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| RAF Turnhouse | |
|---|---|
| Name | RAF Turnhouse |
| Location | near Edinburgh, Midlothian |
| Coordinates | 55.95°N 3.37°W |
| Used | 1916–1960s |
| Ownership | Royal Air Force |
| Battles | World War II |
RAF Turnhouse was a Royal Air Force station located to the west of Edinburgh in Midlothian, Scotland. Established during the First World War, the site evolved through interwar expansion and intensive use in the Second World War before transitioning to peacetime roles and eventual closure; later the aerodrome site became the nucleus of Edinburgh Airport. The station hosted a succession of Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force squadrons, and its facilities reflected changing technologies from biplanes to early jets.
Turnhouse airfield opened in 1916 as a Royal Flying Corps landing ground supporting training and coastal patrols during First World War. Postwar demobilisation saw reduced activity, but interwar rearmament under the Air Ministry and the RAF Expansion Scheme returned the aerodrome to prominence. During the 1930s Turnhouse hosted units involved in the Air Defence of Great Britain preparations prior to Second World War. After 1945 the station adapted to peacetime roles linked to the Ministry of Defence and civil aviation growth, culminating in the transformation of the site into Edinburgh Airport while RAF operations wound down into the 1960s.
Turnhouse accommodated frontline fighter squadrons including those drawn from the Royal Flying Corps’s wartime legacy and later RAF Fighter Command formations. Squadrons rotated through Turnhouse from units such as No. 603 Squadron RAF, No. 602 Squadron RAF, No. 604 Squadron RAF, and No. 11 Squadron RAF, with detachments from No. 12 Group RAF and No. 13 Group RAF during aerial defence deployments. Coastal reconnaissance and anti-submarine operations involved detachments from Coastal Command squadrons, while training and conversion units like No. 14 Operational Training Unit used Turnhouse for advanced instruction. Allied cooperation saw occasional visits from Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, and United States Army Air Forces units passing through Scottish airfields in support of North Atlantic convoy protection and Combined Operations.
The airfield began with grass runways and primitive hangars typical of Royal Flying Corps fields, later receiving hard-surfaced runways, Blister hangars, and more substantial Type C and Type T hangars during the 1930s and 1940s expansion. Ground control and administration were housed in buildings linked to the Air Ministry’s standard designs; ancillary facilities included technical workshops, fuel storage tanks, and dispersed aircraft pens to mitigate damage from enemy raids such as those experienced in the Battle of Britain period. Radio and radar installations tied Turnhouse into the Chain Home early-warning network and the Dowding system command-and-control arrangement that coordinated intercepts across Scotland and northern approaches.
Throughout World War II Turnhouse played a pivotal air-defence and convoy-protection role for the Firth of Forth and approaches to Leith and Rosyth Dockyard. Fighter squadrons based at Turnhouse engaged German reconnaissance aircraft and gelegentliche intrusions by Luftwaffe units probing the Scottish coast, while reconnaissance and anti-submarine sorties from coastal squadrons protected shipping lanes servicing the Atlantic Charter-era convoys. Turnhouse also functioned as a dispersal and maintenance node supporting aircraft ferries for RAF Ferry Command and aircraft delivery to Norway and the Soviet Union under the Arctic convoys programme. The station linked into wider Scottish air operations centred on hubs like Leuchars and Drem.
After the war Turnhouse retained an RAF presence as the Royal Air Force reduced wartime establishments and restructured under the RAF Fighter Command and later Maintenance Command. Civilian airline operations expanded from the site, with carriers such as British European Airways and later commercial operators developing scheduled services that led to dual military-civilian use. Strategic shifts and consolidation of RAF assets in Scotland prompted progressive drawdown; by the 1950s and 1960s much of the site’s military functions transferred to nearby RAF stations or civilian authorities. Ultimately Turnhouse’s airfield operations were absorbed into Edinburgh Airport, and remaining RAF units were disbanded or relocated.
Turnhouse’s operational history included training accidents, operational losses, and a number of notable incidents. Aircraft types involved in incidents ranged from Sopwith Camels in the post-First World War era to Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires during the Second World War, and later early jet types such as the Gloster Meteor in the postwar period. Some ground incidents involved fuel and hangar fires consistent with wartime intensity; other events included emergency landings by damaged aircraft returning from Atlantic missions. Investigations into crashes were conducted under the aegis of Air Ministry and RAF accident procedures which informed subsequent safety doctrine.
The site’s evolution into Edinburgh Airport preserved elements of Turnhouse’s aviation heritage while civic and military commemorations remember the station’s role in both world wars. Memorials and museum exhibits in Edinburgh and nearby towns reference squadrons such as No. 602 Squadron RAF and No. 603 Squadron RAF and commemorate personnel who served at Turnhouse. Histories of Scottish aviation link Turnhouse with pioneering aviators and air defence narratives alongside other stations like Castle Kennedy and Dundee Airport (former RAF station). Academic and local heritage projects draw on archives from the National Records of Scotland and regimental collections to document Turnhouse’s contribution to Royal Air Force history.
Category:Royal Air Force stations in Scotland Category:Airports in Scotland