Robert Watson-Watt - Contribution To World War II

Contribution To World War II

In his English History 1914-1945, historian A. J. P. Taylor paid the highest of praise to Watson-Watt, Sir Henry Tizard and their associates who developed and put in place radar, crediting them with being fundamental to victory in World War II.

In July 1938 Watson-Watt left Bawdsey Manor and took up the post of Director of Communications Development (DCD-RAE). In 1939 Sir George Lee took over the job of DCD, and Watson-Watt became Scientific Advisor on Telecommunications (SAT) to the Air Ministry, travelling to the USA in 1941 in order to advise them on the severe inadequacies of their air defence efforts illustrated by the Pearl Harbor attack. His contributions to the war effort were so significant that he was knighted in 1942.

Ten years after his knighthood, Watson-Watt was awarded £50,000 by the British government for his contributions in the development of radar. He established a practice as a consulting engineer. In the 1950s moved to Canada. Later he lived in the USA, where he published Three Steps to Victory in 1958. Around 1958 he appeared as a mystery challenger on the American television programme To Tell The Truth.

On one occasion, late in life, Watson-Watt reportedly was pulled over in Canada for speeding by a radar-gun toting policeman. His remark was, "Had I known what you were going to do with it I would never have invented it!" He wrote an ironic poem ("Rough Justice") afterwards:

Pity Sir Robert Watson-Watt,

strange target of this radar plot

the victim of his own invention.

enabled cloud-bound planes to fly

it spots the speeding motorist

the hand that once created it.