Ouston’s role in beating the Luftwaffe
Article by Brian Tilley in the Hexham Courant - Friday 2nd March 2007
For what is now Albemarle Barracks at Harlow Hill began life as RAF Ouston.
It was built in the early years of World War Two, as a fighter station, and was one of the busiest in the North-East.
The airfield was formally opened on March 10, 1941, and its first operational squadron was the Wilenski squadron of Hurricanes, one of the new Polish fighter units, which arrived at the end of April.
Ouston’s role continued when the Poles were replaced with a Spitfire squadron which, despite being called the County of Kent squadron, was actually staffed almost exclusively by Belgian pilots.
In 1942 Ouston took on a new role as an air-sea rescue unit, initially using adapted Defiants, which could drop dinghies to stranded airmen, but later with the amphibious Walrus, another biplane from an earlier age, and then the better equipped Avro Anson.
Further roles for Ouston involved towing drogues for target practice, and then as an air observation post.
During the 1950s and 1960s Ouston was used by a variety of small units, and the RAF Gliding School became the last RAF unit to occupy the site before it was taken over by the Army in 1975.
Eerily, although it has not been used as an airfield since 1975, the runways and perimeter track remain intact, and even the control tower is still standing.
Read the full story here.
For what is now Albemarle Barracks at Harlow Hill began life as RAF Ouston.
It was built in the early years of World War Two, as a fighter station, and was one of the busiest in the North-East.
The airfield was formally opened on March 10, 1941, and its first operational squadron was the Wilenski squadron of Hurricanes, one of the new Polish fighter units, which arrived at the end of April.
Ouston’s role continued when the Poles were replaced with a Spitfire squadron which, despite being called the County of Kent squadron, was actually staffed almost exclusively by Belgian pilots.
In 1942 Ouston took on a new role as an air-sea rescue unit, initially using adapted Defiants, which could drop dinghies to stranded airmen, but later with the amphibious Walrus, another biplane from an earlier age, and then the better equipped Avro Anson.
Further roles for Ouston involved towing drogues for target practice, and then as an air observation post.
During the 1950s and 1960s Ouston was used by a variety of small units, and the RAF Gliding School became the last RAF unit to occupy the site before it was taken over by the Army in 1975.
Eerily, although it has not been used as an airfield since 1975, the runways and perimeter track remain intact, and even the control tower is still standing.
Read the full story here.
