RAF Findo Gask was a Royal Air Force satellite station located west of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

used during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

RAF Findo Gask was opened on 14 June 1941 as a Flying Training Airfield. It would appear that it had three runways made of Sommerfeld Track (a form of wire netting based surface). The tower is of the "Watch Office for All Commands" (12779/41) type, with an extra floor and reduced size front windows. There were eight hangars, One T2 hangar (), three Blisters ( in height), four Dorman Long Blisters ( in height). There seems to have been a flooding problem at the airfield due poor drainage; it was often waterlogged and muddy and continued flooding led to the eventual abandonment of the airfield in 1944, when all training moved to RAF Tealing. The airfield also proved to be unsuitable for the

North American Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

. In late 1944 the airfield was used by units from the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

for training purposes. After the war ended the airfield was designated as Camp 233, and the accommodation was used to house German prisoners of war, who worked the land in the area. The airfield was then home to a maintenance unit, No. 260 Maintenance Unit, and used as Equipment Disposal sub site from November 1945 until 1948. A satellite of No. 44 Maintenance Unit RAF also used the site from August 1945 The Perth and District Motor Club held motorcycles races at Gask (also at Errol Aerodrome and Balado). There are no signs of the airfield runways today and the area is mainly used for agriculture, although one area of the airfield near the tower does appear to have had housing built on it. The control tower, previously in a derelict state, is now being restored as a private home.

Operational units and aircraft

It was also used as a "Relief Landing Ground" from 12 July 1943 to 2 November 1944 for No. 9 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit based at RAF Errol.

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

RAF Findo Gask
Control Towers Website * Polish Squadrons Remembered
photographs of RAF Findo GaskRCAHMS Photographs & Archaeological Data
{{DEFAULTSORT:Findo Gask Royal Air Force stations in Scotland Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Airports established in 1941 Buildings and structures in Perth and Kinross Royal Air Force satellite landing grounds