Royal Air Force Macmerry or more simply RAF Macmerry is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

satellite station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

located west of Haddington, East Lothian,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and east of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. It was situated immediately to the north east of Macmerry on the north side of the A1 road. It has also been called RNAS Macmerry (when used by the Royal Navy) and unofficially RAF Tranent and RAF Penston during its life.

History

A landing ground known as Penston was used by the Royal Flying Corps during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Subsequently, an adjacent site was developed as Macmerry airfield by the Edinburgh Flying Club, and this was used for scheduled flights by

North Eastern Airways North Eastern Airways (NEA) was a British airline which operated from 1935 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Based initially in Newcastle upon Tyne, it operated routes from Scotland to London in competition with the railways, retaining ...

from 1936 to 1939. In 1942 Macmerry was expanded to encompass the former Penston site. Civil flying ceased with the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and the airfield was taken over by the RAF as a satellite to the nearby fighter station

RAF Drem The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, although its role was soon expanded to other uses. From March 1941 until July 1943 a succession of

RAF Army Cooperation Command The RAF Army Co-operation Command was a short-lived command of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, comprising the army cooperation units of the RAF. The command was formed on 1 December 1940 when No. 22 (Army Co-Operation) Group, ...

squadrons were stationed at Macmerry using Blenheim, Lysander and Mustang aircraft. Part of No. 58 Operational Training Unit from RAF Grangemouth used Macmerry for fighter training until April 1942 when

RAF Balado Bridge Royal Air Force Balado Bridge or more simply RAF Balado Bridge is a former Royal Air Force station located west of Kinross, in central Scotland. It opened in 1942 as a satellite airfield to RAF Grangemouth, and closed in 1957. It has since serv ...

opened as a satellite to Grangemouth. Macmerry was also used as a satellite to the Operational Training Unit at

RAF East Fortune Royal Air Force East Fortune, or more simply RAF East Fortune, is a former Royal Air Force station located just south of the village of East Fortune. It is a short distance east of Edinburgh, in Scotland. RAF East Fortune was used as a fighter ...

- this was initially No. 60 OTU (night-fighter training), and from November 1942 onwards No. 132 OTU (coastal strike and long-range fighter training). Other wartime activities at RAF Macmerry included a works operated by Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft for aircraft repair and modification; a training school for the RAF Regiment and an Elementary Gliding School. The airfield also continued to function as a satellite to

, which had hosted a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

night fighter training school (

784 Naval Air Squadron 784 Naval Air Squadron (784 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land ...

) since October 1942. Naval use increased in December 1943 when 740 Naval Air Squadron formed at Macmerry, this being a communications squadron which used a variety of aircraft including the

de Havilland Dominie The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its rela ...

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCA ...

Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also us ...

and Stinson Reliant. As the war in Europe drew to a close the need for home defence fighter stations declined, but the Fleet Air Arm needed more airfields to train aircrew for the war against Japan. Accordingly, both RAF Drem and RAF Macmerry were transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Nighthawk and HMS Nighthawk II in April and June 1945 respectively. However, the end of the war curtailed the need for naval aircrews and RNAS Macmerry was handed back to the RAF in December 1945. Thereafter military use of RAF Macmerry was limited to the gliding school, which closed in 1946. In August 1946 the civil airfield was reopened by the Edinburgh Flying Club, but it closed in 1953.

Units Stationed at Macmerry

* No. 13 Squadron RAF during August 1942 with Blenheims * No. 63 Squadron RAF November 1942-July 1943 with Mustangs *

No. 225 Squadron RAF No. 225 Squadron RAF is a former Royal Air Force squadron. History World War One No. 225 Squadron RAF was formed on 1 April 1918 at Otranto, Alimini, Italy from part of No. 6 Wing Royal Naval Air Service, RNAS, and was equipped with Sopwith Cam ...

August 1942-October 1942 with Mustangs *

No. 607 Squadron RAF No. 607 (County of Durham) Squadron is an auxiliary squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1930 as a bomber unit in the Auxiliary Air Force and changed in 1936 to the fighter role. It fought in that role during the Second World War in ...

January 1941-March 1941 with Hurricanes *

No. 614 Squadron RAF No. 614 Squadron was originally formed on 1 June 1937 as an army co-operation squadron unit of the Auxiliary Air Force. It served during the Second World War first in this role and later as a bomber squadron. Upon reformation it served as a fight ...

March 1941-August 1942 with Blenheims and Lysanders * 740 Naval Air Squadron December 1943-September 1945 with various aircraft * Air Firing Squadron of No. 58 Operational Training Unit RAF (OTU) (December 1941 - April 1942) * Satellite of No. 132 (Coastal) OTU * No. 3 Gliding School RAF (March 1944 - April 1946) *

No. 1497 (Target Towing) Flight RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

(December 1942 - June 1943) * No. 1318 Mobile Wing RAF Regiment * No. 2737 Squadron RAF Regiment * No. 2830 Squadron RAF Regiment * No. 2949 Squadron RAF Regiment

Current use

The airfield site is now occupied by agriculture, a go-kart centre and the realigned A1 dual carriageway, whereas the technical and domestic sites are an industrial estate.

References

Citations

Bibliography