Ritchie Camp Ritchie Camp served RAF Kirknewton , a Royal Air Force station at Whitemoss , a mile south east of Kirknewton , West Lothian , Scotland during World War II . Primarily an RAF radar base , RAF Kirknewton was home to a variety of units during the war RAF Kirknewton was used as a temporary POW Camp for German officers during WWII , while they were awaiting transfer to the USA , and it is likely that the camp may have housed these prisoners , together with their guards . Some time after the war , Kirknewton airfield and Ritchie Camp were made available to several small United States Air Force units tasked with providing mobile radio facilities in Britain , including 6952nd Security Group , formerly the 6952nd Radio Squadron Mobile , formerly the 37th Radio Squadron Mobile , United States Air Force Security Service ( USAFSS ) . Around 500 American service personnel were tasked with the interception of voice and Morse signals , including military and commercial naval traffic , with priority being given to signals involving Soviet radar and air operations . At one point , they serviced the Hot Line between Washington and Moscow . The base finally closed in August 1966 . As part of the drawdown of British Forces from West Germany , the 1st Battalion The Black Watch returned from Minden in March 1968 and were stationed at Ritchie Camp before moving in January 1972 to Hong Kong . In 1971 , it was announced that the 1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were to be reformed . At that time , Balaklava Company , The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were based in Gibraltar . They returned home , via Barnard Castle , County Durham and became the nucleus of the new battalion which assembled in Ritchie Camp . From here they undertook 3 tours of duty in Northern Ireland . Amongst visitors to the regiment were HM The Queen , HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and HRH Princess Anne . When the battalion moved to Osnabrück in November 1974 , the 1st Battalion The Royal Scots took up residence , arriving from Cyprus , til June 1976 when they moved to Munster . They were replaced by the 1st Battalion The Queen ' s Own Highlanders from Osnabrück in June 1976 , leaving in March 1980 for Hong Kong . The 1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders , transferring from Chester in March 1980 , were resident in Ritchie Camp til February 1983 , when they moved on to Hemer . In 1981 , they were participants in the wedding of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer . In February 1983 , they moved to Hemer , when the 1st Battalion The Royal Scots moved in from Ballykinler . They moved in March 1985 to Werl , handing over the camp to The 1st Battalion The Black Watch who had been in Werl . After a short stay , they moved a few miles to Redford Barracks , Edinburgh in April 1986 . Scottish regiments based in Ritchie Camp were required to provide the Royal Guard at Balmoral . One of their duties was to run film shows for the Royal Family . Projectionists received their training in the camp cinema , a relic of the American occupants . The building used as an officers ' mess was designed on the American officers ' club style . One of the hangars on the airfield housed to Motor Transport ( MT ) vehicles . The airfield itself was used for driver training , low level military training and recreation . There were insufficient houses for soldiers ' families locally ; additional housing ( married quarters ) was provided in Lanark and Edinburgh . Responding to a Commons Written Question on 26 February 1987 , the Secretary of State for Defence stated that ' We have recently agreed in principle to make these sites ( Winston camp , Lanark , and Ritchie camp , Kirknewton ) available to the United States forces for use as peacetime medical storage facilities and as hospitals which would be activated in the event of war . ' The Americans handed the site back to the MoD in 1991 , when it was described as a Contingency Hospital . A Tree Preservation Order was placed on Ritchie Camp in December 1987 . The Princess Royal , Patron , Crucial Crew Project , attended a Crucial Crew event hosted by the Lothian and Borders Police ' F ' Division at Ritchie Camp on 13 June 1993 . In 1999 , the camp was demolished and replaced with up - market housing , and the area renamed ' Newlands ' .