Pathfinder (RAF)
Encyclopedia
The Pathfinders were elite
squadrons
in RAF Bomber Command
during World War II
. They located and marked targets with flare
s, which a main bomber
force could aim at, increasing the accuracy of their bombing. The Pathfinders were normally the first to receive new blind bombing aids like Gee
, Oboe
and the H2S radar
.
The early Pathfinder Force (PFF) was expanded to form a groupA group within the RAF contained from 6 to 10 flying squadrons No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group in January 1943.There had been an "No 8 (Bomber) Group" between 1 September 1941 and 28 January 1942 While the majority of Pathfinder squadrons and personnel were from the Royal Air Force
, the group also included many from the air forces of other Commonwealth
countries.
's doctrine was based on tight formations of heavily armed bomber
s attacking during daylight and fending off attacks by fighters with their defensive guns. In early missions over France and the Low Countries there was no clear outcome on the success of the bomber's guns, as lacking radar
, Luftwaffe interception efforts were disorganized. On 18 December 1939, a force of three Vickers Wellington
squadrons attacked ships in the Heligoland Bight
and were detected on an experimental Freya radar
long before they reached the target area. Well aware of their approach, the force was met by fighters which shot down 10 of the 22 bombers, with another two crashing in the sea and three more written off on landing. In shooting down the 15 bombers, the Luftwaffe lost only 2 fighters in return.
Although the causes for this disastrous outcome were heavily debated, it became clear that the pre-war doctrine was not sustainable. Bombing raids either needed to have fighter escort, which was difficult given the range, or had to attack at night when the enemy fighters could not see them. In the era before the widespread use of radar, and especially the techniques needed to guide fighters to their targets even with radar, night bombing would render the bombers vulnerable only if they were picked up by searchlight
s, a relatively rare occurrence. In fact, night bombing had been the primary doctrine of the RAF in the early 1930s for exactly this reason, but the introduction of much larger aircraft like the Wellington led to a reevaluation of this policy.
Offsetting this improvement was the understanding that identifying the targets and attacking them accurately would be much more difficult. This meant a night bomber force was only useful against very large targets, like cities, and was one of the reasons daylight bombing was considered. The Germans had also studied this problem and had invested considerable effort in radio navigation
techniques to address this, demonstrating bombing accuracies that daylight forces found difficult. The RAF, having ignored the issue for a number of years, lacked suitable navigation systems, relying almost entirely on dead reckoning
and optical instruments like Course Setting Bomb Sight
. In limited visibility or lacking a target of relatively high contrast, accurate bombing would be very difficult.
Bomber Command pressed ahead with a night bombing campaign starting in 1940. Bomber crews reported good results, turning for home if they lost their way or could not find the target due to weather, and pressing on only if they felt confident they could identify the target with certainty. However, it was not long before reports started reaching the UK from observers on the ground reporting that the bombers were never even heard over the targets, let alone dropping the bombs nearby. At first these reports were dismissed, but as other branches of the UK armed forces complained, a report was commissioned to answer the question.
The result was the Butt Report
of 18 August 1941, which among its blunt conclusions was the observation that by the time they reached the Rhur, only 1 in 10 aircraft ever flew within five miles of its target. Half of all the bombs carried into combat and dropped - many returned undropped - fell in open country. Only 1% of all the bombs were even in the vicinity of the target. Clearly something had to be done to address this, or as the other forces suggested, the strategic campaign should simply be dropped. Instead, Frederick Lindemann
wrote an infamous report on dehousing
, suggesting that the bomber force be directed against German urban areas, destroying as many houses as possible and thus rendering the German workforce unable to work effectively.
By 1940 the British had also started development of a number of similar aids, and was already testing the Gee
hyperbolic navigation
system on combat missions. These would be available in quantity in early 1942, just as the first of the new "heavies" (the Avro Lancaster
and Handley Page Halifax
) would be arriving in quantity. Accepting Lindemann's arguments after intense debate, plans began for a major offensive staring in the spring of 1942 with the express aim of destroying German cities.
of 1940/41. Lacking enough equipment to install in all their aircraft, a single experimental group, Kampfgruppe 100, was given all available receivers and trained extensively on their use. KG100 would fly over their target using these systems and drop flares, which the following aircraft would then bomb on. On rare occasions KG100 was used as a pure bombing force, demonstrating the ability to drop bombs within 150 yards of their targets in any weather.
The same problem of supply faced Bomber Command, who expected to have only 300 Gee sets available by January 1942, all of them hand-built examples. Mass produced models were not expected until May. As it turned out, both predictions proved optimistic. An obvious solution to the Bomber Command's problems would be to simply copy the German technique of placing all available sets in a lead force. This was first proposed by Group Captain
S. O. Bufton
. Bomber Command's commander-in-chief Arthur "Bomber" Harris disliked Bufton and argued against the idea, with the backing of the majority of his Group commanders. His view was that an elite group would breed rivalry and jealousy, and have an adverse effect on morale. His personal preference was for competition within groups to deliver improved bombing. Sir Henry Tizard
, advisor and one of the chief scientists supporting the war effort, said, however, "I do not think the formation of a first XV at rugby union
makes little boys play any less enthusiastically."
Studying the German results, notably reports by R. V. Jones
, convinced the Air Ministry
that the technique was sound, and they overrode Harris' objections and forced the matter. Harris responded by suggesting the pathfinders be distributed among the squadrons, but again his objections were overruled, as this would not produce the desired result of having the targets clear marked in advance of the arrival of the main force. A dedicated 8 Group
was formed up in August 1942 by tranferring existing squadrons from the Bomber Command groups to make up the "Path Finder Force" (PFF). The Force initially comprised five squadrons - one from each of the operational Bomber Command Groups: No. 1 Group contributed No. 156 Squadron RAF
(equipped with the Vickers Wellington
medium bomber), No. 2 Group No. 109 Squadron RAF
- then "special duties" - (Wellingtons and Mosquitoes), No. 3 Group No. 7 Squadron RAF
(Short Stirling
heavy bombers), No. 4 Group No. 35 Squadron RAF (Handley Page Halifax
) and No. 5 Group No. 83 Squadron RAF
(Avro Lancaster
). 8 Group was commanded by an Australia
n officer, Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett
. Bennett was to be the youngest officer promoted to RAF Air Vice Marshal, at the age of 33, in 1943. His awards included Commander of the Order of the British Empire
, CBE, and Distinguished Service Order
, DSO. However, Bennett was not the first choice—Harris opposed the first choice of the Air Ministry
, Basil Embry
, the young leader of 2 Group
.
The squadrons were located on adjacent airfields within No. 3 Group at Oakington, Gravely, Wyton and Warboys. No. 3 Group was responsible for the Force administratively though it was under the direct command of Harris.
The PFF's second mission was against Frankfurt
on the night of 24/25 August. The group once again had great difficulty identifying their target in cloudy conditions, and most of the bombs fell in open country north and west of Frankfurt. Local reports stated that some bombs fell in the city, with 17 large and 53 small fires and with moderate property damage. 5 people were killed, including 2 Flak gunners, and 95 people were injured. The outlying villages of Schwalbach and Eschborn were heavily bombed. 6 Lancasters, 5 Wellingtons, 4 Stirlings, 1 Halifax were lost, 7.1 per cent of the force. 5 Pathfinder aircraft, including that of the commanding officer of 7 Squadron, were among the losses.
The PFF finally proved itself on the night of 27/28 August 1942 against Kassel
. There was little cloud over the city, and the Pathfinders were able to illuminate the area well. Widespread damage was caused, particularly in the south-western parts of the city. Kassel reported that 144 buildings were destroyed and 317 seriously damaged. Several military establishments were hit and 28 soldiers were killed, more than the civilians roll of 15. 187 civilians and 64 soldiers were injured. Among the buildings severely damaged were all three of the factories of the Henschel aircraft company. Of the 306 aircraft attacking the target, 31 were lost, 10.1 percent of the force.
The next night the PFF operated against Nuremberg
as part of a force of 159 aircraft. Crews were ordered to attack Nuremberg at low altitude, and the PFF used new target illuminators adapted from 250lb bomb casings. Photographs showed that these were placed with great accuracy and the crews of the Main Force claimed to have carried out a good attack. However, a report from Nuremberg stated that some bombs were dropped as far away as the town of Erlangen, nearly 10 miles to the north, and 4 people were killed there. In Nuremberg itself, the number of bombs recorded would indicate that approximately 50 aircraft hit the town. 137 people were killed; 126 civilians and 11 foreigners. 23 bombers were shot down, 14.5% of the force. Most of these were Wellingtons, who lost 34% of their number.
On 1/2 September 1942 the PFF illuminated Saarbrücken
as part of a 231 aircraft force, but post-raid analysis showed this to be Saarlouis
, 13 miles to the north and situated on a similar bend in the river. The next night a force of 200 bombers were led by accurate marking in Karlsruhe
, and the raid was considered a great success, with estimated 200 fires were seen burning. Reconnaissance photographs showed much residential and some industrial damage. A very short report from Karlsruhe says only that 73 people were killed and that 3 public buildings in the city centre were hit.
", when the newly arriving bombers would drop their bombs on the near side of the fire so they could turn for home earlier. This led to subsequent bombs slowly walking backward along the attack vector, away from the target.
To address these problems the PFF adopted new techniques. Their force was split into three groups for each raid. The "illuminators" would drop white target illuminators at points along the attack vector, allowing aircraft to follow these markers over long distances and thus avoid getting lost en-route. The "visual markers" would drop coloured target indicators on the target, but only if they were sure it had been identified. Finally the "backers-up" or "fire starters" used the visual markers' flares as the aim point for their own incendiary bombs to light fires in the proper location, which would burn longer than the flares.
The new technique was first employed on 4/5 September 1942 on a raid of 251 aircraft against Bremen
. The weather was clear and the PFF marked the target correctly, with the majority of the following Main Force finding the target and bombing it. The results were considerable, with post-raid analysis showing that 460 houses had been destroyed, 1,361 seriously damaged, and 7,592 lightly damaged. Added to this list were hundreds of light and medium industrial buildings, including the Weser aircraft works and the Atlas shipyard and associated warehouses. The raid was a complete success.
Another improvement followed with the conversion of larger bomb casings for the target indicators, starting with the "Pink Pansy" in an adapted 4,000 lb casing. Using these for the first time on the night of 10/11 September, 479 aircraft attacked Düsseldorf
and caused enormous damage. In addition to thousands of houses destroyed or heavily damaged, 39 industrial firms in Düsseldorf and 13 in Neuss were damaged so much that all production ceased, and 19,427 people were "bombed out".
, the Germans lit a decoy target indicator that received the majority of the Main Force's bombs. Only 1 4,000 lb, 3 smaller General Purpose, and 210 incendiary bombs hit the town, of a force of almost 70,000 bombs in total.
Follow-up efforts during Octover and November were mostly small raids, including a number against cities in Italy. Weather and operational problems meant that raids though out this period were limited and of greatly varied results.
navigation system, several bombs fell within 2 km of the target. The test was considered a success. A follow-up under more realistic conditions was carried out on the night of 31 December 1942/1 January 1943 against Düsseldorf
, with 2 Mosquitoes leading a force of 8 Lancasters. Only one of the Oboes worked, but that was enough for the following heavies to bomb on and hit a number of industrial building. Another mission by 3 Mosquitoes attacked the German night-fighter control room at Florennes airfield in Belgium, but there was complete cloud cover and the results were not known. It was clear by this point, after less than six months, that the PFF concept was a great advance.
Picked crews from the bomber groups were allowed to transfer and the PFF soon expanded into a completely new Group - No. 8 (PFF) in January 1943. In April 1943 the group's strength was increased by two squadrons, with No. 405 (RCAF) Squadron, flying Halifaxes and No. 97 Squadron, flying Lancasters. In June the Pathfinders gained two more squadrons - Nos. 105 and 139 Squadrons, both of which were flying Mosquitos from RAF Marham
. Later in the month Pathfinder HQ moved from RAF Wyton
to Castle Hill House in Huntingdon
. When new aircraft, such as the de Havilland Mosquito
became available, the PFF got the first ones, and then equipped them with ever more sophisticated electronic equipment, such as Oboe
, the radio navigation
and bombing aid.
By January the pace of Bomber Command missions had dramatically increased, with major raids being carried out almost every day. On 11/12 February 1943 against Wilhelmshaven
, the PFF used their H2S radar
for the first time, dropping parachute flares above the heavy cloud cover in a technique known as "sky marking". The follow-up force observed an incredible event, a huge explosion seen through the complete cloud cover that lingered for 10 minutes. It was later learned this was the explosion of the naval ammunition depot at Mariensiel, which destroyed 120 acres. Mission size continued to grow throughout, and although many missions continued to mark the wrong targets or fail for other reasons, the damage being caused continued to increase. On one particularly successful raid against Essen
on 5/6 March 1943, 160 acres of land were destroyed with 53 separate buildings within the Krupps works hit by bombs.
which were believed to be making radar. In this raid one of the Lancasters was equipped with new high-frequency radio equipment that allowed them to communicate with the other bombers in the attack force. The follow-up force consisted of several groups, including PFF aircraft, who marked the target based on radio instructions from what would become known as "the Master Bomber". Another group of aircraft were to attempt a new technique, bombing at a specific time after passing a ground feature, in this case the shores of Lake Constance. Nearly 10% of the bombs hit the factory in what was considered a great success.
A combination of these techniques was first used on a large raid to great success on the night of 17/18 August 1943 in Operation Hydra against German rocket research at Peenemünde
. 596 aircraft were led by a Master Bomber to a series of target indicators dropped at several different locations around the target area. By dropping different colours of indicators and calling aircraft to attack each one in turn, the entire area was heavily bombed. The aircraft from No.5 Group used their time-and-distance technique again. The estimate has appeared in many sources that this raid set back the V-2 experimental programme by at least 2 months and reduced the scale of the eventual rocket attack. The V-2 team had to hastily move their testing facilities elsewhere. The Master Bomber became a common feature of large-scale raids from this time on.
The United States Army Air Forces
operated a similar force within the Eighth Air Force
for "blind-bombing" through overcast on daylight missions using H2X radar
-equipped bombers, for which it also used the terms "Pathfinder" and "PFF" as well as "master bomber".
There was rivalry between 8 Group and 5 Group
, and was driven by the personal rivalry between Bennett and the leader of 5 Group, Sir Ralph Cochrane
. Through the CO of 617 Squadron Leonard Cheshire
, Cochrane was an advocate of precision low level marking, and lobbied heavily to be allowed to prove the theory, and that 5 Group could attempt targets and techniques that 8 Group would not.
Cheshire personally marked targets using first a high speed medium bomber, the Mosquito, then later a Mustang fighter bomber. 617 Squadron
achieved high levels of accuracy using the Stabilizing Automatic Bomb Sight
; with the necessary accuracy
of only 94 yards (86 m) at the V Weapon launch site at Abbeville
. 5 Group also invented various techniques, such as the "5 Group corkscrew" to evade enemy fighters, and the "quick landing system".
Under 8 Group, the number of Mosquito squadrons was built up. These were used for harassing raids on Germany.
To the two (Oboe
-equipped) Mosquito squadrons already in Pathfinder Force added a third (No. 139) in June 1943 which Bennett intended to use for diversionary raids to draw the German nightfighters away from the Main Force.
In February 1944, an entirely Mosquito raid was successfully carried out against Düsseldorf. It was formed of the usual marker aircraft from 105 Squadron, 692 Squadron Mosquitos each carrying a single 4,000 lb "cookie"
The Mosquito was able to carry these bombs, a larger bombload over the same distance than the USAAF's Flying Fortress, to Berlin and regularly did and backup aircraft with 500 lb delayed action bombs.
With Harris' support, Bennett formed more Mosquito squadrons to expand the LNSF; giving him 9 bomber squadrons as well as the Oboe-equipped markers and 8 Group's own meteorological Mosquitos.
Over two years, the LNSF achieved 27,239 sorties. Their best month was March 1945 with nearly 3,000. This was achieved for the loss of just under 200 aircraft lost on operations or "damaged beyond repair".
The PFF flew a total of 50,490 individual sorties against some 3,440 targets. At least 3,727 members were killed on operations.
"Finders"; these were 8 Group aircraft tasked with dropping sticks of illuminating flares, firstly at critical points along the bombing route to aid navigation and keep the bomber stream compact, and then across the approximate target area. If conditions were cloudy then these were dropped "blind" using H2S navigational radar.
"Illuminators"; were PFF aircraft flying in front of the main force who would drop markers or target indicators (TIs) onto the designated 'aiming point' already illuminated by the "Finders". Again, if conditions were cloudy H2S navigational radar was used. These TIs were designed to burn with various and varying colours to prevent the German defenses lighting decoy fires. Various TI's were dubbed "Pink Pansies", "Red Spots", and "Smoke Puffs". "Illuminators" could include Mosquitoes equipped with "Oboe
" if the target was within the range of this bombing aid.
"Markers"; would then drop incendiaries onto the TIs just prior to the Main Force arrival. Further "Markers" called "Backers-Up" or "Supporters" would be distributed at points within the main bomber stream to remark or reinforce the original TIs as required.
As the war wore on, the role of "Master Bomber" was introduced. This was an idea that had been used by Guy Gibson
in the Dam Busters raid
. Bennett wanted to lead raids but was denied operational flying as Harris was not prepared to risk losing him. The appointed Pathfinder (usually an experienced senior officer) circled the target, broadcasting radio instructions to both Pathfinders and Main Force aircraft, correcting aiming points and generally co-ordinating the attack.
system was used to determine the release point then the word "Musical" was used as a prefix, eg. "Musical Parramatta".
Parramatta
Newhaven
Wanganui
In all cases, further target Indicators would be dropped in the course of the raid to reinforce the marking and to compensate for earlier TIs either burning out or being extinguished by the bombing.
Candles and other pyrotechnics were used as the fillings for the various Target Indicator bombs.
83, 97 and 627 Squadrons were passed to 5 Group in April 1944
Stations
Elite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
squadrons
Squadron (aviation)
A squadron in air force, army aviation or naval aviation is mainly a unit comprising a number of military aircraft, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force...
in RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. They located and marked targets with flare
Flare (pyrotechnic)
A flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
s, which a main bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
force could aim at, increasing the accuracy of their bombing. The Pathfinders were normally the first to receive new blind bombing aids like Gee
GEE (navigation)
Gee was the code name given to a radio navigation system used by the Royal Air Force during World War II.Different sources record the name as GEE or Gee. The naming supposedly comes from "Grid", so the lower case form is more correct, and is the form used in Drippy's publications. See Drippy 1946....
, Oboe
Oboe (navigation)
Oboe was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology. Oboe accurately measured the distance to an aircraft, and gave the pilot guidance on whether or not they were flying along a pre-selected circular route. The route was only 35 yards...
and the H2S radar
H2S radar
H2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed in Britain in World War II for the Royal Air Force and was used in various RAF bomber aircraft from 1943 to the 1990s. It was designed to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing...
.
The early Pathfinder Force (PFF) was expanded to form a groupA group within the RAF contained from 6 to 10 flying squadrons No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group in January 1943.There had been an "No 8 (Bomber) Group" between 1 September 1941 and 28 January 1942 While the majority of Pathfinder squadrons and personnel were from the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, the group also included many from the air forces of other Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
countries.
Background
At the start of the war RAF Bomber CommandRAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
's doctrine was based on tight formations of heavily armed bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s attacking during daylight and fending off attacks by fighters with their defensive guns. In early missions over France and the Low Countries there was no clear outcome on the success of the bomber's guns, as lacking radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
, Luftwaffe interception efforts were disorganized. On 18 December 1939, a force of three Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
squadrons attacked ships in the Heligoland Bight
Heligoland Bight
The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river...
and were detected on an experimental Freya radar
Freya radar
Freya was an early warning radar deployed by Germany during World War II, named after the Norse Goddess Freyja. During the war over a thousand stations were built. A naval version operating on a slightly different wavelength was also developed as Seetakt...
long before they reached the target area. Well aware of their approach, the force was met by fighters which shot down 10 of the 22 bombers, with another two crashing in the sea and three more written off on landing. In shooting down the 15 bombers, the Luftwaffe lost only 2 fighters in return.
Although the causes for this disastrous outcome were heavily debated, it became clear that the pre-war doctrine was not sustainable. Bombing raids either needed to have fighter escort, which was difficult given the range, or had to attack at night when the enemy fighters could not see them. In the era before the widespread use of radar, and especially the techniques needed to guide fighters to their targets even with radar, night bombing would render the bombers vulnerable only if they were picked up by searchlight
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...
s, a relatively rare occurrence. In fact, night bombing had been the primary doctrine of the RAF in the early 1930s for exactly this reason, but the introduction of much larger aircraft like the Wellington led to a reevaluation of this policy.
Offsetting this improvement was the understanding that identifying the targets and attacking them accurately would be much more difficult. This meant a night bomber force was only useful against very large targets, like cities, and was one of the reasons daylight bombing was considered. The Germans had also studied this problem and had invested considerable effort in radio navigation
Radio navigation
Radio navigation or radionavigation is the application of radio frequencies to determine a position on the Earth. Like radiolocation, it is a type of radiodetermination.The basic principles are measurements from/to electric beacons, especially...
techniques to address this, demonstrating bombing accuracies that daylight forces found difficult. The RAF, having ignored the issue for a number of years, lacked suitable navigation systems, relying almost entirely on dead reckoning
Dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course...
and optical instruments like Course Setting Bomb Sight
Course Setting Bomb Sight
The Course Setting Bomb Sight is the canonical "vector" bombsight, the first practical system for properly accounting for the effects of wind during the dropping of bombs...
. In limited visibility or lacking a target of relatively high contrast, accurate bombing would be very difficult.
Bomber Command pressed ahead with a night bombing campaign starting in 1940. Bomber crews reported good results, turning for home if they lost their way or could not find the target due to weather, and pressing on only if they felt confident they could identify the target with certainty. However, it was not long before reports started reaching the UK from observers on the ground reporting that the bombers were never even heard over the targets, let alone dropping the bombs nearby. At first these reports were dismissed, but as other branches of the UK armed forces complained, a report was commissioned to answer the question.
The result was the Butt Report
Butt Report
The Butt Report was a report prepared during World War II which revealed the widespread failure of bombers to deliver their payloads to the correct target....
of 18 August 1941, which among its blunt conclusions was the observation that by the time they reached the Rhur, only 1 in 10 aircraft ever flew within five miles of its target. Half of all the bombs carried into combat and dropped - many returned undropped - fell in open country. Only 1% of all the bombs were even in the vicinity of the target. Clearly something had to be done to address this, or as the other forces suggested, the strategic campaign should simply be dropped. Instead, Frederick Lindemann
Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell
Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell FRS PC CH was an English physicist who was an influential scientific adviser to the British government, particularly Winston Churchill...
wrote an infamous report on dehousing
Dehousing
On 30 March 1942 Professor Frederick Lindemann, Baron Cherwell, the British government's chief scientific adviser, sent to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a memorandum which after it had become accepted by the Cabinet became known as the dehousing paper.Also known as the "dehousing...
, suggesting that the bomber force be directed against German urban areas, destroying as many houses as possible and thus rendering the German workforce unable to work effectively.
By 1940 the British had also started development of a number of similar aids, and was already testing the Gee
GEE (navigation)
Gee was the code name given to a radio navigation system used by the Royal Air Force during World War II.Different sources record the name as GEE or Gee. The naming supposedly comes from "Grid", so the lower case form is more correct, and is the form used in Drippy's publications. See Drippy 1946....
hyperbolic navigation
Hyperbolic navigation
Hyperbolic navigation refers to a class of radio navigation systems based on the difference in timing between the reception of two signals, without reference to a common clock. Calculating the distance from the stations based on these timings produces a series of hyperbolic lines...
system on combat missions. These would be available in quantity in early 1942, just as the first of the new "heavies" (the Avro Lancaster
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
and Handley Page Halifax
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
) would be arriving in quantity. Accepting Lindemann's arguments after intense debate, plans began for a major offensive staring in the spring of 1942 with the express aim of destroying German cities.
Formation
Faced with exactly the same problems as the RAF, the Luftwaffe had developed radio aids that were widely used during The BlitzThe Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
of 1940/41. Lacking enough equipment to install in all their aircraft, a single experimental group, Kampfgruppe 100, was given all available receivers and trained extensively on their use. KG100 would fly over their target using these systems and drop flares, which the following aircraft would then bomb on. On rare occasions KG100 was used as a pure bombing force, demonstrating the ability to drop bombs within 150 yards of their targets in any weather.
The same problem of supply faced Bomber Command, who expected to have only 300 Gee sets available by January 1942, all of them hand-built examples. Mass produced models were not expected until May. As it turned out, both predictions proved optimistic. An obvious solution to the Bomber Command's problems would be to simply copy the German technique of placing all available sets in a lead force. This was first proposed by Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
S. O. Bufton
Sidney Osborne Bufton
Air Vice Marshal Sidney Osborne Bufton CB, DFC was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the middle part of the 20th century. He played a major part in establishing the Pathfinder project, over the objections of Arthur Harris.-RAF career:Bufton joined the Royal Air Force in 1927...
. Bomber Command's commander-in-chief Arthur "Bomber" Harris disliked Bufton and argued against the idea, with the backing of the majority of his Group commanders. His view was that an elite group would breed rivalry and jealousy, and have an adverse effect on morale. His personal preference was for competition within groups to deliver improved bombing. Sir Henry Tizard
Henry Tizard
Sir Henry Thomas Tizard FRS was an English chemist and inventor and past Rector of Imperial College....
, advisor and one of the chief scientists supporting the war effort, said, however, "I do not think the formation of a first XV at rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
makes little boys play any less enthusiastically."
Studying the German results, notably reports by R. V. Jones
R. v. Jones
R. v. Jones, [1986] 2 S.C.R. 284 is an early leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on the freedom of religion under section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the right to security of person under section 7.-Background:...
, convinced the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
that the technique was sound, and they overrode Harris' objections and forced the matter. Harris responded by suggesting the pathfinders be distributed among the squadrons, but again his objections were overruled, as this would not produce the desired result of having the targets clear marked in advance of the arrival of the main force. A dedicated 8 Group
No. 8 Group RAF
No. 8 Group RAF was a Royal Air Force group which existed during the final year of World War I and during World War II.-Formation in World War II:...
was formed up in August 1942 by tranferring existing squadrons from the Bomber Command groups to make up the "Path Finder Force" (PFF). The Force initially comprised five squadrons - one from each of the operational Bomber Command Groups: No. 1 Group contributed No. 156 Squadron RAF
No. 156 Squadron RAF
No. 156 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was active as a bomber unit in World War II.-Formation and World War I:No. 156 Squadron Royal Air Force was first formed on 12 October 1918 at RAF Wyton and equipped with DH 9 aircraft, but was disbanded on 9 December 1918 without becoming...
(equipped with the Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
medium bomber), No. 2 Group No. 109 Squadron RAF
No. 109 Squadron RAF
No. 109 Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. It operated Wellington VIs.-History:The squadron first formed on 1 November 1917 as 109 Squadron Royal Flying Corps at South Carlton in 1917 operating the de Havilland DH.9 until it was disbanded on 19 August...
- then "special duties" - (Wellingtons and Mosquitoes), No. 3 Group No. 7 Squadron RAF
No. 7 Squadron RAF
No. 7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire.-Formation and early years:No. 7 Squadron was formed at Farnborough Airfield on 1 May 1914 as the last squadron of the RFC to be formed before the First World War, but has been disbanded and reformed...
(Short Stirling
Short Stirling
The Short Stirling was the first four-engined British heavy bomber of the Second World War. The Stirling was designed and built by Short Brothers to an Air Ministry specification from 1936, and entered service in 1941...
heavy bombers), No. 4 Group No. 35 Squadron RAF (Handley Page Halifax
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
) and No. 5 Group No. 83 Squadron RAF
No. 83 Squadron RAF
No. 83 Squadron RAF was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force squadron active from 1917 until 1969. It was operative during both World War I and World War II.-Establishment and early service:...
(Avro Lancaster
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
). 8 Group was commanded by an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n officer, Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett
Don Bennett
Air Vice Marshal Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett CB CBE DSO RAF was an Australian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest Air Vice-Marshal in the Royal Air Force. He led the "Pathfinder Force" from 1942 to the end of the Second World War in 1945...
. Bennett was to be the youngest officer promoted to RAF Air Vice Marshal, at the age of 33, in 1943. His awards included Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, CBE, and Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, DSO. However, Bennett was not the first choice—Harris opposed the first choice of the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
, Basil Embry
Basil Embry
Air Chief Marshal Sir Basil Edward Embry GCB, KBE, DSO & Three Bars, DFC, AFC, RAF, was a senior Royal Air Force commander...
, the young leader of 2 Group
No. 2 Group RAF
Number 2 Group is a Group of the Royal Air Force which was first activated in 1918, served from 1918–20, from 1936 through the Second World War to 1947, from 1948 to 1958, from 1993 to 1996, was reactivated in 2000, and is today part of Air Command....
.
The squadrons were located on adjacent airfields within No. 3 Group at Oakington, Gravely, Wyton and Warboys. No. 3 Group was responsible for the Force administratively though it was under the direct command of Harris.
Early action
The PFF was first put into action on the night of 18/19 August 1942, when 118 Bomber Command aircraft attacked Flensberg. PFF bombers were the first 31 aircraft of the raid, including Stirlings, Halifaxes, Lancaster's and Wellington's - from No. 7, 35, 83 and 156 squadrons. Flensburg, on an inlet of the Baltic, was in theory an easy target for the PFF on their first operation, but the winds shifted and the bomber force drifted north of the target to a part of Denmark whose coast also had many inlets. 16 PFF crews claimed to have marked the target area and 78 Main Force crews claimed to have bombed it. Reports from Flensburg stated that the town had not been hit at all, but a Danish report showed that the towns of Sønderborg and Abenra and a large area of Denmark up to 25 miles north of Flensburg were hit by scattered bombing. 26 houses were destroyed and 660 were damaged but only 4 Danish people were injured. The raid was a dismal failure. This was much to the delight of both Harris and other detractors of the strategic force as a whole.The PFF's second mission was against Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
on the night of 24/25 August. The group once again had great difficulty identifying their target in cloudy conditions, and most of the bombs fell in open country north and west of Frankfurt. Local reports stated that some bombs fell in the city, with 17 large and 53 small fires and with moderate property damage. 5 people were killed, including 2 Flak gunners, and 95 people were injured. The outlying villages of Schwalbach and Eschborn were heavily bombed. 6 Lancasters, 5 Wellingtons, 4 Stirlings, 1 Halifax were lost, 7.1 per cent of the force. 5 Pathfinder aircraft, including that of the commanding officer of 7 Squadron, were among the losses.
The PFF finally proved itself on the night of 27/28 August 1942 against Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
. There was little cloud over the city, and the Pathfinders were able to illuminate the area well. Widespread damage was caused, particularly in the south-western parts of the city. Kassel reported that 144 buildings were destroyed and 317 seriously damaged. Several military establishments were hit and 28 soldiers were killed, more than the civilians roll of 15. 187 civilians and 64 soldiers were injured. Among the buildings severely damaged were all three of the factories of the Henschel aircraft company. Of the 306 aircraft attacking the target, 31 were lost, 10.1 percent of the force.
The next night the PFF operated against Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
as part of a force of 159 aircraft. Crews were ordered to attack Nuremberg at low altitude, and the PFF used new target illuminators adapted from 250lb bomb casings. Photographs showed that these were placed with great accuracy and the crews of the Main Force claimed to have carried out a good attack. However, a report from Nuremberg stated that some bombs were dropped as far away as the town of Erlangen, nearly 10 miles to the north, and 4 people were killed there. In Nuremberg itself, the number of bombs recorded would indicate that approximately 50 aircraft hit the town. 137 people were killed; 126 civilians and 11 foreigners. 23 bombers were shot down, 14.5% of the force. Most of these were Wellingtons, who lost 34% of their number.
On 1/2 September 1942 the PFF illuminated Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
as part of a 231 aircraft force, but post-raid analysis showed this to be Saarlouis
Saarlouis
Saarlouis is a city in the Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2006, the town had a population of 38,327. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located at the river Saar....
, 13 miles to the north and situated on a similar bend in the river. The next night a force of 200 bombers were led by accurate marking in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, and the raid was considered a great success, with estimated 200 fires were seen burning. Reconnaissance photographs showed much residential and some industrial damage. A very short report from Karlsruhe says only that 73 people were killed and that 3 public buildings in the city centre were hit.
Improved technique
As the PFF gained proficiency, new problems had become clear. Many bombers in the Main Force lost their way to the target and either bombed randomly or turned for home. Another problem was that the illuminators would go out before the raid was complete, leaving the following aircraft to bomb on visible fires, if there were any. This led to the problem of "creepbackCreepback
Creepback is the tendency of bomber aircraft using optical bombsights to release their weapons aimed at target markers before time, leading to a gradual spread backwards along the bombing path of the concentration of bombing...
", when the newly arriving bombers would drop their bombs on the near side of the fire so they could turn for home earlier. This led to subsequent bombs slowly walking backward along the attack vector, away from the target.
To address these problems the PFF adopted new techniques. Their force was split into three groups for each raid. The "illuminators" would drop white target illuminators at points along the attack vector, allowing aircraft to follow these markers over long distances and thus avoid getting lost en-route. The "visual markers" would drop coloured target indicators on the target, but only if they were sure it had been identified. Finally the "backers-up" or "fire starters" used the visual markers' flares as the aim point for their own incendiary bombs to light fires in the proper location, which would burn longer than the flares.
The new technique was first employed on 4/5 September 1942 on a raid of 251 aircraft against Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
. The weather was clear and the PFF marked the target correctly, with the majority of the following Main Force finding the target and bombing it. The results were considerable, with post-raid analysis showing that 460 houses had been destroyed, 1,361 seriously damaged, and 7,592 lightly damaged. Added to this list were hundreds of light and medium industrial buildings, including the Weser aircraft works and the Atlas shipyard and associated warehouses. The raid was a complete success.
Another improvement followed with the conversion of larger bomb casings for the target indicators, starting with the "Pink Pansy" in an adapted 4,000 lb casing. Using these for the first time on the night of 10/11 September, 479 aircraft attacked Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
and caused enormous damage. In addition to thousands of houses destroyed or heavily damaged, 39 industrial firms in Düsseldorf and 13 in Neuss were damaged so much that all production ceased, and 19,427 people were "bombed out".
German counterefforts
The Germans were well aware of the RAF's target marking, and quickly deduced the basic strategy was a copy of their own from 1940/41. German intelligence reports from later in the war show a wealth of information on the PFF. On the night of 15/16 October 1942 on a raid by 289 aircraft against CologneCologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, the Germans lit a decoy target indicator that received the majority of the Main Force's bombs. Only 1 4,000 lb, 3 smaller General Purpose, and 210 incendiary bombs hit the town, of a force of almost 70,000 bombs in total.
Follow-up efforts during Octover and November were mostly small raids, including a number against cities in Italy. Weather and operational problems meant that raids though out this period were limited and of greatly varied results.
New systems, increasing tempo
On 20/21 December 1942, H. E. Bufton personally led a force of 6 deHaviland Mosquitoes on a raid against a power station at Lutterade, a small town in Holland. Led entirely by the new OboeOboe (navigation)
Oboe was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology. Oboe accurately measured the distance to an aircraft, and gave the pilot guidance on whether or not they were flying along a pre-selected circular route. The route was only 35 yards...
navigation system, several bombs fell within 2 km of the target. The test was considered a success. A follow-up under more realistic conditions was carried out on the night of 31 December 1942/1 January 1943 against Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, with 2 Mosquitoes leading a force of 8 Lancasters. Only one of the Oboes worked, but that was enough for the following heavies to bomb on and hit a number of industrial building. Another mission by 3 Mosquitoes attacked the German night-fighter control room at Florennes airfield in Belgium, but there was complete cloud cover and the results were not known. It was clear by this point, after less than six months, that the PFF concept was a great advance.
Picked crews from the bomber groups were allowed to transfer and the PFF soon expanded into a completely new Group - No. 8 (PFF) in January 1943. In April 1943 the group's strength was increased by two squadrons, with No. 405 (RCAF) Squadron, flying Halifaxes and No. 97 Squadron, flying Lancasters. In June the Pathfinders gained two more squadrons - Nos. 105 and 139 Squadrons, both of which were flying Mosquitos from RAF Marham
RAF Marham
Royal Air Force Station Marham, more commonly known as RAF Marham, is a Royal Air Force station; a military airbase, near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia....
. Later in the month Pathfinder HQ moved from RAF Wyton
RAF Wyton
RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England.In terms of organisation RAF Wyton is now part of the combined station RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow, a merger of Wyton with two previously separate bases, RAF Brampton and RAF Henlow. Wyton is the largest of the three. It...
to Castle Hill House in Huntingdon
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...
. When new aircraft, such as the de Havilland Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
became available, the PFF got the first ones, and then equipped them with ever more sophisticated electronic equipment, such as Oboe
Oboe (navigation)
Oboe was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology. Oboe accurately measured the distance to an aircraft, and gave the pilot guidance on whether or not they were flying along a pre-selected circular route. The route was only 35 yards...
, the radio navigation
Radio navigation
Radio navigation or radionavigation is the application of radio frequencies to determine a position on the Earth. Like radiolocation, it is a type of radiodetermination.The basic principles are measurements from/to electric beacons, especially...
and bombing aid.
By January the pace of Bomber Command missions had dramatically increased, with major raids being carried out almost every day. On 11/12 February 1943 against Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
, the PFF used their H2S radar
H2S radar
H2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed in Britain in World War II for the Royal Air Force and was used in various RAF bomber aircraft from 1943 to the 1990s. It was designed to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing...
for the first time, dropping parachute flares above the heavy cloud cover in a technique known as "sky marking". The follow-up force observed an incredible event, a huge explosion seen through the complete cloud cover that lingered for 10 minutes. It was later learned this was the explosion of the naval ammunition depot at Mariensiel, which destroyed 120 acres. Mission size continued to grow throughout, and although many missions continued to mark the wrong targets or fail for other reasons, the damage being caused continued to increase. On one particularly successful raid against Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
on 5/6 March 1943, 160 acres of land were destroyed with 53 separate buildings within the Krupps works hit by bombs.
Master bomber
On the night of 20/21 June 1943 another change in technique was tested by 60 Lancasters (mostly from 5 Group) against Zeppelin works at FriedrichshafenFriedrichshafen
This article is about a German town. For the Danish town, see Frederikshavn, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria.It is the district capital of the...
which were believed to be making radar. In this raid one of the Lancasters was equipped with new high-frequency radio equipment that allowed them to communicate with the other bombers in the attack force. The follow-up force consisted of several groups, including PFF aircraft, who marked the target based on radio instructions from what would become known as "the Master Bomber". Another group of aircraft were to attempt a new technique, bombing at a specific time after passing a ground feature, in this case the shores of Lake Constance. Nearly 10% of the bombs hit the factory in what was considered a great success.
A combination of these techniques was first used on a large raid to great success on the night of 17/18 August 1943 in Operation Hydra against German rocket research at Peenemünde
Peenemünde
The Peenemünde Army Research Center was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the Army Weapons Office ....
. 596 aircraft were led by a Master Bomber to a series of target indicators dropped at several different locations around the target area. By dropping different colours of indicators and calling aircraft to attack each one in turn, the entire area was heavily bombed. The aircraft from No.5 Group used their time-and-distance technique again. The estimate has appeared in many sources that this raid set back the V-2 experimental programme by at least 2 months and reduced the scale of the eventual rocket attack. The V-2 team had to hastily move their testing facilities elsewhere. The Master Bomber became a common feature of large-scale raids from this time on.
The United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
operated a similar force within the Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
for "blind-bombing" through overcast on daylight missions using H2X radar
H2X radar
H2X radar was an American development of the British H2S radar, the first ground mapping radar to be used in combat. It was used by the USAAF during World War II as a navigation system for daylight overcast and nighttime operations...
-equipped bombers, for which it also used the terms "Pathfinder" and "PFF" as well as "master bomber".
Rivalry in Bomber Command
Although the AOCs of the Groups had been mixed in their enthusiasm for the Pathfinder Force, they generally supported it. AVM Roderic Carr (4 Grp) was opposed to its creation but had identified Bennett (10 Sqn was in 4 Grp) as the sort of person suitable for the job and passed over a squadron of Halifax heavy bombers.AVm Coryton had been a greater opponent but supplied a squadron of the new Avro Lancasters.There was rivalry between 8 Group and 5 Group
No. 5 Group RAF
No. 5 Group was a Royal Air Force bomber group of the Second World War, led during the latter part by AVM Sir Ralph Cochrane.-History:The Group was formed on 1 September 1937 with headquarters at RAF Mildenhall....
, and was driven by the personal rivalry between Bennett and the leader of 5 Group, Sir Ralph Cochrane
Ralph Cochrane
Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph Alexander Cochrane, GBE, KCB, AFC, RAF was a British pilot and Royal Air Force officer, perhaps best known for his role in Operation Chastise, the famous "Dambusters" raid....
. Through the CO of 617 Squadron Leonard Cheshire
Leonard Cheshire
Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire, VC, OM, DSO and Two Bars, DFC was a highly decorated British RAF pilot during the Second World War....
, Cochrane was an advocate of precision low level marking, and lobbied heavily to be allowed to prove the theory, and that 5 Group could attempt targets and techniques that 8 Group would not.
Cheshire personally marked targets using first a high speed medium bomber, the Mosquito, then later a Mustang fighter bomber. 617 Squadron
No. 617 Squadron RAF
No. 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. It currently operates the Tornado GR4 in the ground attack and reconnaissance role...
achieved high levels of accuracy using the Stabilizing Automatic Bomb Sight
Stabilizing Automatic Bomb Sight
The Stabilized Automatic Bomb Sight was a tachometric bombsight introduced into operational service by the Royal Air Force in 1943 during World War II. Hand-made throughout its lifetime, the SABS was produced in very small numbers and used only in specialist roles...
; with the necessary accuracy
Circular error probable
In the military science of ballistics, circular error probable is an intuitive measure of a weapon system's precision...
of only 94 yards (86 m) at the V Weapon launch site at Abbeville
Abbeville
Abbeville is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Location:Abbeville is located on the Somme River, from its modern mouth in the English Channel, and northwest of Amiens...
. 5 Group also invented various techniques, such as the "5 Group corkscrew" to evade enemy fighters, and the "quick landing system".
Light Night Striking Force
The Light Night Striking Force was an outgrowth of the Pathfinder Force use of the Mosquito bomber. Both fast and long-ranged it could carry a sizeable bombload.Under 8 Group, the number of Mosquito squadrons was built up. These were used for harassing raids on Germany.
To the two (Oboe
Oboe (navigation)
Oboe was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology. Oboe accurately measured the distance to an aircraft, and gave the pilot guidance on whether or not they were flying along a pre-selected circular route. The route was only 35 yards...
-equipped) Mosquito squadrons already in Pathfinder Force added a third (No. 139) in June 1943 which Bennett intended to use for diversionary raids to draw the German nightfighters away from the Main Force.
In February 1944, an entirely Mosquito raid was successfully carried out against Düsseldorf. It was formed of the usual marker aircraft from 105 Squadron, 692 Squadron Mosquitos each carrying a single 4,000 lb "cookie"
Blockbuster bomb
Blockbuster or "cookie" was the name given to several of the largest conventional bombs used in World War II by the Royal Air Force...
The Mosquito was able to carry these bombs, a larger bombload over the same distance than the USAAF's Flying Fortress, to Berlin and regularly did and backup aircraft with 500 lb delayed action bombs.
With Harris' support, Bennett formed more Mosquito squadrons to expand the LNSF; giving him 9 bomber squadrons as well as the Oboe-equipped markers and 8 Group's own meteorological Mosquitos.
Over two years, the LNSF achieved 27,239 sorties. Their best month was March 1945 with nearly 3,000. This was achieved for the loss of just under 200 aircraft lost on operations or "damaged beyond repair".
The PFF flew a total of 50,490 individual sorties against some 3,440 targets. At least 3,727 members were killed on operations.
Tactics
The proportion of Pathfinder aircraft to Main Force bombers could vary according to the difficulty and location of the assigned target; 1 to 15 was common, though it could be as low as 1 to 3. By the start of 1944, the bulk of Bomber Command was bombing within 3 miles of the PFF indicators; an appreciable improvement in accuracy since 1942. The success or failure of a raid now largely depended on the Pathfinder's marker placement and how successfully further marking was corrected.Individual tasks
PFF crews found themselves given ever increasingly sophisticated and complex jobs and tasks that were constantly modified and developed tactically during the bombing campaign from 1943 until the end of the war. Some of the more usual tasks were as:"Finders"; these were 8 Group aircraft tasked with dropping sticks of illuminating flares, firstly at critical points along the bombing route to aid navigation and keep the bomber stream compact, and then across the approximate target area. If conditions were cloudy then these were dropped "blind" using H2S navigational radar.
"Illuminators"; were PFF aircraft flying in front of the main force who would drop markers or target indicators (TIs) onto the designated 'aiming point' already illuminated by the "Finders". Again, if conditions were cloudy H2S navigational radar was used. These TIs were designed to burn with various and varying colours to prevent the German defenses lighting decoy fires. Various TI's were dubbed "Pink Pansies", "Red Spots", and "Smoke Puffs". "Illuminators" could include Mosquitoes equipped with "Oboe
Oboe (navigation)
Oboe was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology. Oboe accurately measured the distance to an aircraft, and gave the pilot guidance on whether or not they were flying along a pre-selected circular route. The route was only 35 yards...
" if the target was within the range of this bombing aid.
"Markers"; would then drop incendiaries onto the TIs just prior to the Main Force arrival. Further "Markers" called "Backers-Up" or "Supporters" would be distributed at points within the main bomber stream to remark or reinforce the original TIs as required.
As the war wore on, the role of "Master Bomber" was introduced. This was an idea that had been used by Guy Gibson
Guy Gibson
Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, RAF , was the first CO of the Royal Air Force's 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam Busters" raid in 1943, resulting in the destruction of two large dams in the Ruhr area...
in the Dam Busters raid
Operation Chastise
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis...
. Bennett wanted to lead raids but was denied operational flying as Harris was not prepared to risk losing him. The appointed Pathfinder (usually an experienced senior officer) circled the target, broadcasting radio instructions to both Pathfinders and Main Force aircraft, correcting aiming points and generally co-ordinating the attack.
Types of marking
Three types of target marking were developed by the Pathfinders. These were known by the codenames Parramatta, Wanganui and Newhaven - the names coming from locations in Australia, New Zealand and the UK which had links with Pathfinder staff. If the OboeOboe (navigation)
Oboe was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology. Oboe accurately measured the distance to an aircraft, and gave the pilot guidance on whether or not they were flying along a pre-selected circular route. The route was only 35 yards...
system was used to determine the release point then the word "Musical" was used as a prefix, eg. "Musical Parramatta".
Parramatta
- Parramatta used navigation aids such as H2S radar or Oboe radio signals to drop the markers.
Newhaven
- Newhaven used illumination flares dropped above the target area to light it up sufficiently for a visual marking by the Pathfinder aircraft.
Wanganui
- Wanganui was used when the target was obscured by cloud, industrial haze, or a smoke screen. Oboe or H2S was used to release the markers over the unseen target. The target indicators used were on parachutes to give an aiming point that could be seen by the main force. This was also known as "sky marking".
In all cases, further target Indicators would be dropped in the course of the raid to reinforce the marking and to compensate for earlier TIs either burning out or being extinguished by the bombing.
Equipment
For marking the Pathfinders used a number of special "Target Indicator" (TI) markers and bombs. These ejected coloured flares or illuminated the target.- Candle Aircraft, TI, Bomb, Type H
- the candle was the basic indicator. About 2 feet long by about 2 inches in diameter, it ejected flare pellets (that burned for 15 seconds) sequentially. The type H was filled with alternately coloured pellets (red/yellow or red/green or yellow/green) and illuminated for about 5 1/2 minutes in total
Candles and other pyrotechnics were used as the fillings for the various Target Indicator bombs.
- No. 1 Mk 1 TI Bomb
- No. 7 Mk 1 Multi-flash Bomb
- No. 8 Mk 1 Spotfire Bomb
Squadrons and stations
Between 1942 and 1945- No. 7 Squadron RAFNo. 7 Squadron RAFNo. 7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire.-Formation and early years:No. 7 Squadron was formed at Farnborough Airfield on 1 May 1914 as the last squadron of the RFC to be formed before the First World War, but has been disbanded and reformed...
- Stirling, then Lancaster - No. 35 Squadron RAF - Halifax, then Lancaster
- No. 83 Squadron RAFNo. 83 Squadron RAFNo. 83 Squadron RAF was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force squadron active from 1917 until 1969. It was operative during both World War I and World War II.-Establishment and early service:...
- Lancaster - No. 97 Squadron RAFNo. 97 Squadron RAFNo. 97 Squadron, was a Royal Air Force squadron formed on December 1, 1917 at Waddington, Lincolnshire, first as a training unit, until moving to Netheravon in March 1918, and re-equipping with the Handley Page O/400 heavy bomber. The squadron served in France for the remainder of the war...
- Lancaster - No. 105 Squadron RAFNo. 105 Squadron RAFNo. 105 Squadron was a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force, active for three periods between 1917 and 1969. It was originally established during the First World War as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and disbanded after the war. Reactivated shortly before the Second World War, it was...
- Mosquito - No. 109 Squadron RAFNo. 109 Squadron RAFNo. 109 Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. It operated Wellington VIs.-History:The squadron first formed on 1 November 1917 as 109 Squadron Royal Flying Corps at South Carlton in 1917 operating the de Havilland DH.9 until it was disbanded on 19 August...
- Wellington, then Mosquito - Oboe - No. 128 Squadron RAFNo. 128 Squadron RAFNo. 128 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed to be a day bomber unit in World War I and reformed as a fighter unit in World War II.-Formation and World War I:No...
- Mosquito formed 1944 - No. 139 Squadron RAFNo. 139 Squadron RAFNo. 139 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was fighter unit in World War I and a bomber unit from World War II until the 1960s.-Formation and World War I:...
- Mosquito - No. 142 Squadron RAFNo. 142 Squadron RAF-History:No. 142 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at RFC Ismailia, Egypt in 1918, flying a mixed bag of reconnaissance and bomber aircraft. On the formation of the Royal Air Force, on 1 April 1918, 142 Squadron was at RFC Julis in Palestine, becoming No. 142 Squadron RAF...
- Mosquito formed 1944 - No. 156 Squadron RAFNo. 156 Squadron RAFNo. 156 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was active as a bomber unit in World War II.-Formation and World War I:No. 156 Squadron Royal Air Force was first formed on 12 October 1918 at RAF Wyton and equipped with DH 9 aircraft, but was disbanded on 9 December 1918 without becoming...
- Wellington, then Lancaster - No. 162 Squadron RAFNo. 162 Squadron RAFNo. 162 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a radio jamming/calibration and light bomber unit in World War II.-Formation and World War I:No...
- Mosquito formed 1944 - No. 163 Squadron RAFNo. 163 Squadron RAFNo. 163 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a communications and light bomber unit in World War II.-Formation and World War I:No...
- Mosquito formed 1945 - No. 405 Squadron RCAFNo. 405 Squadron RCAF405 Maritime Patrol Squadron is a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force within the Canadian Forces, initially formed as No. 405 Squadron RCAF during the Second World War.-World War II:...
- Halifax, then Lancaster - No. 571 Squadron RAFNo. 571 Squadron RAFNo. 571 Squadron RAF was a Second World War Royal Air Force pathfinder squadron operating the de Havilland Mosquito.-History:The squadron was formed on the 7 April 1944 at RAF Downham Market, Norfolk to operate the de Havilland Mosquito XVI as part of the No. 8 Group...
- Mosquito formed 1943 - No. 582 Squadron RAFNo. 582 Squadron RAFNo. 582 Squadron RAF was a bomber pathfinder squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.-History:The squadron was formed with Avro Lancasters on 1 April 1944 at RAF Little Staughton, Huntingdonshire, England, from 'C' Flight of 7 Squadron and 'C' Flight 156 Squadron. It was part of...
- Lancaster formed 1944 - No. 608 Squadron RAFNo. 608 Squadron RAFNo. 608 Squadron was an Auxiliary Air Force squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. It flew during its existence as a bomber, fighter and reconnaissance unit and was the only RAF squadron to be equipped with the unsuccessful Blackburn Botha torpedo bomber.-Formation and early years:...
- Mosquito formed 1944 - No. 627 Squadron RAFNo. 627 Squadron RAFNo. 627 Squadron was a Royal Air Force Mosquito aircraft pathfinder bomber squadron that operated during the Second World War.-History:The squadron was formed on 12 November 1943 at RAF Oakington from part of 139 Squadron. It was equipped with the de Havilland Mosquito twin-engined fighter-bomber...
- Mosquito formed 1943 - No. 635 Squadron RAFNo. 635 Squadron RAFNo. 635 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.-History:635 squadron was formed at RAF Downham Market in Norfolk on 20 March 1944 from two flights drawn from No. 35 Squadron and No. 97 Squadron, equipped with Lancaster Mk.I bombers, as part of...
- Lancaster formed 1944 - No. 692 Squadron RAFNo. 692 Squadron RAFNo. 692 Squadron RAF was a light bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.-History:The squadron was formed on 1 January 1944 at RAF Graveley, Huntingdonshire as a light bomber unit, equipped with Mosquito Mk.IV bombers, as part of the Light Night Striking Force of No. 8...
- Mosquito formed 1944
83, 97 and 627 Squadrons were passed to 5 Group in April 1944
Stations
- RAF Bourn
- RAF Downham MarketRAF Downham MarketRAF Downham Market was a Royal Air Force airfield in the west of the county of Norfolk in the United Kingdom which operated during the second half of World War II.-History:...
- RAF Gravely
- RAF Gransden Lodge
- RAF Little Staughton
- RAF MarhamRAF MarhamRoyal Air Force Station Marham, more commonly known as RAF Marham, is a Royal Air Force station; a military airbase, near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia....
- RAF OakingtonRAF OakingtonRAF Oakington was an RAF base situated in Cambridgeshire, England.Construction was started in 1939, but was affected by the outbreak of war, the original plan called for Type C hangars two type J were erected instead. It was used by No. 2 Group in July 1940 for No. 218 Squadron which had recently...
- RAF UpwoodRAF UpwoodRAF Upwood was a United States Air Force installation adjacent to the village of Upwood, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom.It is a non-flying station which was under the control of the United States Air Force, and one of three RAF stations in Cambridgeshire currently used by the United States...
- RAF WarboysRAF WarboysRAF Warboys was a World War II Royal Air Force heavy bomber station, situated just outside the village of Warboys in Huntingdonshire ....
- RAF WytonRAF WytonRAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England.In terms of organisation RAF Wyton is now part of the combined station RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow, a merger of Wyton with two previously separate bases, RAF Brampton and RAF Henlow. Wyton is the largest of the three. It...
Further reading
- Bennett, D.C.T.Don BennettAir Vice Marshal Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett CB CBE DSO RAF was an Australian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest Air Vice-Marshal in the Royal Air Force. He led the "Pathfinder Force" from 1942 to the end of the Second World War in 1945...
. Pathfinder. Goodall, 1988. ISBN 0907579574. - Stocker, Ted, DSO DFC. A Pathfinder's war. London: Grub Street, 2009. ISBN 1906502528.
External link
- Pathfinder Story - Part I - a 1946 FlightFlight InternationalFlight International is a global aerospace weekly publication produced in the UK. Founded in 1909, it is the world's oldest continuously published aviation news magazine...
article on the Pathfinders by the magazine's editor, Wing Commander Maurice A Smith, DFC. - Pathfinder Story - Part II