Part 2 of this trail saw a range of units arrive at Grangemouth, each one bringing new aircraft and new personnel to this small Scottish site. Some, playing a rather sinister role, eventually move on to leave Grangemouth’s longest standing unit here to see the war out.

58 OTU was initially set up to train night fighters, but was quickly turned into a Spitfire training unit, the purpose to train pilots to fly the Spitfire, many of these trainees would be Polish. In fact, so many were training here that by February 1941, the unit had grown from a small half sized unit to a full unit with in excess of 50 Spitfires and 20 Masters available to the trainees. To help accommodate the aircraft, Grangemouth was paired with a satellite airfield located at Balado Bridge*⁸ between Edinburgh and Perth.

Lysander TT Mark IIIA target tug, V9905, on the ground at Westland’s Ltd, Yeovil, Somerset, before delivery to No. 58 Operational Training Unit at Grangemouth. (© IWM ATP 10716B)

The training unit would become the longest standing resident unit at Grangemouth and this would set the scene for its future.

The turn of the year though, really saw little change, except the weather got even colder. More rain and fog was joined by frost, and on several days the airfield was closed, its ground simply unsuitable for any flying activity.

Even though the weather was playing havoc, the work that both 58 OTU and the resident 614 Sqn would do in conjunction with the Polish airmen, led an affiliation between 614 and the Polish forces on January 10th 1941; an acknowledgement of the good work that was being done jointly between the two.

March 1941 then brought the news that 614 Squadron would be moving on, to Tranent (Macmerry), perhaps a welcome move as the last few months had seen flying hours drop to around 200 in the day and less than 20 at night. Several accidents had left aircraft badly damaged, crewmen injured and the squadron short of aircraft, it had not been a good year. But by early in the month, the move had taken place and 614 had departed to its new home where it could continue to carry out its sinister role.

With that, the OTU remained the main sole user of Grangemouth until on 10th March 1941,  when the Aircraft Delivery Flight Grangemouth was set up. (A month later it would be re-designated 4 Aircraft Delivery Flight). During its lifetime it would operate a number of aircraft: Oxfords, Dominies, Lysanders, Beaufighters, Mustangs and Typhoons. The role of the flight was to ferry aircraft from one location to another, taking new aircraft to new squadrons in support of 13 and 14 Groups.

Fighter pilot instructors give a demonstration of tight formation flying with Spitfires at Grangemouth 25th April 1941 (© IWM H 9180)

Delivering aircraft was not without its problems either. On October 2nd, a Hurricane IIA was being transferred by Sgt. Arthur Carl Young of the Flight from Martlesham Heath to Grangemouth. The pilot became disorientated in cloud, and so bailed out leaving the Hurricane to its fate crashing in an area near Goole.

The numbers of trainees at Grangemouth had grown significantly by 1942, so much so, that within 58 OTU a dedicated squadron was formed. Designated as ‘A’ squadron, it was manned by both British and Polish instructors, many of these were hardened veterans including Sqn. Ldr. Henryk Drobinski who had multiple kills and awards to his name.

But Grangemouth would be a multinational training centre, taking pilots from all around the world. The diversity of languages must have been a headache for some, the non- English speaking airmen having to learn very quickly indeed.

Collisions played a large part in the accident roll at Grangemouth, such was the nature of the training programme and those learning to fly the Spitfire, close formation flying being a large part of the syllabus here at the airfield.

In his biography “Challenge in the Air” (William Kimber, 1988), Miroslav Liskutin describes how on a six week course, six of the thirty pilots on his course were killed, a fact they simply lived with.

On April 17th, two pilots were killed when Spitfires R7073 and X4905 collided over Falkirk. One was killed outright, whilst the other died during an attempted crash landing following the incident. Sgt. Siemienczuk (26) along with P/O. Malkiewicz (24), both from Poland, were subsequently buried in Grangemouth Grandsable Cemetery located to the south of the airfield site.

In fact, 1942 saw no less than six collisions or near collisions, all of which resulted in either one or both pilots being killed. All these young men were in their 20s and from countries far beyond Britain’s own borders.

As the demand for training increased and subsequently the numbers of trainees increased, it was decided to increase the length of the main east–west runway by some 300 yards. This would allow for a greater amount of time to land and come to a stop and would allow for faster or larger aircraft to utilise the airfield should the requirement demand. Whilst the necessary work was carried out, operations and training flights continuing unhindered.

Ten months old Marian Edward, held by his mother Audrey Bełc (née Stephenson), receiving his late father’s DFC from Air Commodore W. H. Dunn during an award ceremony at RAF Grangemouth, 21 September 1942. The pilot standing far right in the group in the background is Flight Lieutenant Stanisław Brzeski, also of No. 58 OTU. Note also the former terminal building behind.(© IWM CH 7431)

The extension of the runway however, didn’t prevent further accidents from happening whether in the air or on the ground. Collisions with parked aircraft appear on several occasions, although and perhaps the worst incident, would occur some distance away from the airfield site.

On January 16th 1943, three Spitfires from the OTU were out on a formation flying exercise when they collided with a hillside killing two of the three airmen. It is what happened subsequent to the crash that is perhaps more incredible.

The accident occurred on Saturday 16th January 1943, when bad weather intervened in their flight plans. Initially they were ordered to land at the satellite airfield at Balado Bridge, but an accident there prevented this and so they were diverted to Perth.

In dense mist the three Spitfires X4614 (Ia), AR254 (Ia) and P8276 (IIa) remained in formation resulting in all three colliding with a 648ft high hill known as King’s Seat in the Ochils, 3km north of Dollar, Clackmannanshire. In the collision, two of the three pilots F.O. Hugh Gordon ’Bud’ Reynolds and Sgt. Gordon Murray Duda were both killed instantly.  The third pilot, an RAAF airman, Sgt. Vincent P Daly, managed to see the hillside in time and pulled his Spitfire’s nose up at the last minute to reduce the impact on the hillside. As a result, he survived sustaining only a broken leg and other minor injuries.

F.O. Reynolds, his Spitfire behind him. *⁶

The crash site being high up in the hills and covered in snow, would not be reached for some time though, and so Daly, even though suffering from a range of injuries (a compound fracture, bruising and cuts to head and body), managed to drag himself down the hillside where he was found two days later by a local farmer.

Daly had managed to use his scarf at the time of the crash, to tie his legs together making a make shift splint to support his broken tibia. He then set off, in freezing conditions, down the hill side toward safety and help. During the decent, he began to contract double pneumonia and suffered severe frostbite to both his toes and his nose – the tip of which he lost.

Once he had been located, Daly was transferred to Larbert Military Hospital, where he made a partial recovery, having to use special shoes and a walking stick to walk. Once out of hospital, he was sent back to RAF Grangemouth, but he never recovered sufficiently to fly again in the RAF. He died in 1969 in his home country, Australia, at the age of just 48 from a heart condition.

Reynolds and Duda were both flying with the RCAF (Duda being an American) and their bodies were eventually found and brought back to be buried at Grangemouth Grandsable Cemetery.

In memory of the airmen and as a lasting tribute a Cairn has been erected at the site (as is common in Scottish mountain crashes) in 2009, and was marked with a flypast by the BBMF Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster.

Cairn memorial dedicated in 2009 (© Gordon Brown)*⁷

Later that year, on October 5th 1943, 58 OTU would finally be disbanded in name, the aircraft and training programme being reused under the new name  2 Combat Training Wing still here at Grangemouth. For just the next two weeks or so, the unit would operate under this guise, before on the 15th yet another renaming would take place and it would become 2 Tactical Exercise Unit.  Continuing to use the Hurricane, Masters and Spitfires, it operated until 25th June 1944, at which point it was seen as surplus to requirements and disbanded for good. This move began the slow and inevitable run down of the airfield.

Between 1944 and 1945 Grangemouth was used by several maintenance units, including both No. 14 MU and No. 243 MU, who used the site after the departure of the OTU to store materials and ammunition. This took the airfield into the late 1940s, at which point there followed a period of limited flying, primarily through a number of RAF gliding schools.

The first of these was No. 6 Gliding school , who were formed here in January 1945 using Cadets, Grunau Baby IIBs and Sedburgh TX.1s.  In 1947 a second school, No. 2 Gliding School was also reformed here after being disbanded at Dumfries earlier in the war.

Then on April 1st, 1948,  No. 13 Reserve Flying School was formed here at Grangemouth, under the control of Airwork Ltd,. This organisation ran a number of flying training units around the country including two at Scone outside of Perth. 13 RFS used six Tiger Moths and were led by Wing Commander F. Nugent. The School was disbanded a year later in 1949, with almost 200 trainees on their books at various stages.

In 1949, the two Gliding Schools were also amalgamated, the Scone operations continuing at the demise of Grangemouth and absorbing all their equipment.

A third school No. 4 Gliding School then joined Grangemouth in 1951, and eventually all three were absorbed into one under the control of No. 2 Gliding School. A year later the grand terminal building, which had now stood throughout the war, would be destroyed by a major fire, which further helped the demise of the airfield categorically killing any future it may have had.

By 1955, neither Glasgow nor Edinburgh councils had shown any interest in the site as an aviation project, despite the money that had been spent on it previously. Scottish Aviation had also pulled out its resources and so, with all glider schools gone, the terminal building destroyed and no prospect of further flying, the land was put up for sale with an £11m price tag.*⁹

With that, the airfield was closed. The great dream of civilian aviation at Grangemouth would never materialise again after that. The runways became a proving ground for the young, and new car drivers honed their skills on the concrete paths. By the 1960s, the site was being ripped up and built upon, houses very quickly filled the gaps and the oil refinery took over most of the site. The runway extension, built to allow for longer landings, now holds the Charlotte Dundas Shopping centre along with further housing.

Grangemouth’s humble existence started off as an amazing dream, one that was shattered by the calling of war. A future that was so promising for Scotland’s Aviation industry sadly failed to materialise. Instead, Grangemouth became a training ground for many young men who were far away from their homes in Europe and across the commonwealth. In all,  80 air and ground crew lost their lives while serving at Grangemouth, 60 of those being aircrew. The majority of these lay buried in the local cemetery close to the airfield where they served all those years ago. There are many famous names synonymous with Grangemouth too, many of these were ‘Aces’, highly decorated pilots who achieved many ‘kills’ in their attempt to turn the tide of war.  Becoming trainers they also set many trainees off on their long journeys to the war’s end. One such pilot was Neville Duke the test pilot, who went on to achieve great things in the aviation industry.

Whilst elements of the site are still visible,  (the two original hangars and traces of one of the runways as part of a Inchyra play park) the airfield leaves few distinguishing features and you would be forgiven for not knowing such a site ever existed close to this growing Scottish town.

In 2013, the cadets of 1333 (Spitfire) Squadron led by Squadron Leader Tom McMorrow, finally saw their plans come to fruition when they were present at the unveiling of their Spitfire memorial outside the original hangar that remains standing today.

Their work and dedication ensures that the memories of those who not only who died here, but served at Grangemouth will go to survive so that we can enjoy the peace we have today.

The full story appears in Trail 64.

Sources and Further Reading (Grangemouth)

National Archives: AIR-27-969-1; AIR-27-1547-1;  AIR-27-1550; AIR-27-2073; AIR-27-2079-1; AIR-27-2120-1

*¹ Falkirk Herald newspaper website accessed 24/6/23

*² Delve. K., “The Military Airfields of Britain – Scotland and Northern Ireland“, Crowood Press Ltd. 2010.

*³ During this early part of the Grangemouth’s operation, the unit names became interchangeable, the use of ‘civil’ in 10 CANS being dropped in many situations, and 10 AONS being referred to in the ORBs as early as September.

*⁴ Secret Scotland website (unsubstantiated)

*⁵ Aviation Safety Network Website.

*⁶ Photo from Daily Record newspaper website. Accessed 1/7/23

*⁷ Photo © Copyright Gordon Brown via Geograph Website Accessed 1/7/23

*⁸ The Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust placed a marker on the site of Balado Bridge on 8/7/23.

*⁹ McCloskey, K., “Airwork A History“, The History Press, 2012 (via Google books)

In Part 1, we saw how Grangemouth was created through incredible vision, but how the impending war shattered that dream. Also how it then went on to become a training airfield, training young pilots to fly Spitfires. This was not an easy task, the weather playing havoc with training schedules and an ill prepared airfield adding to the cauldron of problems that would culminate in the inevitable accidents and resultant deaths.

On October 1st 1939, F.O. James A. B. Somerville (known as Young Hamish, to his family) was taxiing his Spitfire I. (L1047), when P.O. J.S. Morton flying Spitfire I (L1059) landed on top of him. In the resulting accident Somerville was killed outright and his aircraft totally written off. P.O. Morton was uninjured and his aircraft received only minor damage, however, the accident would no doubt have a lasting impact the injuries to F.O. Somerville being so severe. *⁵

On October 6th, the order to move the entire 602 Squadron finally came though and the next day the main portion of the unit transported its belongings to Grangemouth. More poor weather prevented another early departure by the aircraft, but by lunchtime, all ground and air crew along with their Spitfires, were over at Grangemouth. Lacking in accommodation, airmen had to be billeted off site in the town itself, whilst Officers took up residency in one of the vacant houses just north of the airfield. The war had finally started for this small airfield in Central Scotland.

602’s stay at Grangemouth was to be short lived though. With threats of German attacks coming from the east, it was decided to move 602 elsewhere, and within a week new orders had come through to move lock, stock and barrel to RAF Drem, in North Berwickshire. By the 13th October, the Spitfires and all their personnel, were gone and Grangemouth was vacant once more.

602 Sqn would go on to make further ‘firsts’ whilst at Drem, when on the 16th of October, pilot George Pinkerton would intercept and shoot down, a Heinkel 111. In doing so, he would be the first pilot to to fire in anger in the skies over Great Britain. It would also be 602 who would down the first ‘intact’ enemy aircraft onto British soil. Known as the Humbie Heinkel, it would become famous for this reason.

It would then be all change again, and on the 19th October 1939, Grangemouth would see the arrival of a new squadron and a new aircraft.  141 Squadron Led by Pilot Officer H. Anderson,  another former Turnhouse unit, brought with them Gloster’s Galdiator, an outdated but much loved biplane that began being supplemented during November by the more updated Blenheims.

Like their predecessors, airmen were billeted in three halls in the town whilst officers occupied two vacant houses -110 Boness Road and its neighbour. Whilst accommodation was far from ideal, it would do for now and all those assigned here were soon in and settled.

On the next day, a funeral guard of honour was provided back at Turnhouse for the burial of several German airmen. Those who were to stay behind had the unenviable task of filling sandbags, which were to be used around the dispersal points to protect aircraft from attacking bombers; a task that was eventually postponed due to yet more heavy Scottish rain.

In the following weeks little happened at Grangemouth. Six Gladiators were eventually brought in and used for local flying practise. The squadron tried to use the Air Observer School Ansons and although permission was eventually granted by Fighter Command, no instructors were available due to the School’s own backlog of hours. Further sand was delivered and yet more bags were filled, the monotony of such duties being broken only by the trickle of a small number of Blenheims from Hullavington.

Training flights were fraught with danger, and there were several accidents including on November 12th 1939, a crash on a night approach by  Sgt. P. Green in his Gladiator. Sgt. Green was unfortunately injured in the accident, but after being taken to nearby Falkirk hospital for treatment, he made a good recovery. Also in November five Gladiators were sent to Acklington for firing practice. Due to bad weather though, all five had to make emergency landings en route, P.O. Louden hit a wall and P.O. Smith landed badly. In both incidences the aircraft received substantial damage but thankfully neither pilot was injured. The other three aircraft reported no damage after their various forced landings.

P.O. Louden would have a second lucky escape in the following January when the Blenheim he was flying, overshot the runway and crashed beyond the airfield boundary. Again the aircraft was badly damaged but P.O. Louden was once more unhurt.

The weather in southern Scotland can be terrible, and persistent heavy rain not only caused cancelled flights, but also made the ground boggy and difficult to traverse. Even the floodlight tractor became bogged down and stuck in the mud causing further problems for night flying activities.

The routine of local flying, link training and lectures then became the norm for the days leading into the new year. January 1940  saw snow, rain and fog play a large part in the daily lives of those stationed here, causing as many issues on the ground as it did in the air. In the following month, the squadron was given new orders to transfer to Prestwick, a move it made on the 13th. But before they had time to unpack and settle in, further orders came in to return back to Grangemouth, their stay at Prestwick lasting no more than a week!

The early part of the year saw yet more night flying practice and yet more landing accidents. The Blenheims taking a bit of beating as heavy landings caused considerable damage to landing gear and aircraft structures.

By April 1940 another new aircraft was being delivered to the Grangemouth squadron, the Boulton Paul Defiant I. A ‘fighter’ that had failed miserably in its initial role – falling foul of the enemy’s superior aircraft – but would later become more effective as a night fighter. The first of these aircraft was delivered on April 4th 1940, by from 24 Maintenance Unit (MU) based at Ternhill.

141 Squadron continued to re-equip with the Defiants, and by the end of June 1940 they were carrying out target practice at various sites around the UK. Excitement then came to the airfield when on 26th June 1940, crews were called to standby – the first air raid warning of the year sounded over Grangemouth. No bombs were dropped but an enemy aircraft was seen to be shot down. Those pilots from 141 Sqn who were put on stand by at the airfield were not needed and probably disappointed for not having the opportunity to put into practice their new found flying skills.

Replica Supermarine Spitfire Mark I X4859 PQ-N -which crashed 15th September 1941 over Avondale estate killing Sergeant Eugeniusz Lukomski. It stands at the front of the former airfield as a memorial to all those who trained here, especially the Polish airmen. Unveiled by 1333 Grangemouth Air Cadet Squadron in 2013.

A second warning sounded again on the 28th June, but once more those 141 Sqn pilots put on standby were not required, another disappointment for those waiting for the signal to scramble and a chance to get their revenge.

On that very same morning  (June 28th 1940), new orders came through to 141, their posting to Grangemouth had come to an end.  It was all move once more. Busses began to ferry the staff and their equipment from Grangemouth back to Turnhouse, a move that lasted for most of the day. By the late afternoon all aircraft and personnel had made the transfer across and the settling in process would begin once more. This wouldn’t be the end of the link however, for a small detachment would return in July before the ties between Grangemouth and 141 Sqn were finally severed for good.

The month of June would see many changes at Grangemouth, not only did 141 Squadron depart, but there would be three other units all arrive within days of each other before the month was out.

On the 8th, 614 Squadron arrived, followed the next day on the 9th by No 52 (Army Co-operation) Wing and then on the 28th, 263 Squadron. It would be a hectic time for this small and ill prepared airfield.

Two of these units, 52 ACW and 263 squadron would both be short lived stays, neither remaining beyond the end of September 1940.

The role of No. 52 (Army Co-operation) Wing, was a tactical move to help defend the northern regions from enemy attack. These Lysanders and Defiants were brought in to free up valuable Spitfires and Hurricanes who could subsequently be moved south to protect London and the South East. Here in Scotland, they could protect not only the industrial regions of the north from attack, but assist in army training operations ready for their return to the continent – whenever that would be. Being located at Grangemouth, they were in easy reach of both the west and east coast, an area they began patrolling almost immediately. This stay would be yet another short lived one though and they soon would move on elsewhere just a month after their arrival.

The second of these short stay units were the Hurricanes from 263 Squadron.  263 had been re-established at RAF Drem earlier in the month, after flying on board naval carriers,  including HMS Glorious until she was sunk on June 8th 1940. They were now firmly a land based unit, and gradually getting back to full strength.

The other change came with the introduction of Westland’s Whirlwind for 263 Squadron. The underrated and rather obscure fighter being brought in to replace the Hurricanes they had been using since their reformation the month before.

In early September 1940, the time for change came once more, this time it was 263 who were to transfer from Grangemouth back to Drem, taking their newly acquired Whirlwinds with them. This would be the squadron’s only spell at Grangemouth before their final disbandment in 1963.

Aircraft of No. 58 Operational Training Unit at Grangemouth: a Miles Master Mark I undergoes an engine service in the hangar, while another Master is parked on the hard standing outside. In the background a Spitfire can be seen taxiing on the airfield.(© IWM H 9190)

The first of these June moments however, was to be the longer lasting one, remaining at Grangemouth until March 1941. 614 (County of Glamorgan) Squadron arrived on June 8th 1940, transferring north from Odiham

Over the next two days, twenty-two Lysanders  would arrive, the crews being billeted in tents around the airfield site; hardly an ideal situation considering the location of the airfield and the weather they were experiencing at the time.

614 Sqn was another of the twenty-one Auxiliary Air Force units, and the only one formed in Wales. It had been operating in France assisting the Army as artillery spotters, providing coordinates for the French and British gunners desperately trying to stem the tide that was the blitzkrieg.

Once settled, 614 Squadron began practise flights dropping messages and performing tactical reconnaissance sorties.  By the 17th June 1940, day long patrols were being carried out along the east coast of Scotland, covering an area from Inverness to Berwick, flying over the coastline and up to 5 miles inland. None of these patrols provided any signs of enemy action though.

Over the next few weeks further patrols and practise flights took place, one aircraft was damaged when struck by a second trying to land, and others had to land in fields due to bad weather or engine failures. There were no causalities but some of the aircraft were badly damaged in these incidents.

614 were also used to test gas spraying techniques in a chemical warfare role. Parts of Grangemouth were off limits and heavily guarded, and permits had to be issued to those personnel needing access to such areas. The idea behind this was that of the enemy launched an invasion force along the Scottish coast, then mustard gas (stockpiled at Grangemouth) would be used against them. This secret and somewhat underhand method of warfare was carried on by 614 once it moved to Macmerry in the following year.*⁴

In July 1940, internal changes saw the headquarters, motor transport unit and armaments sections move from one part of the airfield to a farm located at the northern side of the site. Simultaneously 180 airmen moved into  the recently requisitioned annex at the local Grange School, whilst a further 100 moved into the school itself. A temporary measure that would only last until the next school term started. Other duty personnel were moved to tents around the airfield, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, especially as within days, heavy rain would flood them out resulting in them being billeted off site as well.

Over the next few weeks little flying took place as bad weather continued to cause problems. Airfield defences continued to be erected and a visit by the Inspector General Sir E. Ludlow-Hewitt, broke the monotony of the pouring rain.

On August 10th 1940 an accident occurred when Lysander P9186 piloted by F.O. N. Merrett and F.O. J. Harper collided with Lysander N1251 flown by P.O. Cheminant. During the evasive tactics exercise the aircraft struck Merrets Lysander losing virtually all its main-plane. The aircraft then crashed to the ground killing both occupants. The second aircraft, whilst damaged, managed to land safely.

Bad landings caused extensive damage to several aircraft in the month that followed, whilst three others were grounded awaiting spares. Luckily none of the occupants in the poor landings were injured, but it did mean the squadron was now six aircraft down causing issues with both cover and patrols.

The last few days of September 1940 brought other incidents and fatalities. Outside the airfield, a dispatch rider was killed in a head on collision with a car, and an enemy bomber dropped a bomb in the vicinity of the airfield. No damage was done to the site but it brought home the fact that war was never very far away. At this time work also began on building the asphalt runways, which up until now had remained as grass. With luck, the heavy rain that had continued throughout the summer would soon not hinder flying activities.

At the close of September 1940, 754 hours had been flown by crews in daylight but only 17 had been flown at night; it had not been a great summer all round.

On the 4th November (1940) news came though that Grangemouth was transferring from 22 Group back to Fighter Command, the news brought little more than hope, those units already here remaining where they were and with what they had.

The miserable weather of 1940/41 brought little to cheer about at Grangemouth. Perhaps the greatest interest, apart from a hopeful christmas break, was the formation of a training unit in December. On the 2nd, 58 Operational Training Unit (OTU) was set up and provided with Spitfires along with a selection of Fairy Battles, Hurricanes and a Whitley amongst others. The OTU was supposed to have been formed earlier in November, but when Sqn. Ldr, (later Air Vice Marshal) Henry Hogan arrived, it was not ready for the OTU and so he left disappointed having to return the following month.

The last part of the trail shows how Grangemouth met it demise. Once the dream of a visionary it slowly begins to decay as the war comes to an end and units are gradually pulled out, surplus to requirements. The end comes slowly, but not before its last and longest standing unit arrives.

The full story appears in Trail 64.

In this latest trail around Britain’s wartime airfields, we travel to central Scotland, and the foothills of the Highlands. Travelling west from Scotland’s capital Edinburgh, we head toward an area of outstanding beauty where the flat lands begin to meet the lower highlands. Here during the Second World War, lay an airfield that never reached its full potential, but it did play a major part in the training of the RAF’s fighter pilots.

In Trail 64, we visit the former RAF Grangemouth.

RAF Grangemouth.

Grangemouth lies 1 mile from the town that gave it its name and 3 miles from Falkirk. The Firth of Fourth, Edinburgh’s major sea outlet, crosses west to east north of the airfield providing not only major docks and shipping services, but dry docks for submarines and other naval vessels as well. It is the natural sea outlet that led to Grangemouth’s very existence when founded in 1768 by Sir Lawrence Dundas, following the creation of the Forth and Clyde Canal that linked Glasgow to Edinburgh.

The Shipping that this development brought led to a huge expansion of the docks at Grangemouth. Exports increased along with the number and size of the docks available. Then during the First World War, these were taken over and renamed  HMS Rameses, by the military, who set up a mine manufacturing and training school here. Once usefulness of mines was realised, old merchant vessels were quickly adapted to drop mines and these were both stored and loaded here at Grangemouth.

The airfield itself was located to the south of these docks, and would play a large part in their defence, especially as a major oil refinery has been located here for many years. The expansion of this refinery, albeit a turbulent one, has since taken over the airfield site leaving little trace of its history behind.

Accommodation  for those personnel stationed here was often rudimentary to say the least, tents providing cover for many whilst the local town hotels were used for the luckier ones. A substantial number of houses along Boness road, just beyond the airfield perimeter, were also known to have been requisitioned over a period of time, some used for sick quarters whilst others became aircrew billets.

Life for Grangemouth airfield began long before the current industrial modernisation of the area though, initially being earmarked as a civilian site for commercial operations before war broke out. It was opened on May 1st, 1939 and was intended to have as many as four grass runways, the longest being 1,360 yards long. It would be operated and run by Scottish Aviation Ltd., who were based at Prestwick. Built by a number of companies including the construction company Wimpey, it would have at least twenty dispersals, two of which had blister hangars on them by the war’s end.

The main Edinburgh road originally passed between the airfield and the Firth, thus restricting any wartime expansion northwards. Now replaced by the M9 to the south, this road is now a minor road through housing serving a thriving residential community.

When it was handed over to the military, the site was then developed further, some of the rudimentary accommodation was replaced by more substantial blocks, and the grass runways were replaced with tarmac. The airfield was by then, able to cater for upwards of 600 personnel of mixed rank and gender.

With a total of eight Blister hangars added, its maintenance facilities were then extended far beyond those of its civil requirements.

It ambitious origins began in early 1939, with the purchase of 500 acres of farmland to develop into what was intended to be Scotland’s largest airport, initially serving routes to London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Shetland Isles.  During its construction, two large civil airport hangars were built along with a large and luxurious terminal at a cost of some £160,000 (£14,000,000 today).

The luxurious Terminal building (Falkirk Herald)

Even before the site was completed, the grass runways were active with the first commercial ticket being sold to Provost Robert Peddie for the princely sum of £9.00 10 shillings. The ticket gave him passage south in a de Havilland Dragon Rapide, but more importantly, this inaugural flight meant that Grangemouth was now commercially ‘operational’, even though it had not yet been officially opened.

On July 1st, 1939, Air Marshall Viscount Trenchard, the ‘Father of the RAF’.*¹ arrived at the airfield declaring it officially open for business. Known as Central Scotland Airport, it was part of the expansion of the much troubled North-Eastern Airways, a company that had only been formed five years earlier, on March 4th 1935 by a group headed by the wealthy racehorse owner and banker, Ralph Beckett, 3rd Baron of Grimthorpe.

A KLM operated DC-3 at Grangemouth.  It is thought this was taken at the opening of the airfield,. The terminal is in the background. (Feel Falkirk website P12358)

Flying in direct competition with the rail service LNER, North-Eastern Airways operated flights from London to Newcastle and then onto Grangemouth before heading northward again to Perth and beyond. The majority of their fleet were Airspeed AS.6A Envoys, with the Rapides following on later.

Eastern Airways Timetable April 1939 @Bjorn Larsson

North Eastern Airways Timetable April 1939 @Bjorn Larsson

North It was intended that more routes would soon open up encouraging new operators and prosperity to the area, unfortunately this was only a pipe dream and with increasing costs and cheaper rail tickets challenging the operator, these routes were soon closed proving uneconomical to run in light of strong competition. The onslaught of war then hammered the final nail in to the coffin of commercial operations, By September 1939,  all flights had ceased, and the future of Grangemouth was no longer in the hands of civilian operators.

Whilst these commercial operations were the prime reason for the purchase and development of Grangemouth, Scottish Aviation’s interest, and that of  Air Marshall Trenchard was more than a passing coincidence. The company had early on in the proceedings, secured a government contract to train pilots for what seemed to be an inevitable war with Germany.

Scottish Aviation set up their own civilian run training group 35 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School (ERFTS) to fulfil this contract. They operated some fifty-one aircraft including: the Audax, Hawker Hinds, Tiger Moths and soon after Avro Ansons, with an intended capacity of 200 trainee pilots at any one time*²

Soon after the declaration of war, a reformation of military training operations took place, and a new unit was established here with 35 ERFTS being disbanded and reformed as 10 Civil Air Navigation School (CANS). The use of the Ansons continued. This name however, would only last until November, when a further re-naming took place, forcing the disbanding and renumbering of the unit to 10 Air Observers Navigation School (AONS)*³

10 AONS, continued to soldier on with the Ansons. Then on 2nd December 1939  it was all change again when the unit was absorbed into the Prestwick school, 1 Air Observers Navigation School. Grangemouth, now closed to all civilian operations, was passed to full control of the RAF’s Fighter Command and 13 Group. It would seem there were to be big changes ahead.

Meanwhile, back on August 25th 1939, the RAF began mobilisation, orders were sent round military airfields to begin preparing for war. One such order came through to the Abbotsinch based 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron, instructing them to inspect the buildings at Grangemouth with a view to moving there shortly afterwards. Sqn Ldr. Farquhar and two other members of his staff then travelled by car to Grangemouth, inspected the site and made their findings known later that evening.

On September 1st 1939, at 23:45 hrs, a notice came through to 602 Squadron to mobilise all units and prepare for war. With a considerable amount of preparation already having been done, the squadron were able to pronounce themselves ‘mobilised’ by 10:30 hrs the following morning. Commanding Officer Sqn Ldr A.D. Farquhar with Flight Lieutenants W. Robinson “A” Flight, and G.D. Pinkerton “B” Flight, led the way, taking the Scottish unit to war.

602 Sqn had the grand distinction of being the first of the Auxiliary Air Force squadrons to be formed, an honour that occurred in 1925. Although the first staff member, adjutant Flt. Lt. Martyn arrived at Renfrew to begin proceedings on September 12th 1925, the squadron’s official birthday wasn’t  recorded until September 15th.

The two hangars and terminal building. These hangars are the sole remaining structures left on the site. See photo below. (Falkirk Herald Website)

Between its formation and its impending move to Grangemouth, 602 Sqn had operated a wide range of aircraft: Hawker Harts, Hinds, Hectors Gauntlet IIs and from May 1939, Spitfire MK.Is. The Spitfire being a major leap forward in terms of flying technology, speed and power. This change gave 602 yet another ‘first’, being the first Auxiliary unit to receive the new aircraft type.

Two days later on September 3rd, official notice Movement Order 3 of 1939, gave notice of the imminent  move, and preparations immediately began at Abbotsinch. The aim of the squadron’s move to Grangemouth was to protect the valuable iron foundries, dockyards and numerous chemical factories that were now abundant along the banks of the Fourth.

Apart form organising the move, the first few days of war were unsurprisingly uneventful, with orders to “Stand by” being given to both A and B Flights coming to nothing more. The routine quickly changed to night flying practise, and as a result, the first ‘casualty’. In the dark, with little lighting to guide them in, a Spitfire crashed on the airfield whilst trying to land but luckily no one was injured and the aircraft only suffered ‘minor’ damage.

The quietness of the Phoney War, enabled the C.O. to test a new device that would stop the obscuring of the windshield from oil thrown out by the propeller. The unit was made, fitted and tested in the air, and photographs along with a detailed report was submitted to Fighter Command on September 6th. On the 8th, Sqn Ldr. Tidd of 13 Group came to see the item in action for himself, and finding it most suitable, had it used on all aircraft. As a result, the idea played a major part in future Spitfire development.

Left: One of the two original hangars still used at Grangemouth.

On the 30th September, a further visit to Grangemouth led to the decision that only a small detachment, and not the entire squadron, of 602’s Spitfires could be moved to Grangemouth, not at least until the accommodation, currently held by the Navigation School, had become vacant. These few aircraft and their ground crews would operate from Grangemouth between 09:00 and 18:00 hrs each day with ground staff and pilots being billeted on site during their tour there.

The next day, October 1st, a small detachment comprising of six aircraft, along with  ammunition and all the necessary flight equipment, departed Abbotsinch for Grangemouth. The desired early departure was unfortunately delayed by poor weather, something that was going to dominate the next few years at Grangemouth, and so the group, led by Flt. Lt M. Robinson, didn’t arrive until later than planned that day.

It was also at this time that 602’s sister squadron and rival, 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, another Turnhouse unit, would begin to receive their Spitfires. As these were new aircraft to the squadron, each Flight, ‘A’ and ‘B’, would travel to Grangemouth to train. ‘B’ arrived first, flying between 17th and 24th, followed by ‘A’ Flight between the 25th and the 30th. These daily flights meant a considerable amount of movement in and out of the airfield, and with so many trainees in unfamiliar aircraft, accidents were almost inevitable.

In Part 2, we see how Grangemouth goes on to develop further, how the weather played a role in its operation and how with so many young men eager to learn, mistakes were made with dire consequences.

The full story appears in Trail 64.