Remains of the Power Station at RAF Milfield

Milfield was originally intended to be a bomber training base, but the scale of the German advance through Europe and the threat of invasion meant that the urgent need was for fighter pilots.

Construction work at Milfield began in 1941. In August 1942, Milfield opened with the arrival of 59 Operational Training Unit, which had been based at Crosby-on-Eden in Cumbria.

The building of Milfield took 100,000 tons of concrete. There were runways, taxiway, hangers and a dome on which the images of stars were projected to train navigators.

From early 1944, the United States Army Air Force used Milfield, with Thunderbolts, Lightning and Mustang aircraft.

At the end of 1946, the base closed although an aviation link continues from the Borders Gliding Club.