Bomber Command Equipment

[Greyman]

I'm trying to brainstorm a list of important gadgets that Bomber Command used during their bomber offensive in WWII. Starting from a list from an ORS paper - can anyone think of important things I may have missed?

Gee----------08/09 Mar 1942----------Navigation aid
Monkey (later Shiver)----------13/14 Oct 1942----------Wurzburg jamming
H2S----------00/00 Nov 1942----------Navigation aid
Boozer----------13/14 Nov 1942----------Tail-warning
Tinsel----------02/03 Dec 1942----------Jamming enemy ground to fighter R/T on 3-6 mc/s
Mandrel----------06/07 Dec 1942----------Jamming Freya
Oboe----------20/21 Dec 1942----------Navigation aid
Ground Cigar----------21/22 May 1943----------Ground-based jamming of enemy VHF fighter R/T on 38-42 mc/s
Monical I (Aural Monica)----------22 Jun 1943----------Tail warning
Grocer----------26/27 Apr 1943----------Ground-based jamming of Lichtenstein BC
Window----------24/25 Jul 1943----------Confusion of Wurzburg and Lichtenstein BC
Airborne Cigar----------07/08 Oct 1943----------Jamming of enemy VHF fighter R/T on 38-42 mc/s
Corona----------22/23 Oct 1943----------Confusion of enemy HF broadcasts to fighters
Fishpond----------00/00 Oct 1943----------Tail warning
Monica III (Visual Monica)----------00/00 Oct 1943----------Tail warning
Gee-H----------3 Nov 1943----------Navigation aid
Dartboard----------16/17 Dec 1943----------Jamming enemy MF broadcasts to fighters
WT Corona (later Drumstick)----------28/29 Jan 1944----------Jamming enemy HF W/T broadcasts to fighters
Carpet II----------24/25 Mar 1944----------Wurzburg jamming
Fidget----------16/17 Jun 1944----------Jamming communications passed by MF navigational beacons
Mandrel Screen----------16/17 Jun 1944----------Jamming early warning equipment by specialist aircraft
Jostle (HF)----------04/05 Jul 1944----------Jamming enemy HF broadcasts to fighters
AGL(T)----------18/19 Jul 1944----------Blind firing & tail-warning in rear turret
Type M Window----------23/24 Jul 1944----------Confusion of SN2 airborne interception radar
Jostle (VHF)----------11/12 Sep 1944----------Jamming enemy fighter broadcasts on VHF
Dina (later Piperack)----------19/20 Oct 1944----------Jamming SN2 airborne interception radar


Sorry for the jumbled formatting - I don't think this forums can do tables anymore.

 

[Shortround6]

I have always used a lot of periods................................and trial and error to format a table.

 

[fastmongrel]

Bomber Command was using Infra Red as a form of IFF on Lancasters and possibly Halifaxes. Mosquitos also used IR I believe but not sure when and to what purpose.

The two discs at the front of the bomb aimers bubble are the IR kit.

edit just found a Halifax with the IR mounting discs

 

[Greyman]

Bomber Command was using Infra Red as a form of IFF on Lancasters and possibly Halifaxes. Mosquitos also used IR I believe but not sure when and to what purpose.

Ah yes, 'Type Z' IFF equipment. I forgot about that. It was for use with the Automatic Gun Laying Turret system (listed) so that the gunner knew he wasn't going to open fire on a friendly aircraft in the dark.

... in theory anyway.

Thanks.

 

[Glider]

One extra bit of kit unique to the RAF and often 'acquired' by USAAF navigators where possible was the ball point pen.

 

[gjs238]

One extra bit of kit unique to the RAF and often 'acquired' by USAAF navigators where possible was the ball point pen.

Cool!

Ballpoint pen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In 1941, the Bíró brothers and a friend, Juan Jorge Meyne, fled Germany and moved to Argentina, where they formed Bíró Pens of Argentina and filed a new patent in 1943.[1] Their pen was sold in Argentina as the Birome (portmanteau of the names Bíró and Meyne), which is how ballpoint pens are still known in that country.[1] This new design was licensed by the British, who produced ballpoint pens for RAF aircrew as the Biro. Ballpoint pens were found to be more versatile than fountain pens, especially at high altitudes, where fountain pens were prone to ink-leakage.[4]

 

[wuzak]

I was reading about the Mosquito earlier and it said the CO (IIRC) of 105 Squadron requested Lorenz equipment to be fitted.

I assume this is blind landing equipment?

 

[stona]

Special Tinsel

Tinsel, in which airborne operators sought the frequencies of the German fighter controllers evolved into Special Tinsel in late 1942. A single controller was now providing a commentary fro the entire night fighter force, this being transmitted by high power stations on frequencies which could not be guessed in advance. This could not be jammed by Tinsel, it required a much higher 'concentration' of jamming.
The Special Tinsel system involved a proportion of aircrew wireless operators being told to standby for for the jamming of the particular frequency on which the running commentary was being broadcast. This would be determined by monitoring stations in the UK and would then be transmitted to the now airborne pre-selected wireless operators. They would then all jam this frequency. The remaining operators continued with ordinary Tinsel against GCI broadcasts.
The German response was multi channel transmissions which meant that the Special Tinsel effort was diluted to cover each of them and rendered less or ineffective. This led to Corona which was initially an effort to jam German fighter control commentaries until some bright spark realised that the system could also be used to broadcast bogus instructions to the night fighter force.

'Corona' broadcasts were first used on the night of 22nd October 1943. The British commentary was so effective it reduced the German controller to a string of expletives, whereupon the 'Corona' voice remarked that 'The Englishman is now swearing'. To this the legitimate German controller replied 'It is not the Englishman who is swearing, it is me'. The system was meant to promote confusion, and on this occasion it clearly did!

Cheers

Steve

 

[GregP]

Here you go Greyman. I used "Snipping Tool" and sorted on the first column.

 

[stona]

'Dina' should be Dinah

Cheers

Steve

 

[GregP]

When I copied the list, I should have spell-cheksed it!

But I assumed that almost everything would come up for correction, like Wurzburg .... so I didn't. I should be embarrassed, but instead I think I'll have a beer.

Too bad we don't live closer, or we could do that together and commiserate. Maybe a Spitfire Ale.

 

[tomo pauk]

There was also the 'Serrate' - a device for homing on German IFF signals?

 

[stona]

Serrate detected the emissions of the FuG 202/212/220 'Lichtenstein' radar system, similar in fact to Monica.

Here are a few more code words for electronic equipment, not all directly relating to Bomber Command and including some of the German systems.

Abdullah. Radar Homing Device to enable fighter bombers to home in on Wurzburg gun laying radar.

Aspirin. Ground jammer to counter Knickebein navigational aid

Benjamin, later Domino. Similar system to counter Y-Gerat bombing aid.

Bromide. System to counter X-Gerat bombing aid.

Heinrich. German ground based jammer for GEE

Korfu. FuG 351. German ground radar receiver which gave bearings on aircraft transmitting with H2S

Meacon. Ground device imitating the signals of German radio beacons, providing German aircraft with false bearings. One of the earliest 'electronic counter measures' devices, first used in July 1940.

Moonshine. Radar repeating device to provide false signals on German ground radars.

Perfectos. British device to enable fighters to home in on IFF emissions of Luftwaffe aircraft.

Piperack. British airborne jammer of German SN-2 radar.

Postklystron. German ground jammer to counter the British H2S bombing radar

Tuba. High powered US ground based jammer of German Lichtenstein radar.

BTW 'Dina' is fine, it turns out that the Americans in particular usually dropped the 'H', and the British used both spellings, but usually with the 'H'.

Cheers

Steve

 

[stona]

Here is an unusual piece of equipment.

It is a 'Dann' bomb sight, named for its designer, Wing Commander C L Dann. You all know what it was used for, you've seen the film!

This sight was used by Pilot Officer John Fort who flew on AJ-J, piloted by Flight Lieutenant David Maltby, the fifth aircraft to attack the Mohne dam on 16th/17th May 1943, Operation Chastise.

You could own this Dann sight, but it's the only one known to have survived and it will set you back a bob or two. It sold in 2015 for.....wait for it....£41,500 !!!!!!!
Not bad for a few bits of wood and some brass screws and wing nuts Before you think of knocking one up and heading for Sotheby's, this one has an unassailable provenance.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Old Wizard]