Royal Air Force Debden or more simply RAF Debden is a former Royal Air Force station located 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Saffron Walden and approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Debden in north Essex, England The airfield was opened in April 1937 and was first used by the Royal Air Force.

One of Debden's early and most bizarre experiences was when the airfield was chosen as a location for the film It's in the Air in which George Formby was to pilot a Hawker Fury through Hangar No.

During August and September, Debden fighters claimed seventy aircraft destroyed, thirty probables and forty-one damaged.

The group operated first with Supermarine Spitfires but changed to Republic P-47 Thunderbolts in March 1943 and to North American P-51 Mustangs in April 1944.

On numerous occasions the 4th FG escorted Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers that were attacking factories, submarine pens, V-weapon sites, and other targets in France, the Low Countries, or Germany.

The group went out sometimes with a small force of bombers to draw up the enemy's fighters so they could be destroyed in aerial combat.

The unit participated in the intensive campaign against the German Air Force and aircraft industry during Big Week, 20–25 February 1944.

They participated in the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945, and provided cover for the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.

The School hosted the RAF Police Dog Demonstration Team which, apart from its appearances over many years in the UK, toured America in September 1969.

Due to its postwar use, the airfield and technical site is almost completely intact from its Second World War configuration, although all but one of the three Type-C hangars made famous by Formby have now been demolished on the main airfield and two other hangars remaining to the south of the main site.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency