No 9 Air Gunners School No. 9 Air Gunners School RAF formed on 7 July 1941 at RAF Llandwrog. It operated: •
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley II, III, IV & V •
Fairey Battle •
Westland Lysander TT.I, II, III, TT. III & IIIA •
Avro Anson I The unit used the Whitley bomber aircraft for turret training and the Lysander
army co-operation and
liaison aircraft for target towing, alongside the Battle
light bomber, and the twin-engined, multi-role Anson
aircraft. The Moving Target Range at
RAF Hell's Mouth was occasionally used. This was an old
gun turret fixed on the ground and the trainees fired from it at a large, wooden model aircraft, which was attached to a motorised truck, that ran on a
narrow-gauge railway. The
classroom syllabus included the workings of the
Vickers and
Browning machine-guns, with practical work involving stripping and blockage clearing.
Ammunition types were studied for example:
tracer and
armour-piercing. Turret workings and the
Reflector sight were also part of the curriculum along with
aircraft recognition. Almost twelve months later the school disbanded on 13 June 1942, at RAF Llandwrog.
No 9 Observer Advanced Flying Unit No. 9 Air Observers School RAF (9 AOS) moved its night-flying course, ‘D’ flight, formed of six Avro Anson aircraft, to RAF Llandwrog from RAF Penrhos, arriving as a lodger unit on 21 January 1942. 9 AOS was later redesignated as
No. 9 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit ((O)AFU), on 1 May 1942. RAF Flying Training Command decided to apply the
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and
observers on the first course provided by No. 9 (O)AFU took part in the first course of the Air Training Plan. With No. 9 Air Gunners School RAF disbanding on 13 June 1942, RAF Penrhos took on parts of the
gunnery training commitments relating to the observer training. RAF Llandwrog then became a Satellite Landing Ground for No. 9 (O)AFU. However, by the end of 1942 the number of No. 9 (O)AFU personnel at RAF Llandwrog was larger than those stationed at RAF Penrhos. RAF Llandwrog was the better airfield, and it was decided the roles of the two stations be reversed. RAF Llandwrog received the headquarters of No. 9 (O)AFU with RAF Penrhos reverting to the satellite. Following this change the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley aircraft were withdrawn. They were replaced by
Bristol Blenheim Mk IV, a British
light bomber aircraft. No.9 (O)AFU continued observer training at RAF Llandwrog until disbandment on 14 June 1945.
Other Units No. 277 Maintenance Unit No. 277 Maintenance Unit RAF formed at RAF Llandwrog on 29 July 1946 as an explosives disposal unit. At the end of the
Second World War a quantity of
chemical weapons was accumulated by the
Nazis. A number of these weapons were brought to the UK for safe disposal. Some disused airfields were considered for the task and RAF Llandwrog was finally chosen because of its remote location. To enable the work to be done safely, twenty one
Bellman hangars were erected on the three runways at RAF Llandwrog. In October 1946
Operation Dismal led to of
Tabun nerve gas being stored at RAF Llandwrog. In 1954 a plan to
dispose of the Tabun was created, simply putting it aboard
ships and
sinking them in the
Atlantic Ocean. The disposal
activity, code-named
Operation Sandcastle, began in January 1955. RAF Llandwrog continued as an ammunition depot, until 14 September 1953.
No. 31 Maintenance Unit No. 31 Maintenance Unit RAF, based at
Llanberis, also in Gwynedd and also an ammunition depot, used RAF Llandwrog from 1951 on an interim basis. The 31 MU had used
Glynrhonwy quarries near Llanberis, to hold the Tabun nerve gas before it was transferred to RAF Llandwrog. From March 1955, RAF Llandwrog became the parent depot for the Maintenance Unit. It was then allocated two satellite depots sites, one at
Cairnryan, in
Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. and the other at Llanberis. This setup remained until the Maintenance Unit disbanded at RAF Llandwrog, which was in October 1956.
No.2 Aircrew Holding Unit A short time after closure of the airfield,
No. 2 Aircrew Holding Unit RAF was set up. For a few months the buildings were used as accommodation.
Aircrew began to arrive from other stations within
Nos. 25 and
29 Group, before being sent to other units or processed enabling a return to
civilian life. == RAF Llandwrog Mountain Rescue Section ==