Cramlington

55°05'43"N 001°36'38"W

Flying field - appx 800x600yds - grass

Cramlington airfield was an airfield 450 kilometers north of London.
The airfield, a large field south of the railway line west of Cramlington, was built in 1915 in response to German airship attacks on Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Although the two services (Army and Navy) at the time could not agree on who was to run the unit, a flight of two BE2c fighters (2071 and 4121) was stationed at the airfield on 24 and 25 November nevertheless. Shortly after, a third machine (4130) was allocated to the unit and a Flight was officially formed on 1 December 1915.
The aerodrome was put under Army command after an interservice meeting on 26 January 1916.
On 1 February 1916, the Tyneside Home Defense flight was absorbed into 36 Squadron, which formed within 8 Wing, VI (Training) Brigade at Cramlington. On 18 March, the unit was re-designated 36 (Home Defence) Squadron.


An aerial view of the Cramlington aerodrome looking East, circa 1915 (NEAM Archive)

As the aerodrome developed into a more permanent station, three flight sheds, each measuring 70x22m, were erected along the eastern boundary. An extensive logistics site was built on the opposite side of the road.
The region's first airship raid of 1916 occurred on the night of 1/2 April, when the German Imperial Navy Zeppelin L11 crossed the coast at Seaham. The raid lasted just over an hour-and-a-half, and although 36 (Home Defence) Squadron sent out two machines, they never made contact. The raid was followed my several more, but the squadron never managed to find them.
36 (HD) Sqn oversaw the creation of several other squadrons at the airfield, many forming from its own aircraft. But by autumn they had been transferred elsewhere and the airfield became the home of 58 squadron, augmented by 63 squadron on 31 October. In April 1917 63 Sqn left the airfield and 58 left in late 1917.

When 58 Sqn left Cramlington, it became a training airfield. 75 Training Squadron set up at the airfield, joined by 120 squadron on 1 January 1918. After the RAF was formed on 1 April 1918 operational training returned to Cramlington. Also, DH6 units (Special Duties Flights) began operating, on U-boat protection duties along the coast, loaded with a single bomb. In the Summer of 1918 the RAF reorganised its training. As a result Cramlington was reorganised into 52 Training Depot Station. It was to have a strength equivalent to two Training Squadrons, with an official establishment of 24 Avro 504Ks and 24 DH9s. The creation of 52 TDS meant that the station was again overcrowded, so 120 Sqn moved out.
To cope with the expansion that came with 52TDS, construction continued into 1919. Over the course of the war the aerodrome developed further, until it ultimately occupied a maximum dimension of approx 750x550meters.


An aerial view of the Cramlington aerodrome looking North West, circa 1918 (Collection Mick Davis, via NEAviationResearch.org.uk)

52 TDS continued its everyday activities, although at a much reduced pace, through to September 1919, when it was re-designated 52 Training Squadron. It disbanded on 2 October, bringing an end to service flying at Cramlington. A Storage Detachment formed at the station, to collect and maintain equipment from other local aerodromes as they closed, but it soon disbanded too. The Air Ministry announced the intended closure of the station on 6th November 1919 and that process had been completed by 22nd January 1920. A Care and Maintenance party remained and one of its duties was the running of a meteorological station that had been established on the site. The final RAF presence was withdrawn in March 1920. This did not mean the end of the airfield, however.

In the early 1920s the Cramlington Aircraft Company established at the airfield, operating DH63A Puss Moth, DH63G Gypsy Moth and Simmonds Spartan aircraft. Only 5 years later, the airfield had fallen into a state of disrepair. The Newcastle aeroclub formed at the airfield. They managed to find the funds for a new hangar and with a 2000 Pound grant from the Air Ministry they acquired two DH60 Cirrus Moths. Unfortunately, in 1928 a violent storm ripped through the aero club hangar, damaging three hangared aircraft. Although there were still advertisements for flight training at the airfield in 1935, the Aeroclub left Cramlington for a new airfield at Woolsington. By the time World War II started the airfield had officially been closed.


A Handley Page W.8 over the Cramlington aerodrome during the 1932 Air Pageant (NEAM Archive)

Today nothing remains of the former airfield. Most of the terrain was turned into an opencast mine after 2006.


Location of the airfield in 2009 (Google Earth)

The original research for this airfield was done by Mr. Mick Davis