RAF Air Defence Radar Museum

The mystery object is... a wobbulator attached to the AMES type 11. A wobbulator or 'wobbling oscillator' was used to test the response of a receiver across different frequencies. A similar device was used by Delia Derbyshire to create audio tones, which became the distinctive Dr Who theme tune.

a black and white photo of a mystery object, a component of a radar aerial

Mystery object of the day - can you name this piece of equipment and how it is connected to Dr Who?

[Scene is a 1960s suburban sitting room, with a grand piano in it. The religious songwriter ESTELLE WHITE is sat at the piano, with a rotary phone sat on top of the lid. She is on the phone to her music publisher, someone I've made up called JERRY] 1 ESTELLE WHITE: OK Jerry I’ve got another banger for you 2 ESTELLE WHITE: Listen to this! [She slams the receiver on the top of the piano]. 3 ESTELLE WHITE [hammering on the piano]: AUTUMN DAYS WHEN THE GRASS IS JEWELLED AND THE SILK INSIDE A CHESTNUT SHELL! JET PLANES MEETING IN THE AIR TO BE REFUELLED, ALL THESE - JERRY [voice from the phone handset]: Eh? 4 JERRY: What was that last bit, Estelle? ESTELLE WHITE: “Jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled”… 5 JERRY: Is that a thing you often see in autumn? ESTELLE WHITE [Smoking from a long cigarette holder]: All the time, Jerry. Aaaaall the time.... 6 JERRY: Nothing to do with it being the only thing that rhymes with ‘jewelled’? ESTELLE WHITE: No! 7 ESTELLE WHITE: It’s one of the high-speed, high-altitude feats of military aviation one often sees in autumn time. 8 JERRY: What about leaves and squirrels and - ESTELLE WHITE: Now listen, Jerry. 9 ESTELLE WHITE: Do you want a crap hymn about conkers… 10 ESTELLE WHITE: Or do you want an all-time earworm banger that everyone who hears it will sing in their heads, every single time they see a fallen leaf, until the day they die? 11 JERRY: OK… sorry… carry on… 12 ESTELLE WHITE: FROS-TY WINDOWS ON HARR-IER JUMPJETS AND THE SMELL OF NUCLEAR SUB-MAR-INES… JERRY: How about acorns? [ends]

Autumn days when the grass is jewelled

"It may have been a throwback to the Enhanced Recognised Air Picture Dissemination System (ERAPDS) we had in the R30 SLEWCS Ops room and we didn't use this much as it was unreliable."

"I can't remember if this screen was also used to project the ICCS Recognised Air/Sea Picture, but I have a feeling it could.
In the photo the Screen is behind the black curtain at the front of the Ops room with the projector in a room behind the screen."

Photo, colour, Royal Air Force personnel manning the ICCS consoles in the R3 bunker at RAF Neatishead

From one of our volunteers: "If they are referring to the big screen at the front of Upper Ops (Weapons), the only time I saw this in use was at the morning briefings & Exercise briefings.

photo, black and white, of a radar plot showing the coast of north-west Europe with spokes radiating from a spot of light on the Suffolk Coast where the Dunwich radar station stood. A thin shape of dots marks the armada of aircraft taking the American airborne forces towards Nijmegen in the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden, 17th September 1944

#Onthisday 17th September 1944 at 12:45pm the Dunwich Microwave Early Warning plot of American airborne forces approaching the Netherlands for Operation Market Garden.

@nationaltrust.org.uk

YouTube video by BFBS Forces News Inside the training of the UK's military Air Traffic Controllers

Fast forward to the real workers in the Royal Air Force from 6:30.

#RadarLove
#AirDefence

Don’t blame me for the rubbish titling.

@rafadrm.bsky.social
@mambolica.bsky.social

youtu.be/5KgPHijS7Fw?...

A Luftwaffe aircraft flying over pens containing RAF aircraft.

We’re not wishing the Bank Holiday away… but on Tues 26 Aug at 12pm join aviation historian Dr Victoria Taylor for Battle of Britain: Eagle Days ✈️

A free virtual lecture exploring the Luftwaffe’s role in 1940.

🎟️ Register here
👉 crowdcast.io/c/llm-2025-t...

#BattleOfBritain85

photo, black and white, a scan of personnel of RAF 114 Signals Unit sitting on a lorry in Luneberg, Germany in 1948

To celebrate reaching 4000 followers on #Bluesky here's our 4000th archive record - showing RAF 114 Signals Unit at Luneberg, Germany in 1948.

114 SU were positioned to assist with the Berlin Airlift and the RAF radar units supporting air traffic control.

All activities are free and included with price of admission, tickets can be purchased on the day or pre-booked online here bit.ly/46hTZrm

photo, colour, a brown teddy bear wearing a pullover and a name badge stating 'Babs Bear' sitting holding a spoon in front of a poster advertising Funday Thursdays of family events at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum.

Funday Thursdays continue next week with our popular Camouflage workshop with Clive, as well as our teddy bear trail, outdoor games, scavenger hunts, dressing up and Lego challenges, plus all of our regular flight sims, interactive games, open cockpits and volunteer talks.

photo, colour, a certificate awarding the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum the Tripadvisor Traveller's Choice Award 2025.

We're very proud to have earned the coveted Tripadvisor Traveller's Choice award for another year. It really means a lot to us to read so many wonderful reviews of our museum and for the repeated mentions of the care and dedication our volunteers demonstrate to engage visitors with our history.

Defiant crews of 141 Squadron, pictured in 1940. 📷 key.aero (Group of aircrew standing in front of a single-engine turret fighter)

BATTLE OF BRITAIN 85: 19th July 1940.
Intense aerial clashes took place around Dover, with ships and dockyard facilities damaged. Both the RAF and Luftwaffe lost several aircraft, but 9 Defiants of 141 Squadron, ‘bounced’ by Bf 109s near Folkestone, suffered worst.
📷 key.aero
🧵1/3

We've made some enquiries regarding P.O. Peacock so will hopefully find out his story shortly. Our WRAF veterans don't think it's a dig, more likely a prank (of which the RAF training course participants were well known for).

photo, black and white, the No.104 Fighter Controller course. Men and women of the Royal Air Force are seated for a group photo, one lady is holding a peacock on her lap, the peacock is labelled as having the military rank of Pilot Officer.

photo, black and white, a close up of the peacock sitting in the front row of military personnel

*record scratch* *freeze frame*

Yep, that's me. Pilot Officer P. Peacock.
You're probably wondering how I got here on the No.104 Fighter Controller Course at West Drayton in 1977.

photo, colour, a person holding a phone with the Bloomberg Connects digital guide to the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum. In the background is the cockpit of a Tornado F3.

We've been very pleased to see visitors using the new Bloomberg Connects free digital guide to discover and explore the museum.

If you haven't downloaded the app yet, please do, and if you have used it we're interested in hearing your thoughts below on what you enjoyed and what we can improve.

Photo, black and white, actor Jack Hawkins in the 1952 film Angels One Five. The man stands in front of a wall mounted map of Europe, a ceiling light hangs in the top left corner.

Some of you haven't watched Angels One Five, and to be honest it shows

An RAF Wartling tie. It is a royal blue with a gold crest sitting just below the knot. The crest is the Wartling Coat of Arms. It was donated to the museum by Mrs Crofts, whose late husband was one of the first radar controllers at Wartling.

We have a small new display about the WW2 Wartling Radar Station. The display is in our Sargent Gallery. The radar station also now features on our WW2 model railway. #Bexhill

We're pleased to launch our new digital guide to the museum on #BloombergConnects

This free app allows users to download a guide to the museum before you visit to enhance your experience and improve accessibility.

Find Bloomberg Connects on your app store and search RAF Air Defence Radar Museum.

photo, colour, type 86 radar, rapier missile system and type 95 radar at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum. The three systems are all dark green in colour and places on concrete squares surrounded by grass, under a blue sky.

The museum is open 10am-5pm, Tuesday-Saturday each week until 15th November 2025, entrance tickets can be purchased online through our website or in person and last 12 months from point of purchase for unlimited visits.

photo, colour, the Second World War room at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum. The room is painted white, with map tables covered in painted grid squares, mannequins dressed as RAF aircraftswomen, radar consoles, model aircraft and photographs of wartime aircraft.

Discover the stories of the Royal Air Force in Norfolk, climb into the cockpit of a Tornado fighter and test your skills in our fighter controller challenges.

photo, colour, the Cold War Operations Room at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum. The room is full of glowing radar consoles, lots of illuminated buttons and information boards. Headsets for the operators have been placed on the closest console.

Are we the coolest museum in Norfolk?
It's going to be a hot weekend so great for our solar panels, but if you're looking to escape the heat you can step into our (genuinely cold) Cold War room!

A lot to be learned from nature!

photo, colour, of a green tiger beetle standing on a stick on a sandy soil. The beetle is green with cream spots, purple legs, purple joints that separate the body segments and large black eyes.

Continuing the theme of tigers, and a recent sighting at the museum, was this green tiger beetle - one of the fastest insects in the world and a mean predator at only 2cm long!

Most tiger moths are able to emit an ultrasonic 'click' once they detect a bat is searching for them, warning the bat that they contain something toxic or foul tasting. One North American species of tiger moth is even able to emit 4500 clicks per second to effectively 'jam' bat echolocation.

photo, colour, a garden tiger moth caterpillar crawls through green grass. The caterpillar is very hairy with a long black body and an orange head

Occasionally we see a tiger moth (like the cream spot tiger above) or more commonly it's 'woolly bear' caterpillar.
Tiger moths have an interesting association with radar, or rather sonar, as they are able to interfere with the echolocation of their main predator - bats.

photo, colour, a cream-spot tiger moth in a perspex pot standing on a light blue piece of wood. The moth is triangular in shape, with an orange tail and rear wings covered in black spots, the forewings are black with creamy-white spots.

It's #InsectWeek organised by the Royal Entomological Society as a celebration & recognition of these beautiful creatures so vital to the planet.
Being in the Norfolk Broads means we attract lots of different species of butterfly and dragonfly to our wildflower patch

"NORAD 35mm presentation slides," slide 40 of 41 [gallery]

And finally, despite speculation, there is no tunnel between us and the R3 bunker, nor is there a tunnel connecting the R3 to former RAF Coltishall.
There's a fair few ex-personnel who would have loved a tunnel to use rather than braving icy roads between the bases in winter!