Jump to content

Longman Airfield


Glen Mhor

Recommended Posts

As is well known in Sneck, before there was an industrial estate and a football ground, the Longman was the site of an airfield. It was used pre-war by Fresson and by the RAF during the war.

Is there anyone on here who has any recollections of the Longman as an airfield ?

;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some photo, however there wont be many left who remember it as a working airfield!

Looking at the picture you can see Cromwells tower in the middle foreground, apart from that theres not much still the same in the longman, interesting too is that the aircraft in the picture looks like a German Junkers ju52 transport.

If this pic was post war make you wonder how it came about that we were using ex german aircraft in a civilian role!

Edited by caley100
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some photo, however there wont be many left who remember it as a working airfield!

Looking at the picture you can see Cromwells tower in the middle foreground, apart from that theres not much still the same in the longman, interesting too is that the aircraft in the picture looks like a German Junkers ju52 transport.

If this pic was post war make you wonder how it came about that we were using ex german aircraft in a civilian role!

Yes, it's a captured Luftwaffe Junkers Ju52 OK ! BEA used 11 from 1946 to 1948 on internal services. They were converted for civilian use by Short Brothers & Harland in Belfast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting eh. wasn't that long ago that the big black hanger was demolished, it was used as i remember as a store for Macrae & Dicks.

The three hangers/buildings opposite the Junkers are still there i think being used as garages/workshops by Ahmed the Iraqi and various others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting to see the luftwaffe had reconaissance photos of Inverness and marked Merkinch :025:

http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/94691...ngman+airfield/

Clearly the Merkinch was a high priority target then! So are we to follow that Caley100's War Service amounted to time as a navigator/ photograhper in a JU52 which is presumably why he is able to recognise the aircraft with such facility and label his photo "Merkinch"? :025:

I have to say I didn't realise that the actual site of the Longman airfield was as close to the Shore/ Citadel as emerges from the photo. I had always thought it was a bit further round, nearer the bridge and the stadium. However, since I also remember the black hangar it must have been pretty stupid of me not to have related it to the airfield. Present day Lotland Street or thereby is it? Indeed was there more than one hangar in, say, the 60s or later?

Interestingly, despite the accurate German photo reconnaisance, Inverness was never bombed during the war. Presumably even the airfield (which they have marked as "Flugplatz") and the adjoining oil tanks were not considered high enough priority. Wick took a bit of a pasting, producing the first bombing fatality on mainland Britain in July 1940 and they tried to get Wick Aerodrome on a few occasions since it housed the air defence for the Fleet at Scapa. However dummy airfields and fires seemed to send the Luftwaffe off track. Invergordon also got a doing since it was a fleet base. They were going for the naval oil tanks which are still up beside the school. They onle ever hit one.... Number 13!... and the gap is still there for all to see.

Edited by Charles Bannerman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes ,the large black hangar in Lotland St was used by Macrae and Dick for storing there stock of "new " cars. I remember as an apprentice in the 70s being sent down to get the stock started and shifted around .There used to be over 100 cars in there at any one time and some had a few birthdays in there before being sold as new .Macrae and Dick were associated with highland airways and must have inherited the hangar as part of that association.Interesting ly Tommy Cumming used to work there part time as well as his milk round and groundsman duties at Telford Street

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Black hanger is still there. Well its steel frame is. Back in the early 80?s I worked for BCP Architects and one of our clients was Macrae and Dick, we did a lot of work for them all over the north. One job was to convert the hanger into a furniture warehouse, we stripped off the black cladding and built offices & toilet accommodation. A 2 metre high concrete wall was built around the base of the hanger and the roof and upper walls were re-clad in brown steel sheet. From the google street view it looks like it?s been refurbished since then, but I?m sure it?s the same building I worked on. Highland Quality Construction are currently using it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I started working for PO Telephones (BT), many moons ago, (1973) the store where the cables were held was called hangar 5, which is where the BT yard is now on Seafield Road.

And I remember some of the grumpy old storemen!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy