Radar Recollections - Introduction

The story of the development of 'radio direction finding' (RDF) equipment is a fascinating one. It is not limited to one country or one scientific discipline and certainly is not limited to one man or even a group of men.

It is fair to say that German research and development in the late 1930's was just as capable of producing working equipment as was the British efforts. The large German company, Telefunken was persuaded to become involved in the production of a number of working systems at this time.
The most plausible reason to explain the phenomenal progress that was made in Britain in just eight short years (between 1935 and 1943) was the unprecedented cooperation between three groups of individuals…

The British Government (including the top military personnel) were concerned about the air defences that could be mounted in the event of a war with Germany. They had the sense to call in the best scientists from Universities and Industry and discuss the problems openly.

When funding was released work progressed rapidly (although still not rapidly enough for some) and British industry was encouraged to participate in problem solving and design and then to produce the equipment for the armed forces as soon as possible.

The energy and directed thought of just a few dozen enlightened men made all the difference. For the first time there was an extraordinary intimacy between government, the military, the inventor, the user and the manufacturer…