Full WW2 control tower details and photos for this wartime airfield are coming soon. Please check back later as this is work progress. If you would like to contribute information or photos please get in touch.
Overview
RAF Tain was a wartime airfield at Morrich More on the Dornoch Firth, near Tain in the Scottish Highlands. During the Second World War it served as a remote fighter and maritime patrol base, later famous as a live weapons and gunnery/bombing range. opened in September 1941 under Fighter Command; remained active through intense Coastal Command anti-U-boat work in 1944-45, and closed as an airfield in 1946.
Like most British wartime stations, RAF Tain functioned as a small, self-contained town. Beyond the runways were technical areas for maintenance and armament, dispersed hardstandings to reduce losses during raids, and domestic sites where airmen, WAAFs or naval personnel lived, trained, and waited for the next tasking. On operational nights or intensive training days the routine revolved around briefings, meteorology, aircraft servicing, and a tight rhythm of take-off and recovery windows.
Squadrons, units and types
Aircraft commonly associated with wartime flying here: Hurricane, Spitfire, Beaufighter, Halifax, Liberator, Warwick, Sea Otter, Wellington.
Records for RAF Tain show a mix of operational and support activity. Some units were long-term residents with a stable identity, while others arrived as detachments – often for conversion training, gunnery work-ups, dispersal, or to cover a specific operational requirement. That pattern is typical of the RAF’s wartime system: stations were constantly re-tasked as the air war shifted from defence to offence, from the Battle of the Atlantic to the bomber offensive, and later to preparations for the invasion of Northwest Europe.
- No. 17 Squadron (Hurricane IIB)
- Detachment of No. 76 Squadron (Halifax I/II)
- Detachment then full No. 86 Squadron (Liberator IIIa/V/VIII)
- Detachments of No. 123 Squadron (Spitfire IIA/VB) and No. 132 Squadron (Spitfire I/IIB)
- No. 144 Squadron (Beaufighter VIC/X)
- Detachment of No. 235 Squadron (Beaufighter VIC)
- No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron (Liberator V/VI)
- Air-Sea Rescue detachments: Nos. 279/280/281 Squadrons (Warwick, Sea Otter; some Wellington XIII)
What happened here
Used for North Sea and Norwegian coast operations and as a springboard for long-range maritime work.
Particularly busy in summer 1944 as Coastal Command intensified hunting U-boats and protecting Atlantic approaches.
How the station ‘worked’: aircraft were usually kept on dispersal pans connected by a perimeter track. Crews moved between briefing rooms, parachute/oxygen sections, and the flight line; ground crew handled refuelling, re-arming and engine changes. The watch office coordinated flying, and on busy days the airfield operated like a factory – turning time, fuel and maintenance hours into sorties.
Legacy and remains
The wartime landing ground survives within today’s Tain Air Weapons Range landscape; remnants and the distinctive range control tower help anchor the story.
Landscape and flying conditions: RAF Tain’s geography influenced operations. Prevailing winds dictated runway selection, while local terrain and weather shaped training and safety. In winter, short daylight and low cloud increased the workload; in summer, longer hours enabled intensive training programmes and high sortie rates. These practical factors are often reflected in accident reports and ORBs, which mention crosswinds, icing, fog, and diversion landings.