September 2020
Bawdsey Radar supports Battle of Britain Day
BAWDSEY RADAR IN SUFFOLK IS AT THE HEART OF A TRIBUTE BY RAF CHARITY
An impressive and poignant light show has been produced at Bawdsey Radar Museum, a former Battle of Britain radar site. To mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain,the RAF Benevolent Fund, the UK’s leading RAF welfare charity, produced the light show to lead a national tribute to all those who played a key role in the Battle.
Bawdsey Radar, often referred to as providing “the eyes of the few”, was centre stage of the contribution by those who worked on the ground to support the famous ‘Few’ fighter pilots during the Battle of Britain. The radar museum, located in the 1937 Transmitter Block, tells the story of a “world first” in scientific discovery – the development of radar, and has been recognised as Suffolk’s Small Museum of the Year 2019. Bawdsey was the first fully operational radar station in the world.
It was radar stations such as Bawdsey which provided invaluable intelligence during the Second World War and particularly during the Battle of Britain when the Luftwaffe boasted nearly four times as many aircraft as the RAF.
The video animation light show that was projected on to the Radar Transmitter Block features the images of the giant Chain Home radar towers that stood 360ft tall and ran all along the East Coast of the UK, and the female radar operatives and filter room assistants who played such a crucial role in receiving and reporting the information back to Fighter Command. The light show pays homage to one group in particular, women of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force who worked on radar during the Second World War.
Women like Leading Aircraft woman Eileen Gray who was a WAAF at Bawdsey 194-44 and always described her service at Bawdsey as ‘the time of her life’.
Visuals of the lightshow seen can be seen here:
