The residents of the East Yorkshire village of Carnaby have started a campaign to commemorate their airfield. Chris Gilson went to see how a forgotten base is being remembered
To the casual motorist driving through the picturesque East Yorkshire village of Carnaby near Bridlington, there is little to indicate that there was ever an airfield in the vicinity. Close inspection of the road signs reveals a Lancaster Road and a Wellington Way, but until now not much has been done to commemorate a site that not only played a vital part as an emergency landing strip during World War Two, but was active well into the nuclear era.
In fact, the site not only hosted 617 Squadron – the legendary Dambusters – but it also played its part in the development of the V-Bombers, and finished up with a placement of THOR ballistic missiles before finally closing its gates in 1963. RAF Carnaby was no ordinary station.
