Product Code Database
Royal Air Force Kinloss, or more simply RAF Kinloss, is a former Royal Air Force station located near the village of Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north east of Scotland, UK.
The RAF station opened on 1 April 1939 and served as a training establishment during the Second World War. After the war it was handed over to Coastal Command to monitor Soviet Union ships and submarines in the Norwegian Sea. Until 2010 it was the main base for the RAF's fleet of Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR.2 maritime patrol aircraft. It was intended that the MR2 would be replaced by the Nimrod MRA.4, but the MRA4 was cancelled in the Strategic Defence and Security Review of October 2010. As a result, Kinloss became surplus to RAF requirements and regular flying operations ceased on 31 July 2011.
In November 2011, the Ministry of Defence and 12 (Air Support) Engineer Group of the British Army announced that 930 personnel from 39 Engineer Regiment (Air Support) would move from Waterbeach Barracks, near Cambridge, to Kinloss in summer 2012. The first personnel of 39 Engineer Regiment arrived in June 2012, with the majority arriving in July 2012.
On 26 July 2012 the RAF Ensign was lowered for the last time, and replaced by the flag of Royal Engineers, marking the establishment of Kinloss Barracks.
RAF Kinloss opened on 1 April 1939 as part of No. 21 Group, with Arthur Peck being the first commander of the station. Initially, many personnel who were posted to Kinloss were previously unaware of the station and were surprised at how far north it was located. The northerly latitude of the station later earned it the nickname within the RAF of "Ice Station Kilo", after the 1968 espionage film Ice Station Zebra.
No. 14 Flying Training School (FTS) was soon established from No. 8 FTS personnel based at RAF Montrose. It was initially equipped with thirty-eight and twenty-six and Hawker Audax. The first aircraft, an Oxford with serial N4584, arrived on 9 May 1939, with the first student aircrews arriving on 13 May. In August 1939 North American Harvards replaced the Harts. October 1939 saw the addition of ten and six Harts from the recently disbanded No. 13 FTS which was based at RAF Drem in East Lothian.
No. 45 Maintenance Unit was established on 15 April 1940, the role of which was to store, modify and fit-out new aircraft before they were forwarded to front-line squadrons. The unit's first aircraft, a Harvard, arrived on 31 May 1940. A large number of aircraft types were stored at Kinloss during 1940 including, Hawker Audax, Hawker Hind, Hawker Hart, De Havilland Tiger Moth, Handley Page Harrow, Miles Magister, Airspeed Envoy, Bristol Blenheim, Airspeed Oxford, Hawker Hector, Avro Tutor, Westland Wallace and later Whitley, Spitfire Vickers Wellington and Handley Page Halifax. By October 1940 the unit had approximately 440 personnel.
The German invasion of Denmark and Norway in April 1940 led to an increase in operational activity at Kinloss and other Scottish airfields. As a result, No. 14 FTS moved south to RAF Cranfield in Bedfordshire on 20 April 1940. A detachment of No. 77 and No. 109 Squadron Whitleys from RAF Driffield returned the same month to undertake bombing missions in Norway, departing Kinloss in May.
Kinloss was transferred to No. 4 Group on 27 May 1940, at the time part of RAF Bomber Command. At the same time No. 19 Operational Training unit (No. 19 OTU) was formed and tasked with training aircrews on heavy-bomber aircraft before deployment onto operational squadrons. The unit was initially equipped with forty-eight Whitleys and sixteen Avro Ansons and the first training courses began in June 1940. By 1941 Kinloss was overcrowded with aircraft belonging to No. 45 MU and No. 19 OTU, therefore a satellite station was constructed at Balnageith, to the south west of the nearby town of Forres. The satellite, known as RAF Forres, opened on 25 January 1941, with 'D' flight of No. 19 OTU and their Whitleys moving in on 27 April 1941 and 'C' flight following on 13 May 1941. Despite this, Kinloss continued to struggle to accommodate all No. 45 MU's aircraft. To relieve pressure on space, two satellite landing grounds (SLG) were established to store aircraft off-site in August 1941. These were at RAF Dornoch (No. 40 SLG) near Dornoch and RAF Kirkton (No. 41 SLG) near Golspie, located 23 and 27 miles away across the Moray Firth respectively.
During the summer of 1942, Kinloss's grass runways were replaced with permanent paved runways, with the main runway extended to 1,828m (now runway 07/25) and two secondary runways constructed. This allowed a wide range of aircraft types to use Kinloss as a diversion airfield when their home stations further south were closed due to poor weather. By the end of 1943, around 350 aircraft were stored by No. 45 MU. Throughout the war a high number of aircraft from Kinloss crashed resulting in the loss of aircrews and it was not unusual to see the wreckage of aircraft in the countryside around the station. This was predominately because of the older aircraft that were used for training by No. 19 OTU, poor weather and inexperienced crews.
Towards the end of 1944, the requirement for trained bomber crews reduced, resulting in RAF Forres closing in October of that year. In November, No. 19 OTU's Whitleys were replaced with forty Wellington bombers. VE Day on 8 May 1945 marked the end of the war in Europe and shortly after on 20 May, No. 19 OTU was disbanded, with its aircraft being sent to various maintenance units around the UK. The runway was resurfaced in June 1945, whilst No. 45 MU prepared aircraft for the continuing war in the Far East. The unit was also soon deluged with surplus aircraft for sale or scrap.
No. 19 (C)OTU was split into No. 236 Operational Conversion Unit and the School of Maritime Reconnaissance in 1947 with No. 236 OCU remaining at Kinloss. A further change in 1956 saw the units re-combine as the Maritime Operational Training Unit (MOTU), which remained at Kinloss until 1965.
During the Cold War, Kinloss squadrons carried out anti-submarine duties, locating and shadowing Soviet Navy. In 1951, No. 217 Squadron was resurrected with Lockheed Neptune aircraft to cover the maritime reconnaissance and search and rescue roles pending the further development of the Avro Shackleton aircraft. It was also prominent in Operation Snowdrop, supplying food to cut off villages and livestock fodder to isolated crofts in Scotland, during the winter of 1954 and 1955.Scottish Daily Express 19 January 1955 The squadron was upgraded with MR.2 versions of the Neptune in 1956, only to be disbanded again in July 1956.
In July 1962, the station received one of its highest honours, the Civic Freedom of the Royal burgh of Forres, allowing Kinloss personnel the right to march through the burgh with swords drawn. This was the first time any military unit had been so honoured by Forres throughout the burgh's 1,400-year history.
In 1972 and 1976, the new Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR.1 demonstrated its capabilities when it flew surveillance sorties over Iceland's disputed fishing limits, providing support for the Royal Navy and British trawlers in the Cod Wars. For much of the period No.120 Squadron, No. 201 Squadron, and No. 206 Squadron were the main Nimrod units.
In November 1980 two pilots, Royal Australian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Noel Anthony and RAF Flying Officer Stephen Belcher were killed when their Nimrod aircraft Bird strike on take-off and crashed in woods to the east of Kinloss airfield. The remainder of the crew survived. Anthony was awarded the Air Force Cross and Belcher the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air. Second Supplement to the London Gazette
After the Argentines invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982, Nimrod MR2's adapted for Aerial refueling, were deployed to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic to support the Falklands War effort.
In April 2005, No. 206 Squadron was disbanded as part of a defence review the previous year. The base was used for the 2005 Edinburgh and South Scotland Wing Air Cadet Annual Summer Camp.
On 2 September 2006, twelve Nimrod crew members from No. 120 Squadron's crew 3 and two observers were killed when their Nimrod, serial number XV230, exploded over Afghanistan.
No. 325 Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW) was formed at the station on 1 April 2006. The wing encompassed most of the non-formed unit personnel on station. The EAW did not include the flying units at the station.
With Nimrod MR2 operations having ended in March 2010, the Strategic Defence and Security Review in October 2010 revealed that the Nimrod MRA4 programme would in-fact be cancelled and that RAF Kinloss would close. Station commander Group Captain James Johnston said there had been disbelief when the announcement was made. As a result, No. 120, No. 201 and No. 42(R) Squadron (the Operational Conversion Unit) were disbanded on 26 May 2011 at a ceremony attended by the station's Honorary Air Commodore, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The RAF station ceased to be operational on 31 July 2011.
After 73 years as an RAF station, control of Kinloss transferred to the British Army at 12:00 on 26 July 2012. A ceremony was attended by eight former RAF Kinloss station commanders, the last station commander Group Captain James Johnston, the Lord Lieutenant of Moray and invited guests. The RAF colours were lowered for the last time and British Army colours raised to mark the new chapter in Kinloss's history.
During 2020, regular flying temporarily returned to Kinloss when the first of the RAF's Poseidon MRA1 fleet arrived in the UK from the United States in February 2020, initially operating from the barracks whilst work was carried out at RAF Lossiemouth to accommodate the new aircraft. Lossiemouth's airfield was closed between 10 August and 16 October 2020 whilst the intersection of its two runways was resurfaced. During the closure, routine Typhoon FGR4 training operations were relocated to Kinloss. A second Poseidon arrived before they and the Typhoons departed for Lossiemouth on the re-opening of the Lossiemouth in October 2020.
Despite the transfer of Kinloss from the RAF to the British Army in 2012, the ARCC remained at the station. However, in December 2014 the Ministry of Defence announced that the ARCC at Kinloss would close and be relocated to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's National Maritime Operations Centre located in Fareham, Hampshire. The Kinloss ARCC closed on 31 March 2016, with twenty-seven RAF personnel being redeployed to other RAF stations, or leaving the service, and ten civilian jobs being lost from Kinloss.
Source: Unless otherwise indicated details sourced are from: Hughes, Jim. (1995), Power to the Hunter. A History of Royal Air Force Kinloss, British Aerospace. pp. 95–97.
| RAF | No. 14 Flying Training School |
| 1 April 1939 | 20 April 1940 | RAF Cranfield | |
| RAF | No. 45 Maintenance Unit | Various | Formed | 6 April 1940 | 15 January 1957 | Disbanded |
| RAF | No. 19 Operational Training Unit |
| 27 May 1940 | 26 May 1945 | Disbanded | |
| RAF | RAF Kinloss Mountain Rescue Team | Mountain rescue | Formed from voluntary team | cJuly 1944 | July 2012 | Became the RAF Lossiemouth MRT (remained at Kinloss until February 2015) |
| RAF | No. 6 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit |
| 19 July 1945 | 31 July 1946 | Reformed as No. 236 OCU. | |
| RAF | No. 236 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) |
| 1 August 1947 | 30 September 1956 | Reformed as the MOTU. | |
| RAF | No. 1453 (Vanguard) Flight | Lockheed Neptune MR.1 | Formed | 1 November 1952 | 5 June 1953 | Disbanded |
| RAF | Maritime Operational Training Unit (MOTU) | Avro Shackleton | Former No. 236 OCU | 1 October 1956 | 2 July 1965 | RAF St. Mawgan |
| RAF | No. 120 Squadron |
| 1 April 1959 | 26 May 2011 | Disbanded | |
| RAF | No. 201 Squadron |
| 14 March 1965 | 26 May 2011 | Disbanded | |
| RAF | No. 206 Squadron |
| 7 July 1965 | 1 April 2005 | Disbanded | |
| RAF | Nimrod Major Servicing Unit (NMSU) | Nimrod heavy maintenance | Formed | March 1970 | 1995 | Privatised. |
| RAF | No. 8 Squadron | Reformed | January 1972 | 17 August 1973 | RAF Lossiemouth | |
| RAF | No. 236 Operational Conversion Unit | Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2 | Reformed | April 1982 | October 1983 | RAF St. Mawgan |
| RAF | No. 42 (Reserve) Squadron | Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2 | RAF St. Mawgan | July 1992 | 26 May 2011 | Disbanded |
| RAF | Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) | Rescue Coordination | Edinburgh ARCC and Plymouth ARCC | 1997 | 31 March 2016 | National Maritime Operations Centre, Fareham. |
In 2004, with the development of a new water pipeline, a land quality assessment warned that sulphur mustard may be present within landfill and waste areas accessible to the public. The report stated that RAF believed there was a potential for chemical weapons agents and Radiation contamination to be present in the ground:
However, no trace of chemical weapons agents was found during the land quality assessment, although material contaminated with radium was removed from land near the base in 2004.
After the 2004 documents became public in May 2012, it emerged that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) was investigating radioactive contamination at the site linked to the use of "glow in the dark paint" in Second World War aircraft.
See also
Bibliography
(2025). 9781857803464, Midland Publishing. ISBN 9781857803464
External links
|
|
