RAF Dumfries
RAF Dumfries | |||||||||||||||||||
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| IATA: none – ICAO: none | |||||||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1939-1940 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In use | 1940-1957 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 55°05′32″N 003°34′12″W / 55.09222°N 3.57000°WCoordinates: 55°05′32″N 003°34′12″W / 55.09222°N 3.57000°W | ||||||||||||||||||
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  RAF Dumfries Location in Scotland | |||||||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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RAF Dumfries was a former Royal Air Force station located near Tinwald, Scotland. The airfield opened on 17 June 1940 and was sold in 1960 to a private firm.
The disused airfield is now used as the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum.
History
No. 18 Maintenance Unit RAF, (18 MU) was allotted to No. 41 Group RAF (41 Gp) and became the lodger unit on 17 June 1940. No aircraft were flown in until the end of June when the obstructions placed on the airfield to prevent enemy aircraft from landing were removed. 18 MU reverted to a tenant unit on 13 July 1940 and No 10 Bombing and Gunnery School (10 B&GS) of No. 25 Group RAF (25 Gp) (Training Command) relocated from RAF Warmwell, Dorset. 10 B&GS trained bomb-aimers and gunners in Handley Page H.P.54 Harrows and Fairey Battles before further training at Operational Training Units.
The airfield consisted of a grass runway, upgraded to hard surfaces due to the demands of operational training. Whilst this work was being undertaken 10 B&GS utilised the satellite landing ground at RAF Winterseugh, Annan, Dumfries and Galloway.
Due to the numbers of aircraft 18 MU was forced to disperse the aircraft to satellite landing grounds at RAF Low Eldrig near Stranraer, RAF Lennoxlove near Haddington, RAF Wath Head in Cumbria and also RAF Hornby Hall, Cumbria. No 11 Sub-Ferry Flight was posted to the airfield between April and July 1940.
10 B&GS was re-designated No. 10 Air Observer School (10 AOS) in September 1940 and began training navigators in Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Blackburn Botha aircraft. In April 1940 10 AOS was renamed No. 10 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit (10 (O)AFU) and was re-equipped with Avro Ansons.
Over 400 courses had been conducted during World War II at RAF Dumfries. 10 (O)AFU was again renamed No. 10 Air Navigation School (10 ANS) in August 1945 and disbanded in September 1945. 18 MU closed in 1957 having prepared and dispatched almost 5,000 aircraft to units and after the war stored aircraft awaiting disposal.
The airfield was a training station for national service recruits to the Royal Air Force Regiment between 1947 and 1957. The airfield was then placed under care and maintenance until the site was sold to a private company in 1960.
Aviation Museum
It now houses the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum, which first opened to the public in the summer of 1977.
References
External links
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