Royal Air Force Andreas or more simply RAF Andreas is a former Royal Air Force station in the Isle of Man which was operational between 1941 and 1946. It was built in fields between Andreas and Bride in the north of the island. As was common practice, the station was named after the parish in which it was situated.
History
Construction When the Luftwaffe began to attack British cities under the cover of darkness in October 1940, the North West of England with its industrial centres and ports came within easy reach of German aircraft operating from occupied France. The first fighter squadron had arrived on the Isle of Man at nearby RAF Jurby in November 1940, and came under the control of the newly formed No. 9 Group RAF, Fighter Command. Group Control was positioned at RAF Barton Hall, near Preston, and its sectors covered Lancashire, Cheshire and Shropshire. Andreas was to be a separate sector with responsibility for the Irish Sea and its surrounds. The new wing of Ramsey Grammar School was commissioned as Control Centre for the sector and was hastily prepared before the arrival of the new fighters at Jurby. The Control Centre was linked to the three radar stations at Dalby, Scarlett and Bride.
Andreas was chosen as the site of a fighter airfield because of its central location with regard to Liverpool, Belfast and Glasgow; it was in an excellent position to protect the vital shipping arriving at these ports. Finally, with the compensation payments agreed, work on the construction of RAF Andreas began in earnest by the end of June 1940. A total of of farmland was earmarked, coming from both Ballaghaue Farm and Braust Farm, and a small portion of land was acquired which stretched into the adjacent parish of Bride.
By the spring of 1941 the airfield, to be built to the full specification of an operational fighter station, was beginning to take shape. The main NE/SW runway was long and wide and was obviously meant to take larger aircraft than fighters. From the perimeter track there was access to the flight dispersals area in which a total of 24 blast pens (or E pens) were built, half to provide protection for the fighters while larger ones were for twin-engined aircraft. Considerable thought had also gone into the airfield's defences, with the whole area being surrounded by roller concertina barbed wire, with gaps located at the main entrance and crash gates and by a tarmacadamed perimeter track over in distance.Ramsey Courier, Friday, September 14, 1945; Page: 3
RAF Andreas was designed as a dispersed airfield with many components of the base located in the village of Andreas; so that the domestic side and living quarters were a considerable distance from the technical side. There was also a dance and entertainments hall in the village and a farm on the Station.
In summer 1941 the first RAF personnel arrived at Andreas. These were mainly a flight of Royal Air Force Police, whose first duties were to guard the stores kept in the completed hangars. Also arriving at that time were Motor Transport drivers and soldiers of the Wiltshire Regiment, under the command of Major G.K. Wait MC, who arrived to man the airfield's defences, along with the first of many WAAFs who were to staff the administration offices and operations rooms. The station officially opened in August 1941, the first commanding officer of RAF Andreas being Group Captain J. Marson.Isle of Man Times. 14 September 1945.
Fighter Command
457 Squadron
By October 1941, RAF Andreas was ready to receive the first of No. 457 Squadron RAAF (457 Sqn) Spitfires from RAF Jurby as a prelude to working up to operational efficiency. This work-up would take six months, however the transfer of 457 Sqn's ground crew and administrative staff brought welcome relief to the congestion at Jurby. During this work-up period the Air Ministry insisted that the height of Andreas church tower be reduced, as it was a hazard, and in line with the southern end of the main runway. The church tower was originally high, and the most striking feature of the island's northern plain, being visible throughout the parish.
RAF Andreas had become fully operational in March 1942, but by now 457 Sqn was ready to move south to join No. 11 Group RAF (11 Grp) at RAF Redhill and to take part in air strikes over northern France.
452 Squadron
Following the departure of 457 Squadron, it was immediately replaced by No. 452 Squadron RAAF (452 Sqn), which had been formed in April 1941 and whose most celebrated pilot was the maverick Irishman, Paddy Finucane.
In June 1942, 452 Sqn's tenure at Andreas came to an end when the squadron returned to Australia, sailing on 21 June, arriving in Melbourne on 13 August and re-assembled at RAAF Richmond, as No. 452 Squadron RAAF, on 6 September.
93 Squadron
The third fighter unit to occupy RAF Andreas was No. 93 Squadron RAF (93 Sqn) which had an entirely different background, previously having been involved in the development of night fighter tactics using Havocs equipped with radar and Turbinlite searchlights.
No. 93 Sqn reformed at Andreas as an entirely new squadron equipped with Supermarine Spitfire VBs as it worked up to operational efficiency. Considerable time was spent over the air-to-ground firing range along the Ayres coastline at Smeale, which had been constructed not long after the first fighters had arrived at RAF Jurby. When Andreas airfield was under construction, the coastline north of Smeale had been heavily mined as a precaution against an enemy landing. After four months, 93 Sqn was ready to move on to more direct action, and was ordered to relocate to Algiers ready for the North African landings as part of Operation Torch.
275 Squadron
In November 1941 RAF Andreas received a detachment from 275 Squadron (275 Sqn) which served as 9 Group's Air Sea Rescue Unit and which covered the Irish Sea. The Squadron had its administrative headquarters at RAF Valley, Anglesey, and the detachment's amphibian Walrus Mk.Is flying boats were often to be seen flying around the island.
776 Squadron (FAA)
Another resident at Andreas were aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm. They belonged to No. 776 Squadron which operated various types of aircraft in its role as a Fleet Requirements Unit. The squadron was administered from RNAS Stretton () with the aircraft detached to Andreas. The complement included at various times: Vought-Sikorsky Chesepeakes, Hawker Sea Hurricanes and Fairey Fulmars. No. 772 Squadron aircraft were employed to provide simulated targets for the Royal Navy's No. 1 Radar Training School which was situated on Douglas Head. On October 27, 1944, the Sea Hurricane NF726 crashed on Douglas Head killing the pilot, 20 year old Sub Lieutenant Robert Shaw Paton.
Operations At night the drone of bombers could be heard as they passed overhead on their way to Belfast. These were the nights when the fighters based at RAF Andreas and RAF Jurby were called into action. Airborne radar was still in its infancy, and there was little they could do except offer token resistance. Occasionally an enemy aircraft would be sighted and in the ensuing chase bombs would be jettisoned as the Heinkel or Dornier made a rapid escape. The air raid sirens of the Island sounded a total of 43 alerts – 32 of them in 1942. Many were of a short duration, but on the nights of 20 and 21 December 1941, there were two alerts each lasting five hours when Liverpool and Manchester were being heavily attacked.
The first enemy bomb to fall on the Isle of Man was on 18 September 1940, when high explosive bombs caused four large craters in the Dalby area – without damage or injury. On the nights of 7, 15, and 16 April 1941, enemy bombers were again over the Island. On the first occasion the Island was illuminated with flares and incendiary bombs landed near Port Soderick. On the 15th a high explosive bomb landed close to Cronk Ruagh Sanatorium near Ramsey. Shrapnel landed on the entrance steps and windows were blown out. The following night more H.E. bombs fell at Scarlett narrowly missing the Radar Station.
The following month considerable alarm was caused when bombs fell on the outskirts of Douglas. It was the night of 8/9 May, when clear conditions prevailed and when Dublin was mistakenly bombed.
After 93 Sqn had exchanged the sands of the Ayres for the sands of North Africa, the station grew quiet and much of it was reduced to care and maintenance. There was little to do for 9 Group now that the emergencies which had brought it into being had largely passed. Nevertheless, RAF Andreas remained officially part of 9 Group until August 1944, Wing Commander Raynor being responsible for the signing and despatch of the operational orders which signalled the disbanding of the Group, and many of the 900 airmen and 400 WAAFs were posted out whilst new plans were awaited for the Station.
One of the residents who did not leave was the detachment from 275 Squadron which would stay at the Station until the end of April, 1945.
During the spring of 1943, a new role was found for the excellent facilities at Andreas, and preparations began to set up No.11 Air Gunnery School of Training Command.
Training Command
No.11 Air Gunnery School With the specialisation required in aircrew for the heavy bombers of Bomber Command, air gunners became a separate category. Each Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax required two or three gunners in its crew, so thousands would be required to meet the demands of the growing strategic offensive and to replace losses.
RAF Andreas was to play an important role in the training programme, and thus began the busiest period in the life of the Station. The Station's new commanding officer was Group Captain Mackay, who would remain at Andreas for the rest of the war period, and the station completely changed in character from that of a fighter station to that of a training establishment.
Whilst at Andreas, the volunteer pupils selected for air gunners underwent an intensive ten-week course, before passing on to the operational training units of RAF Bomber Command. The course involved sighting; aircraft recognition; pyrotechnics; clay-pigeon and 25 yard range shoots; care and maintenance of .303 and .5 Browning machine guns and 20mm cannon; turret hydraulics, manipulation and operation, and the use of cine-camera guns. The training huts were equipped with the various types of turrets then in use, including Boulton Paul Types A and F, and Frazer Nash 121 which were installed in the Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster respectively.
The first aircraft to arrive were 15 Avro Anson gunnery trainers. For more advanced experience, training was conducted on a succession of Vickers Wellingtons which were being withdrawn from the front-line squadrons of Bomber Command, and target towing duties were the responsibility of Bristol Mercury engined Miles Martinets. The aircraft were further complemented with Sptifires.
Firing took place in allotted zones over the sea on both sides of the Point of Ayre, care being taken not to interfere with the Jurby bombing ranges.
Despite the continual flying programme over the congested north of the Island, accidents involving Andreas aircraft proved to be very rare, and only one documented incident resulted in the loss of a life. During 1944, Andreas, because of the length of its main runway, became an emergency landing ground for the Atlantic ferry route and was occasionally used by American aircraft such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The ending of the war in Europe in May 1945, saw no let up in the routine at Andreas with the prospect of a long campaign in the Pacific War.