A Lincolnshire Lad – A Brief History Of Radar In Lincolnshire
Remember how it all began just before World War Two,
With the Chain Home system at Stenigot,
Where a lone transmitter tower still stands today,
The last of four of it’s kin left,
The station’s wooden receiver towers long gone.
Radar fitted Gloster Javelin’s armed with Firestreak missiles,
Flying from RAF Binbrook high up in the wolds,
Giving Lincolnshire and the east coast all weather fighter cover,
Then came the English Electric Lightning to Lincolnshire,
The greatest ever fighter jet with it’s air pass radar,
Reigning supreme at Binbrook from 1965 to 1988,
The thunder of two Rolls-Royce Avons accompanying it,
Now the Eurofighter is it’s successor at RAF Coningsby.
The golf ball high on top of the wolds,
Serving Humberside Airport at the old RAF Kirmington,
Allowing the traffic controllers to do their jobs,
Keeping track of the airliners coming and going.
Boeing AWACS Sentry and Bombardier Sentinel extending radar cover,
Flying radar stations in the sky increasing cover over the sea,
Taking off from RAF Waddington Lincoln’s adopted airfield,
Providing the United Kingdom’s Early Warning cover.
Amazing how much technology has developed,
Over seventy-five years of progress in one county,
So much still can be seen if you know where to look.
A history started for military reasons of defence,
It’s progress still pushed further for the military,
But so much has been gained by us the public,
How much safer airliners fly now they have weather radar.
By Christopher Tye
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