Details from these maps would then be sent to each Group's Sectors, covering one or two main airbases, and from there to the pilots via radio. This information was then telephoned to the four regional Group headquarters, who re-created the map covering their area of operations. The Dowding system relied on a private telephone network forwarding information from the CH stations, Royal Observer Corps (ROC), and pipsqueak radio direction finding (RDF) to a central room where the reports were plotted on a large map. He addressed this through the creation of what is today known as the Dowding system. Dowding noted that the CH stations provided so much information that operators had problems relaying it to the pilots, and the pilots had problems understanding it. One observer was Hugh Dowding, initially as the director of research for the RAF, and later as the commander of RAF Fighter Command.
ĭuring 1936 the experimental system at Bawdsey was tested against a variety of simulated attacks, along with extensive development of interception theory carried out at RAF Biggin Hill. Development continued, and by the end of 1935 the range had improved to over 80 miles (130 km), reducing the number of stations required. This became known as Chain Home (CH), and soon the radars themselves became known by the same name.
On 9 October, Watt wrote a memo calling for the construction of a chain of radar stations running down the east coast of England and Scotland, spaced about 20 miles (32 km) apart, providing early warning for the entire British Isles.
IV series operated at a frequency of about 193 megahertz (MHz) with a wavelength of 1.5 metres, and offered detection ranges against large aircraft up to 20,000 feet (6.1 km). Ultimately, Bowen was forced from the team just as the system was finally maturing. The team had a test bed system in flights later that year, but progress was delayed for four years by emergency relocations, three abandoned production designs, and Bowen's increasingly adversarial relationship with Watt's replacement, Albert Percival Rowe. The memo was sent to Robert Watt, director of the radar research efforts, who agreed to allow physicist Edward George "Taffy" Bowen to form a team to study the problem of air interception.
IV arguably played a role in ending the Blitz, the Luftwaffe's night bombing campaign of late 1940 and early 1941.Įarly development was prompted by a 1936 memo of Henry Tizard on the topic of night fighting. IV reached widespread availability on the Bristol Beaufighter heavy fighter by early 1941. III units appeared in July 1940 on converted Bristol Blenheim light bombers, while the definitive Mk. IV for short, was the world's first operational air-to-air radar system. Radar, Airborne Interception, Mark IV, or AI Mk. Group Captain "Paddy" Green achieved most of his 11 confirmed kills in this Mk.