76 Squadron had their headquarters at Ripon[3] and like many other of the relief landing grounds they operated, it is unsure whether or not Shipton saw any flying activity.

The crash occurred in December 1943 and the extreme cold and elevated location made the recovery very difficult, but all valuable parts were returned to the main site at Shipton by 6 January 1944.

The Whitleys were taken there to spread out the number of aircraft across a wider geographical area in case of an enemy raid at Linton.

[15] As part of Britains' early warning defence programme (known as ROTOR), a bunker with three levels was built at the north west corner of the airfield site in 1953.

[16] Initially, the operations were run from Imphal Barracks in York,[17] but when the bunker was commissioned in 1954, the control was transferred to Shipton.

[18] Shipton was one of six Sector Operations Centres (SOCs) dotted around Great Britain, (the other five being at Barnton Quarry in Edinburgh, Bawburgh near Norwich, Box in Wiltshire, Goosnargh near Preston and Kelvedon Hatch in Essex).

[19][20] The initial role of the SOC was to direct air operations and counter-inception flights in the eastern side of England.

[20] A decision was taken in 1992 to sell off some of the nuclear bunkers deemed unnecessary after the end of the Cold War; Shipton was one of them,[28] with closure coming in 1993[24] and disposal in 1996.