Registered Charity No. SC023193

Member of B.A.P.C. - B.A.A.C. - Assoc. Scottish Museums Council - Angus Museums & Heritage Forum.

The Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre, formerly Montrose Air Station Museum, is situated in the former RAF Montrose Headquarters building. It celebrates the history of the first operational air station in Britain and, after being completely revamped over the winter months, was officially re-opened at the end of April by well-known military aviation author David Ross.

The revised displays are designed to tell the story of the airfield at Montrose from 1913, when it was set up, through to its eventual closure. By linking the Centre's fine collection of contemporary photographs, memorabilia and artefacts with concise text explanations the displays now describe more fully the parts played by some of the men and women of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force who were stationed there and give details of the planes that they flew and maintained, from the early fragile flying machines to the Spitfires and Hurricanes of World War II.

During both World Wars Montrose was an important training base and many nationalities, including Americans, Canadians, Poles, Russians and Czechs, did their flying training there. Training itself was a dangerous occupation and many instructors and trainee pilots were injured or killed, an area of wartime history that is often overlooked.

Many famous names were based at Montrose through the years, including Geoffrey de Havilland, Richard Hillary, Squadron Leader 'Stapme' Stapleton and Peter Townsend.

As well as being where 'The Few' trained, RAF Montrose was also a base for operational aircraft during the Second conflict and a number of pilots, such as Squadron Leader Stapleton, learned their 'trade' and had their first encounter with the enemy while serving there.

Another section relates to the Home Front and shows some of the objects and literature that would have been commonplace in the households of the 1940s.

The displays also feature eye witness accounts of one of the many bombing raids on the town and the airfield. This raid left six airmen dead and destroyed both the Station wages and a file on the famous Montrose Ghost. In fact, the site of the former airfield is probably one of the most haunted places in Britain, with at least a dozen different apparitions having been seen there throughout the base's history.

So, whether you are an aviation enthusiast, ghost hunter or simply looking for an interesting day out the Centre is well worth a visit.