RAF Air Defence Radar Museum

08/10/2026

A pleasure to host the East Anglian Alvis owners on their Autumn Break today

07/10/2026

*Visitor Notice*

There are road closed signs from Wroxham towards Ludham, the road is still open to the museum and Horning until Ludham.

03/10/2026

*Visitor Notice* update now reunited
We've had a mobile phone handed in to us this afternoon, if anyone is missing one please do get in touch on 01603 631485 or email [email protected]

03/10/2026

02/10/2026

We are proud to have a new temporary exhibition provided by Filip Procházka of the 276th (reenacted) RAF Squadron Living History Group, to remember the service and sacrifices made by the Czechoslovak people in service to the RAF.

When N**i Germany began its occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 a great many people escaped, firstly to Poland and then to France, but as each country fell to the N**is the Czechs and Slovaks found themselves on the run but eager to fight.

To escape some made their way to the Middle East and North Africa to find transports to finally reach Britain. Among them were 2000 airmen who had served in the Czechoslovakian Air Force and now offered their service to the RAF.

Three squadrons at Nearby RAF Coltishall had Czech and Slovak pilots: 310 and 312 Squadrons were completely Czechoslovak and flew day fighters on air defence and es**rt duties, whilst 68 Squadron (night fighters) had one complete flight of Czechoslovak pilots flying Beaufighters and Mosquitos to defend East Anglia, guided by the controllers here at RAF Neatishead.

The top scoring non-British Allied pilot was Sergeant Josef František who flew with 303 Polish Squadron, shooting down 17 enemy planes and damaging another.

As well as airmen, many Czechoslovakian women had also escaped and made their way to Britain, where they volunteered to join the armed forces. Many joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, serving in roles such as radio and radar operators, nurses and chefs.

After the war those that returned to their liberated home country from the West now found they were unwelcome after a Communist-backed coup, facing imprisonment, torture and death.

The exhibition will be on display in the corridor to the Second World War room until the end of the season on 14th November.

KVH 276th Sqdn -reenacted- RAF, z.s. Czech Republic

02/10/2026

01/10/2026

Over the last few holidays we have made a some Airfix models with visitors and we’ve been so impressed with the standard of work that we’re going to use them in a display in our soon-to-be refurbished Education Room.

This October half term Clive will be around on Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th October to make some more and if you’d like to help with this project please come along: it’s totally free, we supply models, paint, glue and tools and you’ll have your names on the display.

23/09/2026

in 1974 the BBC launches Ceefax, the first teletext information service on British television.

It was designed by Barry Pyatt and Geoff Larkby in the late 1960s but wasn't given permission to be used until 1974. The original service had just 30 pages.

The service ended in 2012 when the digital switchover made it redundant, but for 38 years it was often the first place to find out news stories and weather forecasts, and many used it to find holiday deals.

When war began Geoff Larkby was working for the BBC as a radio engineer at Broadcasting House in London. Surviving the Blitz, Larkby and fellow engineer R E Young were seconded to the RAF and tasked with creating the first GCI radar station to control night fighters, going on to build and maintain another 30 across the country, including the site here at Neatishead. We have a small display of Larkby's service in our Gallery room.

In 1943, Larkby was sent to the John Brown Shipyard in Glasgow to link up with three Fighter Direction Tender ships and to equip and maintain their air defence radars that would be vital to the air defence of the enormous fleet of warships and the troops fighting their way ashore in Normandy until the RAF mobile radar units were established.

The ships were modified landing ships, equipped with a suite of operations, radar and radio rooms, a Type 15 GCI radar, Y-service listening post and a Type 11 'German' radar - the thought being that should the enemy try to jam the Allied radar, they wouldn't jam their own. The Type 11 was based on technology captured during the Bruneval commando raid earlier in the war.

With so many aircraft flying over the invasion fleet and inland, the three FDTs were valuable in directing protecting fighters and night-fighters, plotting the few enemy bombers that attacked the fleet and directing rescue craft to any aircraft that ditched in the Channel. Larkby used his launch to move between the ships to make sure the radar equipment remained in continuous service.

After the war, Larkby returned to the BBC, and became a pioneer of new technology. He setup the first television broadcast from an aircraft in flight in 1955, another from a submarine, created special effects for Dr Who and helped develop colour television.

An incredible life, and we are grateful to Geoff's daughter Pauline for providing such a wealth of information. You can also still view an emulated version of Ceefax here https://nmsceefax.co.uk/

19/09/2026

Many thanks to all those who attended and all the volunteers who made today such a success!

Join us this Saturday for our special Heritage Open Day.

This is a free entry day, so please book Heritage Open Day tickets through our website to attend to avoid disappointment.
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rafairdefenceradarmuseum/1965718

We'll have all the regular talks on the Battle of Britain and Cold War Neatishead, as well as the Tornado and Jaguar cockpits for you to sit in, and the Bloodhound Missile simulator will also be running throughout the day.

17/09/2026

Join us this Saturday for our special Heritage Open Day.

This is a free entry day, so please book Heritage Open Day tickets through our website to attend to avoid disappointment.
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rafairdefenceradarmuseum/1965718

We'll have all the regular talks on the Battle of Britain and Cold War Neatishead, as well as the Tornado and Jaguar cockpits for you to sit in, and the Bloodhound Missile simulator will also be running throughout the day.