# RAF Middleton St. George



## scottyg100 (Mar 23, 2010)

Not 100% derelict but still rather interesting, this old RAF base is currently home too the fire fighters training school, a few haulage company's and also has a MOD mental health care hospital on site as well as being the Durham tees valley airport. i didn't spend alot of time here as the weather was starting to become miserable and it was going dark (i have to use my phone as i have lost my camera so picture quality ain't to good)

Now for a bit of history.

RAF Middleton St. George was a Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command station during World War II. It was located in County Durham, five miles east of Darlington, England.

The aerodrome opened as a Bomber Command station in 1941. In 1943 it was allocated to No. 6 Group, Royal Canadian Air Force. A sub-station was located at Croft. Squadrons based here include: 76 Squadron, which flew Halifaxes, 78 Squadron, which flew Whitleys, 419 Squadron RCAF, which flew Wellingtons, Halifaxes, and Lancasters, 420 Squadron RCAF, which flew Wellingtons, and 428 Squadron RCAF, which flew Wellingtons, Halifaxes, and Lancasters.

After the war, the aerodrome served various squadrons and units including No. 13 Operational Training Unit (OTU), No. 2 Air Navigation School, No. 4 Flight Training School, and squadrons that used Meteors, Hunters, Javelins and Lightnings.

The RAF left the station in 1964 but the aerodrome was reopened in 1966 as a civil airport. It is now Durham Tees Valley Airport.

I really do apologise for picture quality and as soon as i get my new camera i will go back and have a better look around. 























































































Thank you for looking.


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## jonney (Mar 24, 2010)

Nice stuff mate I'll have to have a look around there. Did you find the pillboxes or the elusive pickett hamilton forts that are supposed to be still there


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## scottyg100 (Mar 24, 2010)

No mate today was a quick recce to be honest, When i get time again and when i get a new camera I'm going round to have a better look, there is some interesting bits and pieces to have a look at. another reason why i rushed about here is because i was in my car and there is wheel clamping on site so didn't fancy paying silly amounts of money to get my wheels released. so had to keep moving my motor, next time i will get the bus lol.


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## George1507 (Dec 23, 2022)

jonney said:


> Nice stuff mate I'll have to have a look around there. Did you find the pillboxes or the elusive pickett hamilton forts that are supposed to be still there


The site of the old RAF airfield was very big. The current airport and terminals and hangars etc occupy less than half of the site. There are two runways, more or less derelict now, that connect to the main runway used today, at the north end of the site. To the east and south of the site are loads of dispersal pens, air raid shelters, bomb dumps and other buildings. Most of them are overgrown and falling down now, but still visible, especially in winter when there is less foliage. I'm pretty sure I found the Pickett Hamilton fort - on the south side of the airfield.

The authorities aren't happy if they spot you wandering about, I've been chucked off several times. You can't access this area from the west side of the airport, but if you look at maps you can figure out a way to get on. It's a real archaeological treasure trove for somebody who knows more about war time RAF ops than me. I did find a propeller blade, in a thicket near one of the dispersal pens. It was shot through about a foot from the end. Presumably it had been taken off a plane and then discarded.

I heard that the RAF and RCAF abandoned loads of materiel in May 1945. I'm pretty sure that the airfield, as it was, must have been abandoned, save for the areas round the hangars and the mess buildings, hospital etc.


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