RAF Melbourne was a Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 station during the Second World War. Located 5 miles to the South-west of Pocklington

Pocklington

Pocklington is a small market town and civil parish situated at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, approximately east of York....

, Yorkshire, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The nearest village is Seaton Ross

Seaton Ross

Seaton Ross is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately west of the market town of Market Weighton and north west of the village of Holme-on-Spalding-Moor. It lies to the south of the A1079 road and north of the A163 road.According to the...

.

History

East Common just outside the village of Seaton Ross was requisitioned for use as a grass airfield in November 1940. In late 1940 the airfield was used by Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was one of three British twin-engine, front line medium bomber types in service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of the Second World War...

s of 10 Squadron

No. 10 Squadron RAF

No. 10 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron. The squadron served in a variety of roles over its 90 year history...

 as a relief landing ground for RAF Leeming

RAF Leeming

RAF Leeming is a Royal Air Force station in North Yorkshire, UK.HRH The Duchess of Cornwall is the Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Leeming. The Station Commander is Group Captain Anthony Innes....

. The airfield soon closed for re-development as a standard Bomber Command airfield with three concrete runways and three hangars.

The first user of the re-built airfield was again 10 Squadron but by this time operating the Handley Page Halifax

Handley Page Halifax

The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...

 four-engined heavy bomber, little time was wasted before the aircraft were used on operational sorties from Melbourne. The squadron continued with operation until March 1945 and lost 109 aircraft on operations.

Melbourne was unusually equipped with FIDO

Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO)

Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation was a system used for dispersing fog from an airfield so that aircraft could land safely...

 fog dispersant system. This made the airfield popular diversion airfield for other squadrons returning from operations to Yorkshire.

In May 1945 the airfield was transferred to RAF Transport Command

RAF Transport Command

RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967.-History:...

 and 575 Squadron

No. 575 Squadron RAF

No. 575 Squadron RAF was a transport squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.-History:The squadron was formed at RAF Hendon on 1 February 1944 from elements of 512 Squadron. Just two weeks later it moved to RAF Broadwell to work-up as a tactical transport squadron with the...

 moved in with the Douglas Dakota

C-47 Skytrain

The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...

. The squadron only stayed for a few months operating transport flight to and from continental Europe. With the departure of the Dakota a number of specialised Flights used the airfield for six months but by the middle of 1946 the airfield was no longer used for flying.

The airfield is now home to York Raceway running drag racing throughout the summer. The farm on the North Eastern side of the site still uses the main East/West runway for his single prop aeroplane.

RAF units and aircraft

Unit	Dates	Aircraft	Variant	Notes
No. 10 Squadron RAF No. 10 Squadron RAF No. 10 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron. The squadron served in a variety of roles over its 90 year history...	1942–1945	Handley Page Halifax Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...	II converted to III from 1944	Four-engined heavy heavy bomber.
No. 575 Squadron RAF No. 575 Squadron RAF No. 575 Squadron RAF was a transport squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.-History:The squadron was formed at RAF Hendon on 1 February 1944 from elements of 512 Squadron. Just two weeks later it moved to RAF Broadwell to work-up as a tactical transport squadron with the...	1946	Douglas Dakota C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...		Twin-engined transport.
No. 1510 Flight RAF	1945–1946	Airspeed Oxford Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:...		Blind approach training flight
No. 1552 Flight RAF	1945–1946	Airspeed Oxford Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:... Avro Anson Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm and numerous other air forces prior to, during, and after the Second World War. Named for British Admiral George Anson, it was originally designed for maritime reconnaissance, but was...		Blind approach training flight
No. 1553 Flight RAF	1945	Airspeed Oxford Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:...		Blind approach training flight
No. 1554 Flight RAF	1945	Airspeed Oxford Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:...		Blind approach training flight

• No. 4 Group Communication Flight (1945–1946)
• No. 91 Maintenance Unit (1949–1954)

External links

• RAF Melbourne
• York Raceway