And your problem is?
Being of German descent with relatives in Germany, I feel that the
German people got what they deserved. Actions by the Luftwaffe were just
as horrific in London, Warsaw, Stalingrad and Antwerp to name a few.
The Luftwafe had similar devices to locate their targets in England with
the same results when their systems were captured by British Military
Intelligence (what an oxymoron).
BTW the Lancaster was one of the finest aircraft of it's type ever.

Dave WD9BDZ


Reg Edwards wrote:

One night in 1944, there were a thousand Lancaster killing machines and
other RAF bombers over Germany, complete with aircrews who well knew what
they were about. It was a moonless and cloud-overcast night over the whole
of Western Europe. Targets were civilian firestorm-raids on German towns and
cities.

Navigation was via GEE equipment, a British hyperbolic, pulse-radar, VHF,
1942 invention which later, as the LF and VLF versions, was given the
American name of LORAN (who copied it in the same size boxes.)

With GEE it was possible to accurately navigate several hundred miles from
base and return safely even with fog over the airfield. Aircrews had become
to depend on it and had neglected, forgotten how to use, other means of
navigation such as dead-reckoning and the magnetic compass.

From shot-down and crashed aircraft the Germans had discovered the
frequencies used by GEE receivers and fathomed-out how the equipment worked.
But instead of using jammers immediately as they came out of the factories
they waited until there was an appreciable quantity of them, waited until
navigation conditions were difficult, no moon or stars, dispersed the
jammers around Europe, waited until there were a 1000 bombers in the air,
and then switched them all on simultaneously.

German radar-controlled anti-aircraft guns were always accurate. They were
used in clear skies in daylight, sometimes in preference to optical
instruments and range finders. Hundreds of bombers, lost, wandering about
Europe were better than usual targets.

More than 100 heavy bombers failed to return to base. Some crash-landed,
running out of fuel in Sweden, Poland, central Europe, northern Italy,
France, even in north Africa. Others came down in the north sea. It was the
geatest disaster in one night ever incurred by the RAF.

Although heavy losses and damage to aircraft was a normal event, the loss of
more than 100 trained aircrews was a catastrophy. Incidentally, during the
whole war 40,000 aircrew lives were lost due to enemy action and another
30,000 were lost due to flying accidents of one sort and another.

But, as usual, Uncle Sam helped us out. GI's left behind 70,000 unmarried
mothers in the UK.

I just love statistics! ;o)
----
Reg.