield, Peter. (September 2010). "Skipwith Common North Yorkshire, Phase 3; Airfield Survey and archaeological Landscape Survey". Natural England.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::