George E．Ellion Jr,who has died,aged 85,gave the unnoticed warning about aircraft coming near Pearl Harbour,in 1941,as described in history books and movies like “Tora,Tora,Tora”．

　　Elliott died on Saturday of complications（并发症）from a stroke（中风）,his family said．

　　The former Army radar operator detected incoming Japanese aircraft on December 7,1941．He then gave a warning,but it was brushed aside．Nealy an hour later,the enemy planes reached the US Navy's fleet（舰队）in the harbour．

　　In a 50-year anniversary（周年）story,a reporter from the US's Associated Press told how Elliott and another soldier,Joseph L．Loekard,had been on duty that day since 4 am at Kahuku Point on the northern tip of Oahu Island,Hawaii．They had been familiarizing themselves with a strange new inventionthat could“see”130 miles(208 kilometres)out to sea— something called“radar”．

　　Just after 7 am,Elliott saw“something completely out of the ordinary”on the screen,a huge blip（信号）,due north,137 miles(219．2 kilometres)out．The information was called in to headquarters,and the operators were told it was a flight of B17 Flying Fortresses due in from California．

　　They kept tracking for practice,and the blip grew so large that Lockard figured the set was broken．They turned it off at 7∶45,after the blip disappeared behind Oabu's mountains．

　　About 10 minutes later,the first bombs were falling on the battleships in the harbour．

　　Later that morning,when Elliott and Lockard arrived back at their base,they learned the significance of what they had observed．

　　Elliott served in the Army until 1945,and then worked for New Jersey Bell Telephone for 33 years before retiring．

　　In later years,his warning at Pearl Harbour brought him reward．The actions of the radar operators were described in the 1970 movie“Tora,Tora,Tora,”and on television specials and in history books．

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