Early years Royal Air Force Dishforth opened in 1936. At the beginning of the
Second World War, it became part of
4 Group,
RAF Bomber Command, and was used for recruit training. Between September 1939 and April 1941,
No. 78 Squadron RAF used it to launch night operations using
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley medium bombers. Between 1943 and 1945, the station was used by
No. 6 (RCAF) Group Bomber Command and was a sub-station of
RAF Topcliffe. Immediately after the war, the station was used to convert aircrew to the
Douglas Dakota transport aircraft.
Postwar After the war, the station was occupied by training and transport units.
No. 241 Operational Conversion Unit RAF were at the site from 5 January 1948 – 16 April 1951;
No. 47 Squadron RAF from 14 September 1948 – 22 August 1949;
No. 297 Squadron RAF from 1 November 1948 to 22 August 1949; and then conversion units again,
No. 240 Operational Conversion Unit RAF briefly in March – April 1951 before being merged into the new
No. 242 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (at the station from 16 April 1951 – 29 January 1962).
No. 30 Squadron RAF arrived on 14 April 1953, operating the
Blackburn Beverley, and was based here until November 1959.
No. 215 Squadron RAF arrived on 30 April 1956, equipped with
Scottish Aviation Pioneer CC Mk. 1 aircraft, but it was renumbered
No. 230 Squadron RAF on 1 September 1958. 230 Squadron was at Dishforth from 1 September – 27 November 1958, and then briefly in April 1959.
No. 1325 (Transport) Flight RAF comprising three
Douglas Dakota aircraft formed at Dishforth on 1 August 1956. It was established to support
Operation Buffalo and
Operation Antler, the British nuclear tests at
Maralinga in Australia. 1325 Flight was soon relocated to
Christmas Island (
Kiritimati) to support the
Grapple series of nuclear tests in the
Pacific Ocean. Headquarters
No. 23 Group RAF of
Flying Training Command arrived at Dishforth on 8 March 1962. It stayed until 11 July 1966. 23 Group's Communications Flight had arrived just under a month earlier, on 12 February 1962, and was at the station until 1 October 1964. Two other units were also present in 1962–66:
Leeds University Air Squadron flying the
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T Mk 10; and
No. 60 Maintenance Unit RAF between 1 March 1962 and 2 February 1966. From 1962, the station also became a Relief Landing Ground, successively for 1 FTS and 3 FTS. Jet Provosts from RAF Leeming used the site in this fashion, with personnel deployed from RAF Leeming on a day-to-day basis.
Avro Vulcan V-Bomber aircraft were dispersed to Dishforth during exercises, and would have been dispersed from RAF Scampton during any hostilities during the Cold War. During the 1970s and 1980s, part of the base was used as a police training centre for northern English police forces from Northumbria down to Hertfordshire. == Army use (1992–present) ==