RAF Martlesham Heath

RAF Martlesham Heath in Suffolk opened in 1917 and for two decades was the home of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, where the RAF’s new aircraft and weapons were tested — work that moved away on the outbreak of war. It then became a fighter station, flying Hawker Hurricanes, Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Typhoons and hosting the American volunteers of an Eagle squadron, before being handed in 1943 to the USAAF’s 356th Fighter Group, whose Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and North American P-51 Mustangs escorted the daylight bombers. The station closed in 1963; the heath is now covered by an industrial estate and housing, with the control tower preserved as a museum.