RAF Manston began in 1916 as a Naval Air Station on the ground now covered by the passenger terminal. During the First World War the site was expanded to include four hangers, a barracks and its own railway. During the interwar period the airfield was used as a School for Technical Training. During the Battle of Britain Manston was attacked regularly but remained a key front-line station. It was later used as a base for the tests of the famous 'bouncing bomb' used by the Dambusters, for Typhoons and, towards the end of the war, for jet planes. After the war, the US Air Force were based at the site for 8 years. In 1960 the airfield returned to the RAF to be used as an emergency airfield. In 1999 RAF Manston closed and the airfield is now a civilian airfield.