大象传媒

My wife agrees that 鈥渞amblings鈥� is probably the correct way to describe over sixty-year-old memories, largely disjointed and unsupported by any documentary evidence. It may be a good thing to start at the beginning.

Having been kitted out at Padgate and square-bashed at Great Yarmouth, I passed through the basic radio course at Woolwich Polytechnic, which included some simple metal work. At this stage we were classed as Radio/Wireless Mechanics UT and it was not until being posted to Yatesbury that the difference between Radio and Wireless became clear. We were now RDF Mechanics UT and the Wireless types had gone elsewhere. The school was operating a two-shift system and my class learnt their lessons at night. This had the advantage that we never had to guard the water supply reservoir and could leave the camp during the day. This to the great annoyance of the guards, who were clearly intended to keep airmen in rather than to keep intruders out. Much time was wasted at Yatesbury learning about equipment (C.H. for example) which I at least was never to see again.

On leaving Yatesbury, on Christmas Eve 1941,1 was posted to Happisburgh, pronounced Haisboro (and hereinafter referred to as H), a CHL/GCI Radar situated about halfway between Cromer and Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast. Transport collected me and my kit from North Walsham railway station and dumped me at a large rambling farm house called 鈥淭he Rookery鈥� (now a residential home for adults with learning difficulties) just as the complete Rookery watch were leaving for 鈥淭he Lighthouse鈥�, a pub a few yards down the road.

So began my stay at H and the serious business of finding out how it all worked.

The radar equipment was installed in two rather tatty timber-framed, barrack type huts separated by a short passage with a door at each end. The passage was used to store PPI tubes in their crates so that they were immediately available if the Controller on duty asked for a change because of a loss of focus. One hut, brightly lit, housed the transmitter, about the size and shape of a very large upright piano, a workbench, table and sundry chairs. This was home to the duty mechanics that had provided themselves with a mattress behind the transmitter where it was both warm and comfortable. The other hut was kept in semi- darkness and housed the receiver with its PPI and Range tubes, the telephone exchange, plotting table, turning gear, tea-making materials etc. Outside was a brick blast wall and, over the top, a wooden gantry supporting the revolving aerial.

A three-watch system was operated for most of the time and on quiet nights I learned how to read map references, and to turn the aerial using the Hopkins two speed turning gear, a vicious manual device capable of giving one a smart rap in any sort of a gale.

It was also possible to stand in the ops room shadows when night fighters from Coltishall were being controlled and to admire the calm efficiency of Squadron Leader Everett and the rest of the team. The aircraft R/T was broadcast in the ops room so that we knew as soon as anybody when an attack had been successful. I was proud to be a member, even though totally ignored and serving no useful purpose whatsoever.

Each morning the duty mechanics, plus the day staff, undertook routine maintenance for one hour which mainly consisted of removing a different panel each day and dusting its top and bottom with a paint brush and vacuum cleaner. The authority who laid down these rules was clearly not of the 鈥淚f it鈥檚 not broke don鈥檛 fix it鈥� brigade, and many was the time when re- assembly did not produce the expected results.

Quarterly Overhauls were the same thing but much worse, being carried out by experts who could be guaranteed to leave the equipment in a poor condition. The station mechanics had to put matters right over the next few days. The CHL. at Hopton would be asked to cover when we were off the air and we did the same for them.

Obtaining my LAC (and the money that went with it) involved travelling to Cambridge and sitting a written exam of several hours鈥� duration. It also involved spending two nights in a small room at Jesus College, high up and near the roof. Washing facilities consisted of a butler sink and a cold tap on a lower floor. I can鈥檛 imagine today鈥檚 students accepting such poor accommodation.

At about this time two of us were sent to BTH (British Thompson Houston) in Rugby on a course to do with electric motors and selsyns. I think the personnel office was expecting us but the shop floor was not. It was finally agreed that the RAF were not going into the motor manufacturing business so we were sent to a part of the works where motors came in for repair. We handled all kinds of motors, from small fans to motors up to 2 hp, knocking each one to pieces, finding the cause of the problem and writing out a set of instructions to the people who did the work. Motors that were beyond repair were scrapped and those suitable for repair we re-assembled finger-tight and sent on their way. This course saved my bacon on several occasions, once at H and twice with 15054 FDP, when I took motors to pieces for repairs which should not have been undertaken by a mere radar mechanic but which were essential to keep the unit on the air.

Three events happened during 1942 that particularly stick in the mind, the first of which was a bit of a mystery at the time. A number of senior officers arrived and our telephone contacts were told that we were off the air. All operating staff and mechanics were then removed from the ops room. After an hour or so the duty watch was allowed to return, the 鈥渟crambled egg鈥� departed in their cars and we were back to normal. We soon found out that other stations in the chain had reported considerable interference but that this was a test of 鈥淲indow鈥� was not known for a long time. This test was one of the most important of its day. The result so scared the authorities that 鈥淲indow鈥� was kept under Top Secret wraps and not used in anger until July 1943. What frightened them, of course, was the possibility that the Germans would use 鈥淲indow鈥� against us.

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