Celebrating county’s French RAF base
A LINK between North Yorkshire and France forged during the dark days of the Second World War has been celebrated.
Normandy veteran Ken Cooke was among those gathered at the Yorkshire Air Museum at the former RAF Elvington, near York.
They were there to mark the anniversary of when two squadrons of French servicepeople took over the running of the heavy bomber base, in the run-up to D-Day.
Elvington was the only RAF base staffed entirely by foreign personnel and became know as ‘la petite France’.
It is one of a number of events which are being staged to mark 80 years since D-Day.
Dame Helen Mirren will host the D-Day 80 national commemorative event in Portsmouth.
The Ministry of Defence, Royal British Legion, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the
Normandy Memorial Trust will celebrate the work of UK and other forces at the port city, where the Allies left for the beaches of Normandy during the Second World War.
Dame Helen, who won the best actress Academy Award for The Queen, will present the event, which will take place on the eve of the 80th anniversary.
It is broadcast through the BBC One programme D-Day 80: The Allies Prepare, which is presented by Woman’s Hour host Anita Rani, from Bradford, and John-James Chalmers, a veteran and sports presenter.
Radio 4’s Broadcasting House host Paddy O’Connell, whose father Guy served during D-Day, will provide commentary, while BBC News presenter Sophie Raworth will report live from the British Normandy Memorial, joined by special guests.
A CEREMONY was held near York to mark 80 years since French personnel took over the running of RAF Elvington in the run-up to DDay, the site today of the Yorkshire Air Museum.
The French Ambassador to the UK, Hélène Duchéne, visited the museum to mark the anniversary of when two squadrons of French servicepeople took over the running of the heavy bomber base.
She was accompanied by Defence Attaché Vice Admiral Hervé Hamelin and Air Attaché Colonel Xavier Rival and the three officials raised the French Tricolour in a recreation of the events of May 16 1944.
On that day, two units – 346 and 347 Squadrons – took over the base from 77 Squadron, which had moved to nearby Full Sutton airfield. Elvington was the only RAF base staffed entirely by foreign personnel and became know as ‘la petite France’.
With weeks of the flag-raising the French crews flew Halifax bombers to strike a German gun battery at Grandcamp Maisy, in Normandy, on the eve of D-Day.
As well as the symbolic flagraising, the ambassador was due to unveil the Yorkshire Air Museum’s new D-Day themed exhibition, ‘Elvington 44/45 – The Fight for Liberty’, which includes the story of the French squadrons’ arrival.
She was also due to meet 98-year-old Ken Cooke, the last surviving member of the York Normandy Veterans Association, and saw inside the museum’s reconstructed Halifax.
The Fight for Liberty is a theme to run into next year and tells not only the story of the French at Elvington but also the key role of two of the museum’s aircraft in D-Day: the Handley Page Halifax and the Douglas Dakota. Both were used to deliver troops into Normandy and the Halifax also struck German targets that posed a threat to allied forces.
The Halifax bombers that 346 and 347 Squadrons flew on operations over Europe were sent home with their crews at the end of the war, to provide a foundation for the post-war French air force.
The museum has a strong relationship with the French Government, due to its history with 346 and 347 Squadrons. It has two French Mirage jets (Mirage III and Mirage IV) that are the only examples outside their native France.