RAF Castle Archdale - Lough Erne - Co. Fermanagh,  N. Ireland 1941 – 1945

Right from the start of WW2 Castle Archdale, on Lower Lough Erne, became an important flying boat base for Coastal Command due its close proximity to the Atlantic, just about 30 miles away. Unfortunately those 30 miles lay across County Donegal a part of neutral Eire, the present day Republic of Ireland. However a secret deal was struck between Britain and the Irish Republic that allowed the aircraft to overfly Donegal along a narrow corridor to reach the Atlantic.

This concession gave the Sunderlands and Catalina's an extra 100 miles range, which was crucial to the protection of the Atlantic convoys, and the detection of enemy ships and submarines. During WW2 there were a number of flying facilities on the eastern shore of Lower Lough Erne.

From South to North there was the airfield at St Angelo which, by extending the runway across the public road, could take B-17's. Today, without the road crossing, St. Angelo is Enniskillen airport catering mainly for private aircraft and helicopters.

Next came RAF Killadeas which was an operational training unit and a maintenance area. Many of the crashes on the Lough occurred during training from Killadeas. Today Killadeas is once again the site of the Lough Erne yacht club

Further on in Rossclare bay there was a salvage unit operated by the RAF using civilian divers from Belfast. Today, Rossclare is a public jetty and slipway but signs of WW2 still remain such as the concrete mooring blocks, some incribed with the date of casting  March 1943.

Finally we come to the main operational site Castle Archdale set on the northern shore of Duross bay. The camp was set in a wooded area with large concrete slipways with hangars and all the usual camp amenities. The base played a large part in the battle of the Atlantic. Catalina's from Lough Erne found and shadowed the battleship Bismarck until the Royal Navy destroyed it. Sunderlands and Catalina's from the base were also responsible for a number of U boat sightings and sinking.

Castle Archdale itself was a large manor house, which accommodated the officer’s mess and the control tower. It was built between 1773 and 1777 but was not occupied after WW2. In 1959 it was derelict and had to be demolished. However, the imposing courtyard still remains and houses a youth hostel and a small but compact WW2 museum. The rest of the site is now a beautiful country park with static and touring caravan sites, woodland walks, wild life areas and a marina.

Many remains from the wartime era are still visible in the park, some of which have been converted to modern usage. For example, the concrete hardstanding of the caravan sites were previously hanger and maintenance areas. The present day group camp site used to be the airmen's quarters and recreation area. The estate road circumnavigating the park is still called by its wartime name “The Burma Road”

Throughout the site are the remains of ammunition and fuel dumps and the old filter house still stands where water from the Lough was filtered and pumped throughout the camp. One unique feature of the base which is still very much in evidence is the flying boat dock built in 1945 to accommodate the Short Shetland. Although it was never used it is still in remarkably good condition and could still be used although the level of the Lough is now lower than it was in 1945. It is thought that this dock is the only one of its kind remaining.

Other reminders of Castle Archdale’s role during WW2 are the numerous war graves in the nearby cemeteries and the shoreline markers denoting the war graves in the Lough itself.

Castle Archdale ceased to be an operational unit in August 1945 and closed as an RAF station in January 1958

A number of Sunderlands and Catalina's were scrapped and some Catalina's were deliberately scuttled and now lie deep in silt at the bottom of the Lough.

Today, one or two small private flying boats use the Lough. Ironically it is much better surveyed and marked and therefore much safer than it was during WW2 when Sunderlands used it day and night.