"The Early Days of Radar in Great Britain"

Arnold Frederic Wilkins was a physicist who was involved with the beginnings of radar and worked with Sir Robert Watson-Watt at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Orfordness [at Orford Ness, Suffolk] and at Bawdsey.

A typescript personal account by Wilkins of the origins of radar, the work of Sir Robert Watson-Watt, the Tizard Committee, and the setting up of a coastal chain of radar stations which were important during the Second World War Battle of Britain. Wilkins was asked to write his account by John Ashworth Ratcliffe as a counter to the official account by Watson-Watt "Three steps to victory; a personal account by radar's greatest pioneer" (Odhams, London, c 1957).

The volume was given to Churchill Archives Centre by A F Wilkins in December 1977.

The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives Centre is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. A prior appointment and two forms of identification are required.

Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holder, Mrs Nancy Wilkins, and should seek advice about contacting her from Archives Centre staff.

Please cite as Churchill Archives Centre, "The Early Days of Radar in Great Britain", AWLK

Churchill Archives Centre also holds the papers of the Naval Radar Trust (reference GBR/0014/NVRT) and the Papers of R V Jones (reference GBR/0014/RVJO).

The collection has been catalogued and a paper copy of the catalogue is available for consultation in the Reading Room at Churchill Archives Centre and at the National Register of Archives in London.

This collection level description was prepared by Natalie Adams of Churchill Archives Centre in March 2003 using information from the correspondence relating to the deposit of the volume.

Churchill Archives Centre holds a typescript copy of "The Early Days of Radar...". The original manuscript was retained by Wilkins.