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RAF Ballyhalbert

Former Royal Air Force station in Northern Ireland

Summary

Former Royal Air Force station in Northern Ireland

FieldValue
nameRAF BallyhalbertRNAS Ballyhalbert(HMS Corncrake)
ensign[[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg90px]] [[File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg90px]]
partof
locationBallyhalbert, County Down
nearest_town
countryNorthern Ireland
image[[File:Ballyhalbert 1945.jpg250px]]
captionSquadron photo taken on RAF Ballyhalbert in 1945
image2
typeRoyal Air Force sector station
coordinates
pushpin_mapNorthern Ireland#UK
pushpin_map_captionShown within Northern Ireland
pushpin_labelRAF Ballyhalbert
ownershipAir MinistryAdmiralty
operatorRoyal Air ForceRoyal Navy
controlledbyRAF Fighter Command1941-45 No. 13 Group RAF No. 82 Group RAFFleet Air Arm1945-46
open_to_public
site_other_label
site_other
site_area
codeYB
built
usedJune 1941 –
height
length
fate
battlesEuropean theatre of World War II
past_commanders
garrison
occupants
footnotes
elevation8 m
r1-number00/00
r1-length
r1-surfaceTarmac
r2-number00/00
r2-length
r2-surfaceTarmac
r3-number00/00
r3-length
r3-surfaceTarmac
h1-length
airfield_other_label
airfield_other

| r1-number = 00/00 | r1-length = | r1-surface = Tarmac | r2-number = 00/00 | r2-length = | r2-surface = Tarmac | r3-number = 00/00 | r3-length = | r3-surface = Tarmac | h1-number = | h1-length = | h1-surface = Royal Air Force Ballyhalbert or more simply RAF Ballyhalbert is a former Royal Air Force sector station at Ballyhalbert on the Ards Peninsula, County Down, Northern Ireland.

RAF Kirkistown was a satellite to the larger Ballyhalbert.

Construction began in 1940.

History

Royal Air Force use

It opened provisionally in May 1941, prior to completion of the works, as a RAF Fighter Command base where the primary weapon was the Supermarine Spitfire, and officially on 28 June of that same year. The base provided local protection from Luftwaffe raids on Belfast and the rest of the province. Other aircraft operated from the base were the Hawker Hurricane, Bristol Beaufighter, North American Mustang and Boulton Paul Defiant night fighter. During its lifetime, Ballyhalbert was home to RAF, Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), British Army, Royal Navy and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) personnel. Servicemen from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Poland also saw duty at Ballyhalbert.

; Squadrons:

  • No. 25 Squadron RAF
  • No. 26 Squadron RAF
  • No. 63 Squadron RAF
  • No. 125 Squadron RAF
  • No. 130 Squadron RAF
  • No. 153 Squadron RAF
  • No. 245 Squadron RAF
  • No. 256 Squadron RAF
  • No. 303 Squadron RAF
  • No. 315 Polish Fighter Squadron
  • No. 501 Squadron RAF
  • No. 504 Squadron RAF

; Units:

  • Detachment of No. 13 Group Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Flight RAF (May – August 1941)
  • No. 82 Group Communication Flight RAF (September 1941 – January 1942)
  • No. 82 Group Training Flight RAF became No. 1493 (Target Towing) Flight RAF (October 1941 – January 1942 & January – April 1943)
  • No. 1402 (Meteorological) Flight RAF (December 1944 – August 1945)
  • No. 1480 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF (November – December 1941)
  • No. 1494 (Target Towing) Flight RAF (April 1943 – March 1945)
  • No. 2707 Squadron RAF Regiment

Fleet Air Arm use

In 1942, a request for lodger facilities and a Royal Naval Air Section at RAF Ballyhalbert was granted by RAF Northern Ireland. On 14 July 1945 the airbase was transferred by RAF Northern Ireland on loan to the Admiralty and known as Royal Naval Air Station Ballyhalbert (RNAS Ballyhalbert). On 17 July it was commissioned as '*HMS *Corncrake''''' with Captain G.N.P. Stringer as commanding officer.

As '*HMS *Corncrake''''' the airfield was used by the Fleet Air Arm for squadrons working up for carrier duty. On 13 November 1945 the airfield was closed and placed on Care and Maintenance. By 1947, with no further use made of the site it was abandoned. The airfield was sold to developers in March 1960, and is in use for several popular caravan parks.

; Fleet Air Arm units:

References

Citations

Bibliography

References

  1. "RAF Ballyhalbert". Ballyhalbert website.
  2. "R.N.A.S. Ballyhalbert". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day.
  3. "Ballyhalbert". [[Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust]].
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

royal-air-force-stations-in-northern-ireland world-war-ii-sites-in-northern-ireland royal-air-force-stations-of-world-war-ii-in-the-united-kingdom buildings-and-structures-in-county-down military-history-of-county-down defunct-airports-in-northern-ireland military-airbases-established-in-1941 military-airbases-closed-in-1947
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