Listening for the Enemy - Giant Ears on the British Coast

A fascinating story about pre-radar acoustic technology:

"In the early summer of 1934, the rolling green hills of the county of Kent were no longer as contemplatively idyllic as they once were. For nearly 12 years, William Sansome Tucker had been coming to the lonely coastal area in the southeast of England to attend to his experiments -- but in those days of May, his role had changed into that of an event manager rather than a scientist. New visits were constantly being arranged, and the physicist was fully occupied organizing the arrival and departure of his guests.

"They included senior officials from the Air Ministry as well as well-known scientific colleagues such as the Scotsman Robert Watson-Watt, all of whom wanted to see for themselves the progress being made in the field of acoustic detection. Above all, they wanted to see the imposing technology that had made it possible to track planes in the sky before they were detectible to the human ear or, astonishingly, even the eye.

'The traumatic experiences suffered during World War I were all too fresh in British minds; memories of German bombers and airships dropping their destructive payloads over the country's cities. The lack of an effective air defense had been a major weakness for the UK during the war. Now the Nazis were in power in a newly-rejuvenated Germany, and nothing good could be expected of their expansionist plans. Should there be an attack on Britain, it would come, the military believed, from the skies. The detection and tracking of enemy aircraft was therefore a top priority."

Listening for the Enemy: Giant Ears on the British Coast - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

 

Someone here has the avatar of the WWll dude wearing the sound amplifying helmet. Great B+W pic.