Royal Air Force Errol or more simply RAF Errol is a former
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
station located near the village of
Errol in
Perth & Kinross, Scotland, on the north bank of the
Firth of Tay
The Firth of Tay (; gd, Linne Tatha) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow) empties. The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, City of Dun ...
approximately halfway between
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
and
Dundee.
History
The airfield opened in January 1943. Errol housed
No. 305 Ferry Training Unit RAF as a special air training conversion unit for the Soviet crews receiving deliveries of
Armstrong Whitworth Albemarles. This joint operation continued until April 1944, despite cancellation of Albemarle deliveries in September, 1943. The RAF station originally featured a control tower, 6 hangars, and three runways arranged in an 'A' shape which are still visible today from the air. The military role of Errol airfield ended in 1948, shortly after the end of World War II.
Units
The following units were here at some point:
*
No. 9 Gliding School RAF (May - November 1945)
*
No. 9 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit RAF Number nine may refer to:
* 9 (number), natural number
* Number Nine, Arkansas, a community in the United States
* Number Nine (novel), a 1951 novel by A.P. Herbert
* ''Number Nine'' (album), by Chris Hülsbeck
* , by Wende (2009)
* Number 9 A ...
(August 1942 - June 1945)
*
No. 260 Maintenance Unit RAF (June 1945 - July 1948)
*
No. 271 Squadron RAF
*
810 Naval Air Squadron
810 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed on 3 April 1933 with the amalgamation of the 12 Blackburn Dart aircraft from 463 and 44 Flight (Fleet Torpedo) Flights Royal Air Force to the Fleet Air Arm. The ...
*
No. 1544 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF (January - March 1944)
*
No. 1680 (Transport) Flight RAF (April - May & September 1944)
Post war
In 1988, the airfield was purchased by Morris Leslie Group as a site for auctioning plant. The site serves as their headquarters, and they created a mixed-use business park on the Errol side of the airfield.
a haulage company and a garden supplies wholesaler are in residence.
Many of the buildings around the airfield are now derelict or in a state of poor repair. Only one runway appears to be in service for light aircraft for activities such as skydiving.
Vintage car rallies and other events requiring large flat open spaces take place at the airfield throughout the year. A weekly car boot sale
is held every Sunday, which, in the summer months, is one of the largest in Scotland.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
External links
*Control Towers Website
RAF Errol*Photographs
Photos and archaeological information of control tower.*Photographs
RAF Errol in the 1980s
{{DEFAULTSORT:Errol
Royal Air Force stations in Scotland
Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
Airports established in 1943