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RAF Yeadon was a Royal Air Force flying station used in the Second World War and by some flying squadrons after the war had ended. It is now known as Leeds Bradford Airport. Flying activity ceased during wartime and the airfield was requisitioned for military use, though normal RAF use ceased by 1941, with the site mostly being used for training or by ferry pool pilots flying aircraft out from the adjacent aircraft factory. No. 609 Squadron returned after the war but had left the site permanently in 1957.

History
The first significant RAF presence came in the form of No. 609 Squadron RAuxAF, which formed at Yeadon on 10 February 1936. The outbreak of war saw a curtailment of civilian aircraft flights and most aerodromes and airfields were requisitioned for military flying, which included Yeadon. Initially allocated to No. 13 Group, the base was later moved into No. 12 Group for the duration of the war under Fighter Command.

No. 51 Group Communications moved their headquarters to RAF Yeadon in August 1939, having formed at Hendon some three months earlier. By 1940, the RAF footprint had increased exponentially with the intention of building five Bellman hangars, and new accommodation huts had been erected. A watchtower was built in 1940, which had a good overall sight of the airfield area. The site was predominantly used as a scatter airfield for Whitley Armstrong aircraft of No.s 51 and 58 Squadrons, based at RAF Driffield and RAF Linton on Ouse respectively.

By early 1941, neither Fighter nor Bomber Command had a use for the station, so it was turned over to Training Command and came under the responsibility of No. 51 Group Flying Training Command. With the completion of the aircraft factory, the site was handed over to the Ministry of Aircraft Production, with the flying training activities becoming a lodger unit.

Shadow factory
In 1940, the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) built a shadow factory just to the north of the airfield and set about forming the site to be a launch airfield for new aircraft.

Based units
The following military units were based at RAF Yeadon: