Joseph Enoch Airey (25 August 1894 – 10 February 1976) was a British telecommunications engineer. He became Senior Technical Officer for the

Telecommunications Research Establishment The Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) was the main United Kingdom research and development organisation for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force (RAF) ...

Life

Airey was born in Oldham, Lancashire on 25 August 1894. He joined

Robert Watson-Watt Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish radio engineer and pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology. Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he be ...

in 1924, and was an original member of the radar team, responsible for masts and support equipment. He was Senior Technical Officer at

. Alongside Arnold Wilkins, Airey is credited with having discovered

Bawdsey Manor Bawdsey Manor stands at a prominent position at the mouth of the River Deben close to the village of Bawdsey in Suffolk, England, about north-east of London. Built in 1886, it was enlarged in 1895 as the principal residence of Sir Will ...

, Ordfordnessas a site for the Air Ministry department that was significant in the

history of radar The history of radar (where radar stands for ''radio detection and ranging'') started with experiments by Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century that showed that radio waves were reflected by metallic objects. This possibility was suggested in ...

. In his book "Three Steps to Victory"

proclaims Joe Airey's greatest constructional achievement as the installation of a mast atop the Great Pyramid at Cheops. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Airey was a member of the

Dunsterforce Dunsterforce was an Allied military force, established in December 1917 and named after its commander, Major-General Lionel Dunsterville. The force comprised fewer than 350 Australian, New Zealand, British and Canadian officers and NCOs, ...

in the

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and the Middle East. By the time of his retirement, he was Station Engineer at the

Royal Radar Establishment The Royal Radar Establishment was a research centre in Malvern, Worcestershire in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1953 as the Radar Research Establishment by the merger of the Air Ministry's Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE ...

. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for his services by

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

in his Birthday Honours on 14 June 1945. Airey died in Poole Dorset on 10 February 1976.

References

1894 births 1976 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire British telecommunications engineers Radar pioneers People from Oldham {{UK-engineer-stub

Life

See also

References