First World War RAF Charterhall started as a
first world war landing ground named
RFC Eccles Tofts for
No. 77 Squadron from at least the beginning of 1917. The squadron, who were based further north at
Edinburgh, flew the
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c/d/e,
B.E.12,
R.E.8 reconnaissance aircraft,
Airco DH.6 and
Avro 504k. However, the airfield was not kept open for long and soon returned to its original state in 1919.
Second World War The airfield was reconstructed during 1941 and opened on 30 April 1942. It was used initially for the short-term placement of trainees, one of the primary units based at Charterhall was
No. 54 Operational Training Unit (OTU). The unit primarily carried out instruction on the
Bristol Blenheim light bomber and the
Bristol Beaufighter, some of these aircraft were fitted with
aircraft interception (AI) radar and some Blenheims were dual control, these aircraft were used until 1944 when they were replaced gradually by the
de Havilland Mosquito. Many of the crews arriving at Charterhall were brought in mainly from the
Commonwealth after passing their basic flying training instruction. After No. 54 OTU left in November 1945 for
RAF East Moor, a variety of
fighter squadrons used the airfield flying the
Supermarine Spitfires,
North American Mustangs and the
Gloster Meteor jet fighter before the RAF left in 1947 and closed the airfield. As with many wartime training units, RAF Charterhall gained a reputation for having a high
accident rate of the trainee crews that passed through there, suffering in the region of 2,000 accidents in 1942 alone, of which just under 200 would be fatal, earning the nickname "Slaughterhall. One such accident occurred on 8 January 1943, a
Bristol Blenheim Mk V light
bomber piloted by Australian
Battle of Britain ace
Richard Hillary, author of
The Last Enemy,
stalled and crashed near the runway when on approach. Hillary was retraining as a
night fighter pilot after he recovered from severe burns to his face and hand after his Spitfire was shot down on 3 September 1940. Both Hillary and his observer Sergeant Wilfred Fison was killed. The accident was probably the result of airframe
ice accretion along with the difficulty the Hillary was having in controlling the aircraft due to his injuries. A
memorial to Richard Hillary, Wilfred Fison and everyone who died serving RAF Charterhall between May 1942 and May 1945 was unveiled on 6 November 2001 by the
Duke of Kent. On 19 July 2022, a Scottish temperature record of 34.8 °C was measured in this area, which would eventually be followed by 35.1 °C in
Kelso, Scottish Borders The following units were here at some point: •
No. 3 Armament Practice Station RAF (November 1945 – March 1946 & November 1946 – March 1947) •
No. 130 Squadron RAF (1945–46) •
No. 165 Squadron RAF (1945–46) •
No. 263 Squadron RAF (1946) •
No. 303 Squadron RAF (1946) • A detachment of
770 Naval Air Squadron (1945) • A detachment of
772 Naval Air Squadron (1945 & 1946) •
No. 2780 Squadron RAF Regiment == Post RAF use ==