Originally Posted by
4mastacker
Are you sure about that? I was stationed at Leuchars from Jul 1974 until October 1979 and I don't recall a second Bolthole. Leuchars was always very busy and toward the end of my tour there, the station nearly ran out of AVTUR during one period of intense flying operations. Leuchars held an Open Day in September 1979 with both flying and ground displays, something that wouldn't have happened if they were on Bolthole.
We (111 Sqn) arrived at Leuchars from Coningsby in late 1975, replacing 23 Sqn's Lightnings so Leuchars became a completely Phantom Unit; 892 NAS (FG1), PTF (FG1), 43 Sqn (FG1) and 111 Sqn (FGR2). I don't know about a Bolthole in 1975, but I don't dispute it.
In the spring of 1979 (I remember, because I was just married), Leuchars began a Bolthole. 111 Sqn (me included) deployed to Malta for a month of annual APC and recovered to Coningsby post-ex for a detachment of at least 6 months. Date of return to Leuchars I don't know, because I was posted from 111 Sqn to the OCU in late 1979.
During the same period, 43 Sqn detached to Kinloss. The Naval Units? I don't know, but during early 1979, and throughout Bolthole, 111 Sqn was exchanging its FGR2s for FG1s, implying that Naval aviation was going subsonic.