RAF Milltown

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RAF Milltown
Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
Near Elgin, Moray in Scotland
A former hangar at Milltown during 2008.
A former hangar at Milltown during 2008.
RAF Milltown is located in Moray
RAF Milltown
RAF Milltown
Location in Moray
Coordinates57°40′12″N 003°14′04″W / 57.67000°N 3.23444°W / 57.67000; -3.23444Coordinates: 57°40′12″N 003°14′04″W / 57.67000°N 3.23444°W / 57.67000; -3.23444
TypeRoyal Air Force station
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRoyal Air Force (1941–1946 and 1977–2001)
Royal Navy (1946–1977)
DCSA (2001–2006)
ConditionClosed
Site history
Built1941 (1941)
In use1941–2006 (2006)
FateSite sold by MOD in 2013, small number of station buildings remaining.

Royal Air Force Station Milltown or RAF Milltown is a former Royal Air Force station located south of the Moray Firth and 3.6 miles (5.8 km) north east of Elgin, Scotland.

Flying stopped in 1977 and the site became a defence communication station. The site was returned to previous owners the Innes estate and will become the site of a solar farm.

History[]

RAF Milltown, lying to the southeast of Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth, began life as a bombing decoy for nearby RAF Lossiemouth.[1] Between 1941 and 1943, three runways and two hangars were constructed and the airfield became a satellite of RAF Lossiemouth.[1]

In July 1946, along with RAF Lossiemouth, Milltown was officially handed over to the Royal Navy as HMS Fulmar II, a Deck Landing Training School.[2]

Draw-down and closure[]

Closed for flying in 1977, the site was retained by the RAF as a high frequency signals station, with some 50 masts transmitting on the RAF VOLMET (using a 600W transmitter) and RAF STCICS systems. The signals station closed in December 2003 when the RAF's high frequency communications system was replaced by the Defence High Frequency Communications Service.[3] The site was sold in 2013 to the Innes Estate and returned to agriculture [4]

Units and aircraft[]

List of flying units permanently based at Milltown.

Source: Unless otherwise indicated details sourced are from: Hughes, Jim. (1999), A Steep Turn to the Stars. Peterborough, GMS Enterprises. ISBN 1 870384 71 7, pp. 79–82

Service Unit Aircraft / Role From Date From Date To To
RAF No. 20 Operational Training Unit (C Flight) Vickers Wellington RAF Lossiemouth 5 September 1943 1 September 1944
RAF No. 224 Squadron Consolidated Liberator RAF St. Eval 15 September 1944 July 1945 RAF St. Eval
RAF No. 311 Squadron Consolidated Liberator RAF Tain 15 February 1946 15 February 1946 Disbanded
RAF No. 111 Operational Training Unit Consolidated Liberator, Handley Page Halifax The Bahamas July 1945 1946 Disbanded
RAF No. 1674 Heavy Conversion Unit Consolidated Liberator July 1945 1946
FAA 767 Naval Air Squadron Fairey Firefly, North American Harvard, Supermarine Seafire
FAA 766 Naval Air Squadron Supermarine Seafire
FAA Lossiemouth Handling Squadron Gloster Meteor TT.20 1958 1962
Civil Fulmar Gliding Club 1976 RAF Kinloss
Civil Highland Gliding Club 1971 October 1975 Dallachy Airfield[5]
RAF No. 663 Volunteer Gliding Squadron 1973 February 1977 RAF Kinloss
RAF No. 81 Signals Unit - Detachment (North) High frequency communications 1977 2003 - 2006 Role transferred to DHFCS.

Current use[]

Sheep on RAF Milltown in 2020

The majority of the runways and taxiways are intact but a number of the aircraft stands have been removed. The area has been used for a variety of activities, including storage, truck testing and livestock grazing.[6]

2018 - planning for construction of a Solar PV power plant[]

2017-12-06 the Planning and Regulatory Services Committee of Moray Council agreed to raise no objection to the 50 MW Milltown Airfield Solar PV proposal.[7] The project was approved in May 2018 by the Scottish Government as the first solar project to be approved by the Energy Consents Unit (ECU).[8] The Solar Power plant will have a peak power of 50 MWp and include 200 000 solar panels. Assuming an insolation of 1160 kWh/m2yr[9] this corresponds to a capacity factor of approximately 13% and an annual production of 58 GWh/yr, or 15 000 homes each with a consumption of 3 900 kWh/yr.

See also[]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ a b "RAF Milltown" (wiki). Secret Scotland. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  2. ^ "RN Air Station Milltown". Military Genealogy. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  3. ^ "Defence High Frequency Communications Service" (PDF). High Frequency Industry Association. Babcock International Group. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  4. ^ Gilmerton Land Services (2013). "Contract in Brief - the Former Milltown Airfield" (PDF).
  5. ^ "Club History". Highland Gliding Club. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  6. ^ Amos, Ilona (29 May 2018). "Massive solar farm in Moray will be Scotland's biggest". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Moray council raise no objection to Milltown airfield solar farm". Elgin Energy. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  8. ^ Pratt, David (29 May 2018). "Scotland's largest solar farm approved in first for government". Solar Power Portal. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  9. ^ "JRC - European Commission - PVGIS Photovoltaic Geographical Information System". European Commission. Retrieved 1 June 2018.

Bibliography[]

  • Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
  • Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin. RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. ISBN 0-85130-365-X.
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