Was having another look at this site and came across this book which was uploaded last month:
ECHOES OVER THE PACIFIC: An overview of Allied Air Warning Radar in the Pacific from Pearl Harbor to the Philippines Campaign http://www.radarreturns.net.au/archive/EchoesRRWS.pdf
It's 266 pages long (about 2.6 mb) and covers units, theatres and technology. Well worth a look, and bookmarked for reference.
Quote:
Several features which result from this coverage are worthy of comment. First and foremost, this book is about people: ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things in, usually, the most difficult of circumstances. The legendary characteristics of determination, perseverance in the face of adversity, improvisation, initiative - and scrounging, are all there.
Secondly, the generosity and willing cooperation of the American forces towards their Australian Allies comes through strongly; as does the apparent better understanding of the American commanders for the importance of air warning, the essentiality of coordinated operations, and the need to support critical units effectively. As a corollary, the deficiencies of Australian commanders and staffs in these aspects are referred to repeatedly in the text - and with some bitterness.
Thirdly, the doctrinal maxims of successful air warning radar deployments and operations seemed to be well understood by the Australian practitioners - but not by their wider superior staffs or administrative supporters. Surprisingly to me, these tactical maxims remain valid today: deployment flexibility, organic self-sufficiency, coordinated transportation, effective communication, good reconnaissance, camouflage, the value of integrated visual observation posts and coordinated sensor fusion, coordinated operations, user/provider understanding et cetera. Indeed, five of the ten Principles of War apply directly to such activities: maintenance of morale, security, flexibility, coordination and administration.
Of course, another surprise to most readers will be the effectiveness of those early radars - despite their rudimentary design - and the coverage achieved. I understand that, at the peak of activity, there were some 124 separate RAAF radar units operational throughout mainland Australia and the Pacific islands. (Compare this with the RAAF’s present three ground-based microwave air defence radars. Airborne early warning and control can’t come quickly enough!) And ranges of around 100 miles were routinely achieved on medium-level targets. Fifty years on, our radars may be more sophisticated but the laws of physics haven’t altered. Finally, Echoes Over the Pacific corrects - at least in a general way - the apparent failure of Australian commanders and subsequent historians to recognise and acknowledge adequately the contribution made to Allied operations in the Pacific by these ordinary Australians and their ‘doovers’. That the radars themselves were effective was a miracle of ingenuity and improvisation. But that these ordinary folk worked those miracles - without much help from ‘the powers that be’, and usually in the most primitive and debilitating circumstances - is an achievement in the best traditions of the Australian ‘digger’ (or airman !), and one which deserves to be recognised officially in our history - especially in this ‘Australia Remembers’ year of the 50th commemoration, and certainly by those whose business is the effective application of air power.
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