| 1916 - 2008
Manston was brought into existence as a Royal Naval Station in 1916. During 1917 the station’s resident fighter aircraft found themselves combating German long range bombers that were engaged in the ‘terror bombing’ of civilian targets around the London area. Following the amalgamation of the Royal Naval Air Service with the Royal Flying Corps in 1918, Manston became an RAF station and continued to grow in both size and importance throughout the 1920 and 30s, serving as home to a wide variety of operational and training units. Soon after the outbreak of WW2 in 1939 Manston’s role changed to Air Defence; a decision that was fully justified in the wake of the German conquest of France and the Low Countries in the spring of 1940. During the ensuing ‘Battle of Britain’ in the summer of 1940 Manston was frequently attacked by low flying German aircraft. Few RAF fighter aircraft squadrons were permanently based at Manston during this period. Instead, squadrons of Spitfires and Hurricanes flew in on a daily basis from other airfields and were refuelled and rearmed in between missions. Nonetheless, the airfield was so badly damaged that it was virtually uninhabitable by the end of August, a situation that only improved when the main weight of the German attack fell on London instead.With the battle won, it was business as usual at Manston during 1941 and its aircraft were soon engaged in taking the war to the enemy. 1942 witnessed the gallant but ultimately futile action by the Fleet Air Arm that became known as the ‘Channel Dash’, when a squadron of outdated Swordfish torpedo bombers took on a strong German naval force in the straits of Dover; all were shot down and their leader, Lieutenant Commander Esmonde was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. By 1943 Manston’s proximity to the coast was resulting in ever increasing numbers of emergency landings by damaged bombers, both British and American. Consequently a major rebuilding programme was undertaken that including construction of a huge new runway that opened the following year. The new runway was equipped with FIDO (Fog Intensive Dispersal Operation), whereby hundreds of gallons of fuel were set alight along the runway edges in order to lift the fog and allow diverting aircraft to land. Though incredibly expensive to operate, the system undoubtedly saved many valuable aircraft and aircrew. 1944 saw the operational baptism of Britain’s first jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor, with Manston based Meteors taking on the infamous V1 flying bombs or ‘Doodlebugs’. In 1950 the station transferred to the United States Air Force. In American hands Manston was home to rotational squadrons of F-84 Thunderstreak aircraft and, from 1953, F-86 Sabres. The F-84s were not particularly successful or popular as they incurred a series of fatal crashes during their time at Manston. Returning to RAF hands in 1959, the worsening ‘Cold War’ situation saw Manston relegated to the sidelines, as operational focus had shifted much further north. Use of Manston by civilian airlines also started in 1959. Thereafter, the station variously became the home of the Air Ministry Fire Training School, an Air Cadet Gliding School, a Search & Rescue helicopter unit and an Air Cadet Air Experience Flight. Additionally, the huge runway proved ideal for laying out a ‘foam carpet’ that was used to facilitate emergency landings by aircraft that had suffered landing gear problems. Despite a large modernisation programme during the late 80s, the end of the ‘Cold War’ and the resulting defence cuts of the 1990s finally signalled the end of the road for RAF Manston and the station closed on the 31st March 1999. The airfield and its facilities have since been transformed into Kent International Airport, whilst the majority of the domestic site has been retained by the MOD and is currently home to the Ministry of Defence, Defence Fire Training and Development Centre.
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