During WW II Scotland’s coast was defended from attacks from the air and sea. Pill boxes, lines of concrete tank cubes and anti-glider posts were part of the coastal crust to prevent beach landings of planes and vessels with tanks. The famous Churchill Barriers blocked the seaways between the islands in Orkney to prevent the movement of submarines. And along the coastlines of Britain a series of radar stations provided an early warning system to detect enemy aircraft.
A clifftop Chain Home Low Radar station. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/22518. Image: IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 5734)
Radar (radio detection and ranging) technology was developed in the 1930s and used the ‘echo’ of radio waves to detect objects far out of sight. A chain of early warning radar stations had already been built before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, and as the technology developed more stations were constructed. These provided a crucial role in the Battle of Britain.
The remains of some of these Radar stations can still be seen and visited along the coastline today. For example, above Port Errol in Aberdeenshire where there is good survival of many of the elements, including the mast base (SCAPE ID 15226).
On the recent Harris coastal survey, we recorded the accommodation block for the Rodel Park Chain Home Low Radar station. Almost all that survives on the site are concrete bases for the various buildings. Although no plan exists, these, along with old aerial photos from the 1960s, first-hand accounts, and the help of Ian Brown from the National Museum of Flight, enabled us to identify the accommodation Nissen huts, the communal dining quarters, sergeants mess and the vehicle entry area. Two air raid shelters are also very well-preserved.
Aerial view of the Rodel Park accommodation block (SCAPE ID 16450). The concrete hard standing for five Nissen huts are visible, as well as the air shaft for the air raid shelter in the bottom right. Ken Watson, who served at Rodel Park, recalled his arrival at his Nissen hut accommodation and its remarkable position: the highest and closest to the sea. Another of the Nissen huts accommodated the Canadian personnel and was named ‘Canada House’.
This is a Beeton Portable Range, made by the Carron Iron Works in Falkirk, and used in the kitchens at Rodel Park – the name plate can still be seen at the centre.
Inside one of the air raid shelters at Rodel Park. While most of the other structures are gone, this air raid shelter is still intact.
Not many of the buildings still stand at Rodel Park, but these structures were never intended to last very long and enough survives, along with the background information, to get a sense of what it was like to live and work here 80 years ago. If you are interested in finding out more, there is a book written about life at Rodel Park by Ken Watson, who served here – ‘World War II Memoirs of Radar, Reminiscence and Romance’. And the Secrets of the Radar online museum provides recollections of Canadian service men and women who were stationed in Britain during the war.
Further information on the use of radar in WW II along with other first-hand recollections can be found in Ian Brown’s ‘Radar in Scotland: 1938-46’ and the Imperial War Museum website. With thanks to our volunteers on the Harris and Aberdeenshire surveys and Ian Brown of the National Museum of Flight.
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