RAF Drem
RNAS Drem (HMS Nighthawk)
West Fenton Aerodrome
Gullane Aerodrome
Drem, East Lothian in Scotland
RAF Drem is located in East Lothian
RAF Drem
RAF Drem
Shown within East Lothian
RAF Drem is located in the United Kingdom
RAF Drem
RAF Drem
RAF Drem (the United Kingdom)
Coordinates56°01′19″N 2°47′38″W / 56.022°N 2.794°W / 56.022; -2.794
TypeRoyal Air Force station
CodeDE[1]
Site information
OwnerAir Ministry
Admiralty
OperatorRoyal Flying Corps
Royal Air Force
Royal Navy
Controlled byRAF Flying Training Command (1939)
RAF Fighter Command (1939 - 1945)
* No. 13 Group RAF[1]
Fleet Air Arm (1942 - 1946)
*lodger unit (1942 - 1945)
Site history
Built1917 (1917)
In use1917 - March 1946 (1946)
Battles/warsFirst World War
European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation11 metres (36 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
00/00  Grass
00/00  Grass
00/00  Grass

Royal Air Force Drem, or more simply RAF Drem, is a former Royal Air Force station, just north of the village of Drem in East Lothian, Scotland. The motto of the station was Exiit Hinc Lumen which means "Light has departed from this place".

History

The foundation of Drem as an airfield, precedes the creation of the Royal Air Force (RAF) as by 1916, an airfield had been established under the name West Fenton Aerodrome. From 1916 to 1917, No. 77 Home Defence Squadron, Royal Flying Corps operated from Drem and in April 1918, No. 2 Training Depot Station opened.

Between April and 14 August 1918, the American 41st Aero Squadron under the command of Lieutenant Warren C. Woodward was temporarily located at Drem together with an aero repair flight company. The Americans called the airfield "Gullane" in its official history. The squadron transferred to St Maixent in France and arrived at its operational airfield of Romorantin on 29 August 1918.

By November 1918, West Fenton had been renamed Gullane Aerodrome and with the post-war demobilisation the airfield was vacated in 1919. From 1933 to 1939, the airfield saw only occasional use by visiting squadrons.

It was at this time, while stationed there in 1934, that Victor Goddard had his paranormal vision of the airfield as it might appear in the then future 1939.[2]

In 1939, the grass airstrip was resurfaced, and the unit was renamed RAF Drem. The station was then home to No. 13 Flying Training School.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, RAF Drem became an air defence fighter unit for the city of Edinburgh and the shipping area around the Firth of Forth, with Supermarine Spitfire of 602 Squadron posted to Drem.

On 16 October 1939, the Luftwaffe made its first attack on Great Britain. Junkers Ju 88s of 1/KG 30 led by Hauptmann Helmuth Pohle attacked British warships in the Firth of Forth. Spitfires from 603 Squadron (City of Edinburgh Squadron) joined 602 Squadron aircraft in a defensive counter-air sortie. Following the destruction of a Luftwaffe bomber aircraft by a 603 Squadron Spitfire, 602 Squadron pilot Flight Lieutenant George Pinkerton gained the second kill of the Second World War.

In 1940, an airfield lighting system for night landings, the Drem Lighting System, was developed at RAF Drem.

Royal Australian Air Force 453 Squadron was re-established at Drem on 18 June 1942, equipped with Supermarine Spitfire aircraft, and joined the RAF's Fighter Command.[3]

Royal Navy

In 1942, a request for lodger facilities for the Royal Navy at RAF Drem was granted and Royal Naval Air Section Drem became home to 784 Night Fighter Training Squadron. On 21 April 1945 the airbase was transferred from No. 13 Group, on loan to the Admiralty, known as Royal Naval Air Station Drem (RNAS Drem) and was commissioned as HMS Nighthawk. Its primary role was Naval Night Fighter School and Night Fighter Direction Centre. 770 Fleet Requirements Unit had moved from RNAS Dunino in July 1944 and in May 1945 732 Night Fighter Training School formed at RNAS Drem. A number of Fleet Air Arm squadrons used the airbase when disembarking from aircraft carrier operations between 1943 and 1945. March 1946 saw the airfield transfer back into RAF control,[4] and the unit was returned to the Air Ministry although it was closed and then decommissioned not long after that.

Units and aircraft

UnitFromToAircraftVersionNotes
No. 77 Squadron RFC19161917Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12		Squadron headquartered in Edinburgh. West Fenton was one of various landing grounds used.
41st Aero Squadron, US ArmyApril 1918August 1918SPAD S.VII
Sopwith Camel
RAF No. 2 Training Depot Station15 April 19181919Sopwith Pup
Sopwith Camel
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5
No. 151 Squadron RAF21 February 191910 September 1919Cadre, no aircraft allocated
No. 152 Squadron RAF21 February 191930 June 1919Cadre, no aircraft allocated
No. 13 Flying Training School RAF17 March 19393 September 1939Airspeed Oxford
Hawker Audax
Hawker Hart
No. 13 Service Flying Training School RAF3 September 193927 October 1939Airspeed Oxford
Hawker Audax
Hawker Hart
No. 602 Squadron RAF13 October 193914 April 1940Supermarine SpitfireMk.I
No. 609 Squadron RAF17 October 19395 December 1939Supermarine SpitfireMk.I
No. 72 Squadron RAF1 December 193912 January 1940Supermarine SpitfireMk.I
No. 111 Squadron RAF7 December 193927 February 1940Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 609 Squadron RAF10 January 194020 May 1940Supermarine SpitfireMk.I
No. 29 Squadron RAF4 April 194010 May 1940Bristol BlenheimMk.IF
No. 603 Squadron RAF14 April 19405 May 1940Supermarine SpitfireMk.I
No. 245 Squadron RAF12 May 19405 June 1940Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 605 Squadron RAF28 May 19407 September 1940Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 145 Squadron RAF14 August 194031 August 1940Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 263 Squadron RAF2 September 194028 November 1940Hawker Hurricane
Westland Whirlwind		Mk.I
Mk.I		Converting from Hurricane to Whirlwind
No. 111 Squadron RAF8 September 194012 October 1940Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 141 Squadron RAF15 October 194022 October 1940Boulton Paul DefiantMk.I
No. 232 Squadron RAF24 October 194011 November 1940Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 607 Squadron RAF8 November 194012 December 1940Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 258 Squadron RAF4 December 194017 December 1940Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 43 Squadron RAF12 December 194022 February 1941Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 603 Squadron RAF13 December 194027 February 1941Supermarine SpitfireMk.I
No. 43 Squadron RAF1 March 19414 October 1941Hawker HurricaneMk.I, IIA & IIBConverted to Hurricane Mk.IIA & IIB during April 1941.
No. 607 Squadron RAF2 March 194116 April 1941Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 600 Squadron RAF14 March 194127 April 1941Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Beaufighter		Mk.IF
Mk.IF
No. 260 Squadron RAF16 April 194119 May 1941Hawker HurricaneMk.I
No. 64 Squadron RAF17 May 19417 August 1941Supermarine SpitfireMk.IIA
No. 123 Squadron RAF6 August 194122 September 1941Supermarine SpitfireMk.I
No. 64 Squadron RAF4 October 194116 November 1941Supermarine SpitfireMk.IIA
No. 611 Squadron RAF12 November 19413 June 1942Supermarine SpitfireMk.IIA, IIB & VB
No. 340 (Free French) Squadron RAF20 December 19411 January 1942Supermarine SpitfireMk.IIA
No. 410 Squadron RCAF6 August 194115 June 1942Boulton Paul Defiant
Bristol Beaufighter		Mk.I
Mk.IIF		Converted to Beaufighter April–May 1942
No. 242 Squadron RAF1 June 194211 August 1942Supermarine SpitfireMk.VB
No. 453 Squadron RAAF9 June 194225 September 1942Supermarine SpitfireMk.VB
No. 137 Squadron RAF2 August 194211 August 1942Westland WhirlwindMk.I
No. 222 Squadron RAF10 August 1942
15 August 1942		21 August 1942
22 October 1942		Supermarine SpitfireMk.VB
No. 65 Squadron RAF26 September 1942
11 October 1942		2 October 1942
3 January 1943		Supermarine SpitfireMk.VB
784 Naval Air Squadron18 October 19421 February 1946Avro Anson
Fairey Fulmar
Fairey Firefly
Grumman Hellcat
North American Harvard		Naval night-fighter school
No. 197 Squadron RAF25 November 194228 March 1943Hawker TyphoonMk.IA & IB
No. 124 Squadron RAF29 December 194221 January 1943Supermarine SpitfireMk.VI
No. 65 Squadron RAF10 January 194329 March 1943Supermarine SpitfireMk.VB
No. 186 Squadron RAF27 April 19433 August 1943Squadron reforming, no aircraft allocated
No. 340 (Free French) Squadron RAF30 April 19439 November 1943Supermarine SpitfireMk.VB
No. 1692 (Radio Development) Flight RAF5 July 194310 December 1943Boulton Paul Defiant
Bristol Beaufighter		Radar-jamming trials
No. 130 Squadron RAF30 March 194330 April 1943Supermarine SpitfireMk.VB
No. 488 Squadron RNZAF3 August 19433 September 1943Bristol Beaufighter
de Havilland Mosquito		Mk.VIF
Mk.XII		Converting from Beaufighter to Mosquito. Previously a detachment at Drem since September 1942 (Beaufighter IIF & VIF)
No. 96 Squadron RAF4 September 19438 November 1943Bristol Beaufighter
de Havilland Mosquito		Mk.VIF
Mk.XIII		Converted to Mosquito during October–November 1943
No. 281 Squadron RAF9 October 194322 November 1943Supermarine Walrus
Avro Anson		Mk.I
Mk.I		Air-sea rescue unit
No. 307 (Polish) Squadron RAF9 November 19432 March 1944de Havilland MosquitoMk.II
No. 485 Squadron RNZAF21 November 194328 February 1944Supermarine SpitfireMk.VB
No. 486 Squadron RNZAF28 February 19446 March 1944Hawker Typhoon
Hawker Tempest		Mk.IB
Mk.V		Converting from Typhoon to Tempest
No. 29 Squadron RAF1 March 19441 May 1944de Havilland MosquitoMk.XII & XIIIConverting from Mk.XII to Mk.XIII
No. 91 Squadron RAF17 March 194423 April 1944Supermarine SpitfireMk.XIV
No. 309 (Polish) Squadron RAF23 April 194414 November 1944Hawker Hurricane
North American Mustang		Mk.IIC
Mk. I & III		Converted to Mustang September–October 1944
770 Naval Air Squadron16 July 19441 October 1945(various)Fleet Requirements Unit
No. 340 (Free French) Squadron RAF17 December 194430 January 1945Supermarine SpitfireMk.IXB
722 Naval Air Squadron15 May 1945November 1945Naval night-fighter school (merged into 784 Squadron November 1945)
No. 81 Squadron RAF

(Sources:[5][6])

The following units were here at some point:[7]

Most of the units based at Drem during the Second World War were fighter or night-fighter squadrons, which were often based at Drem for relatively short periods. This was typical of many fighter stations in Scotland and Northern England as although Luftwaffe activity in these areas was relatively limited for most of the war, they still required to be defended. Squadrons would therefore be rotated north to cover "quiet" sectors whilst also resting, absorbing replacement aircrews and/or converting to new aircraft. As the war progressed the Luftwaffe threat to Britain diminished further and surplus fighter stations could be transferred to other uses, such as (in the case of Drem) training of Fleet Air Arm crews.

In addition to the units and dates listed above, Drem also hosted detachments from various other RAF squadrons from time to time. These were mostly fighter and night-fighter units, but detachments from 278 or 281 (Air-Sea Rescue) Squadrons were also present for extended periods during 1942 and 1943.

Current use

At present, the RAF Drem Museum is housed in what was RAF Drem's mess accommodation.

Various business premises occupy the rest of the accommodation section of the airfield.

Equestrian activities occupy areas of the greater airfield.

A radio controlled model flying club have a strip on the southern edge of the field just off the peritrack.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Falconer 2012, p. 83.
  2. ↑ Goddard, Victor (1975). Flight Towards Reality. UK: Turnstone. ISBN 9780855000455.
  3. ↑ "No. 453 Squadron". Australian War Memorial (AWM).
  4. ↑ "R.N.A.S. Drem". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  5. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 159.
  6. ↑ Smith 1983, p. 81.
  7. ↑ "Drem (Gullane) (West Fenton)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  8. ↑ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 253.
  9. ↑ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 270.

Bibliography

  • Falconer, J (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
  • Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
  • Smith, D J (1983). Action Stations: Vol 7. Military airfields of Scotland, the North-East and Northern Ireland. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens Limited. ISBN 0-85059-563-0.
  • Sturtivant, R; Hamlin, J; Halley, J (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.
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