Royal Marines base in Angus, Scotland
RM Condor
is a large
Royal Marines
base located near
Arbroath
in East
Angus, Scotland
. The base also houses
7 (Sphinx) Battery Royal Artillery
, part of
29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery
.
History
[
edit
]
The base was first constructed as a
naval air station
for the
Royal Navys
Fleet Air Arm
in 1938, when it was known as
Royal Naval Air Station Arbroath
(
RNAS Arbroath
; or
HMS
Condor
). It was opened on 19 June 1940. From the outset it was a training base, primarily involved in the
training
of
naval aviators
. A purpose-built 'aircraft carrier' sized landing area was constructed on the airfield and it, along with another similar facility at nearby East Haven, Angus,
HMS
Peewit
was used to train aircrew in deck landing operations. In October, 1940, the base was attacked by
Luftwaffe
Heinkel He 111
bombers, operating from Norway, which resulted in minor damage (then valued at £6,000) being sustained to some Squadron buildings. Throughout the
war
years the base was additionally used as a rest area. Operational Squadrons from Royal Navy
fleet
and
escort
aircraft carriers
would take it in turn to spend rest periods whilst their ships were undergoing maintenance at Scottish Naval ship repair facilities.
[3]
Flying stopped in 1954 and the base became the home of the Royal Navy Aircraft Engineering Training School which had transferred from
HMS
Daedalus
at
Lee-on-Solent
, Hampshire. It continued in this role until 1 April 1971 when the base became the home to
45 Commando
Royal Marines
, a part of
3 Commando Brigade
.
[4]
The base was thereafter known as RM Condor or Condor Barracks and remains an operational base to this day.
[5]
A Better Defence Estate
, published in November 2016, indicated that the Ministry of Defence would dispose of the airfield section of RM Condor by 2024.
[6]
In 2019, this decision was dropped, and the site will remain in use.
[7]
Units
[
edit
]
The following units have been based here:
[8]
M Flight 3 CDO BDE Air Sqn RM
Based units
[
edit
]
Units based at RM Condor.
[10]
Cadets
[
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]
The establishment is also home to the Royal Marines Cadets of Arbroath Division Royal Marines
Volunteer Cadet Corps
.
[11]
Built heritage
[
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]
The redundant airfield
control tower
is a category C
listed building
. The three storey building is one of two surviving examples of this particular type of control tower, which features an ambulance and crash tender garage. The tower, which was listed in May 2006, is noted by
Historic Environment Scotland
as being important in terms of naval and Second World War history, as well as for its local significance.
[12]
The Captain's House, formerly known as 'Woodlands', dates from the early 19th century. The two-storey and basement
Regency
mansion
was listed as category B in June 1971.
[13]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
Citations
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Howard, L; Burrow, M; Myall, E (2011).
Fleet Air Arm helicopters since 1943
. UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd.
ISBN
978-0-85130-304-8
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
RM Condor
.
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