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The town of Lossiemouth is six miles north of Elgin and located on the picturesque shores of the Moray Firth, with the Cairngorm Mountain range a short distance away to the south. The area boasts a rich history with the added attractions of a championship standard golf course and the tempting whiskey trail nearby with its numerous distilleries, however the main focus of this article is the airfield; with a well deserved reputation of being one of the best UK airfields for viewing and the largest & busiest fast-jet base in the Royal Air Force. The station is home to approximately sixty Tornado GR.4 aircraft split between 12(B), 14 & 617 Sqns along with the Tornado GR.4 Operational Conversion Unit, XV(R) Sqn; also resident at Lossiemouth is 'D' Flight of 202 Sqn with the Sea King Search & Rescue helicopter and 51 Field Sqn RAF Regiment and 2622 (Highland) RAF Regiment Auxiliary Sqn.
RAF Lossiemouth was built during the pre-war expansion period and opened on 1st May 1939 with No 15 Flying Training School as the first resident unit. April 1940 saw the station handed over to Bomber Command and No 20 Operational Training Unit was formed together with No 46 Maintenance Unit.
May 1942 saw the first of the Bomber Command 'Thousand Bomber' raids on Germany. Although highly destructive, these raids were of as much benefit as a propaganda exercise, intended to boost British morale and to lower that of the Axis forces by demonstrating the power of the forces targeted against them.
In order to send the required minimum of 1000 aircraft, all available aircraft and crews from the operational stations and the Operational Training Units (OTU) had to be used and these included Wellington's from the Lossiemouth based 20 OTU.
On 25th January 1940, twelve Hampdens of 44 and 50 Sqns arrived from Waddington on detachment with a view to stage offensive patrols over the North Sea, but bad weather forced them to return to their home base on the 15th February. 83 Sqn detached nine Hampdens on the 23rd February, with one of their pilots being a junior officer by the name of Guy Gibson. Wellington's of 9 Sqn arrived on 2nd April but these were replaced at the end of the month by Blenheims of 107 and 110 Sqns.
With the invasion of Norway in April 1940, the 'phoney' war was over and various bomber detachments at Lossiemouth started attacking shipping in the Norwegian Fjords. Though never planned to be of any strategic importance, the airfields at Lossiemouth and nearby Kinloss were now vital and as a result Bomber Command permanently took over the Station. 34 Blenheims of 21 and 57 Sqns arrived from Watton on 20th June 1940 and began operational sweeps over the North Sea, including a raid on Stavanger on the 9th July when four aircraft were lost. The satellite airfield at nearby Elgin was now operational and the Blenheims used this field from August.
The only major Luftwaffe raid on the airfield came on the 26th October 1940, when three He111 bombers made a surprise dusk attack on the airfield. Two came in low from the North East and bombed a line of Blenheims being prepared for night flying. The third attacked from the South. One Heinkel crashed onto the airfield, brought down either by explosions or by the station Hispano gun. The four German crewmen were killed and are buried in Lossiemouth churchyard.
Throughout 1941 detachments from various Sqns continued to visit Lossiemouth from where they carried out raids on Norwegian bases and also mine laying operations. These Sqns included Blenheims from 21, 82, 110 and 114 Sqns and Hampdens from 40 and 44 Sqns.
In January 1942 the 44,755 ton German battleship Tirpitz steamed to Norwegian waters and dropped anchor at Trondheim. Although Tirpitz never actually came into direct contact with Allied shipping, and only fired her guns at enemy targets during a September 1943 raid on shore facilities at Spitzbergen, her great power was a constant threat to the essential (both politically and in materials) Arctic convoy supply lines between the Western Allies and the Soviets.
The destruction or incapacitation of Tirpitz became a high priority resulting in increased activity at Lossiemouth. At the end of the month a force of 13 Stirlings of 149 and XV Sqns (including the famous 'MacRobert’s Reply'), plus 13 Halifaxes of 10 and 76 Sqns arrived; from the airfield they made the first bombing raid against the battleship. This raid was unsuccessful and was followed in March and April by further equally unsuccessful raids by Lancasters of 44 Sqn and Halifaxes of 10 Sqn.
The end of 1944 saw the last big operations from Lossiemouth. Despite the attacks of 1942 and later attacks by the Fleet Air Arm, the Tirpitz was still afloat and a continuing threat to Allied shipping. On 11th September 1944, 42 Lancasters of 9 and 617 Sqns, with two Liberators carrying spares and ground crew, flew from Bardney and Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire to Lossiemouth and Milltown, from where they refueled and set out for Yagodnik in Northern Russia. 27 of the Lancasters flew from Yagodnik to bomb the Tirpitz, but although 17 Tallboy extra-heavy bombs were dropped, the ship still did not sink and Operation PARAVANE failed.
It was then decided to fly direct from Lossiemouth using Lancasters equipped with overload fuel tanks and up-rated engines. An attack planned for 29th October 1944 was aborted due to bad weather as was another one in early November. After two aborted attacks due to poor weather in October and November, on 12th November 38 Lancasters of 9 and 617 Sqns took-off from Lossiemouth on Operation CATECHISM which proved to be a successful mission with 28 tallboys dropped. The Tirpitz rolled over and sank with huge loss of life. The last offensive operation from Lossiemouth was an unqualified success.
In 1950 the Norwegian Government presented a bulkhead from the Tirpitz engine room to Bomber Command, this became a trophy for IX(B) Sqn, but 617 Sqn also claimed to have sunk the Tirpitz leading to a 52 year long dispute over the ownership of the 'trophy'.
Ownership changed between the two Sqns on many occasions; normally the item was 'borrowed' when the other Sqn was away. Weighing 120kgs, with a length of one and a half metres and a width of one metre, this must have presented some logistical problems to those ‘borrowing’ the item.
The lively debate was resolved during November 2002 when both Sqns decided to present the bulkhead to the RAF Museum at Hendon.
At the end of the World War II hostilities in 1945 the station became a satellite of RAF Milltown, as part of Coastal Command before becoming HMS Fulmar with the Royal Navy in 1946; the primary task being Fleet Air Arm operations with Wildcats, Barracudas and Swordfish until replaced by more modern types such as the Sea Fury, Sea Attacker, Sky Raider AEW, Wyvern and Gannet.
March 1962 saw the establishment of 700Z Flight with the Buccaneer Mk.1. At the time, no-one would have thought that three decades later the Buccaneer would still be a major presence at Lossiemouth, albeit flying with the RAF. Certainly from the early Sixties, the Buccaneer, in various marks, dominated the flying scene at HMS Fulmar.
In March 1967 the Lossiemouth based Buccaneers were able to demonstrate their low level bombing techniques when the first of the big supertankers, the Torrey Canyon struck Pollard's Rock in the Seven Stones reef between the Scilly Isles and Land's End. Carrying a cargo of 120,000 tons of oil, it was estimated that 31,000,000 gallons leaked from the ship spreading along the English and French coastlines.
On Tuesday 28th March 1967 the Fleet Air Arm deployed Buccaneers from Lossiemouth to the Naval Air Station at Brawdy to drop 42 1000lb bombs on the wreck. This was followed by the Royal Air Force with napalm armed Hunters. However, exceptionally high tides had put the blaze out and it took further attacks by Sea Vixens from the Naval Air Station at Yeovilton and Buccaneers from the Naval Air Station at Brawdy as well as more RAF Hunters with napalm to ignite the oil.
September 1972 saw Buccaneers of 809 NAS depart for HMS Ark Royal, this event brought to an end naval flying at Lossiemouth.
The following years saw the station increase in importance with a variety of Royal Air Force aircraft types operating from Lossiemouth’s ramps such as the Whirlwind, Jaguar, Shackleton, Sea King, Hunter, Buccaneer and Tornado; employed in various roles including search and rescue, airborne early warning, operational conversion, tactical weapons training and maritime strike/attack.
A recent development in Lossiemouth’s history is the forming on 31st March 2006 of No 140 EAW (Expeditionary Air Wing), one of nine established at main operating bases to support operations. The EAW is formed around the Sqns based at the station housing the Wing, however, they are flexible and can be quickly adapted for operations and deployment. Longer term, the station will become the home of the Harrier replacement, the F-35 Lightning II around 2010-2012.
The station is clearly a well-integrated part of the local community in Moray and is taking a very sensible and refreshingly open approach towards community relations. A visit to this station and the local area is highly recommended.
© On Target Aviation 2008