Dates: 1943 - 1977
The site of RAF Milltown lies to the south east of Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth. Also known as HMS Fulmar II, although the airfield closed for flying in 1977, the site was developed as a radio station, with some 50 masts visible.
The site began as bombing decoy for RAF Lossiemouth to the north west, identified only as a Q decoy, with no indication as to whether it was a QF (fire) or QL (lighting) decoy. The location was subsequently found to be more suitable for use as a genuine airfield, and construction of three runways began on October 27, 1941, together with a B1 and a T1 type hangar, with completion in April, 1943. Initially intended to operate as a Coastal Command Operational Training Unit (OTU), and secondarily as an advance base for Bomber Command, to replace temporary facilities at RAF Peterhead, these plans were abandoned, and the airfield became a satellite of RAF Lossiemouth.
In December 1943, the airfield was employed for the display of gliders under Operation Tyndall, an operation initiated during the summer of 1943, and intended to deceive the Germans into thinking that the RAF was a serious threat to their Norwegian based units.
During September 1944, the station was handed over to Coastal Command to house Liberators of 224 Squadron, which had been temporarily redeployed from south west England to deal with U-Boats operating from Scandinavia.
The end of the war saw RAF Lossiemouth’s active role diminish, as did that of RAF Milltown. On July 2, 1946, RAF Lossiemouth was officially handed over to the Royal Navy, and on July 7, 1946, the station was officially commissioned as HMS Fulmar, with Milltown following suit as HMS Fulmar II, and destined to become a Deck Landing Training School. It was equipped with a Mirror Landing Installation, so that trainee pilots from HMS Fulmar could practice Mirror Aerodrome Dummy Deck Landings.
The airfield closed for flying in 1977, but the site remained active, becoming the home of a large collection of antenna masts, with at least 50 being visible, distributed across the area of the former airfield.
