Ganavan Maintenance Unit

RAF Memorial, Ganavan Bay
� Peter Amsden

The Ganavan Maintenance Unit was a Flying Boat Maintenance Unit (FBMU) established by the RAF at Ganavan during World War II, and which operated in conjunction with the Oban seaplane base in Ardantrive Bay to the south. This was part of No 302 Flying Training Unit (FTU) which, together with a number of other squadrons listed on the RAF memorial established in the bay, formed 18 Group Coastal Command, which served at RAF Oban.

The site has been cleared, and occupied by residential development dating from 2007. This replaced a holiday village completed in 2004, having been preceded by a hotel, and a caravan park. The series of pictures below show the area as it has changed for the 1940s until 2004. (The image sources were listed in the Links below, but have become dead liks).

Cycle path gate
� TheTurfBurner

A National Cycle Network path leads to the bay, and the route has a been fitted with a gate which remembers the presence of the flying boats in the bay.

The old slipway used by the MU survives on the site, and may have been claimed for used by the the new holiday village, for which the owners impose a charge. Historical records for the site indicate that while all the buildings have gone, the steel runners for the hangar doors could still be found in the ground, but may have been lost to later developments.

The same area was home to an anti-submarine indicator loop, and a signal station.

Oban War and Peace Museum contains information and displays relating to the role played by the area during the war, and includes what may be the largest flying boat model in Scotland.

Site visit

Development

A site visit was carried out duing 2009. The area of the former holiday village has been cleared and is currently being replaced by a luxury housing development. A large expanse of concrete hard standing serves as a car park, with the main and a subsidiary ramp being found nearby. No sign of the hangar runners, referred to in the earlier report noted above, was observed.