The Lead Squadron Bombardier was sighting for the entire Squadron. It was important that those releasing bombs in other aircraft knew the exact second his bombs left the bombay. To aid this visual sighting the first two out of Lead aircraft were "smoke markers". Their primary purpose was to assure the sighting so the Squadron drop was as compact as possible. However, the smoke markers served another purpose. They identified the general target location for following aircraft in the bomber stream. You could see them for miles. The effect of the wind at altitude would turn them into odd forms as they drifted along in their flight to the ground. I appreciated their presence a lot as it gave me time to check equipment settings one last time and prepare mentally to enter the target flak zone. Funny how little things like this remain so vivid in my mind after so many years.
The mixture of smoke marker trails and darkened flak sky over Berlin was disturbing to say the least.
P.S. They also gave time to turn the heat down on my electric suit. Less heat was required over the target.![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
The mixture of smoke marker trails and darkened flak sky over Berlin was disturbing to say the least.
P.S. They also gave time to turn the heat down on my electric suit. Less heat was required over the target.
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