Royal Air Force Grangemouth or more simply RAF Grangemouth 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 ...

located north east of

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

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 ...

History

It was opened as the Central Scotland Airport in May 1939 and operated as a Civilian Air Navigation School (CANS) until early September 1939. After the war it was used as Gliding School until 1946. It was then used by

RAF Maintenance Command RAF Maintenance Command was the Royal Air Force command which was responsible for controlling maintenance for all the United Kingdom-based units from formation on 1 April 1938 until being renamed RAF Support Command on 31 August 1973. Histor ...

until its closure in June 1955.

Second World War

From September 1939 – March 1941 it was used by 602 Squadron flying

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

s, 141 Squadron flying

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. ...

s and

Gloster Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator is a British biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Developed privat ...

s and 263 Squadron flying Westland Whirlwinds. In December 1940 it was used by No. 58 Operational Training Unit (later renamed No. 2 Tactical Exercise Unit RAF). The air traffic control tower (watch tower) was of a pre-war civilian type. There were 10 Hangars, two were of a civil type and the other eight were of the Blister type. In an attempt to reduce the number of crashes caused by over-shooting, the east–west runway was extended by about 300 yards in the summer of 1942. This runway intersected with the Inchyra Road runway and extended west to where Candie Crescent now starts off Overton Road. The Charlotte Dundas Shopping Centre was built over part of the remains of this runway in 1960–1961.

Post war

After the war, it was used as a gliding school and by No. 13 Refresher Flying School RAF, then by

until closure in 1955. Unfortunately at 0200 one Sunday in 1952 a fire started & some of the buildings were destroyed.

Timeline

* 01/05/1939: Opened as Central Scotland Airport. * 01/05/1939 – 09/39: No. 35 E&RFTS with

Hawker Hart The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircraf ...

s and

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary traine ...

s and No. 10 Civilian Air Navigation School with

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), R ...

s. * 09/39 – 03/41: Airfield used by 602 Sqn Spitfires, 141 Sqn Blenheims and

Gladiators A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

and 263 Sqn

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

and 614 Sqn Lysanders. * 12/40 – 06/44: No. 58 Operational Training Unit with

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

, from 1942 satellite airfield at

RAF Balado Bridge Royal Air Force Balado Bridge or more simply RAF Balado Bridge is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located west of Kinross, in central Scotland. It opened in 1942 as a satellite airfield to RAF Grangemouth, and closed in 1957. It ha ...

. * 10/43: No. 58 Operational Training Unit renamed No. 2 Tactical Exercise Unit. * 1945-46: Used as a Gliding School. * 1948-49: 13 Refresher Flying School with

s, then used by

until closure.

Operational units and aircraft

Other Units/Wings

; No. 52 (Army Co-operation) Wing RAF 9 June 1940 – 14 July 1940. ; No. 58 Operational Training Unit No. 58 Operational Training Unit was planned to form at RAF Grangemouth in October 1940 within No. 10 Group to train night fighter crews. This was changed in early December when it actually formed as a day fighter pilot training unit, using

and Masters. It was transferred to No. 81 Group at the end of December 1940 and disbanded in early October 1943 when it was redesignated No. 2 Combat Training Wing (changed again to No. 2 Tactical Exercise Unit at a later date). In the event of a German invasion the OTU would have become No. 558 Squadron (and later also as No. 563 Squadron) to operate from

RAF Turnhouse Royal Air Force Turnhouse, or more simply RAF Turnhouse, is a former Royal Air Force Sector Station located in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is now Edinburgh Airport. History A landing ground was first established at Turnhouse in 1915. The airfield ...

. The unit reformed on 15 March 1945, at

RAF Poulton Royal Air Force Poulton or more simply RAF Poulton (X4PL) is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located near Poulton, Cheshire and was operational from 1 March 1943 until 1945. It was used as an Operational Training Unit (OTU) and Tactica ...

in No. 12 Group, as half an Operational Training Unit equipped with

from the day fighter element of No. 41 Operational Training Unit until it was disbanded on 20 July 1945. Codes used: - *PQ Dec 1940 – Oct 1943 *P9 Mar 1945 – Jul 1945 ; No. 4 Aircraft Delivery Flight RAF (April 1941 – January 1942) Commanding Officer Squadron Leader Eric Valentine Hulbert appointed 16 April 1943. ; No. 2 Combat Training Wing RAF (October 1943) See No. 58 Operational Training Unit Above. ; No. 2 Tactical Exercise Unit RAF (October 1943 – June 1944) See No. 58 Operational Training Unit Above. ; Sub site of No. 14 Maintenance Unit RAF (October 1944 – August 1949)

Present day

Today the site is now part of Inchyra Park, a light industrial area, the Charlotte Dundas Shopping Centre, and a housing estate. The shorter runway is now Inchyra Road,

Grangemouth Grangemouth (; , ) is a town in the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area in the central belt of Scotland. Historically part of the Counties of Scotland, county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firt ...

. Contrary to many reports, the vast majority of the site is NOT now covered by petrochemicals industry. Only a relatively small area east of Inchyra Road has such industry on it and which was only built on during the 1970s and thereafter. Some of the hangars still remain intact at Latitude, Longitude 56.013348N, 3.707562W.RCAHMS Archeological Notes & Photos
/ref> In 2008, a memorial garden was unveiled, to commemorate those who died, planted on ground granted for the purpose and located on the perimeter of the original airfield. Within the garden, a wall features the names of 71 trainee pilots from 11 countries who died whilst in training. On Thursday 9 May 2013, a full size replica of a Mk1 Spitfire was unveiled in the memorial garden. The memorial remembers the contribution of hundreds of Polish and other international pilots who developed their skills at the airfield as members of No. 58 Operational Training Unit 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 ...

Wartime Deaths

The many British and Polish pilots dying of wounds on return are buried to the south in

Grandsable Cemetery Grandsable Cemetery (sometimes called Grangemouth Cemetery) lies east of Falkirk, between the A9 and A803 south of Grangemouth near Polmont. It lies on a small hill with views over the Firth of Forth. It is well-maintained with a mature and well ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

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