Peterhead
Map Reference : - 30/080470
Access:- 4 Miles West of Peterhead on A950
On November 18th 1941, 416 Squadron was formed at Peterhead (Longside). The airfield was prematurely occupied since July 1941 after its construction. The construction was progressed at a slow rate due to the poor weather and the fact that living quarters had not been completed, which resulted in personnel being billeted in Peterhead.
143 Squadron had reformed in Peterhead on July 7th 1941 with Spitfires and becoming operational on the 19th July for Air Defence Roles. At this time, only 1 of the three runways was available and only two thirds of the perimeter track had been completed. 143 Squadron left for Skeabrae on 15th February 1942, up to then the Squadron had shared the station with 883 Squadron's Hurricanes. 883 Squadron left for Macrihanish on May 11th. In June, 416 Squadron left for the South of England, the squadron had only intercepted one enemy aircraft and to which they didn't destroy it.
Alone JU88 in November 1941 dropped two bombs on the airfield, One person was killed and 3 injured in the attack.
802 Squadron arrived in May 1942 from St Merryn. On July 6th seven Fulmars of 884 Squadron from Turnhouse arrived, the following day whilst on Convoy protection, they encountered a JU88. The JU88 fled from the scene without receiving damage.
On August 13th six more Fulmars arrived from 886 Squadron, these aircraft were virtually useless against the speed of JU88s. One regular flight undertaken by the Luftwaffe was Weather flights, the RAF often tracked these flights, and several weeks later two Beaufighters of 125 Squadron shot the aircraft down 130 Miles off of Stonehaven.
Another Squadron formed at Peterhead was 164, this was on 6th April 1942 with Spitfires, these moved onto Skeabrae on May 4th. 164 Squadron returned to Peterhead twice in 1942 before being converted to Hurricanes at Fairwood Common in January 1943.
245 Squadron arrived on 29th January 1943 with Typhoons, the squadron was converting from Hurricanes at this point. On march 31st, the squadron left for Kent and were replaced by Spitfires of 165 Squadron until they moved in July 1943. Following this, 313 Squadron arrived for a rest period before leaving at the end of August 1943.
What's left:- The airfield still has a large number of buildings still, these are dotted all around the area. The Airfield is still in use by Bond Helicopters and has frequent visits from Bristow Helicopters Refuelling En-Route to Oil Rigs. Model aeroplane enthuthiasts have cleared part of a runway for there own use.
ø The Airman's Showers and Ablution Block - Type 14301/40 ø The Station Stores - Type 1256/40 (The raised section is the fabric stores) ø The old watch office (A 518/40 type) now demolished ø The Firing Butts ø Flying resumes from an old runway on a smaller scale ø The left hand Building is a Sleeping Shelter for 33 Airmen type 15476/40, the one on the right is a Fighter Pen with built in shelter ø A fighter Pen viewed from the Airfield Side
A Runway / Taxiway drawing showing Fighter Pens
