East Moor

54°04'04"N 001°05'03"W

Runway: 04/22 - 1540x..yds - concrete
Runway: 08/26 - 1430x..yds - concrete
Runway: 17/35 - 1900x..yds - concrete

East Moor airfield (RAF East Moor) was an airfield 300kilometers north of London.
The airfield was built between 1941 and 1942 on the moor it was named after. Its runways were originally planned to be shorter, but still while under construction it was decided to lengthen them. Equipped with three hangars and 36 dispersals, the station initially opened as a No.6 Group (RCAF) station and a sub-station to RAF Linton-on-Ouse.
158 Sqn, converting to Halifax bombers, moved into the airfield at the end of spring 1942. The squadron flew its first raid with Halifaxes in early summer and left for RAF Rufforth in the fall. At the end of the year, 429 Sqn was established at the base, equipped with Wellington bombers. Two months later, in 1943, they flew their first combat raids and summer they left for RAF Leeming. During its time at West Moor, the squadron had lost a total of 30 Welllingtons.
In the spring of 1943, No. 1679 Heavy Conversion Unit formed at East Moor to provide crew training on radial-engined Lancaster II bombers. 432 Squadron arrived at the end of summer 1943 to convert to the Mk II Lancaster, flying its first raid with this version from East Moor by the end of autumn. 1679 HCU left the base in December for RAF Wombleton. The supply of Lancaster IIs was limited, so in the winter of 1944 these were exchanged for similarly powered Halifax IIIs. In the summer of 1944 415 Sqn was transferred from Coastal Command to No.6 Group and bomber operations at RAF East Moor. Flying Halifaxes, they carried out their first raid from the station by the end of July. Both 415 and 432 Sqn continued bombing operations until the final weeks of the war. Flying from East Moor, 415Sqn. had lost 20 Halifaxes and No. 432 had lost 10 Lancasters and 47 Halifaxes . Both squadrons disbanded during May 1945.
In total, operational losses from East Moor amounted to 10 Lancasters, 67 Halifaxes and 30 Wellingtons.


Halifax B.3s of 432 Sqn form up in the circuit at East Moor to await turn to land (432Sqn homepage).


Unidentified aircrew with Avro Lancaster B.II aircraft DS848 QO:R of No. 432 (Leaside) Squadron, RCAF (collectionscanada.gc.ca)

After VE-Day, 54 OTU came to RAF East Moor with Mosquito night fighters in May 1945. 54 OTU remained for a year before finally moving to RAF Leeming. East Moor closed to flying in June 1946 and was left to decay thereafter. Its hangars were sold and removed in the 1960s and most of the domestic site buildings were demolished.
The last RAF aircraft to land at the airfield was Jet Provost XN469. Having just been told by his instructor to only use former RAF East Moor in a real emergency situation, the student experienced a number of loud bangs in the engine at only 700ft. The instructor immediately took control and returned to the airfield, landing on a very short and rough section of the runway. Although the Jet Provost ended in a field, the crew escaped injury, and the aircraft was recoverable. For his action in this incident the instructor was awarded a green commendation and the investigation found that he "showed a high degree of airmanship during the emergency, and by his exceptional skill, avoided injury to both himself and his student, and saved his aircraft from the total destruction which might have resulted had they both ejected." (source).
A decade later most of the runways was broken up, apart from some sections retained as bases for poultry houses. Agriculture reclaimed practically all the airfield. The former technical site was occupied as a gypsy encampment for several years, but it has now been replaced by a caravan park and light industrial estate.


This Jet Provost (XN469, '25') accidentally became the last RAF plane to land at East Moor, when it experienced an in flight emergency 22 June 1970 (yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk)


The former East moor airfield in 2009 (Google Earth).

Note: this airfield was described earlier, using information supplied on the RAF website. Due to a 3rd party copyright claim, the part between 1940 and 1945 was rewritten, omitting certain information on units and dates.