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Re: "Big Ben" patrol
No. 100 (Special Duties) Group conducted a range of signals investigation missions almost every night in the last months of the war
As mentioned, Big Ben patrols looked for radio transmissions relating to (non-existent) V2 rocket guidance (other patrols in late March 1945 onward looked for evidence of Knickelbein/Berhardine radio guidance of the He111s over the North Sea launching V1s, and radio guidance of the V1s themselves). Unfortunately for the British, the Big Ben patrols occasionally detected signals that kept Air Ministry Intelligence believing the radio guidance was real. For example, on 28-29 January 1945:
1 Mosquito carried out a successful investigation of signals associated with rocket-bombs. A signal was received on the GEE receiver at 2124 hours simultaneously with the sighting of a rocket bomb in flight. The signal lasted for 20 seconds, cut off about 9 seconds, came on again for 5 seconds, disappearing at the end of this period. The frequency was 48 Mc/s and the signal was intercepted at 52.35 N. 07.10 E. It was not observed any other time throughout the flight.
Most of the time, the various British reports (rightfully) record uneventful Big Ben patrols, where no transmissions of interest were intercepted...
Cheers
Rod
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