Friday 13th, unlucky for some – but not Bawdsey Radar!

Bawdsey Radar Trust was privileged to welcome His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester to unveil a commemorative plaque at the official opening ceremony of the Bawdsey Radar Transmitter Block on Friday July 13^th.

He was greeted on his arrival by pupils from Bawdsey Primary School. His Royal Highness was given a tour of the WW2 building and the new exhibition which opened to visitors in October last year following a year long conservation project.  The Duke spoke to trustees of Bawdsey Radar Trust as well as the many volunteers that have been involved in the project. His Royal Highness also met sponsors together with the construction and development teams, and saw how the early radar systems were able to track and report enemy aircraft during the war.

His Royal Highness met Eileen Gray, who had served as a radar operator at Bawdsey during the war.  Prior to joining up, Eileen had been a telephone exchange operator.

Mary Wain, Founder and previous Chair of the Trust said “Bawdsey Radar Trust is thrilled that The Duke of Gloucester has opened the recently restored Transmitter Block and the new radar exhibition at Bawdsey.  It continues an association dating back to July 1959 when The Duke’s mother, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, unveiled a plaque in the entrance to Bawdsey Manor that paid tribute to the pioneering work developing radar that had been carried out at Bawdsey in great secrecy.”