Hey all, Ok I starting writing a World War Two story about a fictional Pathfinder Force squadron, 685, and I have started these character lists, and I got an idea about them being pinpoint accurate with incendiary bombs (going down to tree-top level to get them smack bang on the flares). Now, is this too over the top or not? Cheers.
Afraid so pathfinder. There are two reasons - firstly the Oboe navigation system required required the aircraft to fly at height, and secondly the flares were dropped at height so that they could be seen from a distance by the following aircraft. The aircraft carried a mixture of flares, incendaries and a cookie. The latter also requird height or the blast wave would have destroyed the aircraft. What aircraft is your squadron flying? If it's a Mossie then have a read of: Amazon.co.uk: Squadron Leader Tommy Broom DFC: The Legendary Pathfinder Mosquito Navigator: Tom Parry Evans: Books Amazon.co.uk: Mosquito Pathfinder: Navigating Ninety World War II Operations: Albert Smith, Ian Smith: Books Amazon.co.uk: Mosquito to Berlin: Story of 'Bertie' Boulter DFC, One of Bennett's Pathfinders: Peter Bodle, Bertie Boulter: Books Amazon.co.uk: Target for Tonight: A Pilot's Memoirs of Flying Long-range Reconnaissance and Pathfinder Missions in World War II: D.A. Braithwaite: Books For Lancs: Amazon.co.uk: Master Bombers: The Experiences of a Pathfinder Squadron at War, 1942-1945: Sean Feast: Books Amazon.co.uk: They Led the Way: The Story of Pathfinder Squadron 156: Michael Philip Wadsworth: Books Amazon.co.uk: Pathfinder Cranswick: Michael Cumming: Books
leonard Cheshire carried out rooftops drops in order to ensure his flares landed on the correct targets.
Indeed he did but he was never a Pathfinder He was marking for 5 Group, and some of his methods were frowned upon by Bennett and 8 Group
His biographer uses those episodes to suggest that Cheshire was "insane" and had either a death wish or wanted a adrenilin rush.
I have "No Passing Glory" which is his biography up untill 1952. I also searched the Internet but there is very fwew sites with actual information on the man himself.
So, before my main character converts to Mossies, he flies 45 operations on his first tour, 45 on his second and 60 on his third. Is this too many operations flown in 1942 and '43?
Highly unlikely. In 1942/43 most aircrew may have got through a large part of their second tour but not a third. A few did make it through three tours by the end of the war but they can probaly be counted on one hand. In 1942/43, most men who were on their second tour would have started on Battles, Hampdens, Wellingtons, or Halifaxs - all aircraft with a much lower survival rate than the Lancaster. So there wouldn't have been many of the "old school" left in 1942/43.
BTW, it would be worthwhile trying to get hold of Pathfinder Cranswick, as he is said to have flown the most missions in Bomber Command. You maybe able to get a picture of the sequence, and how difficult to achieve such a feat
Thanks Kyt. I'll change it, so he flies two tours on Halifaxes, 685 swaps to Lancs, he flies a thrd, and he gets sent as a ground instructor, because they don't want him killing himself while flying. And I guess no amount of pleading would get him posted back to 685, who are flying Mossies in July '43?
he would have undergone a Instructor's tour normally between his first and second tour, in order to "rest him up"! Guy Gibson, got out of his by transferring across to Fighter Command to fly beaufighters.
My father's first tour was from July '41 to March '42. His second tour was from April '43 to September '43 totalling 64 ops. I think your hero needs to lose a tour somewhere!
Pathfinder, without putting you off your endevours, you need to be careful if you decide to take that route. Gibson's decision, and the authority's allowing him to do so was so rare that it is well known. Any character that you decide to follow that route will be picked up on straight away and people will think it is Gibson in disguise. And taking the instructor route would be a lot more realistic - the vast majority of second tourers were instructors for a while, be they pilots, navs, engineers etc.
AVM Sir Ralph Cochrane, CinC of 5 Group was an advocate of low-level bombing, at which 617 were of course the specialists. So Cheshire probably had Cochrane's approval. I don't know that Cheshire can be said to have a death wish, but he certainly pushed himself to the max both in war and in peace, and being only human he probably enjoyed the adrenalin rush. And he was even more of a maverick than Bennett, which is saying something (neither man wanted to continue in RAF after the war). So he was probably one of only a handful of men with the ability and the desire to fly the operations that he did, and with the ability and reputation to cut through the politics and obtain permission to operate in this way.
You're right David. I might make him have a normal "rest" of six months, then after his second tour, I might have it that the higher powers decide for him to have an extended "rest" after his second tour, during which he gets badly wounded.
