Memorial honour for airfield
TRIBUTE UNVEILED BY THE AIRFIELDS OF BRITAIN CONSERVATION TRUST
Sunderland’s Usworth Airfield has been honoured with one of the Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust’s latest memorials.
The Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust, in coordination with numerous local organisations, have unveiled a memorial at the North East Land Sea & Air Museum, in Old Washington Road, Sunderland, at the weekend.
Founder of Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust, Kenneth Bannerman said: “Usworth Airfield was an extremely-important fighter airfield during both World Wars, and vitally played a major part in the Battle of Britain, so it’s fitting that the day the memorial is unveiled on Battle of Britain Day.
“There was an excellent attendance at the event.”
Members of the museum, MP Sharon Hodgson and personnel of No 607 (County of Durham) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, from RAF Leeming attended the unveiling.
The airfield started life as a Flight Station for “B” Flight of the No. 36 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps during The First World War.
It served again in the Second World War as RAF Usworth, and in 1962 it was bought by the Sunderland Corporation and became Sunderland Airport.
It went on to became the site of the Nissan car factory and the North East Aircraft Museum, now the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum.
The Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust’s objective is to eventually commemorate each known disused airfield site in Britain with one of two forms of standardised granite memorial – nearly 90 have already been unveiled with almost 200 scheduled to be in place by the end of the year.