RAF Acklington

RAF Acklington lay in Northumberland, a little to the south-west of Amble and roughly 35 kilometres north of Newcastle upon Tyne. The site first saw military flying during the First World War, operating from around 1916 until it was given up about 1920. It was brought back into use in 1938 as the Royal Air Force expanded, and from then on served principally as a fighter station.

During the Second World War the airfield came under Fighter Command as part of No. 13 Group, acting as a sector station guarding the north-east of England. A succession of squadrons passed through during the Battle of Britain period, among them No. 72 and No. 610 flying Spitfires and No. 32 and No. 79 flying Hurricanes. On 3 February 1940 Hurricanes of No. 43 Squadron, led by Flight Lieutenant Peter Townsend, brought down a Heinkel He 111, an early German aircraft to fall on English soil. Acklington also hosted night-fighter work, including the Canadian-manned No. 409 Squadron with its Beaufighters.

The station continued in service well after the war, finally closing in October 1975. Much of the former airfield was later affected by open-cast coal mining, and a prison complex was built across part of the site, today forming HMP Northumberland.