Fermanagh's Role

Lough Erne - The Most Beautiful Runway in the World

On Christmas Day 1940, Lower Lough Erne was surveyed for its suitability as a flying boat
base. Lough Erne saw the first landing of an operational flying boat, a Supermarine
Stranraer, on 5th February 1941 and soon afterwards work began on building war bases for
flying boats in the sheltered harbours of Castle Archdale and Killadeas on Lower Lough Erne.

Lough Erne was selected as a base for flying boats because it had the potential to extend
the existing range of cover, from Lough Ryan in Scotland, by one hundred miles. This extra
100 miles would mean that the Mid-Atlantic Gap in air cover over the Atlantic could be
bridged.

However, one major problem had to be overcome: permission to fly in Irish air space had to
be obtained, so that aircraft could take the shortest route to the Atlantic over Donegal
Bay.

On 21st January 1941, negotiations with the Irish Taoiseach, Eamon de Valera, secured this
permission. This agreement was crucial to Fermanagh's subsequent role in the war but, as it
compromised Ireland's neutrality, it had to remain a secret until the war ended.

The Fermanagh-based flying boats sank 10 U-Boats and prevented numerous attacks on Allied
shipping.

A flying boat is a seaplane that is equipped to take off from and land on water. This means
that such planes do not require a conventional runway. The two flying boats most widely
used in Fermanagh were the Sunderland and the Catalina.