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Dallachy

Major

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As at Banff after World War Two, white circles were painted on the ground at Dallachy to allow simulated bombing practice by Lossiemouth-based Fleet Air Arm units.

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Also known as: RAF Dallachy
County: Moray
Current Status: Farmland (main position) / Industry (main position) / Leisure activity / Public road / Refuse tip
Date: June 1943 - 24 November 1945; subsequent winch launched gliding use
Current Use: Disused
Used By: RAF (main user) / FAA / Civil (winch launched gliding use) / RAAF (main user) / RCAF (main user) / RNZAF (main user)
Landing Surface Types: Paved
Aircraft Roles: Air-sea rescue / Anti-shipping (main role) / General aviation (winch launched gliding use) / Naval aviation / Trainer (main role)

Dallachy, named after the two nearby villages of Upper Dallachy and Nether Dallachy, had a relatively short active life during the Second World War. It was first used from May 1943 as a Relief Landing Ground for the Airspeed Oxfords of No 14 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit at Banff. This unit was active at the site until September 1944, with more Oxfords of No 1542 Beam Approach Training Flight also based there during this period.

The airfield passed to RAF Coastal Command on 1 September 1944 and became home to a Strike Wing using Bristol Beaufighters. This included one squadron each from the RAAF, RCAF and RNZAF in addition to the RAF. These units carried out extremely intensive and often dangerous anti-shipping operations from Dallachy with the last sortie being completed in May 1945. All these squadrons soon departed and the Army took control of this site in November 1945 for Territorial Army training. The Royal Navy also used Dallachy until well into the 1950s for simulated bombing practice.

Dallachy was equipped with two T2 and three Blister hangars, although most of the buildings, including the hangars, have now been demolished. The control tower, now standing derelict, is one of the few structures remaining. The majority of the runways and perimeter track also remain relatively intact, with part of the latter now a public highway known as Beaufighter Road, although the site is now primarily used for farmland. Flying returned during 1976 in the form of winch-launched civil gliders belonging to the Highland Gliding Club until they fully relocated to Easterton in 2000.

 

The following organisations are either based at, use and/or have at least potentially significant connections with the airfield (as at 01/09/2011):
  • Dallachy Aeromodellers
  • Fochabers Folk Museum & Heritage Centre - exhibition on airfield
  • Grays Recycling Services Ltd
  • Lennox Community Council

Main unit(s) present:

  • No 14 (P) AFU
  • No 21 ACHU
  • No 144 Sqn
  • No 281 Sqn
  • No 404 Sqn
  • No 455 Sqn
  • No 489 Sqn
  • No 524 Sqn
  • No 618 Sqn
  • No 838 Sqn
  • No 1542 BAT Flight
  • No 2749 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • Highland GC
001SC_1368383.jpg

RAF Second World War aerial photograph of Dallachy under construction, 21 February 1943. © Courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland (RAF Air Photographs Collection). Licensor canmore.org.uk

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Bristol Beaufighters at Dallachy during the Second World War. © IWM (HU 93036)

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Armourers working on a Bristol Beaufighter at Dallachy during the Second World War. © IWM (CH 17876)

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Bristol Beaufighters at Dallachy during the Second World War. © IWM (HU 90826)

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Bristol Beaufighters at Dallachy during the Second World War. © IWM (HU 90824)

006IWM (CH 17875).jpg

A damaged Bristol Beaufighter at Dallachy, 9 February 1945. © IWM (CH 17875)

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Oblique aerial view of the edge of Dallachy airfield, looking south-east, 3 August 1985. © Ian Ralston. Licensor canmore.org.uk

008geograph-006905-by-Anne-Burgess.jpg

Aerial photograph of Dallachy, June 1987. © Anne Burgess and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

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A waste recycling centre on one of the runways at Dallachy, 16 November 2006. © Christopher Gillan and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

010geograph-860297-by-Anne-Burgess.jpg

The control tower at Dallachy, 25 June 2008. © Anne Burgess and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

011DP_065340.jpg

Oblique aerial view of Dallachy taken from the east, 25 July 2009. © Crown Copyright: Historic Environment Scotland. Licensor canmore.org.uk

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Oblique aerial view of Dallachy taken from the north-north-west, 25 July 2009. © Crown Copyright: Historic Environment Scotland. Licensor canmore.org.uk

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Oblique aerial view of Dallachy taken from the north, 25 July 2009. © Crown Copyright: Historic Environment Scotland. Licensor canmore.org.uk

014DP_163293.jpg

Oblique aerial view of Dallachy looking north-north-west, 31 July 2013. © Crown Copyright: Historic Environment Scotland. Licensor canmore.org.uk

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Remains of the perimeter track at Dallachy, 31 July 2016.

RAAF Bristol Beaufighters at Dallachy, November 1944. Courtesy of AWM Collection

Parent(s)/HQ Airfield(s):

Banff

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