In terms of total passenger traffic, it was the fifth-largest airport in the UK ... Air, in 1938 – the year before World War Two began. The site played an important role in the war effort, as a ...

Defence chiefs simulated the first night of the war to test the UK’s air defences. Air Commodore Blythe Crawford said: “It was not a pretty picture.” The drills suggested bases would be ...

Air Cdre Crawford, who ran the RAF’s Air and Space Warfare Centre, said it showed the UK “home base” was no longer safe. The drills used a £36 million wargaming system to test the UK’s ...