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Radars + Churchill

radars and Churchill for high school

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Oriana Formiglio
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19 views2 pages

Radars + Churchill

radars and Churchill for high school

Uploaded by

Oriana Formiglio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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World War II: from near defeat to victory

The Second World War started with Germany’s unstoppable advance: Hitler occupied France
and most of Europe. Fascist Italy entered the war on Germany’s side in June 1940, while the
USA were still neutral. Therefore, Britain had to fight the German offensive alone. The invasion
of France caused the rapid evacuation of British troops: in 1940 on the shore at Dunkirk
330,000 British soldiers driven back by the Germans were saved by thousands of British boats,
while on the summer the Royal Air Force won the Battle of Britain in the air against German
planes.

In autumn 1940 Germany started bombing British cities: the city of Coventry was destroyed by
a series of air raids, and the neologism ‘to conventrate’ (= to devastate by heavy bombing) was
created.

The war soon became a ‘total’ war, in the sense that it touched every aspect of society:
culture, politics, and the economy. There was a total mobilisation of the population, and the
price the country had to pay was enormous. However, the rapid developments in military
technology (radar and Ultra, for example, used to decrypt the enemy’s secret
communications -> see Alan Turing) and American aid proved decisive for Britain.

The Battle of Britain

From July through September 1940, after the fall of France, Great Britain fought against the
destructive air raids conducted by the German air force (Luftwaffe). The battle was won by
the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fighter Command, whose victory not only blocked the possibility of
invasion but also created the conditions for Great Britain’s survival, for the extension of the
war, and for the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany.

During the battle, in august 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave one of the most
famous of radio speeches to the nation, saying that Battle of Britain was being fought mostly
in the air but would soon to be fought at sea and on the ground, in Europe and all around the
world. Therefore, with clear and direct language he communicated to his people a message of
patriotism and resistance to announce that the conflict was about to become worldwide.
The silent weapon: RADARS

The word radar, acronym for radio detection and


ranging, is an electronic device which exploits
radio waves to find the locations of things and
watch their movements. A radar transmits
electromagnetic signals and receives echoes from
objects of interest called targets. A radar can
measure the distances to various targets.
Electromagnetic waves travel at a speed of light
(about 300,000 Km/s). Therefore, we can determine the distance to the target according to the
formula: Distance= Speed x Time.

But radars not only measure the distance to the target, they also detect its direction. Air
defense radars detect and track targets, and guide interceptors to the target aircraft. But
radars have many civilian applications too: they are employed in air traffic control as they can
locate any aircraft within about 60 miles of an airport; they are also used in the field of
meteorology, especially to forecast hurricanes and storms; doppler radars are employed to
monitor and control automobile speed and traffic or to check navigation.

The basic concept of the radars was developed between the end of the 19th century and the
beginning of the 20th century. However, it was during the World War II that radars found a
practical field of application.

During the war, radars played a central role in many military operations: radar systems often
alerted the British forces of imminent German air raids, giving then time to mobilize their air
defense resources.

Since then, radars have been used extensively in many military missions as they can detect
and track aircrafts, missiles, or satellites even at great range. For this reason, they are an
essential component of most air defense systems.

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