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Origins
A rudimentary airstrip was built on Willingdon Island,
Cochin, Southwest India by the Cochin Port Trust in 1936 for
the use of Colonial officials; it was taken over by the
Royal Air Force in 1941 to establish an experimental
station. The Indian Air Force Volunteer Reserve No. 5
Coastal Defence Flight, flying Westland Wapiti II aircraft
was based at the station from May 1941 until it was
disbanded in December 1942. The site was developed into a
major aerodrome which would eventually house No. 63
Embarkation Unit, formed in April 1943, and No. 312
Maintenance Unit. The station also supported detachments
from No. 240 Squadron, July 1942 through to July 1945,
initially operating Stranraer, and later Catalina flying
boats, and 203 Squadron operating anti-submarine Wellingtons
during 1944.
RN Lodger facility on RAF Station Cochin
After the fall of Singapore at the start of 1942, and the
increased threat to Ceylon from Japanese air attack, plans
were made to establish naval aviation support facilities in
Southern India to provide aircraft repair, maintenance and
storage as well as the training of squadrons.
In the spring of 1942 lodger rights were granted for an RN
Air Section to be established at RAF Station Cochin, Its
primary function was to operate a Naval Aircraft Storage
Section; the first recorded use of the lodger facility is in
March 1942 when Fairey Fulmar X8630 is recorded as being on
the station and several Albacores in June.
Receipt and Despatch function added
Later in 1942 a Naval Aircraft Erection Unit (N.A.E.U.) was
established at Cochin to serve the new RN Aircraft
Maintenance Yard at Coimbatore,
and later in the war, the RN Aircraft Depot at RN Air
Station Sulur. Crated and preserved
airframes were delivered by sea, often by RN carriers, as
reserve aircraft for issue to squadrons in the East Indies;
the N.A.E.U. was tasked with receiving, assembling, and test
flying up to130 aircraft per month.
The Section, which was carried on the books of GARUDA (RNAMY
Coimbatore), was commissioned as an independent command
on February 1st 1945 bearing the Ship’s name KALUGU, but its
accounts remained in GARUDA until April 1st 1946 when the
stations at Coimbatore and Sulur were paid off.
Post War
After the war the task shifted to aircraft disposal and the
N.A.E.U. were erecting airframes with the express purpose of
writing-off functional aircraft; hundreds of surplus
American aircraft were loaded aboard carriers for disposal
at sea. Under the terms of the Lend-lease agreement between
Britain and the U.S. surplus equipment had to be paid for or
returned to U.S. custody – the majority of the fighter
planes would be surplus on return to the U.S. so they were
“written off” at sea. On completing this task the RN Air
Section was itself paid off on October 1st 1946 and the
station continued as RAF Station Cochin.
No. 63 Embarkation Unit was still present on the station and
was renamed RAF Movements Unit (Embarkation) Cochin, on
February 10th 1947. This was withdrawn and the station had
closed by August of that year when India became an
independent nation.
Indian Naval Air Station Cochin
On 1 January 1953 the aerodrome at Cochin was transferred to
the Indian Navy for use as the forces first Naval Air
Station. It was initially under the control of the nearby
naval base, INS VENDURUTHY; the facilities were commissioned
as a fully operational Indian Naval Air Arm station of the
on May 111th 953 and renamed INS GARUDA. It is the oldest
operating naval air station of the Indian Navy supporting
squadrons and several training schools, intelligence
centres, maintenance and repair facilities. The station is
extant in 2018.
Click here for a list of
Primary sources
Additional sources:
Confidential Admiralty Fleet Orders:
511/45 Commissioning as
independent command with ship's name KALUGU, accounts held
by GARUDA.
Mr. Michael Moore supplied the war-time photos of his
father, Air Mechanic Dennis Moore.
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