South Uist Missile Range

Benbecula Rockets
1959-1963 South Uist, Scotland
Cold War missile testing and daily life in the Outer Hebrides in the early 1960s

Home movie made during testing in the early 1960s at the South Uist Missile Range near RAF Benbecula in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. Having been unloaded from a transporter, a Corporal missile - a surface-to-surface guided weapon intended to carry nuclear warheads - is set up for testing and launched. In the port town of Lochboisdale, cargo is loaded onto a ship followed by brief scenes of Hebridean life including fishing, boating and sightseeing. Returning to the range, where testing is still underway, general views of the range and closer shots of tracking equipment accompanies the launch of three more missiles, including a test at night.

27th Guided Weapons Regiment; 47th Guided Weapons Regiment; Royal Artillery; British Army

11-06-2013 The Goverment started planning for a defence range very shortly after the war i;e late 40`s in the planning stages they had a shotlist of 6 sites in mind the final choice was between South Uist and Wales South Uist was chosen, the R.A.F were going to be based in North Uist the Army in South Uist with planes too find a suitable Navy base in the Western Isles as well, the Range in Uist was going to be massive but then there was a change of Goverment and a lack of money so defence spending was cut, resulting in a large scaleing back of the Range to the size it is today.
As a matter of interest initially the Uist Range would have taken over half the Iseland.

TRAVEL: Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands
On: BBC 1 Scotland HD
Date: Monday 14th September 2015 (Already shown)
Time: 19:30 to 20:00 (30 minutes long)

Atlantic Frontier - The Uists and Benbecula. Episode 12.
Paul Murton visits the islands lying off the Scottish coast. Thirty miles from mainland Scotland, there is a chain of low-lying islands that face the full might of the Atlantic Ocean: the Uists and Benbecula. On these islands there seems to be more water than land, as a spectacular patchwork of freshwater lochs and pools pockmark the landscape. But it is the unique ecology of these unspoilt islands that makes them so special. Paul's journey sees him trying his hand at fishing for wild sea trout, uncovering the fascinating story of how South Uist became a missile testing base, and discovering the secrets of the beautiful but deserted tidal island of Vallay.
(Stereo, Widescreen, High Definition, Subtitles, Followed by Reporting Scotland)
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Excerpt taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=7346

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