| Summary : The site of a Ground Controlled Interception (GCI) radar station at Neatishead. GCI stations were developed by the Air Ministry from 1940 to detect, locate and track enemy aircraft and provide inland radar coverage of Britain. Neatishead was operational by November 1941 as a Mobile station reporting to Coltishall Fighter Sector. Mobile stations comprised transmitter and receiver aerial arrays mounted on trailers spaced no more than 220ft (67.1 metres) apart, with equipment stored and operations carried out from trucks. By January 1943 the site had been developed into a Final station. Final GCI or AMES Type 7 stations comprised a single rotating aerial array with transmitter equipment stored beneath in an underground well, plus an operations block (or Happidrome), a standby set house for reserve power, and a guard hut for the site entrance. The radar station was extended between 1946 and 1949 for use as a Sector Operations Centre. The station was remodelled in the early 1950s as part of the Rotor programme to modernise the United Kingdom's radar defences. A two-storey underground R3 operations bunker was constructed at the site and it was fitted with a Type 7 Mark 2 radar head for local search and control, two Type 14 (Mark 8 and Mark 9) plan positioning radar heads, and two Type 13 Mark 6 and three Type 13 Mark 7 height finder radar heads, all mounted on plinths and 25 feet gantries. Between 1961 to 1963 the station was reduced to care and maintenance and it was then reopened as a Master Radar Station. A fire in 1966 destroyed the underground operations complex and the station was closed until 1974, reopening with a new data-handling system occupying the Second World War Happidrome. The station continued to be an operational base until 2006 when it was sold and in 1994 an Air Defence Radar Museum was opened at the site. |
More information : TG 345 186, RAF Neatishead Radar Station, the site has been recorded by ground photography. (1)
A Ground Controlled Interception station located at Neatishead (TG 346 185), called site 21G. Ground Controlled Interception (GCI) radar stations were developed by the Air Ministry from 1940 to detect, locate and track enemy aircraft and provide inland radar coverage of Britain. The stations worked in cooperation with local Fighter Sectors that had Airborne Interception (AI) radar fitted in its aircraft to enable the crew to accurately home in on targets. Neatishead reported to Coltishall Fighter Sector, initially as a Mobile station and by 28-JAN-1943 as a Final GCI station.
Mobile stations comprised transmitter and receiver aerial arrays mounted on trailers spaced no more than 220ft (67.1 metres) apart, with equipment stored and operations carried out from trucks. Final Ground Controlled Interception sites were AMES Type 7 stations that comprised a single rotating aerial array with transmitter equipment stored in an underground well beneath, a brick operations block, a standby set house for reserve power, and a guard hut for the site entrance. Some sites were provided with additional huts for offices and recreation rooms. (2)
Aerial photography from 1965 shows an operations room (Happidrome) surviving in good condition as it was extended in 1946-1949. A Type 7 radar well survives and 2-3 ancillary buildings (including a water tower) are visible. (3)
The Rotor programme was developed to advance the wartime radar technology in detecting and locating fast-flying jets. It was approved by the Air Council in June 1950. The first stage of the programme, Rotor 1, was to technically restore existing Chain Home, centrimetric early warning, Chain Home Extra Low and Ground Controlled Interception stations and put them under the control of RAF Fighter Command. There were three main components to the Rotor stations: the technical site, including the radars, operation blocks and other installations; the domestic site, where personnel were accommodated; and the stand-by set house, a reserve power supply. The technical site for Neatishead Rotor station was located at TG 346 184. Crew were accommodated at RAF Coltishall and the stand-by set house was located at TG 342 200.
The two main constructions at Rotor stations were the operations block and guardhouse. Operations blocks were the largest structures built at Rotor stations. They were constructed of reinforced concrete and designed to withstand 2,000lb bombs. The outer walls and roof of the Rotor operations blocks were 3 metres thick and the internal walls between 0.15 to 0.6 metres wide. The exterior was coated with an asphalt damp course and surrounded by a 0.15 metre brick wall. The roof was usually flush with the ground surface and up to 4.34 metres of earth was mounded on top. The operations blocks, identified by a 'R' prefix, contained technical equipment, domestic facilities, workshops and a plant for air conditioning and gas filtration, all within a single complex. Four of the blocks (R1-R4) were underground constructions designed for the more vulnerable sites on the east and south-east coasts. Others were semi-submerged (R6) or above ground (R5, R7-R11) heavily protected structures built to withstand 1000lb bombs. The guardhouses were designed to resemble bungalows. They were single-storey buildings capped with a flat, concrete roof, above which a pitched roof contained water tanks. They were generally constructed of brick, but were built to blend in with the local architectural style. The guard rooms also contained an armoury, store, rest room and lavatories. Those associated with underground operations blocks featured a projecting rear annex that housed a stairwell leading down to an access tunnel. (4-6)
Aerial photography from 1965 shows the R3 operations bunker at the site, as well as a Type 13, a Type 7 and four Type 14 radar plinths. A range of ancillary buildings survive. The area is part of an active base and museum. (7)
In March 1947 the station was established as a Sector Operations Centre. Between 1961 to 1963 the station was reduced to care and maintenance and was then reopened as a Master Radar Station. A fire in 1966 destroyed the underground operations complex and the station was closed until 1974 with a new data-handling system occupying the original Happidrome. In 1994 the Air Defence Radar Museum opened at the site, which also continues to serve as an operational base. (8)
Personal experience of working at Neatishead communicated by email states "I was posted there as a sgt in 1973 and it was fully operational, T85, T84, HF200 and more all working. Furthermore, the other half of my Locking entry was posted there in 1971 and all worked on the operational radars, txs and rxs. I left in 1976 and visited again in 1977. T85, stuff of legends, 60Mw with all 12 Txs running." (9)
Detailed history of the 50 years of the founding of RAF Neatishead 1941-1991. (10)
R30 operations room, R12 Radar equipment building and R3 underground operations block; Listed. For the designation records of this site please see The National Heritage List for England. (11-12)
Decommissioned 2006 and sold. Feb 2013, 25 acres of the site were again sold. The Air Defence Radar Museum was not part of the sale. (13)
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