RAF Bawdsey
| RAF Bawdsey | |
|---|---|
| Near Felixstowe, Suffolk in England | |
The manor building at RAF Bawdsey during 1992 | |
First in the field | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Royal Air Force station |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Operator | Royal Air Force |
| Condition | Closed |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 51°59′32″N 001°24′10″E / 51.99222°N 1.40278°E |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1936 |
| In use | 1936–1991 |
| Fate | Converted into a boarding school which operated between 1994 and 2016 and later a holiday park. Transmitter block now a radar museum. |
Royal Air Force Bawdsey or more simply RAF Bawdsey is a former Royal Air Force station situated on the eastern coast in Suffolk, England. Also known as Bawdsey Research Station (BRS), the first Chain Home radar station was built there, characterized by eight tall masts, four for transmitting and four for receiving. When the research group moved to Dundee in September 1939, the radar station was left active under the name RAF Bawdsey. The site later hosted a Bristol Bloodhound surface-to-air missile station until 1990, with the station closing in 1991.