The site was acquired in 1937, and intended to be operational by December 1939, however, this was brought forward six months, and the airbase was operating by June 1939. Building work continued post-opening, with the first hangar not being completed until the end of July 1939. In the planning stage, the airfield was intended to be an ASU (aircraft storage unit), rather than an ARD (aircraft repair depot), which is what it became with the work of
No. 12 MU. The first aircraft arrived by rail, as the runway was not ready until the autumn of 1939. The station was provided with 15 hangars at the outset; one
type-C, four type-D hangars, six type-E, and four type-L.
Historic England states that at the closure of the base in 1960, the site had expanded to include 38 hangars in total. The runways were not long enough, a
Liberator had trouble making an effective landing in 1941, and so approval was given to lengthen the runways, but this was not completed until 1943. Most of the pilots operating out of the base were part of the
Air Transport Auxiliary; one of whom described a particularly clever attack a by a Luftwaffe pilot flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110, which looked like a Hampden. The aircraft lowered its landing gear and waggled its wings to mimic the procedures used by ATA pilots when they coming in to land. The bomber then applied thrust and strafed the base dropping at least three bombs on Kirkbride. No. 12 Maintenance Unit remained at the base for the duration of Kirkbride's RAF existence. 12 MU's motto was
Nunquam intermittere cursum (). By the summer of 1945, when offensive operations by the air forces in Europe were winding down, the nature of the base changed from a servicing unit to that of a storage unit. In July 1945, the number of aircraft stored at Kirkbride was 930, which had risen to 1,206 stored airframes by November of the same year. An inquiry during a session of
Parliament in 1958, revealed that during the 1955–1956 financial year, over £100,000 () was spent on repairing aircraft at the base. == Post closure ==