Warmtoast,
Congratulations on a very detailed historical account of a vital part of our early Cold War defences, about which very little was publicly known at the time and little is remembered now. And for the excellent pictures which embellish it !
I was involved (on the administrative fringe) of this world at the same time as you, as the Adjutant of an Auxiliary Fighter Control Unit (No. 3608) from late 1951 to the end of 1954. It was a fortunate ground tour for me, as the associated Auxiliary Squadron (No.608), flew Vampires, a Meteor and the station Harvard and TM, all of which I was qualified to fly. As the current policy then was to put the onus on officers on ground tours to make their own arrangements to keep in flying practice (and Squadron Commanders instructed to help them), I got in a fair amount of Vampire time.
(Your Section): Arrival — 1953
______________
A few comments, from what I can remember:
..showing the fighter plotters, as I think they were called..
.
Yes, the two trades we were established to recruit and train were Fighter Plotters and Radar Operators. These must be turned out in roughly equal numbers, as in practice each Plotter (the girl at the table with the croupier's rake) is connected by landline to an Operator (who may be on a radar in the same building, or fifty miles away).
In our case, the new recruits did their basic Trade training in our mock 'Ops' Room in what had been the Ops Room in Thornaby's wartime Coastal Command days. Or rather the Plotters did, their 'oppos' were in dummy radar cabins at the back. Naturally, in most cases an affinity grew up between the two, some lifelong friendships resulted. We always tried to keep a 'pair' together. When they were considered sufficiently skilled, they got their Special Security Clearances and went off on Sunday mornings on our Stockton Corporation double-decker to spend all day at RAF Seaton Snook some miles up the coast, and there 'down the hole'.
I don't think we ever sent more than twenty pairs out, the rest of the bus load being our half-dozen trainee Auxiliary Figher Control Officers (all wartime pilots and navs, most decorated), plus our (Auxiiary) C.O., Wing Commander David Brown, DSO (ex AG) - and you don't see
that every day of the week !, plus on or two radar or radio mechs.
You will have noted that many of the girls in your pics are Auxiliaries (the little "A" under the shoulder eagle), and the one in No.4 is clearly giving the others the hard word !
I was excluded from that world because, being admin only, I had No Need to Know, and would be turned away (as would the Thornaby Station Commander for that matter). But I had a regular Tech/Radar officer (we were the only two RAF officers). Little did I know that Bob Schroder would be my Best Man in 1955 !
Danny.