By the Battle of Britain in 1940, the south and east coast of England was protected by a series of RDF sites. These installations were made up of transmitter (TX) aerials, receiver (RX) aerials and a number of buildings to house electronics, stores and staff.
There were two main configurations, Chain Home (CH) and Chain Home Low (CHL). The latter sites were built to cover levels just above sea level, to help locate low flying aircraft.
The nearest CH sites are Bawdsey, six miles to the north and Great Bromley, ten miles to the west.
Bawdsey Manor
Bawdsey Manor was the site chosen to develop the new concept of RDF from 1935. By 1940, it was an operational site covering the approaches to Harwich and Felixstowe.
The 360 foot steel transmitter towers can be seen in a row at the rear of the site. The four wooden receiver towers are towards the front. Each site had two brick and concrete buildings, one for the transmitter (TX), the other for the receiver (RX). Little remains of the Bawdsey site today.
Chain Home Low (CHL)
The nearest CHL site lies 5 miles south at Walton-on-the-Naze. Other CHL sites were located at Foreness in Kent, Dunwich and Hopton, both in Suffolk.
The RDF aerials were usually installed on top of steel structures. At the Naze, it was fitted to the top of the 86 foot high tower. These arrays were officially known as Air Ministry Experimental Sites (AMES Type 2) sets. The AMES Type 1 sets were the CH sites.
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