A crucial piece of the jigsaw

I was privileged to give a talk today to an audience of seventy, knowledgeable people at the home of Fighter Command, known interchangeably as ‘Bentley Priory’ or ‘RAF Stanmore’.

This was where Hugh Dowding, who led Britain’s aerial defence during the Battle of Britain, was based, and it was fascinating to visit the office where the great man sat. Information from Chain Home Radar Stations was filtered by the ‘Filter Room’ at Bentley Priory and then laid out on a large map of the U.K in the Operations Room. The enemy raids were reported on to the underground Operations Room at Uxbridge, and from there to 11 Group’s Sector Stations, which scrambled the Spitfires and Hurricanes whose role it was to intercept the enemy. A thoroughly enjoyable day, it was lovely to talk with some very interesting people during book signing, and a big thank you to the staff and volunteers who looked after both my wife and I so well.