Haunted place · Scotland, United Kingdom

RAF Montrose

Updated November 20265 sources How to visit

2 archive documents

Angus airfield (1913-1952) tied to Lt Desmond Arthur, killed in 1913; the ghost story is dated only by later books and websites, so its origin is unproven.

The story

RAF Montrose, near Montrose in Angus, was a Royal Flying Corps station set up in February 1913 and closed in 1952. According to English Wikipedia, which is our main source here, it dates from 26 February 1913 and was the earliest working military aerodrome in the United Kingdom.

The main ghost story is tied to one man. Our 1913 chronology comes from Wikipedia’s page on him alone, partly matched by Highnam Heritage. Desmond Arthur, an Irishman born in 1884, joined No. 2 Squadron on 17 April 1913. On 27 May 1913, at about 7:30 in the morning, the right wing of his B.E.2 aircraft broke during a training flight. He died in what is described as Scotland’s first fatal air accident. A Royal Aero Club inquiry reported on 21 June 1913 that a spar had been badly repaired, and a government inquiry was opened on 11 July 1913. Wikipedia then says a committee set up on 3 August 1916 concluded that the pilot was at fault, and that another report at the end of 1916 cleared him again. We could not check those 1916 dates against a primary source.

The legend

The story as it is usually told is that an airman in uniform walks into the officers’ mess, and that Arthur is the ghost, appearing because the blame for the crash was wrongly laid on him. That motive recurs in what we read, but it is a reading of the story, not a finding.

The oldest dated sighting, per Wikipedia, comes from autumn 1916: Major Cyril Foggin is said to have seen the figure and kept quiet for fear of losing his post. The identification as Arthur is credited to C. G. Grey, editor of The Aeroplane. In Wikipedia, the Foggin story comes from Martin Caidin’s book Ghosts of the Air, published in 1995, almost eighty years after the events, and the Grey detail from an undated web article by Patrick Bernauw. We read neither. It means the 1916 date is a claim we cannot trace to any account written at the time. Highnam Heritage, a site we read that cites no sources, puts the end of this wave of sightings in January 1917; a search summary of The Courier gives Christmas Eve 1916.

Wikipedia lists later stories, citing Caidin, whom we did not read: a mysterious biplane in 1940, a flight lieutenant’s crash on the runway in 1942, a cadet briefing in 1949, and on 27 May 1963 a B.E.2-type biplane seen by Peter Masefield. Wikipedia’s page on the station records that believers have called it “one of the most haunted places in Britain.”

We read no printed ghost account from 1913 to 1917. We searched US newspapers from 1770 to 1963 for the Montrose ghost and found nothing. We could not search Hansard properly. Wikipedia also cites a complaint of whitewash by the MP William Joynson-Hicks, from The Scotsman of 16 March 1914, which we have not verified. A report in The Courier, which we saw only through a search result, says the heritage centre held a centenary ceremony on 27 May 2013 meant to put the ghost story to rest.

What remains today

Wikipedia says a trust bought the Watch Office and surrounding ground in 1992 and created the Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre, and that several historic buildings and hangars remain. Its website now calls it the Montrose Air Station Museum. We did not consult any heritage listing for the site, and we did not verify what survives or can be seen.

Visiting

On 6 November 2026 the museum’s site gave weekend hours (Saturday 10:00 to 16:00, Sunday 12:00 to 16:00, last entry by 15:00), closing for winter on 9 November and reopening in late February 2027. Check with the museum directly. There is nothing in our sources that says where on the former airfield a visitor may go, so we do not suggest any route.

The ghosts

Soldier

Lt Desmond Arthur (airman in the officers’ mess)

Said to be Desmond Arthur, 1884-1913, killed on 27 May 1913

A uniformed airman is said to enter the officers’ mess, interpreted as Arthur, who was blamed in one inquiry. The 1916 date comes from a book published in 1995 and has not been traced to a contemporary account.

Apparitions

First reported: Autumn 1916 per Wikipedia, citing Caidin (1995, not read). Reported by: Major Cyril Foggin (as related by Caidin, 1995, via Wikipedia); C. G. Grey (via Bernauw, via Wikipedia); later stories in Wikipedia