Royal Air Force Machrihanish or RAF Machrihanish (formerly ) 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 located near the town of

Machrihanish Machrihanish (, ) is a village in Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland. It is a short distance north of the tip of the Mull of Kintyre, which faces out towards Northern Ireland and the Atlantic. Machrihanish bay The main sandy beach ...

and west of

Campbeltown Campbeltown (; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre Peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port. The 2018 populatio ...

, at the tip of the

Kintyre peninsula Kintyre (, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately north of Kintyre is ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, in Scotland. Two airfields known as Machrihanish have existed, the first was operational during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was used by the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

and RAF, before closing at the end of the Second World War. A second airfield, which was constructed during the Second World War, was used extensively by the

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 ...

during the war. During the 1960s, it was redeveloped and became an RAF station and was made available to the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as a

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s store and base for components of the

US Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

Naval Special Warfare Group 2. The draw-down of US military forces in Europe after the end of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

resulted in the US Navy leaving Machrihanish and returning their facilities to the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MOD) on 30 June 1995, after which the station became MOD Machrihanish and was retained on a care and maintenance basis. In May 2012, the station was sold to the Machrihanish Airbase Community Company (MACC) under community right-to-buy legislation. MACC now operates the site as a business park, with part of the airfield incorporating

Campbeltown Airport Campbeltown Airport () is located at Machrihanish, west of Campbeltown, near the tip of the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll and Bute on the west coast of Scotland. The airport was formerly known as RAF Machrihanish (after the village of Machrih ...

History

First World War

An airfield was first established at Machrihanish towards the end of the

, west of

. The site, known as Machrihanish Aerodrome and Mooring Out Station, extended to and comprised timber and canvas

Bessonneau hangar The Bessonneau hangar was a portable timber and canvas aircraft hangar used by the France, French History of the Armée de l'Air (1909-1942), ''Aéronautique Militaire'' and subsequently adopted by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the Royal ...

s and Armstrong huts. It was operated by the

(RNAS) as a secondary station of the

Luce Bay Luce Bay is a large bay in Wigtownshire in southern Scotland. The bay is 20 miles wide at its mouth and is bounded by the Rhins of Galloway to the west and the Machars to the east. The Scares are rocky islets at the mouth of the bay. Bombi ...

Airship Station, located near

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...

, approximately to the south-east. Due to Machrihanish being relatively open and without the benefit of shelter from woodland, it is thought that the airfield saw little use by

airship An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...

s. On 1 April 1918, Machrihanish came under the control of the newly formed

(RAF), when the RNAS was merged with the army's

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

. The airfield became part of No. 25 (Operations) Group, with No. 272 Squadron forming on 25 July 1918, operating eighteen

Airco DH.6 The Airco DH.6 was a British military trainer biplane used by the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. Known by various nicknames, including the "Clutching hand" and "Skyhook", many survived to be used as a civil light aircraft in the p ...

s on anti-submarine patrols in the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

. Along with its parent station at Luce Bay, Machrihanish closed towards the end of 1918, with the airfield transferring to

civil aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, which can be both private and commercial. Most countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and ...

use. In the 1930s, it was used for scheduled flights to

Islay Islay ( ; , ) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll and Bute just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's cap ...

Renfrew Renfrew (; ; ) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gaine ...

and

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Midland & Scottish Air Ferries Midland & Scottish Air Ferries was Scotland's first airline, operating from 1933 to 1934. It is particularly noted for pioneering flights to the Inner Hebrides History Foundation John Cuthill Sword started Midland Bus Services in Airdrie, North ...

Second World War

The airfield was requisitioned by the

(FAA) in 1940 and in April 1941 it became known as Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Machrihanish or HMS ''Landrail''. During the same period, a new airfield was constructed by Bernard Sunley & Sons for the FAA to the north west of the existing airfield. The new airfield was opened on 15 June 1941 and was known as RNAS Strabane until the summer of 1941, when it took on the names RNAS Machrihanish and HMS ''Landrail''. The original airfield became a satellite station of the new airfield and became known as HMS ''Landrail II''. Throughout the Second World War, Machrihanish was heavily used for training by a wide range of FAA and RAF aircraft and as a base for squadrons disembarked from

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 ...

s. The airfield was also used for operational anti-submarine patrols and convoy escort duties, becoming one of the top three busiest stations in the UK. At the end of the war activity decreased, with the station closing on 16 April 1946. At the same time, HMS ''Landrail II'' closed, with the land returned to agricultural use.

Cold War

After closure, Machrihanish was retained by the FAA on a care and maintenance basis, until 1 December 1951 when it was reopened as a satellite of HMS ''Sanderling'' (now

Glasgow Airport Glasgow Airport, also known as Glasgow International Airport () and formerly Abbotsinch Airport, is an international airport located in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, west of Glasgow city centre. In 2019 it handled 8.84 million passe ...

). It was used for a short period for training FAA pilots in preparation for their involvement in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

aboard the aircraft carrier HMS ''Indomitable'', before again being reduced to care and maintenance status on 30 September 1952. The airfield was used by the

Fleet Requirements Unit The Airwork Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) was a civilian-operated unit of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm managed by Airwork Services, Airwork Limited. It was established on the 1 September 1952, at Hurn Airport, operating for 20 years before m ...

in 1958.

Redevelopment for US and NATO use

In April 1959, it was announced that the airfield would be upgraded in order to support United States and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

operations in the Clyde area and wider Atlantic. Paid for by NATO, the station underwent extensive redevelopment in the early 1960s, with land belonging to seven farms and six small holdings being acquired for the purpose. Its four existing runways were replaced by a new runway to allow

Avro Vulcan The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) was a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe ...

bombers and other large aircraft to use the airfield. Control of Machrihanish was transferred from 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 ...

to the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

on 27 May 1963. In June 1964, Machrihanish was opened as an RAF station under No. 18 Group, part of

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

. Although not an operational station and with no flying squadrons based there, it was assigned to NATO's

Supreme Allied Commander Europe The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...

, for use as a forward operating base in the event of war with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

US Navy use

The mid-1960s saw the airfield being made available for use to the

. Although nominally still an RAF station, it came under the command of the US Navy's

Commander in Chief, Atlantic Command The United States Atlantic Command (acronym from 1947-1993 USLANTCOM, after 1993 USACOM) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense. In 1999, U.S. Atlantic Command was renamed and given a new mission as United ...

. The first U.S. naval personnel arrived in mid-1967 and were from the Mobile Mine Assembly Unit, previously based at

RAF Mildenhall Royal Air Force Mildenhall, or more simply RAF Mildenhall , is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station located near Mildenhall, Suffolk, Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as a List of Royal Air Force stations, ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. They were later joined by an Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Group detachment, part of the

US Atlantic Fleet The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFFC) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Sta ...

. On 7 March 1968, the Naval Aviation Weapons Facility Machrihanish (NAWF) was opened, its role being to 'receive, store, maintain, issue and tranship classified weapons in support of the US Navy and NATO operations'. The NAWF comprised a fenced compound located on the north-west side of the airfield, within which were three rows of flat roofed concrete sheds (known as igloos) about 161m long. The rows were sub-divided into compartments featuring air-tight doors and were designed for the storage of nuclear depth charges and

atomic demolition munition Atomic demolition munitions (ADMs), colloquially known as nuclear land mines, are small nuclear explosive devices. ADMs were developed for both military and civilian purposes. As weapons, they were designed to be exploded in the forward battle a ...

s, for use in anti-submarine warfare. A detachment of the

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

arrived in 1974, with the role of providing nuclear weapons security, which until then had been provided by USN personnel. The early 1980s saw the arrival of Naval Special Warfare Unit 2 and Naval Special Warfare Task Group Europe, both components of the

Naval Special Warfare Group 2. New buildings for the SEAL's use were constructed in the south-west part of the airfield. The main building featured offices, debriefing areas, armoury, sound proof room, internal 25m

firing range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue, or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or shooting sport, competitions. ...

and garage. A separate building contained a parachute drying tower and a large hall which allowed large vehicles to access the building directly from transport aircraft. A Gaydon type hangar was also constructed. From 1981, RAF Machrihanish was certified as a potential emergency landing site for the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

, to be used in the case of a transoceanic abort. Between 1990 and 1995, £16 million and £39.9 million was spent on building works at the station by the Ministry of Defence and NATO respectively.

Military draw-down

The draw-down of US military forces in Europe after the end of the

resulted in the US Navy leaving Machrihanish and returning their facilities to the

on 30 June 1995. After the departure of the US Navy, the station became known as Ministry of Defence (MOD) Machrihanish and was placed under a care and maintenance regime, meaning that although no longer in active use, it would be kept in a condition whereby it could be reactivated within a reasonable time-scale. The airfield continued to be used for occasional military ground and air exercises. In March 1996, the Civil Aviation Authority granted Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd. (HIAL) an aerodrome licence which allowed commercial flights to operate from the airfield. In this capacity it became known as

. In 2005, the MOD were still reported to be considering reactivating the airfield.

Closure and post-military use

With no apparent military future for the station, the Machrihanish Airbase Community Company (MACC) was established in March 2008 by members of the local community who wished to see the site used for the benefit of those living and working in the area. Campbeltown Airport Terminal

On 6 October 2008, it was finally announced that Machrihanish was surplus to defence requirements and would be disposed of. On 14 May 2009, the site was advertised for sale with the MOD looking for expressions of interest to identify potential private sector investors. The move was criticised, with members of the local community expressing concern that they had not been consulted and that the potential for a community buy-out of the site was being ignored. Plans for the buy-out, to be undertaken through community right-to-buy legislation, were hindered in August 2010 when the results of a local community

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16th cent ...

on the plans was rejected by the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

, due to concerns over the viability of the proposals. However, following a further ballot, MACC successfully purchased the site from the MOD for £1 on 11 May 2012. Supported by Highlands & Island Enterprise, the Scottish Government and Argyll & Bute Council, MACC have made available parts of the site for commercial use with the aim of creating a sustainable future for the Campbeltown area. Campbeltown Airport, which has a long lease of their part of the site, continues to be operated by HIAL. Scheduled flights are operated to Glasgow Airport by

Loganair Loganair is a Scottish regional airline headquartered at Glasgow Airport in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The airline primarily operates domestic flights within the United Kingdom. It is the largest regional airline in Scotland by passenger ...

Heritage

Machrihanish's station badge, awarded in 1975, features a silver Scottish sword known as a

claymore A claymore (; from , "great sword") is either the Scottish variant of the late medieval two-handed sword or the Scottish variant of the basket-hilted sword. The former is characterised as having a cross hilt of forward-sloping quillons with ...

, with the blade displayed against the backdrop of four waves representing the sea. The badge portrays the station's use as forward operating base for maritime-related operations. The station's

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

() is in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

and translates as 'Arms to defend the sea', again acknowledging the station's maritime role.

Conspiracy theories

During the 1990s, rumours that Machrihanish was being used by the US military to operate the alleged experimental

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

reconnaissance aircraft appeared in the media. The rumours led to a parliamentary question by Llew Smith MP, where in response the

Minister of State for the Armed Forces The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces is a mid-level ministerial position at the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence in the Government of the United Kingdom. It has been held by Luke Pollard since ...

, Nicholas Soames MP, denied that any

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

aircraft belonging to the US was operating from Machrihanish:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raf Machrihanish

Community buyouts in Scotland Airports established in 1918 Kintyre Closed installations of the United States Navy