Bomber Command failure at Urft Dam.

[Dave Wallace]

Just a couple of comments regarding the previous posts. 617 Squadron Lancasters that carried tallboys could not be equipped with H2S. I have correspondence from Harris, Cochrane, Bennett, Saunby and others discussing this and also equipping Lancasters with Oboe, which also could not be fitted on a Lancaster with H2S.
While Oboe equipped aircraft could drop bombs or target indicators with the same accuracy in any type of cloud (the Oboe crews never used any visual references on a bombing run), the main force aircraft bombing the Oboe TIs were greatly affected by cloud. Sky marking was much less accurrate than groundmarking and the winter season Oboe attacks were on the whole less successful due to the weather.
Mobile Oboe transmitters certainly extended the range and allowed Oboe operations to eventually hit Berlin but the extended range did not translate into lower operating heights for the Oboe crews unless they were leading formations of aircraft. Typically Oboe Mosquitoes operated from 28,000 to 34,000 feet. Even with close targets in the Pas de Calais, when sometimes their bombing runs began over the Thames estuary they generally operated over 20,000 feet. Height gave them protection as well as range and they were still able to maintain their accuracy. One example was the D-Day attack at Pointe du Hoc just a few hours before the Americans came ashore. 3 Oboe Mosquitoes marked for 114 Lancasters, 1 from 30,000 feet, the other 2 from 18,000. The Mosquito at 30,000 had a target error of 70 yds., the 2 at 18,000 had target errors of 140 yds. and 220 yds.
Dave Wallace