RAF Usworth

RAF Usworth opened near Sunderland in 1916 and in the Battle of Britain was a fighter station defending the industrial north-east, the Hawker Hurricanes of No. 607 (County of Durham) Squadron meeting German raiders over the coast in August 1940. It later served as a training field. After the war it became Sunderland Airport; the main site is now occupied by the Nissan car plant, with the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum standing alongside.