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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

5th September 1940. For 58 days the RAF had been pummelled by Luftwaffe raids on airfields and aircraft factories, suffering 350 aircrew casualties but destroying some 600 Luftwaffe aircraft. The following evening Home Forces issued alert No.3 "Invasion probable within 3 days".

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

The map points to areas that can have conflicting noise or flashing lights, that can have bright lights or are kept dark, and those spaces that can get busy at times, so visitors can navigate the museum comfortably.

Photo colour of the upper bridge of the control room, the room is dimly lit with bright control panels, radar displays and microphone headsets

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

For some visitors a visit to any attraction can cause anxiety about what to expect when they arrive, so to help our volunteers and work experience students have been working on a new sensory map. To pick one up when you visit please ask at reception and we'd love to hear your feedback.

Photo colour of a new museum sensory map, showing the different height levels of the museum and areas with conflicting noise, bright lights or busy areas

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

For many the day came with relief and celebrations, but for others, including POWs it would be many months before they would be able to return home to their families.

cartoon, black and white, from Peter Harrild's diary of a WAAF running to be reunited with her RAF partner

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

The date is recorded in the grumbling diary entry for Peter Harrild, a member of RAF AMES 117 unit, that used a mobile Gee-H blind bombing and radio navigation system and had moved with the advancing Allied forces into Germany.

diary extract from AMES 117, Peter Harrild describes the end of the war and grumbles that he still has to work despite the celebrations

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Today we mark the 81st anniversary of the end of the Second World War and remember all those who served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in that terrible conflict.

photo colour, an RAF radar trailer (type 86) at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum, draped in red poppy display and with a rainbow in the background

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Today is the Panavia Tornado's 52nd birthday! On this day in 1974 the first took to the air, and through several variants continued to serve until 2019. The clip below is taken from the 1985 film Fighter Controller. You can experience a Tornado at the museum by climbing into the cockpit of our F3

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

We were very pleased to show aviation artist Mark Postlethwaite around the museum recently, as he researched a short film about the specific Defiant that Airfix adopted for their model kit. You can watch Mark's moving tribute to an aircraft and her crew here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xagq...

youtube.com

The Amazing history of the Airfix Defiant N3333

YouTube video by Wingleader Films

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Many thanks to all the organisers and volunteers who gave up their Sunday to help out, and look out for a new model Blackbird, signed by the crews, at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum soon.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

An amazing day celebrating all things SR-71 at the American Air Museum at IWM Duxford today, meeting the real crews, demonstrating the heat resistant strength of the Blackbird's materials and a bit of friendly competition between the IWM volunteers and the RAF cadets on the reaction test!

Photo colour the SR-71 blackbird reconnaissance aircraft at the American Air museum in the UK

Photo colour volunteer Clive demonstrates the resistance of different metals to heat using a heat gun

Photo colour Imperial War Museum volunteers compete on the computer reaction test game

Photo colour a model SR-71 blackbird painted black and covered in silver and gold signatures of pilots and crew members on a red table cloth

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Whilst we tire of the AI slop filling social media (including from some high-profile museums), it's our pleasure to share this beautiful montage of our museum created by talented work experience student Daisy last week. The art shows some of her favourite objects in the museum, see Alt text.

Art, colour, colouring pencil drawings of objects at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum, clockwise from top left: bloodhound missile, spitfire, 259 radar, plotting table, RAF ensign, Cold War ops room, Jaguar aircraft and radar console. Drawn by work experience student Daisy.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Our volunteers are spread around the museum, if you do see anyone in distress please let them or the reception team know. Museum open 10am-5pm Tuesday-Saturday, with first talk in the Second World War room at 10:30am, followed by Cold War at 11:30am.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

In light of the hot weather we will restrict the cafe menu to avoid our team from melting, have plenty of cold drinks and can refill water bottles. Please do not bring dogs with you to the museum, we have no shaded parking and even our shaded areas in the garden are going to be warm this week.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

It's worth us repeating that we are probably the coolest museum in Norfolk right now! The Cold War room in particular is the best place to be at the moment, not only for the wonderful talks delivered by our expert volunteers, but it is also pleasantly cool in here!

Photo, colour, the cold, Cold War ops room full of illuminated display boards, radar screens and buttons

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Geoff was given the privilege to pick his own motor launch '1268' to travel between the ships and shore to prepare and maintain the equipment in Scotland before they moved South to take position off the French coast on the 6th June. We're grateful to Geoff's family for the information and artefacts

photo, black and white, tracers fly across the sky from hundreds of guns from the Allied ships anchored off the French coast on the evening of 6th June 1944. The label reads 'SWORD area during a raid' Sword was the name of one of the British landing beaches in Normandy.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

One of these was Geoff Larkby, a BBC engineer who found himself recruited into the RAF to help establish sites (such as ours) before setting up the 3 Fighter Direction Tenders. These ships were floating radar stations to coordinate the thousands of aircraft and warn of incoming air raids.

photo, black and white, of RAF motor launch 1268, used by Geoff Larkby to service the Fighter Direction Tenders on D-Day. The boat is quite small, with a mast sticking up from the centre, a closed cockpit and various equipment strapped to the rear of the vessel. 1268 is written in bold numbers on the prow next to an RAF roundel. The boat is berthed in what looks like a river

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Today marks the 82nd anniversary of Operation Overlord - otherwise popularly known as 'D-Day'. Here at the museum we have an exhibition of the little-known stories from that day in our Gallery, featuring the men and women who had vital roles in the successful landings and the ensuing battles inland.

photo, black and white, of the RAF crew of a motor launch in 1944. The crew are 6 men and one woman, all in RAF uniforms and hats, standing on the top of the launch which has a mast and lots of rigging and flags behind them

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

To find out more about volunteering at the museum and other Norfok sites see here: www.getinvolvednorfolk.org.uk Or for more information about volunteering in general find out more here: volunteersweek.org

getinvolvednorfolk.org.uk

Volunteering opportunities in Norfolk

Discover volunteering opportunities in Norfolk with our free volunteering platform Get InVOLved Norfolk

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Winning the King's Award for Voluntary Service last year was a fitting achievement to recognise their dedication, skills and experience they put into our place, and this Volunteer's Week we celebrate everything they do.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

17,340 a year, 578 a week - that's how many hours our volunteers put in to our museum in 2025. Without them we wouldn't even be able to open, let alone give an excellent experience to our visitors.

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langhamdome.bsky.social @langhamdome.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

We are now open 5 days a week.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

The RAF Air Defence Radar Museum has dropped out of the White House concert

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Julie McDowall @nuclearwar.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Happy Threads Day. May we see many more.

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Iain Ballantyne @iainballantyne.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

'The Battle of the Denmark Strait: Clash of the Titans that Lasted Eight Minutes'. The opening engagement of the famous Bismarck Action on this day in 1941 during WW2 was a brutally short fight that saw great loss of life in a very short space of time. Article www.bismarckbattle.com/battle-of-de...

German battleship Bismarck engaging HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales. Image: US NHHC.

Sinking of HMS Hood: Painting by J.C. Schmitz-Westerholt, depicting Hood's loss during her engagement with the German battleship Bismarck on 24 May 1941. HMS Prince of Wales is in the foreground. Courtesy US Army/via US NHHC.

HMS Prince of Wales firing a salvo with her 14-inch guns during the Battle of the Denmark Strait, 24 May 1941. Image by Dennis Andews.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Perfectly timed for #ColdWarWeek we were joined by Burkhard and Dieter Dreyer, German exchange officers who served in the RAF in the '70s and '80s at West Drayton and Neatishead respectively. You can hear Dieter describe his service here thanks to WISE Archive: www.wisearchive.co.uk/story/the-ge...

Photo, colour, three men in casual clothes standing below a sign that reads 'Royal Air Force Neatishead'. From the left to right the men are Dieter Dreyer, Kevin Pellat and Burkhard Dreyer, all former RAF officers, Dieter and Burkhard were Luftwaffe exchange officers.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Our Cold War and Second World War talks take place every day, and you can leap into the cockpits of our Tornado and Jaguar fighter aircraft. On Saturday you might find even more volunteers dressed from the '80s... You can find out more about our 1980s exhibition here bit.ly/493hpkN

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

From Tuesday to Saturday you can join in with our 1980s scavenger hunts and find our celebrity bears. There's a temporary exhibition about RAF Neatishead through the decade featuring the music and TV shows, and you can find some very special artefacts and toys from 1980s homes.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

This week sees the beginning of #ColdWarWeek and we've been honoured to be joined by not only Elton John but also Bernie Taupin (if you squint a bit)! #ColdWarHistory #coldwarweek

photo, colour, shows the wonderful Cold War presenters John and Ian very much in the spirit of the week, standing in front of our Bloodhound missile dressed in 1980s clothing, John on the left is imitating Elton John with feather bower and boater hat, Ian is dressed in double denim

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

We love having great reviews left on TripAdvisor and Google, or in our visitor book. But we should also say we'd rather you didn't touch our amazing staff...

Photo of the comments made in a visitor book at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum stating "nice to be able to touch amazing displays and staff"

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

We're very proud to have received the Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Award 2026! Thanks to all of our visitors for writing such wonderful reviews, and a big thanks to the volunteers who dedicate their time and skills in engaging with visitors and creating this special museum.

graphic, colour, of the Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Award 2026, awarded to the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum, recognising the excellent reviews written by visitors

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Inspiration please! We're planning a small exhibition as part of Cold War Week in May. What 5 things come into your head when you think of the 1980's? I'll start with my 5, (I was born 1984) Dire Straits, Fireman Sam, crispy pancakes, birthday cakes in the shape of a train, Greenclaws.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

This week we've got more Easter egg hunts, talks in the Second World War and Cold War Ops room, cockpits to explore and our ever-popular Lego room.You can find out more about the Bloodhound system - even the chance to push the big red button. Open until Saturday this week,10am-5pm each day.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

It's International Day of Happiness, and we're very happy to announce we'll be reopening tomorrow Saturday 21st March! Some of you will be familiar with the Sector Clock - if not come and find out from our Second World War team. But do you know why adverts for clocks show them at 10:10?

Photo, colour, a Sector clock used by the royal air force in wartime to help coordinate information coming into the filter rooms. The clock shows numbers 1-12 as well as an outer ring of seconds. Red, yellow and blue triangles point outwards between every hour, and the hands are pointed at the 10:10 position

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Dr Cathryn Pearce @cathrynpearce.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

#NavalHistory people! Help! Our local museum has a life raft we're trying to research. Does anyone know anything about it? It is triangular, and is stamped with a 1940 date.

Image of the life raft, showing the triangular shape. It is a light brown colour.

Image showing the information printed on the raft: It says C2176, then D.R.Co. Jul 1940, and Mid/30.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

That's classified information *Finger hovers over ERASE button*

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

A good guess but not quite, you'll have to visit to find out - a clue is that it's more to do with copying a pigeon's super power

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

With interactive exhibits, real jet fighter cockpits and volunteer talks throughout the day, this is history brought to life by real people telling real stories. The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm, from 21st March 2026 to 14th November 2026. Tickets last 12 months from date of booking

radarmuseum.co.uk

Home | RAF Air Defence Radar Museum

Experience the country’s only original Cold War Operations Room, which formed a critical link in the RAF’s Command and Control System in the years following WW2.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Not long now until the museum reopens for the 2026 season, and make sure you're following us to stay up to date on our latest events! From 21st March step back into our award-winning, volunteer-run attraction that explores the history of the people and technology involved in the UK's air defences.

photo, colour, illuminated buttons from a radar console in the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum's preserved operations room

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Known as “Auntie Joan” and well-respected by everyone who worked with her and by many others who came into contact with her, Joan became the first female officer to command an operational station in 1982. Joan would retire as an Air Commodore and passed away in 2010.

photo, black and white, Group Captain Joan Hopkins takes command at RAF Neatishead 1982. The photo shows a man and woman, both in RAF uniforms, with the man passing over comically large keys to the woman.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women #iwd and who better to feature than Group Captain Joan Hopkins from 'Fighter Controller' a BBC 1985 documentary about RAF Neatishead and its Cold War role.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

An excellent article, the radar mast is an AMES type 9 (Chain Home Mobile) which was the first RAF radar in North Africa.

photo, black and white, a representation of the crew and vehicles of an RAF AMES Type 9 convoy (Chain Home Mobile) used during the Second World War.

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The Crusader Project @crusaderproject.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

On 27/28 February 1942 the British executed Operation BITING, raiding a radar installation at Bruneval to gain insights into German radar technology. In is one of the forgotten little episodes of the desert war, they tried the same thing in December 1941 at Benina, but seem to have failed.

rommelsriposte.com

Before Bruneval – Chasing Radar in Libya

Background 28 February 1942 was the day of Operation BITING, the Bruneval raid (see this link), in which a combined operation managed to obtain German radar equipment from a Würzburg site, which le…

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

It's been wonderful to see so many visitors today, especially so many new people! We'll have more science activities tomorrow from 10am, and you can get yourself one of our new badges to show everyone you enjoyed your visit!

Photo, colour a circular badge with "I was dragged to the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum and enjoyed it" written on it

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

The museum won't be open tomorrow, we'll be at the Forum, Norwich for the norwichsciencefestival.co.uk But we haven't forgotten Valentine's Day, see, we found this lovely heart shaped plotting counter for you. Does anyone know why it is a different shape to the regular arrow shapes?

photo, colour, a red heart shaped metal counter, the counter is worn with blunted dark edges and scuffs

photo, colour, plotting table counters from an RAF filter room, the counters are thin metal painted either red, blue or yellow. The counters have been placed on the squared white table with black lines

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Very interesting and really like the design

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Imagine if that's where the filling for Jaffa Cakes comes from...

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science By 1944 the UK's radar stations and filter rooms were largely operated by the WAAF. Chain Home owed greatly to Dr Mary Taylor who carried out the calculations for Robert Watson-Watt when first experimenting with radar. (see Alt text)

photo, black and white, clockwise from top left, Dr Mary Taylor, British mathematician and theoretical physicist. She carried out the research and calculations for Watson-Watt and Wilkins when experimenting with using radio waves to detect aircraft.
Top right, a WAAF (unnamed) moves information tags on a tote board inside a fighter control post.
Bottom, Women's Auxiliary Air Force personnel pose for a photo outside their wooden hut in the grounds of the Petersfield Hotel, Horning, Norfolk in the 1940s. The women were based at RAF Neatishead and RAF Coltishall.

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RAF Air Defence Radar Museum @rafadrm.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Just a week to go before the Norwich Science Festival norwichsciencefestival.co.uk You can come and see us and loads of other great organisations Saturday 14th February at the Forum, running activities throughout the day, with a special ticketed quiet hour starting from 9:30am-10:30am.

norwichsciencefestival.co.uk

Norwich Science Festival

Norwich Science Festival is an epic celebration of all things science, which takes place every year, throughout Norwich and at The Forum, during the February Half Term!

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