Catterick airfield first opened in 1914 as a Royal Flying Corps aerodrome with the role of training pilots and to assist in the defence of the North East of England. It came under RAF administration in 1918 and housed Number 49 Training Depot. In 1927, it temporarily came under the administration of the British Army, under the Army Air Co-Operation Command which would supply the army with any air support needs that would be required. This continued until 1939 when the station was handed back to the RAF. During the Second World War, the airfield operated a small satellite station called RAF Scorton near the village of Scorton. Catterick's runway could not be extended from its existing for the jet age due to the perimeter being bounded by the Great North Road and the River Swale. Therefore, Catterick's importance declined after the Second World War, though it still housed training institutes for many years.
Royal Air Force units
The following squadrons have at some points been stationed at RAF Catterick: ;1-99 Squadrons
Catterick served as a RAF Regiment depot occupied by operational Squadrons and was the training base for the RAF Regiment from 1946-1994 when the Regiment's training facilities moved to RAF Honington. Catterick was also the training centre for the RAF Fire Service until the 1990s. As a fire school it had a "rescue set" the mock up of a house to simulate search and rescue scenarios. It also had a burning area where ex service aircraft were covered in fuel and set alight including in 1983 two complete Avro Vulcan Bomber's. There were also a number of retired airframes used for practice rescues and deployments. The Fire Fighting & Rescue squadron moved to RAF Manston in 1989. The following RAF Regiment units were here at some point:
Marne Barracks
The RAF station closed on 30 June 1994 with the RAF Regiment depot moving to RAF Honington. The site was then transferred to the British Army to become Marne Barracks is part of the Catterick Garrison complex. A number of establishments exist on the barracks, including a HUB bar, a Londis shop, a PRI shop, a hairdresser, and a gymnasium. The barracks have had upgraded accommodation installed as part of Project SLAM. This has been undertaken by Corus. BAM Construction have also undertaken the conversion of some of the old RAF hangars to maintenance depots for the Land Rovers utilised by the two regiments.
RAF Catterick was used as the fictional RAF Halfpenny Field for the 1945 film The Way to the Stars, and some of the airfield locations remain little changed.
Motorsport
Between 1958 and 1963, the airfield was partly used as a race track, under the name of Catterick Circuit.
