Nutts Corner airfield was conceived and built during the Second World War. It was not, as some commentators would have it, previously a civil airport; rather, it was one of 22 new airfields that were constructed in Northern Ireland during the war, for military use. Before being acquired for construction it consisted of farmers’ fields in the townlands of Dundesert and Aughnamullan in the parish of Killead, four miles to the east of Lough Neagh in Co Antrim and a couple of miles to the southeast of Aldergrove. During the war it filled several vital roles: for Coastal Command, Army Co-operation Command, Training Command, the Fleet Air Arm and as a Transatlantic Ferry terminal for the US Army Air Force. Post-war, it became the civil airport for Northern Ireland and was a major economic and social driver, laying the foundations of the network that is today’s interconnected world. It was also a homely place of work, well-loved and fondly remembered by those who worked there.
