The Air Force Years
Henry Beveridge died In 1922, and shortly thereafter his widow and children moved into a smaller house which they had built on the edge of their estate, in "the Wilderness" (an area of Rosyth bounded by Queensferry Road and Woodside Road). This house was subsequently demolished, and the site is now occupied by a church.
The Richardson family, friends of the Beveridges, used the castle as an occasional summer residence, and the castle which Henry Beveridge had transformed into a comfortable Victorian country house gradually slipped into genteel decay, the gardens became overgrown and encroached on the house, imbuing it with a gloomy, foreboding atmosphere. This air of general neglect created an impression among the local youth; an inhabitant of Kelty, who was born in Masterton village, speaks of his childhood pranks in the grounds ot the "haunted house".
The main tasks allocated to Coastal Command aircraft, (searching for enemy shipping, acting as long-range 'eyes' for warships and providing air support to naval forces at sea) required close liaison between RAF and RN planners, and the need for joint RN/RAF headquarters ("Maritime Headquarters") had become apparent. In 1938, two Royal Air Force officers, looking for a suitable site for the planned joint Maritime Headquarters and Headquarters, 18 Group, Coastal Command, found the castle overgrown with ivy, the grounds unkempt and colonies of bats inhabiting the upper rooms. However, the fabric of the building was sound, the grounds extensive, and - most important of all - it was close to the RN base at Rosyth.
Work on the underground bunker began in 1938, and was completed in 1941. The underground bunker housed the Maritime Headquarters, with RN and RAF staff working in very close coordination. It was from here that the hunt for the Tirpitz was planned, as were raids against enemy shipping in occupied Norway. The Battle of the Atlantic was largely mounted from this Maritime Headquarters.
As befits an important and busy wartime Group Headquarters, RAF Pitreavie Castle was a large base, although little now remains of the original buildings which extended throughout the grounds. Beveridge's stable block became the Sergeants' Mess, and the remains of the airmen's accommodation may be seen on the right of the road between the Pitreavie roundabout and Masterton. On the same road, on the left, may be seen a green building built to resemble a church. This was a generator house, the shape of which was intended to deceive German bombers. The sick quarters, NAAFI (Airmen's ckub) and Airmen's Mess were situated on what is now the external car park and the 76 Squadron (TA) Royal Engineers headquarters building. Various other offices and facilities were accommodated in wooden huts which have long since been pulled down. The castle doubled as the Group headquarters and Officers' Mess, !2 although the officers slept in a row of wooden huts to the east of the Air Ministry extension (much to the disappointment of a visiting American officer and his wife who, having been dined and entertained in the castle, were led off to sleep in a wooden -hut!). The last of these huts was demolished in 1994: the few living-in officers now share a converted married quarter.
Visitors
Wartime visitors included:
King George VI (twice, 1940 & 1941)
Winston Churchill (twice, once with Clemmy) (1940 & 1941)
King Haakon of Norway & staff (1942)
MRAF Lord Trenchard
MRAF Sir John Salmond
Air Marshal Edwards, AOCinC RCAF
Air Marshal Slessor, AOCinC Coastal Command
Post-war
With the formation of NATO IN 1948, Pitreavie became the headquarters of the North Atlantic Area (HO Norlant) with the Air Marshal as Commander, Air Forces, North Atlantic (COMAIRNORLANT) and the Admiral as Commander, Naval Forces, North Atlantic (COMNAVNORLANT).
1969 saw several organizational changes in the Maritime world:
Coastal Command ceased to exist, and the Command HQ at Northwood became HQ 18(Maritime) Group as part of Strike Command . 18 and 19 Groups became transformed into the Northern and Southern Maritime regions respectively, and Pitreavie became HQ NORMAR (Northern Maritime Region). At squadron level, we felt that only the names changed!
In 1984 operational command of MPA (Maritime Patrol Aircraft) was transferred to the Maritime Headquarters at Northwood. The RN maintains FOSNI's functions, but the RAF task is now reduced to:
a. cordinating the RAF response to SAR incidents north of Yarmouth & south of the Faeroes
b. Supporting the Command function of the Air Officer, Scotland & Northern Ireland (AOSNI).
c. Maintaining the NICS TARE (NATO Integrated Communications System Terminal and Relay Equipment, an intemational "telephone exchange" for NATO signals traffic).
A review of NATO areas and appointments in 1993 saw AOSNI lose his NATO appointment as COMAIRNORLANT, while recent changes in the structure and manning levels of the Royal Air Force have necessitated a review of the RAF Search and Rescue organization: in June 1993 the Secretary of State for Defence announced that Pitreavie would become the home of the single national Rescue Coordination Centre. This decision was reviewed in the light of further defence studies, and in July 1994 it was announced that the Flag Officer, Scotland, Northern England and Ireland would move his flag to Faslane and the Air Officer, Scotland and Northern Ireland would move with his staff to RAF Leuchars where the new National Rescue Coordination Centre would be formed. The NICS TARE facilities are also being withdrawn, not transferred, as it is considered that there is sufficient capacity elsewhere In the system.
Andrew Nelson, Pitreavie Castle, January 1995
Bibliography:
Ancestral Earth, Diane Wardlaw Walsh, Star Press, 1992
Famous Scottish Houses,Thomas Hannan, A&C Black, 1928
The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, McGibbon & Ross, D. Douglas (Edinburgh), 1887
The Story of Rosyth, Inverkeithing High School, Educational Resources Unit (Stirling), 1992
The History of Pitreavie Castle, (unpublished, unattributed pamphlet written by a Royal Air Force officer Circa 1985 |
