RAF Ventnor is a former

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 ...

radar station 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, wea ...

located north east of Ventnor on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was initially constructed in 1937 as part of a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

coastal defence programme codenamed Chain Home. The site played an important role during the Second World War, providing early warnings of incoming bomber attacks carried out by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

. The site was also part of the

ROTOR Rotor may refer to: Science and technology Engineering * Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator *Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...

programme in the 1950s as a Centimetric Early Warning (CEM) station, keeping a constant watch for suspicious Soviet

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

s. During the time, an extensive bunker complex was also built at the site, which would later be converted for use as a shelter in case of a

nuclear strike Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear w ...

during the Cold War. Most of the buildings and facilities at the site have since been demolished, with the bunkers now sealed shut following unauthorised access.

History

World War II

Following the development and introduction of

early-warning radar An early-warning radar is any radar system used primarily for the long-range detection of its targets, i.e., allowing defences to be alerted as ''early'' as possible before the intruder reaches its target, giving the air defences the maximum t ...

s during the mid 1930s in locations such as

RAF Bawdsey Royal Air Force Bawdsey or more simply RAF Bawdsey is a former Royal Air Force station situated on the eastern coast in Suffolk, England. Also known as Bawdsey Research Station (BRS), the first Chain Home radar station was built there, characte ...

and Orford Ness, the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

set out a programme of building a ring of coastal radar stations around the British coast to provide early warnings of air attacks, codenamed Chain Home (CH). Ventnor was one of 20 original Chain Home stations authorised in 1937 and became operational in October 1938 using experimental

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

s and receivers in temporary hutting. The site, like most Chain Home stations, was powered by the National Grid but had electric generators to cover for interruptions in the supply. The station subsequently went on 24-hour watch from early 1939 and was put on a war footing on 24 August 1939 in preparation for war. On 12 August 1940, four Chain Home stations were targeted for bombing by the

, including RAF Ventnor. The radar station suffered considerable damage with most of the buildings being damaged or destroyed. However, casualties were light with only one soldier being injured. Following this attack, a mobile installation were set up and remained in operation until the station was repaired. The site played an important role during Operation Overlord, the codename for D-Day, monitoring both ship and aircraft movements involved in the landings. From June 1944 onwards the station was active in detecting incoming German V-1 flying bombs. By November 1947, Ventnor was one of 26 radar stations still in use in the UK with the Type 24 long range microwave height finder and Types 52 and 53 radars still operational.

1950s–1960s

Following the threat from the

Soviet atomic bomb project The Soviet atomic bomb project was the classified research and development program that was authorized by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union to develop nuclear weapons during and after World War II. Although the Soviet scientific community disc ...

, the British Government set up a plan to introduce an air defence radar system to counter possible attacks by Soviet

s, codenamed

. RAF Ventnor was chosen to participate in the programme. In the early 1950s, the site was re-activated as part of Phrase 1 of the ROTOR programme. The site (codenamed OJC) was operated by the No.23 Signals Unit under the control of the

Ground Control Intercept Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the surface of the Earth not covered by water * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical c ...

(GCI) station RAF Sopley. In 1952 the site was remodelled as one of seven underground Centimetric Early Warning (CEM) station, designed to provide more accurate information on the height, range and size of an attacking force compared to the World War II Chain Home radar stations. The bunkers, made of ten feet thick reinforced concrete, housed RAF workers who kept a constant watch for any suspicious aircraft up to 300 miles away. Most of the radar operators and technical personnel working at Ventnor at the time were teenagers, serving their period of compulsory National Service. By the end of 1956, the AMES Type 80 had been added to the site. Ventnor remained operational until 1957 before being placed into care and maintenance.

1960s–1990s

The Royal Air Force decommissioned the site in 1961 and, from 1962, it was used by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as a communications station. In the 1960s, the Linesman radar programme was established with the intention of combining military and civil aviation control, known as Linesman/Mediator. The programme refurbished and improved radar defences at Ventnor. Until the 1990s, the site was involved in the detection and interception of intruding

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...

aircraft, using the Marconi Type 264A radar and

secondary surveillance radar Secondary surveillance radar (SSR)''Secondary Surveillance Radar'', Stevens M.C. Artech House, is a radar system used in air traffic control (ATC), that unlike primary radar systems that measure the bearing and distance of targets using the d ...

s. The operations bunker was refurbished as the Isle of Wight Council's Control Centre and remained in operation until 1991 as the Isle of Wight Emergency Command Centre for command and control of the island in-case of a nuclear attack.

Preservation

St Boniface Down, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

The

guardhouse A guardhouse (also known as a watch house, guard building, guard booth, guard shack, security booth, security building, or sentry building) is a building used to house personnel and security equipment. Guardhouses have historically been dormit ...

, air vents and emergency staircase of the bunker were demolished in 1991 and the bunker itself was eventually sealed shut in 2004 following unauthorised access. Some of the original features of the site are still present, such as mast bases. As of 2014, the central compound still remains and is in used by NATS for

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

with telecom masts owned by other companies also present. The surrounding land is in the care of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. The surviving components of the original 1938–1939 Chain Home radar station, such as the receiver building, the three receiver tower bases and any remains of the former station defences including a

pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim * Pillbox (military) A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, norm ...

, is considered a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

for their "architectural interest and degree of survival" and for their "historic interest (history of radars)."

References

External links

Derelict Places – RAF Ventnor R1 CEW ROTOR bunker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventnor History of the Isle of Wight Royal Air Force stations in Hampshire Ventnor