Arnold Frederic Wilkins
OBE (20 February 1907 – 5 August 1985) was a pioneer in developing the use of
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
. It was Arnold Wilkins who suggested to his boss,
Robert Watson-Watt
Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology.
Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he began looking for accura ...
, that reflected radio waves might be used to detect aircraft, and his idea led to the initial steps in developing ground-to-air radar in the UK. Wilkins also provided all the theoretical calculations to back-up his idea of aircraft detection, and it was his lashed-up system that he used in the
Daventry Experiment
Chain Home, or CH for short, was the codename for the ring of coastal Early Warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Initially known as RDF, and given the of ...
to demonstrate that his idea would work. With the Daventry experiment, Wilkins successfully detected an aircraft (up to eight miles away) by reflection of radio waves for the first time in history.
Early life
Born in
Chorlton,
Cheshire, Wilkins was the son of John Knowles Wilkins of
Chester and was educated at Chester City & County School,
Manchester University
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
and
St John's College, Cambridge.
Career
Radar
He was usually known as 'Skip' Wilkins and worked at the
Radio Research Station (RRS) with
Robert Watson-Watt
Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology.
Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he began looking for accura ...
. In an experiment on 26 February 1935 in a field in
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
at
Stowe Nine Churches
Stowe may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village
**Stowe House
**Stowe School
* Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish
* Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire
* Stowe, Linc ...
, Watson-Watt and Wilkins became the first to prove the possibility of radar. Known as the ''Daventry Experiment'', this demonstration detected a
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
Heyford bomber aircraft at a distance of eight miles. In mid-May 1935, Wilkins left the Radio Research Station with a small party, including
Edward George Bowen
Edward George "Taffy" Bowen, CBE, FRS (14 January 1911 – 12 August 1991) was a Welsh physicist who made a major contribution to the development of radar. He was also an early radio astronomer, playing a key role in the establishment of radio ...
, to start further research at
Orford Ness
Orford Ness is a cuspate foreland shingle spit on the Suffolk coast in Great Britain, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh and stretching along the coast to Orford and down to North Weir Point, opposite Shingle Street. It is divided from the m ...
, an isolated peninsula on the coast of the North Sea. By June they were detecting aircraft at 27 km, which was enough for scientists and engineers to stop all work on competing
sound-based detection systems. The successful results of the initial test led to the setting up of a research station that was to become the
Telecommunications Research Establishment
The Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) was the main United Kingdom research and development organization for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force (RAF) ...
(TRE).
By the end of the year the range was up to 100 km, at which point plans were made in December to set up five stations covering the approaches to London by Watson-Watt and Sir
Henry Tizard
Sir Henry Thomas Tizard (23 August 1885 – 9 October 1959) was an English chemist, inventor and Rector of Imperial College, who developed the modern "octane rating" used to classify petrol, helped develop radar in World War II, and led the fir ...
. Those stations opened in 1938 with the help of Wilkins and were further extended to the
Chain Home system. In 1938, he helped to develop the British version of the
Identification friend or foe (IFF) system.
After the war, he worked at the ''Radio Research Statio''n in
Buckinghamshire. He appeared in the 1977 TV Series ''
The Secret War'' explaining his role in the discovery of radar, and is seen to reconduct the original Daventry Experiment alongside TV presenter
William Woollard
William Woollard (born 23 August 1939, London) is a historian and retired British television producer and presenter.
Biography
Woollard went to a state grammar school in London and Oxford University. He trained to be a fighter pilot with the ...
. Also in 1977, Wilkins wrote a personal account on the origins of radar, 'The Early Days of Radar in Great Britain', at the request of
John Ashworth Ratcliffe
John Ashworth Ratcliffe CB CBE FRS (known to intimates as "Jar"; 12 December 1902 – 25 October 1987) was an influential British radio physicist. (Several sources misspell his name as Radcliffe.)
Biography
Ratcliffe was born in Bacup, ...
, which is now held at Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge.
Personal life
He died in
Saxtead, near
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4,016 in 2019. Nearby villages include Ea ...
, Suffolk. His widow, Nancy, died in Framlingham in 2011. They are survived by three daughters.
Further reading
* Colin Latham and Anne Stobbs, ''The Birth of British Radar: The Memoirs of Arnold 'Skip' Wilkins'', Speedwell for the Defence Electronics History Society 2006,
* Victor Lown and Paul Mitchell (2010). Arnold Wilkins: Pioneer of British Radar. ''The Historian'' (Journal of the UK Historical Association) no. 107, pp. 15–17. http://www.history.org.uk/resources/student_resource_3570.html
See also
*
Alan Blumlein
*
History of radar
The history of radar (where radar stands for radio detection and ranging) started with experiments by Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century that showed that radio waves were reflected by metallic objects. This possibility was suggested in Jame ...
*
Aeronautical Research Committee
The Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (ACA) was a UK agency founded on 30 April 1909, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. In 1919 it was renamed the Aeronautical Research Committee, later becoming the Aeronautical ...
(Tizard Committee)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Arnold F.
1907 births
1985 deaths
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Radar pioneers
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
British electronics engineers
People from Chorlton, Chester
People from Suffolk Coastal (district)
20th-century British engineers