WWII Transmitter Tower Concrete Plinths, Transmitter Block Museum, Ferry Road, RAF Bawdsey.
These remaining Concrete Plinths with their Holdfasts once supported the 350ft Transmitter Towers used on the Experimental Chain Home Radar Station.
During World War One the grounds and stables of Bawdsey Manor were requisitioned by the Devonshire Regiment and having been returned to the Quilter family after the War the Bawdsey Manor Estate was selected as the site for a new Research Station for the development of 'Radio Direction Finding' in 1935. The Treasury allocating one million pounds for the continuation of the research started at Orfordness. The Manor, estate buildings and 168 acres of land were sold to the Air Ministry in 1936 and Robert Watson Watt was appointed as Superintendent. In January 1937 the RAF’s Radio Direction Finding (RDF) Training School was established there and the first Chain Home Radar Station was developed on the site, coming on line in May 1937. In August a filter room was established to process data from two other recently opened Chain Home Stations, the tracking information obtained being used for the deployment of Fighter Aircraft. The Station was fully operational by the 24th of September 1937 providing long range early warning for the southern North Sea and the Channel approaches, as well as Radar coverage for Coastal Convoys. As well as research for the Air Ministry, a War Department (Army) Team was working on the development of Gun-Laying Radar that would enable Anti-Aircraft Guns to fire accurately with poor visibility. By 1939 acceptable Gun-Ranging Equipment was in service with an accuracy of 25 yards at a range of 10 miles.
Another important area of research was the development of an Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF) System allowing friendly Aircraft to be differentiated from hostile planes. As a result of this research, Aircraft were fitted with aerials incorporating motor-driven tuners that caused the reflected signal received by Ground Radar Stations to vary in amplitude. Later models employed an electronic unit that detected the presence of 'Friendly Radar' and then transmitted a coded signal causing the Ground Radar display to indicate a Friendly Aircraft. By Easter 1939 15 Chain Home Stations were available for use around the coast and Chain Home went into a 24 hour Watch System. On the outbreak of World War Two the Research Station staff were relocated to dispersed locations around the country. Bawdsey continued in the forefront of the expansion of the Radar Network with an AMES Type 2 Chain Home Low on a 200ft platform on the southern (No.4 of 4) Transmitter Tower. (Each Tower was 350ft high) This was able to detect Low Flying Aircraft and Coastal Shipping but not Small Vessels or Low Flying Aircraft just above sea level.
Towards the end of 1941 Coastal Defence Radar (Army CD Mk IV) was established at Bawdsey, this installation was taken over by the RAF on the 7th of December 1942 making RAF Bawdsey the only site in the UK with three types of Radar (CH, CHL and CD) in operation. By August 1943 Coastal Defence was changed to an AMES Type 55 Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL) again this was mounted on a 200ft platform on the northern (No.1) Transmitter Tower. In September 1944 RAF Bawdsey began monitoring the launch of V2 Rockets using specially developed Chain Home Receivers codenamed ‘Oswald’. Although there was no defence against the V2 Rocket once it had been launched Oswald was able to provide Bomber Command with the location of the Launch Sites which could then be attacked. Other CH Stations equipped with Oswald were RAF Stoke Holy Cross, RAF High Street, RAF Great Bromley, RAF Dunkirk & RAF Swingate. The run-down of Radar Stations started before the end of the War from a peak of 194 Stations in 1944 with only 36 remaining by 1947 and only 29 of those were manned at full readiness. RAF Bawdsey is listed as being operational with both CH and CHEL in 1948.
In 1950 the Station was chosen to participate in the ROTOR Programme which involved the construction of a new Underground Operations Room on a new 21 acre site on the north side of the Bawdsey Manor Estate, this was planned to be operational by January 1952 as part of the ROTOR Plan Stage 1. Towards the end of 1953, the Chain Home Equipment was taken out of service and placed in a state of ‘Care and Maintenance’ and the Chain Home Low array was removed from the southern Transmitter Tower.
For the later history of Bawdsey Manor as fighter control school see RAF Bawdsey GCI Rotor Radar Station. Today Bawdsey Manor is occupied by Alexanders International School, a residential language school. Many of the RAF Buildings have now been demolished but the Transmitter and Receiver Block, two buried reserves and a number of other buildings from all the major phases of the site still survive.
During World War Two RAF Bawdsey was identified as a potential target and in September 1939 was protected by three 40mm Bofors Guns and two .303 Lewis Anti-Aircraft Guns. With an increased fear of a German invasion, these Defences were supplement in 1940 by Slit Trenches, Sandbag Gun Emplacements, a concrete Gun Post and at least ten Type-24 Pillboxes, nine of these are still extant. There were several attacks on the Station during 1940 which did little damage with no casualties and on the 18th of October 1940 Anti-Aircraft Gunners shot down a German bomber. Sporadic attacks continued over the following three years with some loss of life, the last Bombing Raid near Bawdsey was on the 30th of June 1944. A V1 Rocket crashed on the beach on the 21st of September 1944 and a V2 Rocket detonated over the sea on the 9th of October.
WWII Transmitter Tower Concrete Plinths, Transmitter Block Museum, Ferry Road, RAF Bawdsey.
These remaining Concrete Plinths with their Holdfasts once supported the 350ft Transmitter Towers used on the Experimental Chain Home Radar Station.
During World War One the grounds and stables of Bawdsey Manor were requisitioned by the Devonshire Regiment and having been returned to the Quilter family after the War the Bawdsey Manor Estate was selected as the site for a new Research Station for the development of 'Radio Direction Finding' in 1935. The Treasury allocating one million pounds for the continuation of the research started at Orfordness. The Manor, estate buildings and 168 acres of land were sold to the Air Ministry in 1936 and Robert Watson Watt was appointed as Superintendent. In January 1937 the RAF’s Radio Direction Finding (RDF) Training School was established there and the first Chain Home Radar Station was developed on the site, coming on line in May 1937. In August a filter room was established to process data from two other recently opened Chain Home Stations, the tracking information obtained being used for the deployment of Fighter Aircraft. The Station was fully operational by the 24th of September 1937 providing long range early warning for the southern North Sea and the Channel approaches, as well as Radar coverage for Coastal Convoys. As well as research for the Air Ministry, a War Department (Army) Team was working on the development of Gun-Laying Radar that would enable Anti-Aircraft Guns to fire accurately with poor visibility. By 1939 acceptable Gun-Ranging Equipment was in service with an accuracy of 25 yards at a range of 10 miles.
Another important area of research was the development of an Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF) System allowing friendly Aircraft to be differentiated from hostile planes. As a result of this research, Aircraft were fitted with aerials incorporating motor-driven tuners that caused the reflected signal received by Ground Radar Stations to vary in amplitude. Later models employed an electronic unit that detected the presence of 'Friendly Radar' and then transmitted a coded signal causing the Ground Radar display to indicate a Friendly Aircraft. By Easter 1939 15 Chain Home Stations were available for use around the coast and Chain Home went into a 24 hour Watch System. On the outbreak of World War Two the Research Station staff were relocated to dispersed locations around the country. Bawdsey continued in the forefront of the expansion of the Radar Network with an AMES Type 2 Chain Home Low on a 200ft platform on the southern (No.4 of 4) Transmitter Tower. (Each Tower was 350ft high) This was able to detect Low Flying Aircraft and Coastal Shipping but not Small Vessels or Low Flying Aircraft just above sea level.
Towards the end of 1941 Coastal Defence Radar (Army CD Mk IV) was established at Bawdsey, this installation was taken over by the RAF on the 7th of December 1942 making RAF Bawdsey the only site in the UK with three types of Radar (CH, CHL and CD) in operation. By August 1943 Coastal Defence was changed to an AMES Type 55 Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL) again this was mounted on a 200ft platform on the northern (No.1) Transmitter Tower. In September 1944 RAF Bawdsey began monitoring the launch of V2 Rockets using specially developed Chain Home Receivers codenamed ‘Oswald’. Although there was no defence against the V2 Rocket once it had been launched Oswald was able to provide Bomber Command with the location of the Launch Sites which could then be attacked. Other CH Stations equipped with Oswald were RAF Stoke Holy Cross, RAF High Street, RAF Great Bromley, RAF Dunkirk & RAF Swingate. The run-down of Radar Stations started before the end of the War from a peak of 194 Stations in 1944 with only 36 remaining by 1947 and only 29 of those were manned at full readiness. RAF Bawdsey is listed as being operational with both CH and CHEL in 1948.
In 1950 the Station was chosen to participate in the ROTOR Programme which involved the construction of a new Underground Operations Room on a new 21 acre site on the north side of the Bawdsey Manor Estate, this was planned to be operational by January 1952 as part of the ROTOR Plan Stage 1. Towards the end of 1953, the Chain Home Equipment was taken out of service and placed in a state of ‘Care and Maintenance’ and the Chain Home Low array was removed from the southern Transmitter Tower.
For the later history of Bawdsey Manor as fighter control school see RAF Bawdsey GCI Rotor Radar Station. Today Bawdsey Manor is occupied by Alexanders International School, a residential language school. Many of the RAF Buildings have now been demolished but the Transmitter and Receiver Block, two buried reserves and a number of other buildings from all the major phases of the site still survive.
During World War Two RAF Bawdsey was identified as a potential target and in September 1939 was protected by three 40mm Bofors Guns and two .303 Lewis Anti-Aircraft Guns. With an increased fear of a German invasion, these Defences were supplement in 1940 by Slit Trenches, Sandbag Gun Emplacements, a concrete Gun Post and at least ten Type-24 Pillboxes, nine of these are still extant. There were several attacks on the Station during 1940 which did little damage with no casualties and on the 18th of October 1940 Anti-Aircraft Gunners shot down a German bomber. Sporadic attacks continued over the following three years with some loss of life, the last Bombing Raid near Bawdsey was on the 30th of June 1944. A V1 Rocket crashed on the beach on the 21st of September 1944 and a V2 Rocket detonated over the sea on the 9th of October.