Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary

At the beginning of the war Bomber Command practised daylight bombing which envisaged the bombers being able to defend themselves by the combined and mutually supporting fire from their gun turrets. After suffering heavy losses Bomber Command swapped to night bombing in the spring of 1940. The RAF did not expect any problems in the navigation to and the identification of targets but in the summer of 1941 it was found that only 33% of bomber crews were releasing their bombs within 5 miles of their targets. In response to this poor performance Bomber Command adopted the Pathfinder techniques the Germans had used during the blitz, namely identifying the target with reconnaissance flares and illuminating it with incendiary bombs. This provided limited success but it was realised that more had to be done

In August 1942 the Pathfinder Force was set up. To start with the force was made up of No. 156 Squadron flying Wellingtons, No.109 Squadron flying Mosquitoes, No. 7 Squadron with Stirlings, No. 35 Squadron with Halifaxes and finally No. 83 Squadron flying Lancasters. As the war proceeded and Bomber Command's campaign intensified the Pathfinder Force grew in size and importance and was eventually re-designated No. 8 (P.F.F.) Group. By the end of the war No.8 (P.F.F.) Group consisted of 19 Squadrons plus No. 1409 Meteorogical Flight and the P.F.F. Training Unit

To see how the Pathfinder Force found their targets and how they marked them for the main force see the image below. Just use the Next and Previous buttons to view the way the techinques developed.

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