They have been grouped together below. There were five in total. Free and suitable for all the family – try a word search, identify some aircraft or make some paper planes.
The first Summer Holiday Activity sheet is called:
‘How tall is it?’
Do you know how tall a Transmitter Tower was? Watch the film below to help you fill in the activity sheet which can be downloaded here for printing.
Week Two
This week’s activities include a Word Search, you can download here, an online quiz and a bit of information what the word ‘home’ meant to people during World War Two.
Home – what does it mean?
The word ‘home’ can mean several things – our home where we live or the home screen on our mobile phones.
In the World War Two the word ‘home’ was used in several ways.
On the ‘home front’ was first used in World War One and describes how the war affected ordinary people at home and how they worked together to win the war ‘on the home front’. The threats came from Zeppelin aircraft which dropped bombs and from shortages of food.
In World War Two, ordinary people again worked together to help win the war. They helped by working in factories, growing their own food, looking after children who had been evacuated from cities and making their clothes and food last as long as possible.
‘Chain home’ describes the chain of protection that radar stations made around our home country, the UK, in World War Two.
Radar stations, including Bawdsey, were usually built near the coast and they created a defensive chain of protection by identifying enemy aircraft and ships and directing the Royal Air Force and the Navy to the right place.
Bawdsey Radar chain home station was the very first one in the world! Search on the internet to find an image of the chain home stations built around the British Isles.
World War Two quiz here https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/quizzes/horrible-histories-heroic-home-front-world-war-two-quiz
This week’s activities are all about Identifying aircraft and solving Codes.
Radar was an important part of the defence system that helped keep us all protected in World War Two. The RAF relied on radar but also on observers on the ground who sent their information to operations rooms and to fighter command.
From here, defence measures like anti-aircraft guns, searchlights and aircraft could be directed to the best place.
Have a go at identifying the aircraft.
There are aircraft identification sheets to download.
This type of information was used by the Royal Observer Corp to identify the aircraft crossing the English Channel and North Sea. Below is the line of command used when aircraft were spotted.
Week Three
IFF – what does this mean?
Identification Friend or Foe
It was really important that aircraft were identified as friends or foe (foe means enemy) and to begin with it was impossible to tell.
Very quickly a new way was developed so radar operators could tell the difference. It was called IFF Identification Friend or Foe.
How did it work? A radio tone was sent from friendly aircraft in a very regular pattern which helped radar operators know who was who!
How good are your observational skills? Download the Spot the Difference picture and see if you can find the nine variations between the pictures.
Code Cracking
Being able to send secret messages is very important especially in times of conflict when you don’t want an enemy to know what you might be doing! Here’s a code to crack – have a go? (hint – Google ‘Pig Pen’ first)
Good luck!
Week Four
Chocks away!
This week’s family activity is all about aircraft. There are some downloadable colouring sheets. We’d love to see them if you’d like to post them to Bawdsey Radar’s Facebook page. And why not make a paper plane and challenge a friend of family member to see who’s plane flies furthest?
Than head over to CBBC and take a listen to the Horrible Histories’ RAF Pilots’ Song https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/watch/horrible-histories-song-raf-pilots-song
In World War Two pilots had to be trained quickly and were often very young. The average age of a pilot in 1940 Battle of Britain was just 20. The pilots and aircrew were supported by thousands of ground crew who looked after the aircraft, people in the operations’ rooms who scrambled the pilots into the air and radar operators along with ground observers.
All these people contributed to the successful outcome of the Battle of Britain and the war itself.
Find out more about pilots and aircraft on the Imperial War Museum’s website https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/7-pilots-who-flew-in-the-battle-of-britain
Week Five
The summer holidays are nearly over and for many of us it’ll be back to school and work very soon.
Before you start packing up your new pencil case, why not have a go at our activities here?
Robert Watson Watt and his team of scientists, radar operators, engineers and technicians all helped to develop radar at Bawdsey in the run up to World War 2. Radar was so effective at finding and tracking enemy aircraft it helped win the Battle of Britain and protect the country.
Radar is still used today – to guide aircraft, to track storms and migrating animals and to look deep into space.
Robert Watson Watt was caught out by his new technology though! Radar is used in the speeding guns that measure how fast vehicles are travelling. Robert was driving too fast one day and got a speeding ticket!
Now, have a go at the maze and then see if you can count the number of aircraft….it’s pretty tricky!
Then follow the link to read the story of Hazel Hill who when she was 13 helped her dad to do the maths to work out the right number of guns needed on a Spitfire. Hazel’s calculations were spot on and made a difference to just how well the Spitfires would work in aerial battles.
What an awesome achievement!
