World War One Audit of Surviving Remains
Date 4 June 2013
Event ID 961230
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type World War One Audit of Surviving Remains
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/961230
Turnberry military aerodrome was established on Turnberry golf course in January 1917 as ‘No. 2 Auxiliary School of Aerial Gunnery’. It occupied an area of 150 hectares, measuring 1645m by 1143m. In the 1918 RAF survey of aerodromes it was recorded that there were four aircraft hangars, a repair shed and a salvage shed; in addition there were no fewer than 16 canvas Bessonneaux hangars, as well as workshops and training huts. The officers’ mess was in the luxurious Turnberry Hotel; the other ranks were accommodated in 25 huts. In the autumn of 1918 Turnberry was one of the largest air stations in Scotland, with an establishment of 1215 officers and other ranks, of whom 205 were women, and 204 pilot officers under instruction. The No. 1 School of Aerial Fighting transferred to Turnberry in May 1918. In autumn 1918 the station had 96 aircraft: 24 Avro 504s, 8 Bristol fighters, 16 DH4 or DH9, 30 Sopwith Camels, 12 SE5, and 12 Sopwith Dolphins, as well as captured German aircraft, for training purposes.
The aerodrome was returned to Turnberry golf club in 1919, but re-occupied in the Second World War. Nothing of the First World War occupation survives.
Information from HS/RCAHMS World War One Audit Project (GJB) 31 May 2013
