Martlesham is situated on the A12, five miles north-east of Ipswich. It is a large village with a population of over 5000. Before the First World War it was a small rural village, but in 1916 an RFC aerodrome was established which, after the armistice, became the main RAF experimental airfield, where prototypes of all warplanes were tested.

It reverted to an operational station during the Second World War and played its part in the Battle of Britain when most of the Fighter Aces were stationed here at some time. A local pub is called the Douglas Bader. From 1942 the airfield was used by the U.S.A.F., but was decommissioned in 1965 when the Post Office built a massive structure as their Research Laboratory.

This has grown to a complex of many buildings and BT has now called it Adastral Park and formed a new company called BTexact based at Adastral Park . From the 1970's the rest of the airfield was developed for housing and an industrial estate. Because this new area was served by the Ipswich sorting office, while the original Martlesham was served by Woodbridge, the Post Office called the area Martlesham Heath to avoid confusion; there is, however, only one village - MARTLESHAM. The Control Tower still survives and now houses an Aviation Museum. Many excellent walks can be enjoyed around Martlesham and leaflets of the routes are available.

The Douglas Bader