The Scottish War Graves Project

gourdongirl · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:42 pm Post subject:

MI:
23532354 Private R Stirrat The Queens Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) 3rd March 1961 aged 20.
"May he rest in peace".

Armed Forces Memorial - Robert Stirrat, born 18th May 1940.

gourdongirl · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:48 pm Post subject:

MI:
546520 Flight Sgt J Hatton RAF 12th July 1963 aged 48.
"Treasured memories of a dear husband and father, sadly missed."

Armed Forces Memorial - Jack Hatton, born 6th January 1915, stationed at RAF Stafford.

RAF Stafford was a non-flying Royal Air Force station in Stafford Staffordshire, England.

Originally home to No 16 Maintenance Unit as an Equipment Supply Depot, this part of the station is now run by the Defence Logistics Organisation. No 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron, part of Stafford based 85 ELW, provides transport assistance for unit moves and deployments. Also at Stafford is the Tactical Supply Wing (TSW), which operates mobile fuel handling facilities for helicopters deployed in the field.

In April 2004 it was announced that units from RAF Stafford will be moved to RAF Wittering, effectively closing the base. However, in 2005, it emerged that the Army was considering using the base for the newly reformed 22 Signal Regiment, TSW still remain at Stafford. RAF Stafford officially ceased to be an RAF station on 31 March to become MoD Stafford in 2006.

gourdongirl · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:59 pm Post subject:

MI:
5006654 Corporal J Judge RAF 14th August 1964 aged 33.
"Treasured memories of my dear husband, Remember him at the alter of God, RIP".

Armed Forces Memorial -Joseph judge, born 19th March 1931, stationed at RAF Turnhouse.

RAF Turnhouse was located seven miles (11 km) west of Edinburgh and 46 miles (74 km) east of Glasgow.

The airfield began in 1915, as an aerodrome for Royal Flying Corps operating from grass runways, and became RAF Turnhouse when the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) merged to form the Royal Air Force on April 1, 1918. In 1939, concrete runways were installed to handle heavier aircraft in greater numbers, and the airfield became a Sector Operation Room. After the war, civilian services quickly began to operate from the airfield, Edinburgh Airport, and these grew steadily over the years until commercial operations took over and the airfield was demilitarised in 1960. The RAF left Turnhouse in 1997. Edinburgh Airport has grown steadily over the years and was Scotland's busiest airport in 2007.

World War I
Turnhouse Aerodrome was the most northerly British air defence base of World War I, opening in 1915 for Royal Flyng Corps operations, and home to 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, which operated DeHavilland DH9As, Westland Wapitis, Hawker Harts, and Hawker Hind light bombers from its grass air strip. The location was close to the East Coast railway line, with a number of aircraft arriving in crates, and assembled on the field prior to service. Its operational status was reduced during 1917, and when the Royal Air Force was formed on April 1, 1918, the airfield was renamed RAF Turnhouse and ownership passed to the MoD.

World War II
World War II saw Fighter Command take control of the airfield, when it became a Sector Station as Turnhouse Sector Operations Room and Staff. By the end of 1939, the runway had been upgraded, concreted and paved, extending to some 3,900 feet to handle Spitfires. During the Battle of Britain, the following squadrons operated from the airfield:

603 Squadron from May 5, 1940
141 Squadron from June 28, 1940
253 Squadron from July 21, 1940
65 Squadron from August 28, 1940
141 Squadron from August 30, 1940
1 Squadron from September 14, 1940
607 Squadron from October 10, 1940

The airfield remained under military control after the war ended, but began to share its facilities for non-military use. The first commercial services began in the late 1940s, and by 1947 British European Airways (BEA) was operating a civilian service between Edinburgh and London using Vickers Viscounts, with a number of developments taking place in the following years:

1952 The runway was extended to 6,000 feet to allow Vampire FB5s to operate.
1954 A new passenger terminal was built to offer improved commercial facilities.
1956 The airfield closed temporarily to allow reconstruction of the main runway and control tower.
1960 The MoD transferred ownership to the Ministry of Aviation, demilitarising the airfield, allowing commercial services to be improved.
1961 The recently built passenger terminal was extended to handle increasing traffic.
1971 Ownership passed to the British Airports Authority (BAA).
1977 New main runway and terminal completed.
1994 The original 1954 terminal building was demolished.
1997 RAF Turnhouse was finally closed.
2001 Major extension and refurbishment completed on the 1977 terminal building.
2005 The new control tower was completed.

One of BAAs first actions was to commission a new runway to the north west. The original 13/31 (now 12/30) 6,000 foot runway had served well, but suffered from severe crosswinds, having been built to suit the original airfield perimeter. The new 8,399 foot main runway 07/25 (now 06/24) was completed in 1977. A third, short runway operates for light aircraft. 1977 also saw the construction of a new terminal building, designed by Robert Matthew, to serve the new runway and additional traffic.

During the 1980s, the only international services from Edinburgh were to Amsterdam and Dublin, but in the following years links were opened to destinations in France and Germany. By the end of the decade BAA had been privatised and funds were used to extend the new terminal building and create parking aprons.

In 1994, the terminal building dating from 1954 was demolished, and the hangars converted into a cargo centre, and flying club facilities.

In 1997, the RAF base at Turnhouse was finally closed, and the remaining buildings converted to storage for air cargo.

In 2001, major extension and refurbishment work was completed on the terminal building.

In 2005, a new control tower was completed. Costing £11 million and rising to 187 feet (57 m), the tower's unique appearance has made it a notable landmark. In this year, almost 8 million passengers use the facilities, which employs some 2,500 staff, with 39 airlines operating there, making 112,000 air transport movements each year.

Cold War
ROC Group HQ-Edinburgh
RAF Turnhouse was also home the headquarters of 24 Group ROC, where information from the ROC's monitoring posts of nuclear blast and fallout data from East Central Scotland and the Borders would have been received, analysed, and distributed.

The facility consisted of a semi-sunken, two level bunker, located to the right of the entrance to RAF Turnhouse, with an administration block adjacent. Opened in October 1964, the end of the Cold War signalled its imminent closure in 1992. RAF Turnhouse also closed in 1997, when some of the surface building were converted for use as air cargo stores, with the remainder being demolished to level the site, including the bunker. All that remains is a large concrete slab on the bunker site.

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:04 am Post subject:

MI:
23210516 Corporal E Watson The Queens Own Highlanders(Seaforth and Camerons) 6th January 1964 aged 27.
"Eternal rest give to him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him"

Armed Forces Memorial - Eric Watson, born 10th July 1936.

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:08 am Post subject:

MI:
23904924 Rifleman A W MacKay The Cameronians 1st May 1965 aged 21.
"May he rest in peace"

Armed Forces Memorial - Alexander Wright MacKay, born 21st April 1944.

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:13 am Post subject:

MI:
766447 WOI H V Brown Royal Army Pay Corps 11th May 1967 aged 50.
"Treasured memories of a very dear husband and father. Thy will be done"

Armed Forces Memorial - Henry Victor Brown, born 18th October 1916.

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:16 am Post subject:

MI:
24081269 Rifleman C Mair The Cameronians 20th April 1967.

Armed Forces Memorial - Charles Mair, born 21st March 1947.

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:27 am Post subject:

MI:
D/JX 849470 Able Seaman Thomas James HMS "Wotton" December 1968 aged 42.

Armed Forces Memorial - Thomas James, born 8th January 1926.

HMS Wotton was a "Ton" class, coastal minesweeper, launched 24th April 1956, transferred in 1986 to the River Thames for the use of Sea Cadets. Towed to Portsmouth 19th Nov 1992, then to Belguim to be broken up.

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:39 am Post subject:

MI:
M J Dinning RO2 (General) Royal Navy P083134 HMS "Lochinvar" 21st February 1969.
"Eternal rest give him O Lord and let perpetual light shine on him".

Armed Forces Memorial - Malcolm John Dinning, born 21st June 1949, served on HMS Brereton. (Note different ship from grave stone)

HMS Brereton (M1113) was a Ton class minesweeper of the Royal Navy.
Launched in 1953, she was renamed HMS St David in 1954 when she became a tender to the South Wales unit of the Royal Naval Reserve, which later became HMS Flying Fox. She served as such until 1961, when her named reverted to Brereton. She continued in service after this, and was broken up in Bruges in 1992.

HMS Lochinvar was a minesweeping training "stone frigate" (shore establishment) of the Royal Navy, sited at Port Edgar on the Firth of Forth in Scotland. It was established in 1939. From 1943 to 1946 it was temporarily transferred to nearby Granton Harbour while Port Edgar became a training centre for the 1944 Normandy Landings. HMS Lochinvar closed in 1975 when its operations moved across the Forth to HMS Caledonia in the rebuilt naval base at Rosyth.

Previously the name HMS Lochinvar had been used for a First World War-era Laforey-class destroyer launched in 1915 and scrapped in 1921.

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:44 am Post subject:

MI:
14933079 S.Sgt P D Sinton The King's Own Scottish Borderers 28th July 1970 aged 44.
"Dearly loved, may he rest in peace"

Armed Forces Memorial - Peter David Sinton, born 28th February 1926.

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:48 am Post subject:

MI:
22515024 S.Sgt R Baxter Royal Corps of signals 28th February 1971 aged 36.
"You did not say goodbye, so much loved and missed by your wife and boys."

Armed Forces Memorial - Robert Baxter, born 13th August 1934.

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:56 am Post subject:

MI:
Wing Commander P Kent MBE RAF 16th September 1971 aged 46.

Armed Forces Memorial - Paul Kent, born 3rd January 1925, service number 1806443, stationed at RAF High Wycombe.

London Gazette, 13th June 1964 P4945 - Squadron Leader Paul Kent (1806443) RAF. MBE

RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. Its purpose is to serve the needs of the RAF Air Command, situated on the site. It is also the headquarters of the European Air Group. The motto of RAF High Wycombe is 'Non Sibi', which translates as 'not for ourselves'.

During World War II High Wycombe was used by the United States Army Air Force. It was the home of the 325th Reconnaissance Wing from 9 August 1944 though 20 October 1945. The VIII Bomber Command Headquarters was at the RAF Daws Hill that is on the other side of High Wycombe near the M40. RAF Daws Hill was de-commissioned in August 2007.
Operationally during the Cold War the Director UKWMO would have been located at the United Kingdom Regional Air Operations Command (UK RAOC) within Strike Command's Operations Centre nuclear bunker at RAF High Wycombe to instigate the national Four minute air raid warnings, with the Deputy Director located at a standby UK RAOC, described at the time as being "elsewhere in the UK", but has since been revealed as being at Goosnargh near Preston within the UKWMO Western Sector nuclear bunker. Warnings were instantly distributed around the country by the HANDEL Warning Broadcast System via 250 Carrier Control Points located at major police headquarters and 17,000 WB400 (later WB1400) carrier receivers in armed forces headquarters, hospitals, post offices, Royal Observer Corps posts and private homes in remote rural areas where hand operated sirens replaced the power sirens in the urban towns.

The site is a non-flying station and was home to RAF Strike Command before it became part of the newly formed RAF Air Command on 1 April 2007. Air Command is commanded by an Air Chief Marshal. RAF High Wycombe is commanded by a Group Captain.

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:13 am Post subject:

MI:
J P Kelly Chief Air Fitter (A/E) FX894805 Royal Navy 25th July 1972.

Armed Forces Memorial - John Paul Kelly, born 17th September 1930, HMS Fulmar.

HMS Fulmar was a former Royal Air Force base located near RAF Lossiemouth from 1946-1972. It became the largest Naval Air Station in Scotland. The airfield was returned to the RAF in September 1972

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:22 am Post subject:

MI:
24084016 Private B I Levick The King's Own Scottish Borderers 26th November 1972 aged 23.
"Eternal rest give to him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him"

Armed Forces Memorial - Brian Ian Levick, born 13th November 1949

gourdongirl · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:30 am Post subject:

MI:
23700759 S.Sgt H S Middlemass The King's Own Scottish Borderers 10th December 1972 aged 33.
"Eternal rest give to him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him"

Armed Forces Memorial - Henry Stewart Middlemass, born 15th July 1939.