I am a retired RAF radar technician and worked on radars T7 to T87. The history of radar in the BoB and after is pretty well known but I was unaware that radar played a part in the D-Day landings in Normandy; LST's were modified and equipped with a whole host of electronic equiment including radars T15 and T11 and classified Fighter Direction Tenders FDT 13, 216 and 217. I came across the info on the web site www.combinedops.com, there is a very brief diary of events and I was wondering if any FCA members had any further info on these interesting vessels.

John Langcake

Richard,
Thanks for the info, shame on me I've never been to the Radar Museum so the next time I'm across that side of the country I'll pay a long overdue visit. Thanks again.
John.

Richard,
Thanks for the info; I suppose they were more interested in their ability to detect the various types of Luftwaffe aircraft rather our desire to see a Canbera with wing tanks at 'x' miles.
I had a quick look through the Secret Scotland web site and found it intriguing especially Devil's Porage; at first I thought it might have been some concoction of raw oats and single malt whiskey but no, it must have been awful stuff to work with and dangerous. I suppose life insurance was out of the question in that job.
Regards,
John.

Richard,
We seem to have come full circle on FDTs so I had an on-line rummage and found the site of  Robert Quirk, a Canadian I think. One section of his site is titled “Ground Controlled Interception in Operation Neptune/Overlord.” To be found at http://rquirk.com/cdnradar/cor/chapter11.pdf ; it is well worth a read as it is more comprehensive, personal and talks about the landing of three mobile radars to be set up to provide radar coverage once the ships had been withdrawn. For a project that probably didn’t cost that much it took about 12 months to hatch, plan and deliver and performed admirably accounting for the destruction of 76 enemy aircraft in 20 days. Pity the MOD couldn’t perform like that in providing a replacement for the Snatch Landrover.
Happy researching.
Regards,
John

John,

Yes, full circle...my apologies for not reading again 'from the top'.

As part of my research I've been in touch with the Landing Craft Association...they kindly ran a small article in their magazine (the Kedge Hook) and within days I was contacted by 4 members who had served at Fortrose and then taken part in the D-Day landings. Not sure whether they could help with FDTs but their address is: http://www.lstlandingcraftassoc.org/

Richard