World War II Structures, near coast in a field, to west side of Nicholsons Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down

World War II Structures near Kilkeel

These austerity structures were built as part of Greencastle Aerodrome during the Second World War, reflecting the period's approach to military construction: simplified design using minimal materials married to maximum practical utility. Located in a field to the west of Nicholsons Road, near the coast, the structures consist of two main elements.

Structure A is a tall two-stage wall aligned east-west, running parallel to the coast between Slatemill Road and Nicholson's Road. It is constructed in red brick, with the first stage 200mm thick and the second stage 100mm thick. Plain end buttresses terminate the wall at either end. The landward side is supported by four three-stage buttresses, the lowest stage of each embedded in earth. The seaward side is abutted to left and right by tall brick walls, each supported by a two-stage buttress. Both abutting walls have become ruinous towards their seaward ends.

Structure B, positioned to the west of Structure A, is a single-storey rectangular shelter with a single bay. It has brick walls 200mm thick with a single door on the north-east wall; all other walls are blank. The structure originally had a flat concrete roof, since replaced with a mono-pitched corrugated metal roof on a raised concrete block wall-head.

According to Air Ministry maps of the period, this was designated a machine-gun and cannon range at Greencastle Aerodrome, positioned near the bomb stores. For safety reasons, ranges and bomb stores were located as far as possible from other structures. It is believed that aircraft were positioned opposite the seaward side of the wall for gunnery practice by gunners in training.

Greencastle was one of 29 airfields constructed in Northern Ireland during the war. Construction began in spring 1942 under the main contractor Carmichael of Edinburgh. Kilkeel RAF Station was commissioned on 30th July 1942 and handed over to the United States Army Air Forces on 3rd August 1943, becoming Station 237—one of 12 American airfields in Northern Ireland. The station's principal buildings were of utility construction, dispersed around the local area to minimise vulnerability to enemy bombing, with the radar station positioned furthest away at Maghereagh to the north-east. The airfield served as a satellite to Langford Lodge near Antrim, preparing aircraft for operational bases in East Anglia. Its second major role began on 20th December 1943 with the establishment of a Combat Crew Replacement Centre training American aircrews, which operated until autumn 1944. The station was handed back to the RAF on 31st May 1945 and decommissioned shortly afterwards, remaining in Air Ministry ownership until the early 1960s when the land was sold to local owners.