THE last survivor of the RAF's early experiments in radar - crucial to winning the Battle of Britain - has died.
Air Marshal Sir Arthur McDonald was leader of the top-secret ``Biggin Hill Experiment'' and in 1937 was the first person to track and intercept a foreign plane using newly-invented radar.
Born in 1903, Sir Arthur had an exceptional and highly varied career. As well as pioneering the use of radar at Biggin Hill, he invented the ``Duxford flare path'', a system of landing lights that could not be seen by the enemy, sailed in the 1948 Olympics, and became the last British Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force.
Lord Swinton, Air Minister during the late thirties, told him: ``I hope you young men realise that the whole future of this country depends on the results
of what you are doing here at
Biggin Hill.''
For having proved it was possible to intercept enemy aircraft using radar, a ground-to-air control system and radar chains were developed. Without them, it is highly unlikely the RAF would have triumphed in the Battle of Britain.
Later in the war, McDonald flew single-handed from Africa to Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) and undertook responsibility for the air defence of the island.
At the age of 45 he represented Britain in the Olympics, as one of the last great amateurs. He was the oldest competitor sailing and refused to practice because that would have meant taking time off work.
He continued to sail, winning his last race at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club at the age of 92.
Air Marshal Sir Arthur McDonald KCB, AFC, DL died in his sleep on July 26 at Lymington, Hampshire.
He leaves a wife, Mary, two sons, and two daughters.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article