Full WW2 control tower details and photos for this wartime airfield are coming soon. Please check back later as this is work progress. If you would like to contribute information or photos please get in touch.
RAF Eglinton in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, opened in April 1941 as a fighter base protecting the vital port and convoy hub at Londonderry. The strategic context mattered: U-boat activity and the Atlantic supply lifeline made the north-west approaches a high priority, and Eglinton formed part of the defensive network shielding shipping and key infrastructure from air and maritime threat.
Early flying units included Hawker Hurricanes of No. 504 Squadron, tasked with air defence. The station is also associated with No. 133 ‘Eagle’ Squadron, the famous RAF unit made up of American volunteers who joined Britain’s fight before the United States formally entered the war. Their presence at Eglinton reflects the international character of the defence effort in Northern Ireland and the way squadrons were moved to where the threat felt most immediate.
Although the Luftwaffe never sustained a campaign against Northern Ireland comparable to attacks on southern England, the region still experienced raids and reconnaissance, and the weather could be as dangerous as any enemy. The terrain around Eglinton includes high ground that becomes hazardous in poor visibility, and wartime flying in that environment demanded disciplined instrument procedures and careful navigation – especially when fighters were scrambled quickly and returned low on fuel.
In May 1943 the station transferred to the Royal Navy and became Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton, commissioned as HMS Gannet. This change is significant: it illustrates how the air war and maritime war overlapped. Under Fleet Air Arm control, Eglinton supported naval aviation tasks that complemented the RAF’s wider Coastal Command effort, including training, servicing and the movement of naval squadrons as operational needs changed. The station’s infrastructure and location made it suitable for working up aircrew for maritime operations and for supporting the complex logistics of naval air power.
Eglinton also developed satellites and associated sites in the area, part of a broader pattern of dispersal that reduced vulnerability and increased flexibility. That network, combined with the port’s importance, created a wartime landscape where airfields, radar, communications and anti-aircraft defences were interlinked.
The wartime story of Eglinton is therefore one of layered defence. It began as an RAF fighter shield for a critical harbour, it hosted internationally significant units, and it later became a Fleet Air Arm base reflecting the growing maturity of maritime air operations. For visitors today, the airfield’s significance lies not in a single famous raid or battle, but in its role as a protective ‘cap’ over an essential Atlantic gateway – an airfield whose routine patrols, scrambles and training flights helped keep Britain supplied and connected to the wider Allied war effort.
Eglinton’s wartime years also highlight the importance of ‘quiet fronts’. While attention focused on the south and the strategic bombing campaign, stations like this maintained constant vigilance so that shipping, troop movements and port activity could continue with confidence in the north-west approaches.