Royal Air Force Long Kesh or more simply RAF Long Kesh is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

station at

Maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that le ...

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. Various aircraft operated from the airfield during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, including the Supermarine Seafire and Spitfire.

History

In 1940–1941, during

, RAF Long Kesh was a primary attack target in " Operation Green", a planned second front to accompany "

Operation Sea Lion Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (german: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Battle o ...

" for the conquest of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. RAF Long Kesh was to be attacked and wrecked by German airborne forces, whilst Aldergrove,

Nutts Corner Royal Air Force Nutts Corner or more simply RAF Nutts Corner is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Crumlin, County Antrim, Northern Ireland and north west of Belfast. It was originally a civil airfield, then it became a military ...

and

Langford Lodge Langford may refer to: Places Australia * Langford, Western Australia Canada * Langford, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island * Rural Municipality of Langford, Manitoba England * Langford, Bedfordshire * Langford, Essex * Langford, Norfolk ...

were to be captured.

Hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

s were constructed at the airfield by the Ministry of Aircraft Production for the use of

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

to assemble the Short Stirling bomber. Some Stirlings were also built at the site, before their assembly line moved to

RAF Maghaberry Royal Air Force Maghaberry or more simply RAF Maghaberry is a former Royal Air Force satellite airfield located north of Maghaberry, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The site of former RAF Maghaberry was transformed into HM Prison Maghaberry. His ...

, the aircraft production facilities at RAF Long Kesh then concentrated on aircraft wing manufacturing. One of the RAF Long Kesh hangars was later used by

Miles Aircraft Miles was the name used between 1943 and 1947 to market the aircraft of British engineer Frederick George Miles, who, with his wife – aviator and draughtswoman Maxine "Blossom" Miles (née Forbes-Robertson) – and his brother George Herbert ...

for final assembly and test flying work of the

Miles Messenger The Miles M.38 Messenger is a British four-seat liaison and private owner aircraft built by Miles Aircraft. Design and development The Messenger was designed to meet an informal request from a group of British Army officers for a robust, slow ...

, which was made at its factory in a linen mill at

Banbridge Banbridge ( , ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the River Bann in 1712. It is situated in the civil parish of Seapatrick and the historic barony of Iv ...

. The hangars are now the home of the Ulster Aviation Society and their collection of military, civil and general aviation aircraft.

Units

;Units * No. 5 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF (December 1942 – April 1944) * No. 31 Wing RAF (June – December 1941) * No. 96 Wireless (Observer) Wing RAF (April – May 1942) became No. 96 (Wireless) Wing RAF (May 1942 – ?) * No. 103 Personnel Dispersal Centre * No. 201 Gliding School RAF (May 1946 – 1947) * No. 203 Gliding School RAF (July – September 1955) became No. 671 Volunteer Gliding School RAF (September 1955 – January 1956) *

No. 1494 (Target Towing) Flight RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a Typography, typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal number, ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For exampl ...

(December 1941 – April 1942) * No. 2774 Squadron RAF Regiment * RAF Northern Ireland Communication Flight RAF (September – December 1945)

Long Kesh Detention Centre

From August 1971, during

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

, the then disused airfield and facilities of RAF Long Kesh became the Long Kesh Detention Centre, where Irish paramilitary suspects were detained by the British government without trial during the

Operation Demetrius Operation Demetrius was a British Army operation in Northern Ireland on 9–10 August 1971, during the Troubles. It involved the mass arrest and internment (imprisonment without trial) of people suspected of being involved with the Irish Republi ...

phase of

Operation Banner Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007, as part of the Troubles. It was the longest continuous deployment in British military history. The British Army was initial ...

. From 1976 the makeshift structures housing the detainees were replaced by newly constructed "H-Blocks", and the facility was re-designated

HM Prison His Majesty's Prisons (Her Majesty's Prisons in the case of a female monarch) is the name given to prisons in the United Kingdom, as well as some in Australia and a small number in Canada, Grenada, Jersey, The Bahamas and Barbados. The title mak ...

Maze.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{authority control Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1971 Buildings and structures in County Antrim

Long Kesh Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...