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WW2: Britain’s most northerly bomber base – Middleton St George in County Durham – played a key role in the RAF’s strategy
WW2: Britain’s most northerly bomber base – Middleton St George in County Durham – played a key role in the RAF’s strategy
Britain’s most northerly bomber base – Middleton St George in County Durham – played a key role in the RAF’s strategic night bomber offensive against Germany – from the day its resident Whitley bomber squadron flew its first offensive operational sorties in April 1941 up until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. Over four hard years of total war, its squadrons of Whitleys, Halifaxes and Lancasters flew in all the main RAF offensives against the Third Reich. These included the Thousand Bomber Raids, the Battles of the Ruhr, Hamburg and Berlin, and finally the huge daylight raids that pulverised the failing heart of Nazi Germany in the closing months of the war in Europe.
After the war, the aerodrome served various squadrons and units and in 1947, the airfield became a satellite station of RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire.
The RAF left the station in 1964, and the aerodrome was reopened in 1966 Teesside International Airport in the 1960s, which was then renamedDurham Tees Valley Airport in 2004.
The officers’ mess at the base was converted into the St George Hotel, which is now also the RAF Middleton St George museum.
Destination : Great Britain, Durham Author/Guide: Paul Tweddle Departure Time: WWII
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