Usworth (Hylton)
Location :3.5 miles West of Sunderland
OS Ref : NZ 340 585
In June 1916 seven fields belonging to Cow Stand and South Moor farms were requisitioned by the RFC and developed into Hylton aerodrome. The new aerodrome replaced the Night Landing Ground at nearby at West Town Moor, 'B' Flight 36 (Home Defence) Squadron arriving in the October of that year. It was approximately square in shape, with maximum dimensions of 700 x 750 yards. It occupied 110 acres and was at 120 feet above sea level. Two HD pattern flight sheds, 120 x 60 feet were erected as a coupled unit in the NW corner, along with an armoury and huts to accommodate personnel. The site name was officially changed from Hylton to Usworth on 15th July 1918, but wasn't adopted until the November.
The armistice brought the disbanding on 36Sqn and the closure of Usworth, the site returning to its former owners on 22nd January 1920. Throughout the 20's it saw little use, although Alan Cobham's 'Flying Circus' is known to have used the field in July 1929 during his 21 week tour of Britain.
The airfield was re-activated as a RAF station on 17th March 1930 with two sites planned. The North camp designated for accommodation, the South side predominantly for flying including a Lamella hangar. In September 1932, the airfield was ready for personnel with Wapiti aircraft arriving by the year-end to equip the 607Sqn (County of Durham) squadron which had formed that year as part of the expanding Auxiliary Air Force.
On 24th May 1934 the base was opened to the public for the very first Empire Air Day, an event which was to continue at the airfield on an annual basis until the outbreak of World War II.
Usworth during the 1934 Empire Air Day.
The large Lamella hangar can be seen on the left
(NEAM)
With the outbreak of war, the airfield was extended and work to lay two concrete runways commenced. New runways of similar length (2400 x 150 ft) were laid in a North - South 01/19 & North-East - South-West 06/24 pattern meeting almost at the thresholds of runways 19 and 24. A perimeter track was built along the airfield boundary and included eight dispersals and over forty hard standings. At the North camp additional accommodation blocks were built. Defence of the airfield was resourced mainly by members of the Durham Light Infantry and Royal Artillery manning a searchlight camp and AA gun ports at various sites around the airfield.
In June 1940, Usworth was designated a sector fighter ('R' sector) station for 13 Group within fighter command responsible for the coordination of fighter stations and their aircraft when possible raids had been detected. It is also interesting to note that during this month, the 'Three Horse Shoes' pub was taken over by the airfield. The reason is explained in the station ORB - a) To mitigate the threat of security leaks and b) to provide additional accommodation.
In March 1941 the station was re-designated a Training base, it's fighter role and sector responsibilities transferring to Ouston, the Hurricane's of 55OTU becoming the resident unit, its role to train fighter pilots. As a training establishment, accidents (both major and minor ) were common. Airborne Interception training was also provided by Usworth based units, though the installation of a balloon barrage nearby as well as industrial haze resulted in 62OTU moving to Ouston in summer 1943. For the remainder of the Second World War and beyond the airfield was largely ran on Care and Maintenance basis only. Administrated from RAF Morpeth and later Carlisle only the Tiger Moths of the Durham UAS and a Glider School made use of the facility until the late 1940's.
Training and Gliding continued throughout the 1950's until the airfield was closed for the final time as a military station. On 3 July 1962, the airfield was purchased by Sunderland Corporation for £27,000 and reopened as Sunderland Airport. A Dove operated by Hepworth & Grandage, Bradford had the privilege of being the first aircraft to make use of the new municipal airport. The same month, Tyne Tees Airways moved their engineering base from Woolsington to Sunderland.
Sunderland Corporation re-laid the runways and renovated the hangar, and in June 1963 Sunderland Flying Club came into being. The following year an Open Day and commemorative ceremony took place on 28 June 1964 to celebrate the rebirth of what was now Sunderland Airport, an event which was to become an annual event. There was a modest flying display and pleasure flights were made available in a visiting Dakota. The cost of such flights was 15 shillings for adults and 10 shillings for children. The Dakota being kept busy all day. However, its short runways precluded any use on a regular basis other than light twin engine aircraft.
General aviation, flying and parachute clubs continued throughout the 60's, 70's and 80's until due to increasing losses meant that the airfield was nominated and accepted for use as a car factory. Sunderland Airport finally closed at 15:00 on 31 May 1984. Only the Lamella hangar survived to give clues to its former use being used as a car storage facility, but this too was demolished over time. However, the North site used in the RAF days is now happily the home of our museum.
Based units
| Unit | Arrived From | Arrival Date | Dept Date | Departed To | Aircraft |
| 36(HD)Sqn 'B' Flt |
Cramlington | 10/1916 | 10/08/1917 | (Re-designated 36(HD)Sqn 'A' Flt) | BE.2c, BE.12, FE.2b |
| 36(HD)Sqn 'A' Flt |
(36(HD)Sqn 'B' Flt re-designated) | 10/08/1917 | 13/06/1919 | (Disbanded) | BE.2, BE.12, FE.2b, FE.2d, Bristol F.2B, Sopwith Pup |
| 607Sqn | (Formed) | 17/03/1930 | 12/08/1939 | Abbotsinch | Wapiti, Demon, Gladiator I |
| 103Sqn | Andover | 26/02/1937 | 02/09/1938 | Abingdon | Hind, Battle |
| 1AACU 'G' Flt | (Formed) | 01/05/1939 | 15/05/1939 | Cleave | Henley |
| 607Sqn | Abbotsinch | 24/08/1939 | 09/10/1939 | Acklington | Gladiator I |
| 607Sqn | Croydon | 04/06/1940 | 01/09/1940 | Tangmere | Hurricane I |
| 3RMU Calibration Flt | (Formed) | 01/07/1940 | 21/09/1940 | (Re-designated 3RSS) | Hornet Moth (W9386) |
| 43Sqn | Tangmere | 08/09/1940 | 12/12/1940 | Drem | Hurricane |
| 3RSS | (ex 3RMU) | 21/09/1940 | 17/02/1941 | (Re-designated 72(Signals)Wing | Hornet Moth (W9386), Blenheim I (L1525) |
| 607Sqn | Drem | 12/12/1940 | 16/01/1941 | Macmerry | Hurricane |
| 55OTU (det) | Aston Down | 12/02/1941 | 14/03/1941 | (HQ arrived) | various |
| 72(Signals) Wing | (ex 3RSS) | 17/02/1941 | 05/1941 | Ouston | Hornet Moth, Blenheim I |
| 55OTU | Ashton Down | 14/03/1941 | 28/04/1942 | Annan | Hurricane, Master, Defiant, Blenheim |
| 62OTU | (Formed) | 01/06/1942 | 15/07/1943 | Ouston | Anson, Wellington, Hurricane |
| 776Sqn (det) | Speke | 07/07/1943 | 12/07/1943 | Speke | various |
| Durham UAS | Woolsington | 25/03/1944 | 31/12/1944 | Thornaby | Tiger Moth |
| 31GS | (Formed) | by 04/1944 | 01/09/1955 | (Disbanded into 641VGS) | Cadet I, II, Falcon III |
| 23RFS | (Formed) | 01/02/1949 | 31/07/1953 | (Disbanded) | Tiger Moth, Chipmunk, Prentice, Anson, Oxford |
| Durham UAS | Ouston | 02/05/1949 | 15/10/1957 | Ouston | Tiger Moth, Harvard, Chipmunk, Oxford, Anson, Prentice, Balliol |
| 1965Flt | Ouston | 14/02/1954 | 10/03/1957 | (Disbanded) | Auster |
| 2BANS | (Formed) | 18/05/1951 | 30/04/1953 | (Disbanded) | Anson T.21 |
| 27GS | Ouston | by 11/1951 | 01/09/1955 | (Disbanded) | Cadet I, II, TX.3, Sedbergh TX.1 |
| 641VGS | (ex 31GS) | 01/09/1955 | by 09/1962 | Ouston | Cadet II, Sedbergh TX.1 |
| 2CFCCU | (Formed) | 08/03/1957 | 15/10/1957 | Ouston | Anson T.21 |