No:4 (C)O.T.U.
No 4 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit
Jim MacNaught served at this unit in 1943 training in the famous "Catalina Flying Boat" Unfortunately his log book does not record all of the flights see Page 13 of the logbook.
This OTU provided Flying Boat crews for Coastal Command and was formed within No 17 Group at Stranraer on 16 Mar 1941 having previously been designated the Flying Boat Training Squadron. Equipped with Singapore IIIs initially, these were later supplemented with Stranraers, Catalinas and Lerwicks. In June 1941 the unit moved to Invergordon and in December Sunderlands arrived.
In February 1942 the tasks of the unit were split into two with initial training being carried out at Stranraer and operational training remaining at Invergordon but in November the Stranraer element returned to Invergordon following expansion of the station, which was renamed Alness in February 1943. In Oct 1943 the Catalinas were transferred to No 131 OTU, leaving No 4 to concentrate on Sunderland training. From September 1944, land based support aircraft were operated from Evanton and later Tain. The OTU re-located south to Pembroke Dock in August 1946 and disbanded on being re-designated No 235 OCU on 31 July 1947.
Short S19 Singapore III
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Vickers Supermarine Stranraer
Lerwick 209
Shorts Sunderland