Raid track Pathfinders 20th December 1942

[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Hello,

I was quite amazed to discover that on the raid track map of RAF Bomber Command for the evening of 20th December 1942 (raid to Duisburg) NO tracks have been drawed for the 35, 83, 156 and 109 Pathfinder Squadrons.

In order to calculate their average speeds, I am very interested to know their flight routes to Duisburg. Much appreciated if anyone can help or give a hint !

Best regards, Marcel

[Dave Wallace]

The primary target 109 Squadron that night was not Duisburg but the power station at Lutterade Holland. This was the first night Oboe was used operationally. Two of the 109 Squadron Mosquitos did bomb Duisburg as an alternative target after they had failures of their Oboe equipment attacking Lutterade. The Mosquitos reported seeing fires burning "furiously" in Duisburg after leaving their primary target at Lutterade.
109 Squadron always flew a different route to the target than the main force and their operational orders usually stated "Route at the Squadron Commander's descretion". In practice it was worked out by the Navigators. Their bombing run direction was dictated by the Oboe ground stations' position relative to the target. They usually approached the target in a different direction than the main force and were usually 10-15,000 feet higher than the main force.

[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Hello David,

Thank you very much for answering so soon and I know that 109 Squadron had a different task to do that evening. Do I understand it correct from your description that 109 Squadron made their own plan how to approach targets, when they had PFF tasks? That would perhaps explain why their routes were kept 'secret'?

I will look for other raid track maps whether these give away some clues about the routes taken by Pathfinder-squadrons late 1942. Perhaps I am lucky to discover that they used a specific assembly point at the UK coast, before crossing the Northsea. That would ease the calculations about their average speed flown.

Again thank you for the details, best regards,

Marcel

[Dave Wallace]

The Night Raid Report for Duisburg says:
"Route Briefed: - All Groups: BASE - PETTEN - ENKHUISEN - DUISBURG - turn left - NOORDWIJK - BASE.
Yes - 109 Squadron (and also 105 Squadron beginning in the summer of 1943 when they began to use Oboe) always flew their own route and it was secret. They first went to "the waiting point" which was 10 minutes flying time (about 60 miles) from the target and was where they picked up the Oboe beam. They would listen to their VHF radio for their two letter call sign in Morse code, my father's call sign was "FL". Once they heard their call sign the Navigator would switch on the Oboe set, the Pilot would hear either dashes or dots in his headset as he turned down the 17 yard wide beam and steered the Mosquito into the centre of the beam where he heard a continuous low note that resembled an oboe. The Navigator was listening a second ground station that gave him time to target and he calculated the speed to arrive on target at the exact time they were to drop. If they had a tailwind and were going to be early, the Navigator would have the Pilot do a one minute instrument turn and they would leave the beam, fly a perfect circle and rejoin the beam in the same spot they left. Each Oboe run was tracked by two ground stations, each with about a dozen people, who plotted their position during the bombing run. The Pilot would hear dots if he was too close to the tracking station, dashes if he was too far away, & a continuous note while inside the beam. The controllers knew exactly how far off the release point (to a few yards) the drop occurred and the crews were given their results as soon as they landed. It made them quite competitive with each other.

[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Hello Dave,

Thank you very much for the interesting details and welcome additions to my limited knowledge about the way the crews (including your father) flew OBOE missions.

Best regards, Marcel