 Bawdsey , right on the eastern coast in a relatively secluded location , could not effectively be protected from air attack or even bombardment from boats offshore . The need to move the team to a more protected location on the opening of hostilities had been identified long before the war . During a visit to his alma mater at Dundee University , Watt approached the rector to ask about potentially basing the team there , on short notice . When the Germans invaded Poland and war was declared on 3 September 1939 , the research teams packed up and arrived in Dundee to find the rector only dimly recalling the conversation and having nothing prepared for their arrival . Students and professors had since returned after the summer break , and only two small rooms were available for the entire group . 
