- RAF Ouston
The former Royal Air Force Station Ouston, more commonly known as RAF Ouston, is located near the village of
Heddon-on-the-Wall onHadrian's Wall nearNewcastle upon Tyne . It was built as aSecond world war aerodrome and is today used by theBritish Army .=Ouston origins=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 in distantLondon stating that an airfield site was projected at Ouston. An earlier glance at the map had shown two Oustons — one a few miles southwest ofHexham and the other a hamlet set in a wild moorland area 12 miles west of Newcastle and north of theRoman Road toCarlisle . Only two farm houses braved the blast of the elements there to form a pocket-sized parish. The southwesterly Ouston seemed clearly indicated but the chagrin of the officials was tempered with incredulity when it was realized that was, indeed, the wild improbable site that was intended (Map references: Du, NZ2554, [88] , 6 miles south of Newcastle, N971). Nevertheless, some of the officials went to the other Ouston first.Construction work proceeded slowly because of the inaccessibility of the area and some opposition from agricultural interests, although the land at Ouston 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, thecontrol tower being located in front of it.Ouston opened on
10 March 1941 as aFighter Sector HQ under No. 13 Group to replaceRAF Usworth , its staff being drawn mainly from that station. Its first squadron was No. 317, which moved over from Acklington at the end of April. Equipped with Hurricanes, this recently formed Polish unit claimed its first kill on2 June when a Ju88 was sent into theNorth Sea . Relieved by No. 122 Squadron fromRAF Turnhouse on26 June 1941, No. 317 went toRAF Colerne .No. 122 Squadron's Spitfires transferred to
RAF Catterick in August 1941, leaving No. 232 Squadron, which had been there the previous month, and which eventually left for theMiddle East in November. Another squadron, No. 131, reformed at Ouston on20 June 1941 with a large proportion ofBelgian pilots but soon moved to Catterick.Another squadron which did not fire its guns in anger whilst at Ouston was No. 81 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 55 OTU's Hurricanes from Usworth but was given up when the OTU moved to Annan at the end of April 1942.
No. 242 Squadron was here for two weeks in May 1942 with Spitfires, being replaced by the reformed No. 243 Squadron on
1 June . No. 243 became operational within a fortnight and flew coastal patrols and scrambles in defence of the Northeast until moving to Turnhouse at the beginning of September. No. 72 Squadron appeared briefly in the Autumn of 1942 to re-equip before overseas posting.To cover the need for ASR off the East coast, No. 281 Squadron had been formed at Ouston on March 29, 1942, equipped initially with Defiants. In February 1943,
Supermarine Walrus amphibians were added and by June, when the squadron moved to Wolsington, the Defiants had been replaced by Ansons.Also in 1942, a flight of No. 410 Squadron was detached here for night-fighter patrol. Defiants were used first, but despite some reluctance on the part of the crews, a change was made to
Bristol Beaufighter s. (More information on Beaufighter Squadrons in WW II is here.)An "Army Co-operation" (AC) squadron, No. 613, arrived in August 1942 flying Mustang 1s, 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 226 Squadron's Douglas Bostons, which had the misfortune to lose three aircraft in crashes on their first day at Ouston. Other unusual lodgers were the Hurricanes of No. 804 Squadron which flew in from
RAF Machrihanish on3 June 1943 and left forRAF Twatt on4 February .Auster s appeared on January 31, 1943 when No. 657 Squadron formed at Ouston, flying many Army exercises until leaving forNorth Africa in August. No. 198 Squadron flew its Typhoons in fromRAF Digby late in January 1943 but soon transferred toRAF Acklington to complete its working-in period on the new type.Ouston's last operational squadron was No. 350, which spent most of June and July 1943 flying monotonous convoy patrols before returning to Acklington. On
21 June 1943, 62 OTU began to move in from Usworth, which had been found increasingly unsuitable for its work. The unit continued to train radar operators for the night-fighter force until disbanding on6 June 1945 . Ansons were used at first, but in the final months 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 on8 March 1946 . The Harvards of 22 SFTS were displaced fromRAF Calveley inCheshire to Ouston in May 1946, but the school soon disbanded.Under the
Royal Auxiliary Air Force , No. 607 Squadron reformed with Spitfires on10 May 1946, converted to Vampires in 1951 and operated them up to March 1957 when it disbanded. No. 1965 Flight of No. 664 Squadron was also based at Ouston from1 September 1949 until14 February 1954 withAuster AOP.6 s.Continuing in its reserve role, the station housed
Durham University Air Squadron , 11Air Experience Flight , 641Volunteer Gliding Squadron , and was employed as an RLG by the Jet Provosts of 6Flying Training School RAF Acklington . In 1967 it became the North East Regional Airport for five months whileNewcastle Airport s' runway was being lengthened and renovated.=Ouston today=RAF Ouston is now Albemarle Barracks and home of
39th Regiment Royal Artillery , the runway area is used by the police for driver training. It is also reported thatC-130 Hercules have occasionally landed there. Many of the WWII buildings survive.
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