Came the day when one turned the gonio knob in routine fashion, and suddenly saw a large jagged gap - the first sight of at least 50+ aircraft, shifting until it seemed the whole trace was on the move. As we got used to this unusual sight we realised that though the mass of echoes did not appear to come nearer, the height was changing. The enemy were gathering and gaining height before setting off across the Channel. It soon became quite easy for us to check number and altitude of enemy planes, as many passed right over us on their way inland. We realised much later that the information from the radar chain in these parts enabled the fighter planes to be sent up in time to intercept the enemy before they got to London in many cases.

New equipment was being assembled in well-fortified blocks on A site for transmitting and receiving. The R block had two massive receivers with a large console for maps etc, and a calculator room for digital plots. Before they were operational the central telephone exchange was transferred there, and one person per hour from the duty watch took their turn.

In August came a day when the Luftwaffe seemed to have decided to take out the radar stations. I was at B site one morning, getting ready to go on watch at 1300 hours. We got the warning, we heard the planes, we saw them swoop down and heard the explosions and saw bricks, planks, earth and we knew not what flew in the air over A site. Then all was silent, and we thought we might not see our friends from the duty watch again. Word came before long that things were not quite so bad. The lorry pulled up to take us on duty, and on arriving at A site we were greeted by some of the soldiers, who looked astonished and one said 'Cor, you're never going in there, are you?' They could be forgiven - one soldier had been killed on the site and several injured. The receiver hut was a bit of a shambles, but still functioning; the watch were safe, but Betty the Dalmation was a bit shaken. Repairs had been made, we got settled in, and I went to take my turn on the telephone exchange in the new R block.

Suddenly the hut rang through to say that it looked as if we were going to get another turn. In the morning or CO had been visiting another station; now he and one or two others dashed in saying 'all on the floor!' - just in time. The bombs came down, the floor heaved under me like the sea, the heavy double doors swung to and fro, and the big receivers looked menacing.

All the flaps on the telephone exchange fell down and set up a frantic buzzing. Soon all was quiet again. As in the morning, we braced ourselves for the loss of the rest of the watch. Habit is habit though, having put back all the flaps on the exchange the one from Central immediatly rang again. It was the call giving me the hourly time check and I automatically repeated it and thanked them. I rang off without a thought of telling them what had happened. No doubt they heard soon enough - I must have been shell-shocked.

To our joy we heard footsteps; the doors swung open and in came the rest of the watch, coughing and spluttering dust, and telling us that the dear old hut was done for and the set as well. So once the marvellous technical staff had done their usual good work we moved into our spacious (to us) new building. Here plots were brought up by buttons in a digital display, and marked on a map on the console with a chinagraph (we soon learned to give it a really good clean with carbon-tet from the fire extinguishers). Best of all was the ease of calling up the plot and height from the calculators. Fitted in the room next door by the GPO, they were a real novelty, a marvel of whirring and clicking with a life of their own. A wonderful help to the operator.

We heard of course in due time that the stations round and about had also been bombed, and much later that a German logbook had been found, which said that the defences had been good, and the towers and aerials difficult to negotiate. They didn't try again. Life went on in the usual routine. Two of us went for a few days to the next station to take part in an experiment with night fighters to try to control them directly, and two of us went to London for an interview because we spoke good German. Our hearts were in our mouths as we would have hated to give up our job. Luckily, although we passed, 60 Group wouldn't let us go, as trained operators were still short. We breathed again. Soon we were sent more people and had four watches. We were then sent a WAAF radar officer for each watch, all trained originally on the first course at Bawdsey. They were acceptable to us - but we were warned to 'watch out - when these are replaced you may get officers junior to you. You won't like that'. It came true, and we didn't like it at all, and two of us were off to apply for commissions like a shot.

I served for another four years, always in 60 Group, except for a short spell at Air Ministry. There I was lucky enough to meet many people from my operating days, including two of the Bawdsey instructors. It was so nice to see them now as Air Commodores in the radar directorate. But nothing measured up to the summer of 1940.