Royal Air Force Heathfield, or more commonly RAF Heathfield, sometimes known as RAF Ayr/Heathfield due to its proximity to

Glasgow Prestwick Airport Glasgow Prestwick Airport (), commonly referred to as Prestwick Airport, is an international airport serving the west of Scotland, situated northeast of the town of Prestwick, and southwest of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the less busy of the two ...

, which was also used by military flights, is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

. It opened in April 1941 as an

airbase An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

for day and night fighter squadrons. In September 1944 it transferred to Fleet Air Arm control and commissioned as HMS ''Wagtail''. The Royal Navy paid off the airbase in March 1946 and it was reduced to care and maintenance. The United States Air Force used it for storage between 1951 and 1957. Like many other wartime airfields, its runways were of the triangular layout.

History

Royal Air Force use

The following units were posted here at some point: ;Units:

Royal Navy

HMS ''Wagtail'' (1944-1946)

The airbase was transferred on loan to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

, from No. 13 Group RAF, on 6 September 1944. The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

took over with Commander(A) H.L. McCullock as CO. Known as Royal Naval Air Station Ayr (RNAS Ayr), it was commissioned shortly afterwards, on 20 October, as HMS ''Wagtail''. One runway was redesigned and used by the Royal Navy's

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

to practice

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

landings. HMS ''Wagtail'' was '

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

' by the Royal Navy on 10 March 1946 and it was reduced to Care & Maintenance Status, administered by RNAS Abbotsinch.

Commanding officers

List of

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

s of HMS ''Wagtail '' with date of appointment: *

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

( A) H.L. McCullock, RN, from 6 September 1944

Units based at HMS ''Wagtail''

List of units associated with HMS ''Wagtail'', in support of disembarked fighter squadrons and a Fleet Requirements Unit: ; Function * Support for disembarked fighter squadrons * Bombardment Spotting School * No.3 Barracuda Servicing Unit * Flag Officer Carrier Training Squadron. * Accommodation for two RAF Squadrons.

Squadrons at HMS ''Wagtail''

A list of Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm aviation squadrons that were either stationed at or deployed to HMS ''Wagtail'':

United States Air Force

The site was used by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

(USAF) between 1951 and 1957 for aircraft storage use. From then on the USAF decided to solely use the adjacent

Prestwick Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small vi ...

Current use

The site is now a mixture of housing, farmland and a golf club.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Berry, P (2005) ''Prestwick Airport and Scottish Aviation'' * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heathfield (Ayr) Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Royal Air Force stations in Ayrshire Buildings and structures in South Ayrshire Defunct airports in Scotland