RAF Air-Defence Radar Stations in Devon - Mike and Andrew Passmore

RAF Air-Defence Radar Stations in Devon by Mike and Andrew Passmore
Paperback: 106 pages
Published by MJ Passmore
ISBN 0-9550690-3-3

Make no mistake, I liked and would recommend this book, despite the minor points listed below. It is an A4 size perfect-bound book, illustrated with a mixture of old and new b/w photos, maps and building plans. It describes each of the twelve sites, mainly from primary sources held at the TNA with additional info provided by fieldwork observations and each entry has a set of notes. There is also an appendix that describes the different RDF types, a sources page plus an index. A major flaw is that there are no site plans, which surprises me because a quick look through the Audits here would have revealed that the RAFM has plans of Bolt Tail and Hope Cove. The RAFM also has WWII photos of many of these sites.
In essence the book is very well laid out, with plenty of references to TNA sources, excellent building plans and will be a must for a visit to Devon or anyone wanting to learn more about West Coast RDF sites.

Minor Points

• This was a Christmas present, so I have not read it word-for-word yet, but the first thing that struck me was the title ‘Air-Defence Radar Stations’ as surely the sites described are RDF stations?
• On the back cover the authors’ state too that very little has been published about RDF sites, but a small amount of research on the Net and elsewhere would have revealed that the expert on the West Coast Chain and their buildings is Alan Cleary. Sub Brit have also carried out a fair amount of work.
• On reading through the text, the reader might be left thinking that the twelve sites were un-defended which may be correct, but all the west coast sites, that I have visited were indeed very well defended with pillboxes, and LAA positions hidden within the hedge lines.
• The plans have metric scale bars which in my opinion are completely meaningless as the buildings were built using feet and inches.

edit: the ISBN quoted doesn't appear to be valid