Royal Australian Air Force 453 Squadron was re-established at Drem on 18 June 1942, equipped with Supermarine Spitfire aircraft, and joined the RAF's Fighter Command.

A number of Fleet Air Arm squadrons used the airbase when disembarking from aircraft carrier operations between 1943 and 1945.

March 1946 saw the airfield transfer back into RAF control,[4] and the unit was returned to the Air Ministry although it was closed and then decommissioned not long after that.

This was typical of many fighter stations in Scotland and Northern England as although Luftwaffe activity in these areas was relatively limited for most of the war, they still required to be defended.

Squadrons would therefore be rotated north to cover "quiet" sectors whilst also resting, absorbing replacement aircrews and/or converting to new aircraft.

As the war progressed the Luftwaffe threat to Britain diminished further and surplus fighter stations could be transferred to other uses, such as (in the case of Drem) training of Fleet Air Arm crews.

These were mostly fighter and night-fighter units, but detachments from 278 or 281 (Air-Sea Rescue) Squadrons were also present for extended periods during 1942 and 1943.