Pathfinder (RAF)
The Pathfinders were target-marking squadrons in RAF Bomber Command during World War II. They located and marked targets with flares, at which a main bomber force could aim, increasing the accuracy of their bombing. The Pathfinders were normally the first to receive new blind-bombing aids such as Gee, Oboe and the H2S radar.
The early Pathfinder Force squadrons were expanded to become a group, No. 8 Group, in January 1943. The initial Pathfinder Force was five squadrons, whilst No 8 Group ultimately grew to a strength of 19 squadrons. Whereas the majority of Pathfinder squadrons and personnel were from the Royal Air Force, the group also included No 405 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force as well as many individual airmen from the air forces of other Commonwealth countries.
History
Background
At the start of the Second World War in September 1939 the doctrine of RAF Bomber Command was based on tight formations of heavily armed bombers attacking during daylight and fending off attacks by fighters with their guns. In early missions over France and the Low Countries there was no clear outcome regarding the success of the bombers' guns: the Luftwaffe lacked widespread radar so their interception efforts were disorganised. On 18 December 1939 a raid by three squadrons of Vickers Wellington against ships in the Heligoland Bight was detected on an experimental Freya radar 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 disaster were debated it became clear that bomber forces could not defend themselves. Either bombing raids needed to have fighter escort, which was difficult given the limited range of the fighters, or attacks had to be made at night when the opponent's 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 searchlights, 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 useful only against very large targets such as 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 techniques to address it, 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 and optical instruments such as the Course Setting Bomb Sight. In limited visibility 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 because of the 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 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.
The result was the Butt Report of 18 August 1941, which noted that by the time the aircraft reached the Ruhr only one in 10 ever flew within of its target. Half of all the bombs carried into combat and dropped—many returned—fell in open country. Only one per cent 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 wrote an infamous report on dehousing, 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 well. 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 aim of destroying German cities. By 1940 the British had started development of a number of night navigation aids and were already testing the Gee hyperbolic navigation system on operations. These would be available in quantity in early 1942, just as the heavy bombers, the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax, 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 of 1940–1941. Lacking enough equipment to install in all their aircraft, an experimental group, , was given all available receivers and trained extensively on their use. KGr 100 would fly over their target using these systems and drop flares, at which the following aircraft would then aim their bombs. On rare occasions KGr 100 was used as a pure bombing force, demonstrating the ability to drop bombs within of their targets in any weather. The KGr 100 unit itself would, in mid-December 1941, be renamed, as the basis for a new Luftwaffe bomber wing or 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. Mass-produced models were not expected until May. As it turned out, both predictions proved optimistic. An obvious solution to Bomber Command's problems would be simply to copy the German technique of placing all available sets in a lead force. This was first proposed by Group Captain Sidney Bufton. Bomber Command's commander-in-chief Arthur "Bomber" Harris 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 dislike for Bufton. His idea for improving accuracy was to hold competitions within groups to deliver improved bombing. In rebuttal, Sir Henry Tizard, 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 makes little boys play any less enthusiastically."
Studying the German results, notably reports by R. V. Jones, the Air Ministry decided that the technique was sound and they overrode Harris' objections and forced the issue. Harris responded by suggesting the pathfinders be distributed among the squadrons but again his objections were overruled, since it 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.
The PFF began with five squadrons: one from each of the operational Bomber Command Groups, 1 Group contributed No. 156 Squadron RAF, 2 Group No. 109 Squadron RAF—then "special duties"—, 3 Group No. 7 Squadron RAF, 4 Group No. 35 Squadron RAF and 5 Group No. 83 Squadron RAF. The PFF was commanded by Australian officer Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett, who was to be the youngest officer promoted to RAF Air Vice Marshal, at the age of 33, in 1943. Bennett was not the Air Ministry's first choice: Harris opposed the first choice, Basil Embry, the leader of 2 Group. The squadrons were located on adjacent airfields within 3 Group at Oakington, Graveley, Wyton and Warboys with a headquarters at RAF Wyton; 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. PFF bombers were the first 31 aircraft of the raid, including Stirlings, Halifaxes, Lancasters and Wellingtons – from 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 where the coast also had many inlets. Sixteen 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 but a Danish report showed that the towns of Sønderborg and Abenra and a large area of Denmark up to 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 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 the city. Local reports stated that some bombs fell in the city, causing 17 large and 53 small fires and 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 per cent 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. 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 per cent of the force.
The next night the PFF operated against Nuremberg 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 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. A report from Nuremberg stated that some bombs were dropped as far away as the town of Erlangen, nearly to the north, and four people were killed there. In Nuremberg, 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 per cent of the force. Most of these were Wellingtons, which lost 34 per cent of their number.
On 1/2 September 1942 the PFF illuminated Saarbrücken as part of a 231-aircraft force, but post-raid analysis showed this to be Saarlouis, to the north and situated on a similar bend in the river. The next night a force of 200 bombers was led by accurate marking in Karlsruhe, 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.