大象传媒

After our initial training, we had been given some choice as to what kind of work we wanted to do, and I had opted to be a plotter. After a short course, I was sent to 13 Group Headquarters of Fighter Command, which happened to be near Newcastle, not far from my home.

The plotters sat round the big Ops Room table, underground, and on the table was a huge map of the whole area which our fighter group covered. All along the coasts were radar stations, which sent in information about any aircraft which were approaching the coast. We heard it first, on our headphones. They would probably say 鈥渦nidentified aircraft approaching鈥�. Then they would give you a map reference, and you had to push out a little stand on to the big map, to show where this plane was coming from. And gradually, it would be identified as either a friendly aircraft or an enemy aircraft. You had to keep on plotting its progress in towards the coast as you were told through your headphones.

I found this very worrying. You had to be so quick. The planes were identified by letters, and their positions by numbers, for instance, 鈥淎lpha Charlie 6257鈥�. The plotter had to show this on the board immediately, and if you missed something you had to wait for the next one they sent.

On a platform above the Ops Room table, were the Fighter Command officers, looking down on the table, and they could see what was happening over the whole area. If an enemy aircraft was identified coming in, they would immediately alert the nearest fighter squadron, which took off for combat action.

I didn鈥檛 enjoy working underground, and I decided I was never going to be very good as a plotter. I found it was a terrible responsibility. It all depended on the plotters as to whether enemy aircraft were properly intercepted by fighter command. I found that very frightening, because if you put your plot in the wrong place it could have had disastrous results.

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