Slide 1

PlottingThe WAAFKey Terms and their meaningRECAP ActivitiesVectorAltitudeSuburbWAAFReadinessAuxiliaryHostileAngelsHeight in this case the height that an aircraft is flying at.A secondary service that supplements a main service.Unfriendly enemy aircraft that had been detected were referred to as hostiles.In a state of being ready in this case waiting to be called to engage the enemy in battle.A residential area on the outskirts of a city.A compass direction aircraft were vectored towards formations of enemy aircraft.Womens Auxiliary Air Force.In this case Angels refers to height. Pilots were told the height that they were supposed to climb to meet enemy formations e.g. Angels 50 meant fifty thousand feet. Slide 9Slide 11Slide 12Wherever a plot had been confirmed it became known as a raid. Each marker used to track the raid was colour coded (red, yellow and blue) to the colour coded clock that hung above the table. In this way, the controllers could tell just how old each of the plots, or raids were.FXHIdentification letters and colours were also used.

Can you guess what they stood for?What do you think these people are listening to?

Image courtesy of the Battle of Britain Historical Society

4Rakes:Markers indicating how many planes were within enemy formations, their position, height, and strength were placed on a huge map table of the British Isles by operators using long sticks called rakes.

What do you think these objects were used for?Image courtesy of the Battle of Britain Historical SocietyFXHFFriendlyXUnidentifiedHostileH

Women's Auxilliary Airforce(WAAF)The Womens Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was formed in June 1939 and provided key personnel to work at radar stations and Filter and Operations Rooms. These Plotters would track aircraft that approached the U.K.What does Auxiliary mean?Standby meant that Readiness meant that Airborne meant that Released meant that These are phrases that were used to describe the state that a Squadron was in.What do you think that each meant?Stand ByReadinessAirborneReleasedANSWER15Could we put the terms on a blackboard make it look like they were chalked up on a board. The writing would have to clear and legible for pupils, but could still be in handwriting format.Stand ByReadinessAirborneReleasedStandby meant that the engine had been warmed up and the pilot was strapped into his cockpit, ready to be airborne in two minutes.Readiness meant that pilots had to be ready to run to their aircraft and take off within five minutes.Airborne meant that these squadrons were already in the air, usually on patrols.Released meant that the pilots were released from duty for a period of time. They were unavailable for use.These are phrases that were used to describe the state that a Squadron was in.What do you think that each meant?16Could we put the terms on a blackboard make it look like they were chalked up on a board. The writing would have to clear and legible for pupils, but could still be in handwriting format.Radar Set OperatorsCookhouse WorkersAircraft MaintenanceSwitchboard OperatorsGeneral Communication WorkersTransport DriversCan you fill in the missing WAAF occupations?Click here to go back and see if you were right!Stand ByReadinessAirborneReleased

~Can you remember the meaning of the following terms?