RCAF Radar Personnel in WWII -North Atlantic Region-

1RUWK $WODQWL 5HJLRQ
These events predated the arrival in the UK of RCAF radar personnel, and the writer has seen no
evidence that Canadians ever served on these Orkney stations. Nor is there any record of additional
ground radars being established in the Orkneys; emphasis was quite rightly placed on potential sites
to the North and North-East, i.e., in the Faroes and Shetlands.
Faroes:
In 1942 an RAF radar siting party selected five sites in the Faroes with primary areas of coverage as
indicated : Eide (N), Nolsoy (E), Suduroy (S), Sandoy (W). Each site was to have ASV (Air to
Surface Vessels) radar gear coupled to a rotatable Yagi aerial array, to provide early warning (no
heights) on aircraft out to medium ranges, and on ships or surfaced submarines out to short ranges.
Eide, having a site on an 800 foot promontory, would also have a Navy radar capable of providing
accurate plots on ships/surfaced subs at ‘long’ ranges.
All six radars were to pass their plots to an RAF/ RN
Control Centre in Torshavn, a major town located on
the southeast end of Streymoy Island; most, if not all
of these six radars became operational by mid-1942.
At least six RCAF radar men served on Faroe ground
radars at one time or another. Two officers, Hal
Cairns of Penticton and Rus Robinson of London,
Ont. arrived in Feb. 1943, and initially shared the task
of providing technical supervision and administrative
support for the five units named above. Robinson left
in June of 1943 on assignment to TRE Malvern;
Cairns stayed on as ‘O.C. Radar in the Faroes’ until
mid Feb. 1944 when the last two units were closed;
(ironically, some units were receiving orders to close
at the same time as others were being up-graded with
new gear!)
Some of the NCO’s in charge of the Faroe radar units
were Canadians. In early 1942, Sgt. Clarence
MacDonald, RCAF, found himself in Torshavn in charge of a 16-man crew comprised of Radar
Mechanics and Operators, Cooks, and other admin. support personnel. He and his crew moved by
small boat to the Island of Sandoy where they set up an “ASV plus Yagi” at the previously chosen
site. Promoted to W01 in 1943, MacDonald remained with the unit, as NCO i/c , until it closed in
late 1943. Earl Moore, RCAF, of St Thomas, Ont., has written an account of his service in the Faroes,
opening with a graphic description of the ferocious winds encountered in Nov. 1942, enroute from
Aberdeen to Torshavn - winds that led to his using the term ‘Radar Dome” in the title of his account.
Earl and the 13 other men comprising the crew of his unit traveled from Torshavn to Nolsoy Island
over seas so rough that their small boat could not tie up to Nolsoy’s small dock, forcing the luckless
passengers to splash ashore and climb, laden with kit, up a steep 20-30 foot cliff, only to find that
,9