Ever since my degree show back in 2006, I've been a bit obsessed with plotting objects in space and time. So finding myself making work about Oboe, a revolutionary World War II aircraft navigation system, is no surprise. Developed by Alec Harley Reeves and Francis Jones over the course of less than two years, Oboe relied on pulse-code modulation to remotely guide aircraft to bombing targets over mainland Europe from two ground stations on the English coast. Allowing 'blind' bombing at night, and through dense cloud or smog, it was often accurate to within 150 yards or less. Some of the development work for Oboe took place at Durlston, and one of the Oboe ground stations used for directing bombers on D-Day - 'Tilly Whim' - was located on the site of the current Durlston Learning Centre.
There's a personal connection with this project too. My father did part of his National Service training at nearby RAF Worth Matravers, a centre for top-secret radar development during World War II and a radar station long after that. Though originally from North London, he returned to live in the area when he retired and I can remember walking across Renscombe Farm with him, looking for traces of the former station.
Photo of Chain Home masts: A-site at Worth Matravers: purbeckradar.org.uk
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