RAF Greencastle

Commencement of Aerodrome Construction 12 January 1942. Consulting engineers; Messrs Landon-Every And Ferkin Ltd. Main contractor; Messrs A.M. Carmichael (Scotland). Some of the best agricultural land in the area was vested. Compensation, considered by some to be totally inadequate, was offered, but not always accepted. In some cases households were asked to vacate their homes almost overnight. Some people refused to move out and the station was literally built around them in the townlands of – Derryoge, Dunnaval, Ballynahatten, Cranfield, and Grange. Air Ministry Compulsory Acquisition orders gave the occupiers three days to get out, without obligation on the Air Ministry to find them…

The airfield was returned to RAF control in 1945 and almost immediately closed down. In the 1960s the runways were broken up and the concrete used to construct boundary walls by the land owners. Many of the buildings still exist but are in a derelict condition. The basic layout of the station can still be seen from above but the signature of the runways is gone. A caravan site occupies much of the southernmost portion. Cranfield Loyal Orange Lodge 907 recently unfurled a new banner with a memorial to the American Army in the Cranfield and Greencastle area.