Bawdsey Radar Trust appoints a Vice President and a new Patron

Bawdsey Radar Board of Trustees have announced that Dr Phil Judkins in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the trust, has taken up the position of Vice President.

Some of you may know Dr. Phil Judkins is the ‘go to man’ when it comes to radar.  He graduated from Cambridge in Classical Archaeology but had a long and successful career in the City. However, he never lost his abiding interest in historic defence electronics.  He pursued this interest and in 2007 was awarded his doctorate for a thesis entitled –

“Making Vision into Power Britain’s acquisition of the world’s first radar based integrated air defence system 1935 -1941”.

He is currently the Chair of the Defence Electronics History Society and the Purbeck Radar Museum and lectures throughout the United Kingdom.

Phil is the pre-eminent historian on the birth of radar and the secret war time research that transformed into the foundation of modern electronics.  His work preserves the legacy of those early scientists and their world changing technology which began at Bawdsey. He also inspires others and one result is Bawdsey Radar Museum.

And so it happened a very long time ago, in the days when the Trust was still called the Bawdsey Radar Association and it hadn’t been appreciated that the acronym could be a source of merriment.  Mary Wain, Chairman at the time, and the then secretary, the late Eileen Dew, met Phil by chance on the estate and the rest, as they say, is history.  Since that first meeting strong relationships have been established and Phil has become a firm and industrious supporter, mentor, guide and a very best friend to the Trust.

  Dr Phi Judkins

The Board of Trustees have added another name to their patrons, Graham Murchie.  Graham has been involved in radio, both professionally and as a licensed Radio Amateur, for over 50 years. He was involved in developing the first digital terrestrial microwave links for BT in the 1970s which means that he is one of the few people with experience of climbing lattice steel towers! In the latter part of his career with BT, Graham was also General Manager of IP Networks with responsibility for running the IP backbone network in the UK.

In addition he has experience as both a Chairman and CEO of small/medium sized companies and was previously Chairman of the Radio Society of Great Britain, an organisation with 20,000 members and some 750 volunteers.

Just over ten years ago he brought his considerable skills and knowledge and became a volunteer at Bawdsey Radar Museum and in 2015 a Trustee, followed by taking on the Chairman’s role in 2023 for two years.

Graham has been responsible for a number of projects and activities including the introduction of the VR project which allows visitors to climb the 360 foot tower in Virtual Reality.  He also organised the Radar in the Air event at Adastral Park in 2025. He also travels around Suffolk giving talks on radar to groups, which he will continue to offer on behalf of Bawdsey Radar Museum.

  Graham Murchie

If you would like a talk given to your group on radar contact Graham at:   [email protected]