The Valour and the Horror

Pathfinder Force. After the Luftwaffe first used a specially trained force (Kampfgruppe 100) to mark and illuminate Coventry with incendiary bombs, to help guide other German bombers on to the city, the British developed a similar method called the shaker technique to aid RAF Bomber Command during its Strategic air offensive against Germany.

In August 1942 the bombers using this method were replaced with four squadrons of Wellington and Stirling bombers commanded by an Australian, Group Captain Donald Bennett. Later, Mosquitoes were mostly used and these flew ahead of the main force to mark the targets for those who were less navigational experienced.

By the time Bennett's force became operational a new Electronic navigation system called GEE was already being jammed by the Germans and this, plus the fact that it was not automatically allotted the best crews or the best equipment, initially limited the force's effectiveness. However, once other Electronic navigation systems and target indicating bombs were introduced bombing accuracy improved dramatically.

To keep the British bomber-stream compact and flying accurately Pathfinders were also used to mark the route, and a senior Pathfinder pilot, called a Master Bomber or Master of Ceremonies, would fly above the target to broadcast advice to the main force.

Bennett' D., Pathfinder: A war Autobiography (London, 1958).

Courtesy of The Oxford Companion to World War II