Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre

(Redirected from RAF Montrose)

Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre was formerly known as RAF Montrose Museum, and can be found on Waldron Road, east of the A92 as it leaves the north end of Montrose.

The museum lies on the site of RAF Montrose, and uses some of the original buildings to house its exhibits. Although not used by the museum, a number of the original 1913 aircraft hangars still survive on the site, having been used as factory building within the adjacent industrial estate.

A recent (2007) addition to the museum has been the Romney hangar and Nissen hut, thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant. This has significantly increased the display area, together with number and size of exhibits on show.

In the midst of numerous closures, this is a growing museum and collection, with both indoor and outdoor exhibits worth searching out. Easily missed from the A92, which can be very busy at times, a roadside sign (small!) does help to identify its location.

RAF Montrose

Montrose Air Station was Britain's first operational military air base, and was established on February 26, 1913. The first of 12 Government planned air stations to be operated by the Royal Flying Corps, it was first used by No II (AC) Squadron. After the squadron moved to France in 1914, the station remained inactive until 1918, when it became a major training base when Americans arrived to train for the Western Front, and Canadian and British squadrons were formed.

World War II saw the aerodrome once again became a training base, with numerous personnel serving there. Many Allied nationals were to serve and train there, including Commonwealth, Polish, Czech, American, Russian, Turkish and Free French personnel. A single bombing raid on the area resulted in the loss off six station personnel. Together with its function as a training base, Montrose also served as an operational airfield for Hurricane and Spitfire squadrons which formed part of the air defences for Edinburgh, and flew regular mission over Norway.