Extracts From Recent Reviews

Defence Electronics History Society – “To those who were involved with radar in WWII and those who have since studied the subject in the many available books, the story of British wartime ground-based radar defences is reasonably well known. The post-war period, however, in which research continued apace spurred on by the increasing and ever worsening perceptions of possible threats from the East, has, until now, been comparatively poorly represented.

This fine book, at one sweep, changes all that. Here we have a readable account of the complexity of the ever-changing threat perception and how successive radar defence systems aimed to protect the country if the worst came to the worst.

As the title implies, the book’s main theme is the planning of air defence systems (Rotor-Ahead-Linesman) during a post-war period of serious tension. The reader becomes privy to the findings of high-level committees and working parties as well as to the pronouncements and conclusions of defence chiefs and politicians.

With almost 200 A-4 sized pages, the book is professionally produced, clearly printed and bound in hard covers within an attractively coloured and illustrated jacket. It contains many high quality photographs of individuals and equipments plus a good index and an extensive glossary of abbreviations.

For students of post-war radar development this unique book is highly recommended and it must surely find a place of honour in the reference libraries of defence training establishments”.

The Royal Air Force – “Although a small number of studies have considered the C&R System. it nevertheless remains true that the RAF’s efforts to develop the air defence ground-based radar and communications networks during the Cold War have been largely neglected.

As a consequence, the publication of A View of Air Defence Planning in the Control and Reporting system, 1949-1964 is particularly welcome. The title of the work is carefully chosen. Although not a memoir, the text represents the author’s view of the C&R system, being informed by his own experiences… His insights have been further reinforced by recourse to a wide range of files and documents now preserved in the National Archives.

Although at times demanding of the reader, the story told by Mr. Martin is a fascinating one. Faced with the evolving Soviet threat, during the 1950s the RAF, Air Ministry, government research establishments and the U.K. electronics industry struggled to map out and develop what would become a succession of C&R systems. The process was beset by rapid and sometimes unpredictable changes in technology, strategy and (inevitably) budget and was further complicated at the end of the decade by the requirement that military and civil ground radar systems be integrated to create a joint air defence and air traffic control radar system – a product of this long and bloody system – the Linesman/Mediator system – would be something of a compromise, however, in spite of this it is clear on reading A View of Air Defence planning in the Control and Reporting System, 1949-1964 that Linesman/Mediator represented a remarkable achievement on the part of all concerned.

In general, therefore A View of Air Defence Planning in the Control and Reporting System, 1949-1964 cannot be regarded as entirely successful in placing the UK C&R system into the wider defence context. Nevertheless, this volume represents a valuable addition to the current literature and deserves to be consulted by anybody with an interest in the history of UK air defence in the 1950s and 1960s.”

Aviation News - “Protecting the United Kingdom from Soviet bombers in the early Cold War years was a serious problem of which the majority of the British public were unaware. Radar had saved the island in 1940 and most thought that it and updated developments of the system, plus the new generation of jet fighters entering RAF service, would do so again if the Soviets decided to start a war. Behind the scenes however, things were not so clear cut and the story of how the British air defence systems were changed to meet the Russian threat is told in A View of Air Defence Planning in the Control and Reporting System, 1949-1964. Author Richard Martin was closely involved in the development of the UK radar system from 1939 and despite the rather cold title of the book, the contents lift the lid on a hitherto little discussed subject. While much of the background will be familiar to those who have read Watching the Skies, published in 1993 by HMSO, the detail in this new 95-page book by way of minutes and memoranda from those in the industry, the Air Ministry and Government, adds an additional dimension to the history of Britain’s air defences.”