Why Worth Matravers - Achievements at Worth

The period from May 1940 to March 1942 was arguably the most fertile period in the quest to produce airborne radar that could be employed for offensive purposes. TRE Worth (and the associated Leeson House) were after all, primarily Research establishments although operational CH and CHL work was also carried out there.

It was also the period when Britain was under severe duress; the evacuation of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz and the Battle of the Atlantic tested the nation's resolve to the limit.
The experimental CHL unit at 'D' site was soon spawning new devices; C.J.Banwell developed a special transmitter switch that soon allowed a single aerial to be used instead of two. Then a rotating device (at first manual and then electrically driven) was conceived. These two developments allowed Dummer and Franklin to perfect a rotating time-base display layout on a cathode ray tube. Hence GCI coupled with the new Plan Position Indicator was the first major achievement at Worth. Although too late to help during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940, GCI and PPI were essential operational tools for all the Armed Forces from late 1940 for the remainder of the war.

New aerial designs for both ground, airborne and shipborne uses were developed at this time. Perhaps the greatest step forward came in July 1940 when the first prototype Magnetron arrived. With this invention it was possible for Bowen's centimetric team to forge ahead with more effective and accurate Airborne Interception (AI) equipment. In August 1940, the team produced the first 10 cm echo from a building: the old chapel at St Aldhelm's Head.