RAF Macmerry

RAF Macmerry, (Trenent/Penston) and any other name you can find for it.
The newly formed RAF in 1918 brought 77 Sqn. to defend Scotland against German Airship attacks with Be.2 and Be.12 aircraft. There would have been very little or no permanent infrastructure. Hangars and sleeping arrangements would be under canvas.
The war ends and by 1929 now Macmerry airfield becomes home of the Edinburgh Flying Club. Then 1936 North Eastern Airways LTD start up a service from the Aberdeen in the North to Croydon, London in the South. Also 603 Squadron RAuxAF used the landing ground on occasions before the war.
263 Sqn at Drem used the airfield in September 1940 as a satellite airfield, they may have had very out dated Gloster Gladiators.
July 1940 the Air Ministry came to Macmerry and took over its fields. Named now as RAF Macmerry (at last) and a full fighter station was built. Fighter pens, hangars, disbursed hutting. Grass runways. Everything a fighter base needed to be. Not what the first impressions of the crew thought.
Two fields to the east, Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft built a shadow factory to build and repair aircraft.

Ordnance Survey a very early WW2 airfield map.

Macmerry at its height with:
1 x T2 hangar.
1 x Civil hangar.
8 x Blister hangars.
6 x Blenheim fighter pens.
About 1000 officers, men and WAAF on site.

1942 Luftwaffe reconnaissance air photo showing what had been built so far.

This is about all that is left of the fighter station.
Two fighter pens, one sleeping shelter, a pill box defence and an M & E plinth. Now when I visited, I only managed to photograph properly the M & E plinth and the pill box. Why, I have no idea.

One of the other Flight Offices here showing what one would look like.
Inside all the flight/squadron office, rest room, store room, drying room for flying kit. Parachute store and many other rooms. Then near would be a toilet or ablutions block, with showers, baths, washing facilities and toilets.

Sleeping Shelter.
Around the start of the war, fighter pens had been added to many fighter stations in the London area. They were E pens. Later as the planners started to re design structures, the fighter pen 11070/41 was designed. They came in two sizes, one for a Hurricane/Spitfire and the other larger in size for a Blenheim fighter. Also an air raid shelter was added into the structure and in early instances, a defence brick trench. front and back. RAF Drem has some of all the different types.
The next requisite was for a safe shelter for the ground crew to sleep in. So the 32 man sleeping shelter 103/40 was added. These had four tiers of wooden bunks where straw filled palliasse could be placed. Rudimentary, but satisfactory. The buildings had a strengthened concrete roof, thicker walls and extra brick piers to add strength to the walls and roof. They seem never to have been covered in earth. They had an electrical ventilation system, I am not sure about heating. This would have been electrical. As these structures are so inherently strong, I have found many all over the country still sitting there and used as sheds, stables and store rooms.

M & E Plinth.
Mains electricity would be used to power all the needs of an airfield and it was passed via an armoured cable around the site. At intervals an Mechanical and Electrical plinth would be added to reduce the power down to what ever voltage was needed. In an emergency and loss of mains power, generator sets were in place to start up and then power only the areas on importance and these could be switched in or out here.

M & E Plinth.
Inside. Very little ever survives, there are a few with odd bits still in place, but most have been re used or scrapped.

M & E Plinth and pill box.
Type 27 pill box and AA defence.

Pill Box Type 27.
Nicely camouflaged with grass on the roof.

Pill Box Type 27.
Embrasure.

Cunliffe-Owen LTD. Macmerry.
My first visit, I was very unsure of where anything was and as usual, time was running out. As it always does on these trips. I took the road passed a farm area, but it also looked rather industrial. It also had a heating plant and offices. Buildings that looked like converted hangars (maybe?). Look at the picture and there is an office and a heating plant exactly where the one I photographed. So I am presuming, this was the old Cunliffe-Owen factory.

Cunliffe-Owen LTD. Macmerry.
The Macmerry main offices.

Cunliffe-Owen LTD. Macmerry.
The Macmerry main offices.

Cunliffe-Owen LTD. Macmerry
Just before WW2 started, it was found that many of the aircraft manufacturers were situated in built up areas and were susceptible to aerial bombing. So a system of shadow factories was set up by Government to spread the load. Bristols used a Quarry in Wiltshire as an engine factory. Many Supermarine factories were set up in Salisbury, Newbury and surrounding areas. Others followed suit. Cunliffe-Owen moved here to Macmerry and assembled American planes brought over in boxes, they then took on damage repairs for the RAF (battle damage). Planes would be assembled, repaired and test flown by their own staff test pilots. Then an Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), a man or woman, would fly the plane to a designated storage unit or directly to a Squadron. Company test pilot would have had an office here in the factory and an ATA pilot would fly in on the day and pick up what ever plane was ready and with sometimes, only the Pilots Notes. A small blue book to help them. Would fly the plane out. Un armed, no radio and only allowed to fly, low level and avoid any trouble. very brave people.