RAF Ouston

For current use, see Albemarle Barracks, England.

Coordinates: 55°1′29″N 1°52′21″W / 55.02472°N 1.87250°W / 55.02472; -1.87250

Royal Air Force Ouston, or more simply RAF Ouston, is a former Royal Air Force station that was located near the village of Stamfordham and the village of Heddon-on-the-Wall on Hadrian's Wall near Newcastle upon Tyne. It was built as a Second World War aerodrome and is today used by the British Army. Just north of the airfield is Richmond Hill, Northumberland in the parish of Stamfordham.

History

In late 1938, a small group of civilian officials gathered on a Northumbrian hill as a result of receiving a secret signal sent by the Air Ministry stating that an airfield site was projected at Ouston, County Durham. Two Oustons were marked on contemporary maps,one a few miles southwest of Hexham and the other a hamlet set in a wild moorland area 12 mi (19 km) West of Newcastle and North of the Stanegate Roman road to Carlisle, Cumbria, where only two farm houses braved the blast of the elements there to form a pocket-sized parish. The South-westerly Ouston seemed clearly indicated but the chagrin of the officials, was tempered with incredulity when it was realized that the Northerly wild improbable site was, indeed, that which was intended for the airfield (Map references: Du, NZ2554, [88], 6 miles south of Newcastle, N971). Nevertheless, some of the officials went to the South-westerly Ouston first.

Construction work proceeded slowly because of the inaccessibility of the area and some opposition from agricultural interests, although the land was hardly of the first quality. The station was built to a fairly regular pattern, having a mixture of prewar-style buildings and the utility types which came later. A "J"-type hangar dominated the airfield, the control tower being located in front of it.

Ouston opened on 10 March 1941 as a Fighter Sector HQ under No. 13 Group RAF (13 Gp) to replace RAF Usworth, its staff being drawn mainly from that station. The first squadron at Ouston was No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron (317 Sqn), which moved over from RAF Acklington at the end of April 1941. Equipped with Hawker Hurricanes, this recently formed Polish unit claimed its first kill on 2 June when a Junkers Ju 88 was sent into the North Sea. Relieved by No. 122 Squadron RAF (122 Sqn) from RAF Turnhouse on 26 June 1941; 317 Sqn went to RAF Colerne.

122 Sqn Supermarine Spitfires transferred to RAF Catterick in August 1941, leaving No. 232 Squadron RAF (232 Sqn), which had been there from the previous month, eventually leaving for the Middle East in November. No. 131 Squadron RAF (131 Sqn), reformed at Ouston on 20 June 1941 with a large proportion of Belgian pilots but soon moved to Catterick.

Another squadron which did not fire its guns in anger whilst at Ouston was No. 81 Squadron RAF (81 Sqn) which moved in from Turnhouse early in 1942. Its Spitfires returned to Edinburgh five weeks later and a further month was spent at Ouston during the early Summer.

Throughout its first year of existence, the station had also served as a satellite for No. 55 Operational Training Unit RAF (55 OTU) Hurricanes from RAF Usworth until 55 OTU moved to RAF Winterseugh at the end of April 1942.

No. 242 Squadron RAF (242 Sqn) was at Ouston for two weeks in May 1942 with Spitfires, being replaced by the reformed No. 243 Squadron RAF (243 Sqn) on 1 June. 243 Sqn became operational within a fortnight and flew coastal patrols and scrambles in defence of the North-east until moving to Turnhouse at the beginning of September. No. 72 Squadron RAF (72 Sqn) appeared briefly in the Autumn of 1942 to re-equip before overseas posting.

To cover Air-Sea Rescue off the East coast, No. 281 Squadron RAF (281 Sqn) had been formed at Ouston on 29 March 1942, equipped initially with Boulton Paul Defiants. In February 1943, Supermarine Walrus amphibians were added and by June, when the squadron moved to RAF Wolsington, the Defiants replaced by Avro Ansons.

Also in 1942, a flight from No. 410 Squadron RAF (410 Sqn) was detached to Ouston for night-fighter patrol using Boulton-Paul Defiants initially, re-equipping with Bristol Beaufighters, despite some reluctance on the part of the crews.

No. 613 Squadron RAF (613 Sqn), an Army Co-operation (AC) squadron, arrived in August 1942 flying North American Mustang Is, and took part in many exercises with local army units before going south again at the beginning of March 1943. It was joined for a short period in August by Douglas Bostons of No. 226 Squadron RAF (266 Sqn), which had the misfortune to lose three aircraft in crashes on their first day at Ouston. Other unusual lodgers were the Hurricanes of 804 Naval Air Squadron (804 NAS) which flew in from RAF Machrihanish on 3 June 1943 and left for RNAS Twatt on 4 February.

Austers appeared on 31 January 1943 when No. 657 Squadron RAF (657 Sqn) formed at Ouston, flying many Army exercises until leaving for North Africa in August. No. 198 Squadron RAF (198 Sqn) flew it's Hawker Typhoons in from RAF Digby late in January 1943, but soon transferred to RAF Acklington to complete its working-in period on the new type.

Ouston's last operational squadron was No. 350 Squadron RAF (350 Sqn), which spent most of June and July 1943 flying monotonous convoy patrols before returning to Acklington. On 21 June 1943, No. 62 Operational Training Unit (62 OTU) began to move in from RAF Usworth, which had been found increasingly unsuitable for its work. The unit continued to train radar operators for the night-fighter force until disbanding on 6 June 1945. Ansons were used at first, but in the final months Vickers Wellingtons began to replace them.

No. 80 OTU — which specialized in training French pilots on Spitfires — came over from RAF Morpeth in July 1945 and flew from here prior to disbandment on 8 March 1946. The North American Harvards of No. 22 Service Flying Training School RAF (22 SFTS) were displaced from RAF Calveley in Cheshire to Ouston in May 1946, but the school soon disbanded.

Under the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAux.AF), No. 607 Squadron RAux.AF (607 Sqn) reformed with Spitfires on 10 May 1946, converted to de Havilland Vampires in 1951 and operated them up to March 1957 when it disbanded. No. 1965 Flight RAF (1965 Flt), embedded within No. 664 Squadron RAF (664 Sqn), was also based at Ouston from 1 September 1949 until 14 February 1954 with Auster AOP.6s.

Continuing in its reserve role, the station housed Northumbria University Air Squadron, No. 11 Air Experience Flight RAF (11 AEF), No. 641 Gliding School RAF (641 GS), and was employed as an RLG by the BAC Jet Provosts of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF (6 FTS) from Acklington.In 1967 Ouston became the North East Regional Airport for five months while Newcastle Airport's runway was being lengthened and renovated.

Up to the mid 1960s the servicing of Percival Provosts and BAC Jet Provosts of No. 6 Flying Training School (6 FTS), was carried out by a civilian firm at Ouston under contract to the RAF.

Cold war

As part of the nuclear deterrent, Ouston had the 04/22 runway extended to 6,000 ft (1,800 m) and Operational readiness platforms added at each end of the extended runway, for use by aircraft dispersed from their parent stations.

Units

The following units were here at some point:[1]

Motor Sport

Ouston
Location Northumberland, England
Opened 1962

There is a possibility that racing first took place at Ouston as early as 1961, but it is certain that the Newcastle & District Motor Club organised a race meetings there on 24 June 1962, 23 June 1963 and 21 June 1964, the last named being a joint car and motorcycle event. Jackie Stewart was a competitor at the 1963 meeting driving a Jaguar E-Type; he won the race and this is believed to have been his first victory.

Jim Clark attended the meeting in 1964 and was driven round the circuit in an open-topped Jaguar E-Type and then presented the prizes. It is possible that this may have been the last car meeting at Ouston as Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire had reopened in 1964.[2]

In 1965, Motor Cycle magazine commented, when reporting on a motorcycle race meeting organised by the Newcastle Club held on Sunday 20 June, that there were 20,000 spectators present.[3]

Current use

RAF Ouston is now Albemarle Barracks.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Ouston". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Peter Swinger, "Motor Racing Circuits in England : Then & Now" (Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 0 7110 3104 5, 2008)
  3. ↑ Motor Cycle, 24 June 1965, p.855 Ouston Mix-up Road race report and results table. Retrieved 24 February 2015

Bibliography

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