RAF Scorton

Infobox Military Structure
name= Royal Air Force Station Scorton
USAAF Station 425
location= Located Near Scorton, North Yorkshire, England
coordinates=coord|54|21|48|N|001|37|00|W|


caption=
type= Military airfield
code=
built=1940
builder=
materials=
height=
used=1941-1945
demolished=
condition=
ownership=
controlledby=Royal Air Force
United States Army Air Forces
garrison=
commanders=
occupants=Royal Air Force
Ninth Air Force
battles= European Theatre of World War II
Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 Location map|North Yorkshire
caption= RAF Scorton, shown within North Yorkshire
lat= 54.3969
long= -1.6110
width= 200

RAF Scorton was a satellite station of RAF Catterick during World War II. It was located near the village of Scorton in North Yorkshire, England. It was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force during the war. Scorton was assigned USAAF station number 425.

Overview

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 famous No. 56 Squadron RAF flew Spitfires from Scorton during WWII. Also the USAAF 422d and 425th Night Fighter Squadrons were stationed at Scorton flying the Northrup P-61 "Black Widow" fighter

Operational Royal Air Force units and aircraft

* No. 26 Squadron RAF (1944) - North American Mustang I
* No. 56 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IX
* No. 122 Squadron RAF (1941-1942) - Supermarine Spitfire IIA, IIB and VB
* No. 130 Squadron RAF (1943) - Supermarine Spitfire VB
* No. 167 Squadron RAF (1942) - Supermarine Spitfire VB
* No. 219 Squadron RAF (1942-1943) - Bristol Beaufighter IF
* No. 406 Squadron RCAF (1942) - Bristol Beaufighter IIF
* No. 410 Squadron RCAF (1942) - Bristol Beaufighter IIF
* No. 604 Squadron RAF (1943) - Bristol Beaufighter IF

USAAF Use

422d and 425th Night Fighter Squadrons

The USAAF Ninth Air Force transferred two P-61 squadrons to Scorton from RAF Charmy Down near Bath in Somerset to train and fly with the RAF night fighter Operational Training Unit assigned there. Initially flying de Havilland Mosquitoes, their first P-61 arrived at Scorton on 23 May 1944 and their first assignment was to chase night-flying V-1 "buzz bombs".

The Black Widows would be vectored to intercept approaching V-1s by ground control. Since the V-1 was a little faster than the P-61, the Black Widow had to approach the V-1 from behind and go into a slight dive in order to catch up with it.

The first Black Widow V-1 "kill" took place on 16 July 1944, credited to pilot Herman Ernst and radar operator Edward Kopsel of the 422nd Night Fighter Squadron. One of the greatest dangers involved in killing V-1s was the possibility of getting too close to the flying bomb when one fired at it, running the risk of damage to their own plane if the bomb exploded when hit.

After D-Day, the USAAF Black Widows moved to Advanced Landing Grounds at Maupertus (A-15) (422d NFS) near Cherbourg and Vannes (A-33N) (425th NFS) in Brittany France to intercept German night fighters and bombers attacking Allied positions. Although several interceptions of night-flying German aircraft were made, most Black Widow missions were night intruder missions against trains, armor, and other ground targets.

The 422d eventually served at A-39 (Chateaudun) in France, then at A-78 (Florennes/Juzaine) in Belgium, then Y-59 (Strassfield) and R-2 {Langensalza) Germany. It was inactivated in September 1945. During the winter of 1944-45 the squadron received several Douglas A-20G "Havocs" which were used for intruder operations and occasionally dropping flares to aid ground artillery units. The A-20s also wore a glossy black finish.

The 425th eventually served at A-58 (Coulommiers), A-79 (Prosnes) and A-82 (Verdun) in France. Moving into Germany, it served at Y-73 (Frankfurt/Rhein Main) and R-30 (Furth), where it performed occupation duty with the United States Air Forces in Europe. It was inactivated during August 1947.

Postwar Use

The Aerodrome closed in 1945 and most of the concreted areas have extensively quarried away for sand and gravel extraction. There a few military pre-fab building remaining which are used by local farmers.

ee also

* List of RAF stations
* USAAF Ninth Air Force - World War II

References

* Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle ISBN 0900913800
* Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle ISBN 1854092723
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
* [http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/usafserials.html USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present]

External links

* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=catterick&sll=52.897979,-2.220504&sspn=0.008737,0.020084&ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&ll=54.400148,-1.624453&spn=0.008431,0.020084&z=16 Location of former RAF Scorton at Google Maps]