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.
RAF Prestwick in South Ayrshire played a very different wartime role from the better-known bomber and fighter stations. Its value lay in movement, reception and control: it became one of Britain’s key terminals for aircraft and personnel arriving across the North Atlantic from North America. In the Second World War, this ‘air bridge’ mattered enormously. Thousands of aircraft – bombers, fighters, transports and specialised types – were ferried from factories and training bases in the United States and Canada to Britain. Prestwick’s location on Scotland’s west coast made it a practical gateway for transatlantic routes, particularly via Iceland and other stepping stones, and it developed the command-and-control infrastructure to handle the flow.
Prestwick’s story is closely linked to the evolution of RAF ferry organisations. RAF Ferry Command was formed in July 1941 to manage North Atlantic ferry flights and was later absorbed into RAF Transport Command in March 1943, with No. 45 (Atlantic Ferry) Group taking responsibility for the ongoing work. Prestwick therefore sits in the administrative history of how Britain organised strategic air movement – an often overlooked but absolutely essential component of sustaining air power.
The station also connected to the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), the civilian organisation that ferried aircraft within the UK. Prestwick hosted ATA ferry pilot pools, whose mixed-gender, multinational pilots delivered aircraft between factories, maintenance units and operational stations. The ATA’s work was not glamorous, but it was vital: without it, front-line units would have waited longer for replacements and repaired aircraft. Prestwick’s role as a hub for movement meant it hosted a wide variety of aircraft types over the course of the war – from trainers and light transports to heavy bombers being staged onward.
Prestwick’s operational environment demanded sophisticated air traffic procedures for the period. Weather over the North Atlantic was harsh and unpredictable, and ferry flights arrived with limited fuel reserves and potential icing or mechanical issues. The station developed control centres and radio/navigation support to manage the increase in movements, working alongside Canadian and American personnel as the Allied partnership matured. Beyond ferrying, Prestwick also hosted specialist training and signals-related units, reflecting its importance as a communications and navigation centre as well as an airfield.
In a war often remembered through combat stories, Prestwick represents the enabling architecture that made combat possible: moving aircraft, crews and VIP passengers; receiving newly delivered machines; and providing the organisational nerve centre for transatlantic flow. Its wartime legacy is therefore found in logistics, coordination, and the vast, steady throughput that underpinned every operational sortie flown from Britain.
WW2 units, roles and aircraft:
- Reception/terminal for North Atlantic ferry route (RAF Ferry Command; later RAF Transport Command, No. 45 (Atlantic Ferry) Group)
- ATA ferry pilot pools based at Prestwick at various periods
- Broad aircraft mix transiting the station: heavy bombers, fighters, transports and trainers (depending on ferry needs)
Prestwick’s wartime experience also reminds us that distance and weather were enemies too. Ocean crossings required careful route planning, reliable radio and navigation support, and rapid response to distress calls. The station’s control functions helped reduce those risks and kept the pipeline moving, making it one of the quiet success stories behind Allied air power.