 Martlesham Heath was first used as a Royal Flying Corps airfield during World War I.In 1917 it became home to the Aeroplane Experimental Unit, RFC which moved from Upavon with the site named as the Aeroplane Experimental Station which became the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) in 1924.The A&AEE carried the evaluation and testing of many of the aircraft types and much of the armament and other equipment that would later be used during World War II.