A World War Two and Cold War military airfield. Prior to 1938, Greenham Common was part of the Greenham Lodge estate, it was purchased by Newbury Council in 1939 and was requisitioned by the Air Ministry in 1941, when the site was first opened as an airfield. Three concrete runways were constructed at this time along with a number of support and administrative buildings. Typically wartime construction methods involved the use of "temporary materials" During 1943-1945 it became a United States Army Air Force base and was involved in the preparations for the D-Day landings in June 1944. The main phases of building on the site occurred between 1951-62 and 1982-92 which included extensive refurbishment and expansion. Between 1951 and 1983, the base was used for a variety of roles until selection in 1980 as one of six sites in Europe for Ground Launched Cruise Missiles. In November 1983 the first 16 cruise missiles arrived and the base became a focus for anti-nuclear protests with a women's peace camp being established outside the gates. The missiles were removed from the site between 1989 and 1991, and it closed in 1992.