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The Pathfinders were target-marking squadrons in
RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. They located and marked targets with
flare A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, ...
s, which a main
bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
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 The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...
and the
H2S radar H2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed for the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command during World War II to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing. This allowed attacks outside the ran ...
. The early Pathfinder Force (PFF) squadrons was expanded to become a group, No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group in January 1943. The initial Pathfinder Force was five squadrons, while No. 8 Group ultimately grew to a strength of 19 squadrons. While the majority of Pathfinder squadrons and personnel were from the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, the group also included many from the air forces of other
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
countries.


History


Background

At the start of the war in September 1939,
RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...
's doctrine was based on tight formations of heavily armed
bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
s attacking during daylight and fending off attacks by fighters with their defensive guns. In early missions over France and the
Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
there was no clear outcome regarding the success of the bomber's guns: the
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
lacked widespread
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
so their interception efforts were disorganized. On 18 December 1939, a raid by three squadrons of
Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...
targeting ships in the
Heligoland Bight The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, (german: Helgoländer Bucht) 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. The Heligoland Bight extends f ...
was detected on an experimental
Freya radar Freya was an early warning radar deployed by Germany during World War II; it was 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 d ...
long before it reached the target area. The British bomber force was met by German fighters that shot down 10 of the 22 bombers, with another two crashing in the sea and three more written-off on landing. The Luftwaffe lost only two fighters in return. Although the causes for this disastrous outcome were heavily debated, it became clear that bomber forces could no longer defend themselves on their own. Bombing raids either needed to have fighter escort, which was difficult given the limited range of the fighters available at the time, or attacks had to be made at night when the enemy fighters could not see them. In the era before the widespread use of radar and the techniques needed to guide fighters to their targets with radar, night bombing would render the bombers vulnerable only if they were picked up by
searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
s, a relatively rare occurrence. Offsetting the advantages of night bombing 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 or radionavigation is the application of radio frequencies to determine a position of an object on the Earth, either the vessel or an obstruction. Like radiolocation, it is a type of radiodetermination. The basic principles a ...
techniques to address this, demonstrating a standard of bombing accuracy during the night raids that daylight forces found difficult. The RAF lacked similar navigation systems, having ignored their development for a number of years, and relied almost entirely on
dead reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. ...
and optical instruments such as the
Course Setting Bomb Sight The Course Setting Bomb Sight (CSBS) is the canonical ''vector'' bombsight, the first practical system for properly accounting for the effects of wind when dropping bombs. It is also widely referred to as the Wimperis sight after its inventor, H ...
. In limited visibility conditions or when the target did not have a clearly distinguishing landmark, accurate bombing was 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 their 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 The Butt Report, released on 18 August 1941, was a report prepared during World War II, revealing the widespread failure of RAF Bomber Command aircraft to hit their targets. At the start of the war, Bomber Command had no real means of determini ...
of 18 August 1941, which noted that by the time the aircraft reached the
Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
, only one in 10 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. Around this time
Frederick Lindemann Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, ( ; 5 April 18863 July 1957) was a British physicist who was prime scientific adviser to Winston Churchill in World War II. Lindemann was a brilliant intellectual, who cut through bureauc ...
wrote an infamous report on
dehousing Professor Frederick Lindemann, Baron Cherwell, the British government's chief scientific adviser, sent on 30 March 1942 to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a memorandum which, after it was accepted by the Cabinet, became known as the de ...
, 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. Accepting the recommendations of Lindemann's report after intense debate, the British began planning a major offensive starting in the spring of 1942 with the express aim of destroying German cities. Also, by 1940 the British had started development of a number of night navigation aids, and were 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 heavy bombers, the
Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
and
Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its or ...
, would be arriving in quantity. These technological developments dovetailed with the policy changes influenced by Lindemann's report.


Formation

Faced with the same navigation problems as the RAF, the Luftwaffe had developed radio aids that were widely used during their bombing campaign, the
Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
of 1940/41. Lacking enough equipment to install in all their aircraft, a single experimental group,
Kampfgruppe 100 ''Kampfgruppe'' 100 (KGr 100) was a specialist unit of the Luftwaffe during the early stages of World War II. It is best known as the first unit to use the "pathfinder" concept, with its aircraft being equipped with the latest radio navigation ai ...
, was given all available receivers and trained extensively on their use. KGr 100 would fly over their target using these systems and drop flares, which the following aircraft would then aim their bombs at. On rare occasions KGr 100 was used as a pure bombing force, demonstrating the ability to drop bombs within 150 yards of their targets in any weather. The KGr 100 unit itself would, in mid-December 1941, be redesignated I.''Gruppe''/
Kampfgeschwader {{wiktionary Kampfgeschwader are the German-language name for (air force) bomber units. In WW1, they were air squadrons, while in WW2, they were air wings. History First World War During World War I, ''Kampfgeschwader'' were specialized bomber ...
100, as the basis for a new Luftwaffe bomber wing, or Kampfgeschwader (literally "battle formation") that bore the same unit number. The British, who had developed similar navigation aids, faced the same problem of quantity. Bomber Command 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 is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...
S. O. Bufton. Bomber Command's commander-in-chief
Arthur "Bomber" Harris Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet, (13 April 1892 – 5 April 1984), commonly known as "Bomber" Harris by the press and often within the RAF as "Butch" Harris, was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C ...
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 envy, and have an adverse effect on morale. Adding fuel to his argument was his own personal dislike for Bufton. His own idea for improving accuracy was to hold competitions within groups to deliver improved bombing. In rebuttal, Sir
Henry Tizard Sir Henry Thomas Tizard (23 August 1885 – 9 October 1959) was an English chemist, inventor and Rector of Imperial College, who developed the modern "octane rating" used to classify petrol, helped develop radar in World War II, and led the fir ...
, adviser and one of the chief scientists supporting the war effort, responded "I do not think the formation of a first XV at
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
makes little boys play any less enthusiastically." Studying the German results, notably reports by
R. V. Jones Reginald Victor Jones , FRSE, LLD (29 September 1911 – 17 December 1997) was a British physicist and scientific military intelligence expert who played an important role in the defence of Britain in by solving scientific and technical p ...
, the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
decided 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 clearly marked in advance of the arrival of the main force. A specialist force was formed in August 1942 by transferring existing squadrons from the Bomber Command groups to make up the "Path Finder Force" (PFF). The PFF began with five squadrons; one from each of the operational Bomber Command Groups: No. 1 Group contributed
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. History Formation and World War I No. 156 Squadron Royal Air Force was first formed on 12 October 1918 at RAF WytonJefford 2001, p. 66. and e ...
(equipped with the Wellington medium bomber), No. 2 Group No. 109 Squadron RAF—then "special duties"—(Wellingtons and Mosquitoes), No. 3 Group
No. 7 Squadron RAF No. 7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC6 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire. History Formation and early years No. 7 Squadron was formed at Farnborough Airfield on 1 May 1914 as the last squadron of the Royal Flying Corp ...
(
Short Stirling The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Stirling was designed during t ...
heavy bombers), No. 4 Group No. 35 Squadron RAF (Halifax) and No. 5 Group No. 83 Squadron RAF (Lancaster). The PFF was commanded by an
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n officer, Air Vice-Marshal
Don Bennett Air Vice Marshal Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett, (14 September 1910 – 15 September 1986) 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 F ...
. Bennett was to be the youngest officer promoted to RAF
Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...
, at the age of 33, in 1943. However, Bennett was not the first choice—Harris opposed the first choice of the Air Ministry,
Basil Embry Air Chief Marshal Sir Basil Edward Embry, (28 February 1902 – 7 December 1977) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. He was Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command from 1949 to 1953. Early life and career Basil Embry was born in Gloucester ...
, the leader of 2 Group. The squadrons were located on adjacent airfields within No. 3 Group at Oakington, Graveley, Wyton and Warboys with a headquarters at RAF Wyton. 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
Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...
. PFF bombers were the first 31 aircraft of the raid, including Stirlings, Halifaxes, Lancasters and Wellingtons – 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 four Danish people were injured. The raid was a dismal failure, 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, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
on the night of 24/25 August. The group once again had great difficulty identifying its 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. Five people were killed including two anti-aircraft gunners, and 95 people were injured. The outlying villages of Schwalbach and Eschborn were heavily bombed. Six Lancasters, five Wellingtons, four Stirlings and one Halifax were lost, 7.1% of the force. Five 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 (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
. 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 civilian toll of 15, with 187 civilians and 64 soldiers 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% of the force. The next night the PFF operated against
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
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 250 lb 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 four 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, which lost 34% of their number. On 1/2 September 1942 the PFF illuminated
Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
as part of a 231 aircraft force, but post-raid analysis showed this to be
Saarlouis Saarlouis (; french: link=no, Sarrelouis, ; formerly Sarre-Libre and Saarlautern) is a town in Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2020, the town had a population of 34,409. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located on t ...
, 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 ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
, and the raid was considered a great success, with an estimated 200 fires 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 three public buildings in the city centre were hit.


Improved technique

As the PFF gained experience, new problems appeared. 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 "
creepback Creepback (or creep-back) 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. It was ...
", 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 indicator Target indicators, also known as target markers or TI's for short, were flares used by the RAF's Bomber Command during World War II. TIs were normally dropped by Pathfinders onto the target, providing an easily seen visual aiming point for the ...
s 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 (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
. 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 post-raid analysis showed 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 was the introduction 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 ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
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
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, the Germans lit a decoy target indicator that deceived the majority of the Main Force's bombs. Only one 4,000 lb, three smaller General Purpose, and 210 incendiary bombs hit the city, of a force of almost 70,000 bombs in total. Follow-up efforts during October and November were mostly small raids, including a number against cities in Italy. Weather and operational problems meant that raids during 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 six
de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...
s on a raid against a power station at
Lutterade Lutterade (; li, Lötterao ) is a district of Geleen and later Sittard-Geleen (a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign sta ...
, a small town in the Netherlands. Led entirely by the new
Oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...
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 two Mosquitos leading a force of eight Lancasters. Only one of the Oboes worked, but that was enough for the following heavies to bomb on and hit a number of industrial buildings. Another mission by three Mosquitos 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—designated No. 8 Group (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 is a Royal Air Force station and military airbase near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia. It is home to No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (138 EAW) and, as such, is one of the RAF's "Main Operating ...
. Later in the month Pathfinder HQ moved from
RAF Wyton Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now home to the Joint Forces Intelligence Group. History Flying station Wyton has be ...
to Castle Hill House in
Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
. When new aircraft, such as the de Havilland Mosquito became available, the PFF got the first examples, 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 night. On 11/12 February 1943 against
Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') 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, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
, the PFF used their
H2S radar H2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed for the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command during World War II to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing. This allowed attacks outside the ran ...
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 . 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 (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
on 5/6 March 1943, 160 acres of land were destroyed with 53 separate buildings within the
Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...
factories 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
Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...
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 (, en, "Peene iverMouth") is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is part of the ''Amt'' (collective municipality) of Usedom-Nord. The communi ...
. 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-from-landmark technique again. The estimate has appeared in many sources that this raid set back the V-2 experimental programme by at least two 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 onwards. The
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
operated a similar force within the
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...
for "blind-bombing" through overcast on daylight missions using
H2X radar H2X, officially known as the AN/APS-15, was an American ground scanning radar system used for blind bombing during World War II. It was a development of the British H2S radar, the first ground mapping radar to be used in combat. It was also know ...
-equipped bombers, for which it also used the terms "Pathfinder", "PFF", and "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 Group) was opposed to its creation but had identified Bennett (10 Squadron was in his group) 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, driven by the rivalry between Bennett and the commander of 5 Group, Sir
Ralph Cochrane Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph Alexander Cochrane, (24 February 1895 – 17 December 1977) was a British aviator and Royal Air Force officer, perhaps best known for his role in Operation Chastise, the famous "Dambusters" raid. Early RAF career Ral ...
. Through the CO of 617 Squadron
Leonard Cheshire Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire, (7 September 1917 – 31 July 1992) was a highly decorated Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot and group captain during the Second World War, and a philanthropist. Among the honours Cheshire received as ...
, Cochrane was an advocate of precision low-level marking and lobbied to be allowed to prove the theory and for 5 Group to attempt targets and techniques that 8 Group would not. Cheshire marked targets using the fast Mosquito bomber, then later a Mustang fighter bomber.
617 Squadron Number 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron, originally based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and currently based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. It is commonly known as "''The Dambusters''", for its actions during Operation Chastis ...
achieved high levels of accuracy using the Stabilizing Automatic Bomb Sight; with the necessary
accuracy Accuracy and precision are two measures of ''observational error''. ''Accuracy'' is how close a given set of measurements ( observations or readings) are to their ''true value'', while ''precision'' is how close the measurements are to each oth ...
of only at the V weapon launch site at
Abbeville Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...
. 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 (LNSF) was a development of the Pathfinder Force's use of the fast and long-ranged
Mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...
bomber, which could carry a sizeable bomb load. Under 8 Group, the number of Mosquito squadrons was built up and used for harassing raids on Germany. To the two (Oboe-equipped) Mosquito squadrons already in the Pathfinder Force, 139 Squadron was added in June 1943, which Bennett intended to use for diversionary raids to draw the German night fighters away from the main force. In February 1944 a raid made entirely by Mosquitos was mounted against Düsseldorf. It was formed of the usual marker aircraft from 105 Squadron and 692 Squadron Mosquitos, each carrying a 4,000 lb "cookie" and backup aircraft with 500 lb delayed action bombs.The Mosquito was able to carry these bombs all the way to Berlin, and regularly did. With Harris' support, Bennett formed more Mosquito squadrons to expand the LNSF, giving him nine bomber squadrons, as well as the Oboe-equipped markers and 8 Group's meteorological Mosquitos. The LNSF achieved 27,239 sorties, their best month being March 1945 with nearly 3,000 sorties. The LNSF suffered the loss of just under 200 aircraft on operations or "damaged beyond repair".Maynard p122 The Pathfinder Force flew a total of 50,490 sorties against some 3,440 targets and 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 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 Pathfinders' marker placement and the success of further correction marking.


Individual tasks

PFF crews found themselves given ever increasingly sophisticated and complex jobs 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 The bomber stream was a saturation attack tactic developed by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command to overwhelm the nighttime German aerial defences of the Kammhuber Line during World War II. The Kammhuber Line consisted of three layers of ...
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 Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, (12 August 1918 – 19 September 1944) was a distinguished bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was the first Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam B ...
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. In September 1944, Gibson himself died in a Mosquito after performing as "master bomber" for a raid on Germany.


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 ''Oboe'' system was used to determine the release point then the word "Musical" was used as a prefix, e.g. "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 and about 2 inches in diameter, it sequentially ejected flare pellets that burned for 15 seconds each. 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 RAF No. 7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC6 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire. History Formation and early years No. 7 Squadron was formed at Farnborough Airfield on 1 May 1914 as the last squadron of the Royal Flying Corp ...
- Stirling, then Lancaster * No. 35 Squadron RAF - Halifax, then Lancaster * No. 83 Squadron RAF - Lancaster * No. 97 Squadron RAF - Lancaster *
No. 105 Squadron RAF No. 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. Reactivate ...
- Mosquito * No. 109 Squadron RAF - Wellington, then Mosquito - Oboe *
No. 128 Squadron RAF No. 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. History Formation and World War I No. 128 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed on 1 February 1 ...
- Mosquito formed 1944 * No. 139 Squadron RAF - Mosquito * No. 142 Squadron RAF - Mosquito formed 1944 *
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. History Formation and World War I No. 156 Squadron Royal Air Force was first formed on 12 October 1918 at RAF WytonJefford 2001, p. 66. and e ...
- Wellington, then Lancaster *
No. 162 Squadron RAF No. 162 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a radio jamming/calibration and light bomber unit in World War II. History Formation and World War I No. 162 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed on 1 June 1918 but it was not equi ...
- Mosquito formed 1944 *
No. 163 Squadron RAF No. 163 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a communications and light bomber unit in World War II. History Formation and World War I No. 163 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed on 1 June 1918, but it was not equipped with ...
- Mosquito formed 1945 *
No. 405 Squadron RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...
- Halifax, then Lancaster *
No. 571 Squadron RAF No. 571 Squadron RAF was a Second World War Royal Air Force Pathfinder (RAF), pathfinder squadron operating the de Havilland Mosquito. History The squadron was formed on 7 April 1944 at RAF Downham Market, Norfolk to operate the de Havilland Mos ...
- Mosquito formed 1944 * No. 582 Squadron RAF - Lancaster formed 1944 *
No. 608 Squadron RAF No. 608 (North Riding) Squadron was an Auxiliary Air Force squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It flew during its existence as a bomber, fighter and reconnaissance unit and was the only RAF squadron to be equipped with t ...
- Mosquito formed 1944 * No. 627 Squadron RAF - Mosquito formed 1943 * No. 635 Squadron RAF - Lancaster formed 1944 * No. 692 Squadron RAF - Mosquito formed 1944 83, 97 and 627 Squadrons passed to 5 Group in April 1944 ;Stations *
RAF Bourn Royal Air Force Bourn or more simply RAF Bourn is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Bourn, Cambridgeshire and west of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. History Bourn Airfield was constructed for RAF Bomber Command in 1940 ...
*
RAF Downham Market RAF Downham Market was a Royal Air Force station in the west of the county of Norfolk, England which operated during the second half of the Second World War. History RAF Downham Market opened as a satellite station for RAF Marham in the Summe ...
*
RAF Graveley RAF Graveley is a former Royal Air Force station located south of Huntingdon. The station was originally intended to operate under No. 3 Group RAF, alongside RAF Tempsford and RAF Gransden Lodge. Station history Work on the site started in 194 ...
* RAF Gransden Lodge *
RAF Little Staughton Royal Air Force Little Staughton or more simply RAF Little Staughton is a former Royal Air Force station located south of Great Staughton, Cambridgeshire and west of St Neots, Cambridgeshire, England. Station history The airfield was first ...
*
RAF Marham RAF Marham is a Royal Air Force station and military airbase near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia. It is home to No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (138 EAW) and, as such, is one of the RAF's "Main Operating ...
*
RAF Oakington Royal Air Force Oakington or more simply RAF Oakington was a Royal Air Force station located north of Oakington, Cambridgeshire, England and north-west of Cambridge. History Second World War Construction was started in 1939, but was affect ...
*
RAF Upwood Royal Air Force Upwood or more simply RAF Upwood is a former Royal Air Force station adjacent to the village of Upwood, Cambridgeshire, England, in the United Kingdom. It was a non-flying station which was under the control of the United Sta ...
*
RAF Warboys RAF Warboys is a former Royal Air Force heavy bomber station, situated just outside the village of Warboys in Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire). History During the early years of the war, Warboys was a relatively conventional bomber station ...
*
RAF Wyton Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now home to the Joint Forces Intelligence Group. History Flying station Wyton has be ...


See also

*
List of Royal Air Force groups This is a list of Royal Air Force groups. The group is a formation just below command level. There are currently only six groups in operation: No. 1 Group, No. 2 Group, No. 11 Group, No. 22 Group and No. 83 Group. These are shown in bold in ...
* RAF Bomber Command Aircrew of World War II *
Pathfinder March The Pathfinder March is an annual 46-mile (74 kilometre) long-distance walk around the County of Cambridgeshire, England. The most common route is now recognised as Pathfinder Way Long distance walk. The March, which currently draws about two h ...
, an annual 46-mile (74 kilometre) long-distance walk around the County of Cambridgeshire, England, to perpetuate the memory of No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group


Notes


References


Sources

* (''Diary'')
"Campaign Diary, August 1942"
Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, RAF, 6 April 2005 * (''Pathfinder'')
"No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group"
RAF * * Maynard, John ''Bennett and the Pathfinders'', Arms and Armour London, 1996, * Morris, Richard. ''Cheshire: The Biography of Leonard Cheshire, VC, OM''. London: Viking Press, 2000. * *


Further reading

* Bennett, D.C.T. ''Pathfinder''. Goodall, 1988. . * Stocker, Ted, DSO DFC. ''A Pathfinder's war''. London: Grub Street, 2009. . *


External links


''Pathfinder Story'' - Part I
- a 1946 ''
Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
'' article on the Pathfinders by the magazine's editor, Wing Commander Maurice A Smith, DFC.
''Pathfinder Story'' - Part II

Pathfinder
from the IBCC Digital Archive at the University of Lincoln. {{Military aircraft types (roles) Military units and formations in Huntingdonshire Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force