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RAF Ouston
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RAF Ouston
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.
In late 1938, the Air Ministry instructed a group of officials to go to Ouston to evaluate the possibility of building an airfield there. Unfortunately, the signal sent out by the ministry wasn't specific enough and some of the officials went to the one located a few miles southwest of Hexham. However, the intent at the time was for an airfield at the Ouston 12 mi (19 km) west of Newcastle and north of the Stanegate Roman road to Carlisle, Cumbria.
Construction work was slow to begin with because the area was quite remote from communication lines and there was some opposition from the local farming community, despite the land being of quite low quality. The station was built to a fairly standard design, having a mixture of prewar-style buildings and the utility types which came later. A "J"-type hangar dominated the airfield, with the control tower situated in front of it.
The station opened on 10 March 1941 as a Fighter Sector HQ under No. 13 Group RAF (13 Gp) to replace RAF Usworth, with its staff mainly being drawn from that station. The station's badge was a lion rampant in front of a Roman helmet. This was influenced by the nearby Hadrian's Wall and the lion is taken from the Percy family arms (the Percys being local landowners). The station motto underneath the badge was 'Persist'.
The first squadron at the station was No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron, which had been transferred over from RAF Acklington at the end of April 1941. Equipped with Hawker Hurricanes, the 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 then went south to RAF Colerne.
In July 1941, No. 232 Squadron RAF arrived with Hurricanes and then No. 122 Sqn transferred to RAF Catterick in August 1941, leaving No. 232 Squadron which eventually left 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 too.
Another squadron that didn't register any kills whilst at Ouston was No. 81 Squadron RAF, which had moved in from RAF Turnhouse by early 1942. Its Spitfires returned to RAF Turnhouse five weeks later, although a further month was spent at Ouston during the early Summer of the same year.
Throughout 1941, the station had also served as a satellite landing ground for No. 55 Operational Training Unit RAF Hurricanes from RAF Usworth until No. 55 OTU moved to RAF Annan at the end of April 1942.
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RAF Ouston
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.
In late 1938, the Air Ministry instructed a group of officials to go to Ouston to evaluate the possibility of building an airfield there. Unfortunately, the signal sent out by the ministry wasn't specific enough and some of the officials went to the one located a few miles southwest of Hexham. However, the intent at the time was for an airfield at the Ouston 12 mi (19 km) west of Newcastle and north of the Stanegate Roman road to Carlisle, Cumbria.
Construction work was slow to begin with because the area was quite remote from communication lines and there was some opposition from the local farming community, despite the land being of quite low quality. The station was built to a fairly standard design, having a mixture of prewar-style buildings and the utility types which came later. A "J"-type hangar dominated the airfield, with the control tower situated in front of it.
The station opened on 10 March 1941 as a Fighter Sector HQ under No. 13 Group RAF (13 Gp) to replace RAF Usworth, with its staff mainly being drawn from that station. The station's badge was a lion rampant in front of a Roman helmet. This was influenced by the nearby Hadrian's Wall and the lion is taken from the Percy family arms (the Percys being local landowners). The station motto underneath the badge was 'Persist'.
The first squadron at the station was No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron, which had been transferred over from RAF Acklington at the end of April 1941. Equipped with Hawker Hurricanes, the 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 then went south to RAF Colerne.
In July 1941, No. 232 Squadron RAF arrived with Hurricanes and then No. 122 Sqn transferred to RAF Catterick in August 1941, leaving No. 232 Squadron which eventually left 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 too.
Another squadron that didn't register any kills whilst at Ouston was No. 81 Squadron RAF, which had moved in from RAF Turnhouse by early 1942. Its Spitfires returned to RAF Turnhouse five weeks later, although a further month was spent at Ouston during the early Summer of the same year.
Throughout 1941, the station had also served as a satellite landing ground for No. 55 Operational Training Unit RAF Hurricanes from RAF Usworth until No. 55 OTU moved to RAF Annan at the end of April 1942.
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