water-cooled. The importance of the magnetron was now clear to everyone,
operating as it did at the desired 10 cm wavelength and at 2 kW, rising—in
Megaw’s case—to 4 or 5 kW, and then to 10 kW by early July when it went
into pre-production at the Laboratories. About the same time, just as the
Battle of Britain was beginning, Robert’s stewardship of the micropup saw
300 ‘good valves’ per week emerging from pre-production and he was already
making preparations for the E1046B, the first enlargement of the micropup,
with a target of number of 1500 to make. By July 20th Paterson wrote, ‘AI
dominates everything …’ but with good reason, because the effectiveness of
the radar was finally demonstrated on the night of 22–23 July 1940, when a
British Blenheim night-fighter shot down a German Dornier bomber off
Bognor Regis using the first production version of Bowen’s AI, the Mk III.
29
This attack enthused everyone, and by early August all those involved in AI at
Wembley got their wares into the ‘shop window’ for the visit of Sir George
Lee and Sir Frank Smith; Director of Communications Development and
Chair of the Technical Defence Committee respectively. During the visit,
Robert ‘showcased’ the magnetrons and milli-micropups for the visitors in the
main workshop of the Laboratories, and on 06 August Lord Hirst was
escorted around the facilities with Paterson, Dudding and Robert again
‘doing the honours’. There was naturally intense government pressure on
Wembley to progress AI after these visits, but even so, with the Battle of
Britain now at its height, Paterson was trying to arrange two weeks holiday for
everyone, recording on 10 August, ‘ … it is really important’(!).
After the Battle of Britain, the anticipated bombing attacks—‘the blitz’—
began on 23 August by both day and night. London was hit heavily, and a
seven-hour raid on the night of 26–27 August made many staff that morning
‘good for nothing’. During August the raids continued, often with little
damage to the Laboratories but with Paterson concerned for those members
of staff whose homes and families suffered, the first stick of bombs falling on
North Wembley on 20 September narrowly missing the Lamp Works.
London of course was heavily bombed, but neither did Robert’s Harrow
escape German attention, because of the nearby Northolt aerodrome. From
07 October 1940 to 06 June 1941, 337 high explosive bombs fell in Harrow
district
30 and the whole gamut of this new kind of war was experienced here.
Every day children would go out looking for shrapnel, and the competition
was quite keen to find the biggest bit, water tanks were kept on the streets and
incendiaries or unexploded devices were thrown into them, ‘vacuees’ were
eventually sent to safer places across the country, bomb disposal men
appeared on the streets often sitting on the devices they disarmed as they were
taken away on their lorries, there was a wailing of sirens, Anderson and
416
D. Sheppard
operating as it did at the desired 10 cm wavelength and at 2 kW, rising—in
Megaw’s case—to 4 or 5 kW, and then to 10 kW by early July when it went
into pre-production at the Laboratories. About the same time, just as the
Battle of Britain was beginning, Robert’s stewardship of the micropup saw
300 ‘good valves’ per week emerging from pre-production and he was already
making preparations for the E1046B, the first enlargement of the micropup,
with a target of number of 1500 to make. By July 20th Paterson wrote, ‘AI
dominates everything …’ but with good reason, because the effectiveness of
the radar was finally demonstrated on the night of 22–23 July 1940, when a
British Blenheim night-fighter shot down a German Dornier bomber off
Bognor Regis using the first production version of Bowen’s AI, the Mk III.
29
This attack enthused everyone, and by early August all those involved in AI at
Wembley got their wares into the ‘shop window’ for the visit of Sir George
Lee and Sir Frank Smith; Director of Communications Development and
Chair of the Technical Defence Committee respectively. During the visit,
Robert ‘showcased’ the magnetrons and milli-micropups for the visitors in the
main workshop of the Laboratories, and on 06 August Lord Hirst was
escorted around the facilities with Paterson, Dudding and Robert again
‘doing the honours’. There was naturally intense government pressure on
Wembley to progress AI after these visits, but even so, with the Battle of
Britain now at its height, Paterson was trying to arrange two weeks holiday for
everyone, recording on 10 August, ‘ … it is really important’(!).
After the Battle of Britain, the anticipated bombing attacks—‘the blitz’—
began on 23 August by both day and night. London was hit heavily, and a
seven-hour raid on the night of 26–27 August made many staff that morning
‘good for nothing’. During August the raids continued, often with little
damage to the Laboratories but with Paterson concerned for those members
of staff whose homes and families suffered, the first stick of bombs falling on
North Wembley on 20 September narrowly missing the Lamp Works.
London of course was heavily bombed, but neither did Robert’s Harrow
escape German attention, because of the nearby Northolt aerodrome. From
07 October 1940 to 06 June 1941, 337 high explosive bombs fell in Harrow
district
30 and the whole gamut of this new kind of war was experienced here.
Every day children would go out looking for shrapnel, and the competition
was quite keen to find the biggest bit, water tanks were kept on the streets and
incendiaries or unexploded devices were thrown into them, ‘vacuees’ were
eventually sent to safer places across the country, bomb disposal men
appeared on the streets often sitting on the devices they disarmed as they were
taken away on their lorries, there was a wailing of sirens, Anderson and
416
D. Sheppard