General Background
The Second World War was the first “modern” war in many ways.
One of these was the importance of airpower. East Lothian was very
much in the front line of military aviation. Airfields like East
Fortune had been important locations in the 1914-18 War and after
(see
R34) and the geography of the county made it a fertile area for
airfield development. The more so because East Lothian was in line
of flight for incoming enemy aircraft seeking to penetrate the
defences of the Forth, Rosyth, Edinburgh and the Clyde.
No surprise then that the first enemy air incursion over Britain
the Second World War should come over East Lothian (a
reconnaissance flight over the Forth on 2 October 1939); nor that
the first enemy aircraft to be shot down over Britain (two Junkers
88 bombers off Port Seton by Spitfires from 603 "City of Edinburgh"
Squadron and 602 "City of Glasgow" Squadron on 16 October 1939);
and the first enemy plane shot down intact on British soil should
have been the “Humbie Heinkel” on a photo reconnaissance mission,
shot down over Yester House again by pilots from 602 and 603
Squadrons on 28 October 1939.
RAF Macmerry
Edinburgh Flying Club began using Macmerry aerodrome in 1929 and
from 1936 to 1939 North Eastern Airways operated some scheduled
flights from the field.
Macmerry was taken over by the Royal Air Force in 1941 and on 16
January a detachment of Hurricanes from No. 607 Squadron moved
there before rejoining the rest of the squadron at Drem on 2 March.
On 5 March 1941, No. 614 Squadron (County of Glamorgan) moved from
Grangemouth, flying mainly Westland Lysanders and
Bristol
Blenheims. 614 Squadron was an Army Co-operation squadron,
carrying out such work as spotting for artillery units, as well as
general reconnaissance and light support bombing.
No 614 Squadron also had another, highly secret, mission which
has only recently come into the public domain. Mustard gas was
stored in underground tanks at the north west end of the airfield
(an area now under the A1 Expressway). In the event of invasion,
Blenheims and Lysanders of No 614 Squadron were among those
detailed to spray mustard gas over the invasion beaches.
Blenheim at Macmerry
During 1942 Macmerry was expanded, extending onto the site of
the First World War landing ground at Penston. It became home to a
great variety of training units and was the base for 200 U.S. Army
Air Force ground staff. Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft Limited had a
factory on the site, mainly to repair Lockheed Hudson aircraft. The
factory was taken over by SMT in 1944, repairing Corsair and
Hellcat naval fighter-bombers.
Also in 1944, Macmerry became home to Nos 2737, 2830 and 2949
Squadrons of the RAF Regiment. The men spent several months
training in Arctic and mountain warfare, and were issued with snow
shoes and white camouflage smocks. This was all part of "Operation
Fortitude North", a deception plan to convince the German High
Command that there was a full army group in East Lothian, preparing
for an invasion of occupied Norway, thereby tying down troops that
might otherwise be deployed to counter the Normandy landings.
On 21 April 1945 Macmerry was loaned by the R.A.F. to the Royal
Navy as a satellite of
Drem which was already being used by the Fleet Air Arm.
Macmerry was briefly known as H.M.S. Nighthawk II. However, the
field was never actually used by the Fleet Air Arm and was returned
to the R.A.F. on 15 March 1946 and decommissioned. The airfield was
reopened by Edinburgh Flying Club on 31 August 1946, having gone
full circle from its pre-war use; and flying at Macmerry finally
ended with the closure of the airfield in 1953.
Although there is little evidence of the runways left on the
ground, there are some support and defensive structures, including
two shelters and a large pillbox, visible along the A199 just after
the Gladsmuir roundabout in what would have been the north-west
side of the airfield. The cache is placed here but is not in any of
the buildings which are evidently used for the usual purposes all
too often.