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

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

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 lead ...

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 t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Various aircraft operated from the airfield during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 (), was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom. It was to have taken place during the Battle of Britain, nine months after the start of the Second World ...

" for the conquest of the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, 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 Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. RAF Long Kesh was to be attacked and wrecked by German

airborne forces Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers. The main ...

, whilst Aldergrove, Nutts Corner and Langford Lodge 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 Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

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, 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 for aircraft and associated businesses of British engineer Frederick George Miles, who, with his wife – aviator and draughtswoman Maxine Blossom Miles, Maxine "Blossom" Miles (née Forbes-Robertson) – and his brother ...

for final assembly and test flying work of the Miles Messenger, 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 Bann in 1712. It is in the civil parish of Seapatrick and the historic barony of Iveagh Upper ...

. 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 (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 () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

, 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 His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

without trial (under the Special Powers Act of 1922) 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 Provisiona ...

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 initia ...

. In May 1974 Long Kesh housed 747 internees. On 15 October 1974 internees burned 21 of the compounds used to house the internees thereby destroying much of the camp. From 1976 the makeshift structures housing the detainees were replaced by newly constructed "H-Blocks", and the facility was re-designated HM Prison

References

Citations

Bibliography