On This Day – 1940

On the 15th August in 1940, the RAF repulsed numerous large Luftwaffe air raids on what has become known as ‘the Hardest Day’ of the battle of Britain.

Radar stations like RAF Bawdsey and the aerial interception radar developed at the site proved decisive in these engagements, giving the outnumbered and exhausted pilots of the RAF warning of incoming raids and allowing them to effectively meet and attack incoming aircraft. This network of radar stations along around the British coast, and the Dowding system they were part of, were instrumental in the Allied victory in the Second World War.