Our History

The forerunner of the Corps was the Air Defence Cadet Corps which was founded in 1938 by Air Commodore J. A. Chamier. After the onset of World War II the UK government realised the importance the ADCC gave the country in terms of preparing young men for service with the Royal Air Force and it was decided to formalise a relationship and take over the the running of the ADCC.

The new Corps was to be named the Air Training Corps with Air Commodore Chamier as its first Commandant and now affectionately known as the "Father of the ATC", complete with a Royal Warrant; setting out its aims, the training it would provide and the rank structure which was similar to the RAF. Funding would be provided by the Government and to this day still is. There was a rush to setup squadrons in time for the official founding of the Corps - 5th February 1941.

On the 31st January 1941, 61 pupils at Scarborough High School, Westwood enrolled as cadets in the newly formed Air Training Corps as part of 739 (Scarborough High School) Squadron which was a "school" squadron - in other words the membership was made up of only the schools pupils. For the town another Squadron was setup - 313 Scarborough & District Squadron based at the towns Technical College in Valley Road - it also had a detached flight in the town of Filey. At its height 739 Scarborough High School Squadron had over 100 cadets!

At the end of the war the general direction the Corps would take was changed to reflect its peacetime role. Many squadrons disbanded, including 313 Scarborough & District Squadron in 1945. At this time the decision was taken by the High School to allow all cadets from the disbanded unit to join the High School Squadron, and despite being based in a school it became an "open" Squadron for the first time.

The Squadron remained at the high School in Westwood, until 1959 when the High School moved to a new building at Woodlands Drive on the outskirts of the town (now Graham School). Unfortunately there was no accommodation available at this site and the hunt was on for a new home. This was found, along with the Army Cadet Force at St. Johns Road in wooden huts where both units remained until 1993.

We moved to our current home in 1993 at the Cadet Centre in Newby, and into a brand new purpose built building which should last for many years to come with the building being fully refurbished during early 2011.

Historically Squadrons have been managed by Officers commissioned to the Volunteer Reserve of the RAF. As of 2017 all Officers and adult SNCO are now brigaded into the Royal Air Force Air Cadets (RAFAC). Officers now hold a Monarch's Cadet Forces Commission.