RAF Milltown was a Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 station and second world war RAF Coastal Command

RAF Coastal Command

RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...

 airfield on the Moray Firth

Moray Firth

The Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotland...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

History

RAF Milltown, lying to the southeast of Lossiemouth

Lossiemouth

Lossiemouth is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over a 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over the past 250 years and consists of four separate communities that...

 on the Moray Firth, began life as a bombing decoy for nearby RAF Lossiemouth

RAF Lossiemouth

RAF Lossiemouth is a Royal Air Force station to the west of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland. It is one of the RAF's biggest bases and is currently Britain's main base for Tornado GR4s. From 2013 the Northern QRA force of Typhoon F2 will relocate to Lossiemouth following the closure of...

. Between 1941 and 1943, three runways and two hangars were constructed and the airfield became a satellite of RAF Lossiemouth

RAF Lossiemouth

RAF Lossiemouth is a Royal Air Force station to the west of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland. It is one of the RAF's biggest bases and is currently Britain's main base for Tornado GR4s. From 2013 the Northern QRA force of Typhoon F2 will relocate to Lossiemouth following the closure of...

.

In July 1946, along with RAF Lossiemouth, Milltown was officially handed over to the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 as HMS Fulmar II, a Deck Landing Training School.

Closed for flying in 1977, the site was developed as a communications station, and has some 50 masts visible. It has been an RAF signals transmitter station transmitting RAF VOLMET

VOLMET

VOLMET, or meteorological information for aircraft in flight, is the term applied to a worldwide network of radio stations that broadcast TAF, SIGMET and METAR reports on shortwave frequencies. In some countries, VOLMET stations broadcast on VHF frequencies too. Reports are sent using automated...

 (using a 600W transmitter) and RAF STCICS. Since the award of the MOD HF signals contract to VT Communications

VT Communications

VT Communications was a part of VT Group plc. VT Communications was essentially the company formed from the privatisation of the BBC World Service transmitter sites. It was initially named Merlin Communications, then, after acquisition by VT, VT Merlin Communications...

 the site is surplus but will be retained by the MOD for services use.

RAF units and aircraft

Unit	Dates	Aircraft	Variant	Notes
No. 224 Squadron RAF No. 224 Squadron RAF No. 224 Squadron RAF was formed on 1 April 1918, at Alimini, Italy from part of No. 6 Wing RNAS, equipped with the De Havilland DH.4. In June 1918 it re-equipped with the De Havilland DH.9. The squadron moved to Taranto in December 1918, disbanding their in May 1919.On 1 February 1937, the squadron...	1944-1945	Consolidated Liberator B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...	V, VI and VIII	Coastal Command
No. 1674 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF	1945	Consolidated Liberator B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...		Coastal Command
No. 20 Operational Training Unit RAF	1943-1945	Vickers Wellington		Satellite with main base at RAF Lossiemouth RAF Lossiemouth RAF Lossiemouth is a Royal Air Force station to the west of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland. It is one of the RAF's biggest bases and is currently Britain's main base for Tornado GR4s. From 2013 the Northern QRA force of Typhoon F2 will relocate to Lossiemouth following the closure of...
No. 111 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF	1945-1946	Consolidated Liberator B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...		Satellite with main base at RAF Lossiemouth RAF Lossiemouth RAF Lossiemouth is a Royal Air Force station to the west of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland. It is one of the RAF's biggest bases and is currently Britain's main base for Tornado GR4s. From 2013 the Northern QRA force of Typhoon F2 will relocate to Lossiemouth following the closure of...
No. 663 (Volunteer) Gliding Squadron RAF	1974-1977			Air Training Corps Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps , commonly known as the Air Cadets, is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Air Cadet Organisation and the Royal Air Force . It is supported by the Ministry of Defence, with a regular RAF Officer, currently Air... glider training