The skies above Chevington must have been a plane spotters dream during WW2, in the immediate vicinity were:
RAF Acklington: Sector airfield and part of No.13 Group, Fighter Command. It was the RAF’s primary fighter base in the north east and was home to the day and night fighter squadrons that defended our region from enemy intruders. It also served as a diversion airfield for returning bombers unable to land at their southern bases.
RAF Eshott: Home to No. 57 Operational Training Unit RAF from 10th November 1942 until it disbanded 6th June 1945. No. 57 OTU was very important to the allied war effort. Its purpose was to train young, fledgling pilots of many nationalities - processing just basic flying skills - to fly and fight in the extremely potent Supermarine Spitfire. In early 1943 there were just over one hundred aircraft operating from RAF Eshott and they were primarily Spitfires.
RAF Boulmer: Formerly a decoy airfield with fake runways and fake aircraft. It was upgraded to operational status to become a satellite airfield for RAF Eshott and allocated to 57 OTU in March 1943 to help satisfy the high demand for training flights.
Druridge Bay Air Gunnery and Bombing range: Coastal range used for live weapons training.
When you combine the inherent danger of aviation and a wide mix of operational fighter sorties 24/7, intensive flying training, inexperience, mechanical failures and enemy engagement and then factor in aircraft diverted from their home airfields after long, tiring missions, landing on unfamiliar runways – often at night, during inclement weather, when short of fuel or battle damaged – it’s hardly surprising that many incidents and accidents occur – sadly, often with tragic consequences.
Chevington cemetery contains a total of 74 war graves, 64 of which are from the 1939-1945 conflict. The 64 war graves from WW2 include 3 soldiers, 1 sailor and an astonishing 60 airmen! They hail from at least 13 nations and from both sides of the conflict - all were buried with full air force honours regardless of uniform.
The graves are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Most of the graves are grouped together near the centre of the cemetery, forming orderly rows of white-grey Portland stone headstones. In the centre of the CWGC plot is a black granite memorial to the airmen who served at RAF Acklington during WW2.
There are other caches in the vicinity so the temptation may be to treat this as a simple cache n dash however please try to spare the time to visit the war graves in the adjacent cemetery, walk the neat lines of headstones, read the inscriptions and…
REMEMBER THEM
Pictured is a Hawker Hurricane Mk.1 of 317 (Polish) Squadron photographed at RAF Acklington circa April 1941