Shackleton Barracks Shackleton Barracks , Ballykelly , County Londonderry , Northern Ireland , was a British Army base that was originally known as RAF Ballykelly , a Royal Air Force station which opened in 1941 . More recently a small part of the base was used as a refuelling point by army helicopters and small fixed - wing aircraft usually operating out of RAF Aldergrove near the town of Antrim . Second World War . RAF Ballykelly opened in June 1941 during the Second World War as an airfield for RAF Coastal Command . In 1943 , the main runway was extended and acquired an unusual characteristic in that it crossed an active railway line . Rules were put in place giving trains the right of way over landing aircraft . The airfield was used for anti - submarine patrols and escort convoys over the Atlantic Ocean . At various times Consolidated B - 24 Liberator aircraft flew from Ballykelly in the fight against German U - boat s , ranging from the Bay of Biscay to northern Norway . By the end of the war , Ballykelly located squadrons had been responsible for sinking twelve U - boats , sharing with other aircraft and surface ships in the destruction of several others , and damaging many more . During the Second World War , an RAF bomber on a training flight clipped a telephone line behind a church in Ballykelly and crashed , claiming the lives of the crew . Post - war . The airfeld was closed at the end of the Second World War , but re - opened in 1947 as the home of the RAF Joint Anti - Submarine School , a training flight flying Avro Shackleton aircraft . It closed briefly in 1951 to allow preparatory work to be done for the arrival of the Shackleton aircraft in 1952 . In 1955 , RAF Ballykelly was home to three squadrons of Shackletons , 204 Squadron , 206 Squadron and 240 Squadron . There was also a station flight with two Lockheed Hudson s , two Douglas Dakota s and an Auster . In 1957 and again in 1958 , 240 Squadron was among those involved in Operation Grapple , nuclear weapon testing on Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean . By 1959 , 206 and 240 Squadrons had been replaced by two other Shackleton squadrons : 203 Squadron and 210 Squadron . The three Squadrons were part of the ASW ( Anti - Submarine Warfare ) force . They also covered search and rescue ( SAR ) standby duties together with their counterparts at RAF Kinloss and RAF St . Mawgan . Some Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm units including 819 Squadron moved onto the station in 1962 and the navy referred to it as HMS Sealion or RNAS Ballykelly . The runways were extended again in 1963 to allow for potential dispersal of the RAF ' s V bomber force . In 1968 , a 204 Squadron Shackleton flying from Ballykelly suffered the last loss of an RAF Shackleton . Sqn Ldr Clive Haggett and his crew , a total of 12 men , were killed when their aircraft flew into the Mull of Kintyre early one rainy morning . During a transatlantic yacht race in 1967 / 8 a French competitor was lost . One of the Shackletons from Ballykelly found him by adopting search positions well before the expected search location . They dropped life preserving equipment to him and marked his position to enable pick up by surface vessels . Some days later French President Charles de Gaulle visited Ballykelly to personally award medals to members of the crew . Army usage . The last of the Shackleton aircraft left RAF Ballykelly on 31 March 1971 , the airfield closed and the site was handed over to the British Army on 2 June 1971 , who renamed it Shackleton Barracks . The village of Ballykelly suffered badly in 1982 with the Droppin Well bombing which resulted in the loss of eighteen lives including both local civilians and soldiers from Shackleton Barracks . The camp was the HQ of 8th Infantry Brigade until it was disbanded in summer 2006 . It was , until summer 2008 , home to an infantry battalion - 2nd Battalion Princess of Wales ' s Royal Regiment . Both the Army Air Corps and RAF used the airfield , but no aircraft were stationed there by 2007 . Battalion HQ and HQ Company of the 5th Battalion , Ulster Defence Regiment were also based there since 1970 until 1992 . Recent incidents . On 29 March 2006 , an Airbus A320 aircraft operated by Eirjet on behalf of Ryanair landed at Ballykelly after the pilot mistook the runway for that of nearby City of Derry Airport . The 39 passengers who boarded the flight at Liverpool airport continued their journey to the airport by bus . Permanent closure and current usage . The Army vacated Shackleton Barracks in early spring 2008 , when of land and 420 buildings were on offer , according to the Ministry of Defence ( MOD ) . The closure eventually took place in March 2008 , when the infantry battalion , 2nd Battalion , Princess of Wales ' s Royal Regiment moved to Royal Artillery Barracks , Woolwich , London . The camp was also home to 8th Infantry Brigade HQ , but it was disbanded and handed over responsibility to HQ 39th Infantry Brigade , Lisburn on 1 September 2006 . The former airfield and technical site was offered for sale on the open market with offers to be submitted by 5 August 2011 by GVA Grimley of Belfast but despite receiving a few submissions the Defence Estates Organisation did not effect a sale and ultimately it was transferred to the Northern Ireland Assembly who now control the site .