June 2026

Echoes of Bawdsey – The story of Radar Podcast Series Two

Episode 1

War breaks out –

It’s 1939, and Britain has declared war on Germany, but this is the time of the ‘phoney war’ before any fighting actually started. We find out what the Army and Navy were doing, alongside the RAF, in the race to get radar ready for war.

The scientists have to leave Bawdsey for Scotland, but things don’t go to plan, and just as things seem hopeless, a major development is made, just in time for our biggest test so far.

Episode 2

Reach for the Sky

It’s June 1940 and most of Europe has fallen under Nazi control. Hitler is planning the invasion of Britain, Operation Sealion, but before that could happen the Luftwaffe had to destroy the RAF.

What followed was the first major military campaign fought entirely in the air. The Battle of Britain.

Without radar the British would have not won the battle.

Episode 3

The Cavity Magnetron and The Battle of the Atlantic

As the Blitz continues to devastate Britain, the Tizard Mission travels to the United States in a bid to secure American support. There, the British astonish their hosts by revealing the powerful and robust cavity magnetron, a breakthrough that would revolutionise radar technology. Meanwhile, Suffolk comes under attack from Italian bombers. Churchill feared that the merchant convoys carrying food, fuel, and other vital supplies to the British Isles would fall victim to German U-boats. However, radar and the Enigma code, working hand in hand, proved to be the twin keys to victory in the Battle of the Atlantic, helping to detect and defeat the submarine threat.

With thanks to the staff and pupils of Bawdsey CEVC Primary School for their help with the Bawdsey Now section of the podcast.

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