During the Battle of Britain, could the radar (Chain Home) operators distinguish between different types of aircraft? (e.g., could tell, say, a Bf 109 from an He 111?)

by sp31415926535

…and if you don’t mind telling me, where could I read more about Chain Home’s operation and capabilities?

Bigglesworth_

No; a Chain Home operator just saw echoes or 'blips' on their screen, it took skill and experience to interpret the information, and just judging the approximate number of aircraft in a formation was difficult enough, let alone individual types (Keith Park of 11 Group complained in July 1940 that "... a raid variously reported as 3 plus, 6 plus and finally 9 plus, turned out to be about 80 aircraft").

Britain's Shield: Radar and the Defeat of the Luftwaffe by David Zimmerman is a pretty thorough account of the development of Chain Home, and there's also an article from The GEC Journal of Research [reproduced online] (http://www.radarpages.co.uk/mob/ch/chainhome.htm) covering the technical details. Obviously treat with caution, but the Chain Home page on Wikipedia isn't a bad place to start.