Radar
and radio terms that appear in the literature of the Bomber
War 1939-1945. Refer to “Bomber Command Association News Letter”,
“Dresden” by David Irving, “The Other Battle” by Peter Hinchliffe,
“The Bomber War” by Robin Neillands and “RAF Strategic Bombing: From Art
to Science” by HC “Bill” Sykes.
Feb 2002
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ABC
|
Royal Air Force |
Air
Borne Cigar Jamming device to interfere with enemy transmissions.
Extremely vulnerable to being homed onto. |
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AI
|
|
Air
Interception
radar.
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AIRBORNE
GROCER |
Royal Air Force |
Used
to jam Wurzburg radar but could be vulnerable to homing by fighters. |
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Arado
234 |
Luftwaffe |
Ar
234 Blitz, The world's first jet bomber. A few were converted to
night-fighters. |
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ASPIDISTRA
|
Royal Air Force |
Code
name for the ground transmitters operating the DARTBOARD interference
system. |
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ASPIRIN
|
Royal Air Force |
Countermeasure
to Knickebien. |
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ASV
|
|
Air
to Surface Vessel. Radar used to detect shipping. |
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AURAL
MONICA |
Royal Air Force |
Tail
warning radar device giving pips over the intercom of aircraft approaching
from behind and below |
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BIG BEN |
Royal Air Force |
North
Sea patrols to try to detect the guidance system of the German V2 rockets. |
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Blenheim,
|
Royal Air Force |
Bristol
Twin engines used as bomber, fighter and night-fighter, |
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BLOCKBUSTER |
Royal Air Force |
A
4,000lb bomb. First used 14 April 1941 |
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BOOZER
|
Royal Air Force |
Airborne
device which warned that the aircraft carrying it was being monitored by Würzburg
gun laying radar or Lichtenstien radars. |
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BRIAR |
Royal Air Force |
Ground
transmitter used to jam enemy Würzburg ground receivers. |
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BROMIDE
|
Royal Air Force |
Counter
measure to interfere with Knickebein signals. |
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CARPET
|
Royal Air Force |
Airborne
jammer of German ground radar. |
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CAT |
Royal Air Force |
ground
station of OBOE (see Mouse) |
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CHAFF |
Royal Air Force |
(Window)
Aluminium strips used to jam enemy radar. |
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CIRCUS
|
Royal Air Force |
Combined
fighter and bomber raids. Started 10 Jan 1941 |
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COAL
SCUTTLE |
Royal Air Force |
Modification
existing H2S navigational radar to give a visual bearing every 30 seconds
on a signal under investigation |
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CORKSCREWING
|
Royal Air Force |
Evasive
manoeuvre adopted by bombers. |
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CORONA |
Royal Air Force |
Ground
transmitter based at Rugby and Leafield. Used by German speaking operators
to transmit confusing messages over the German night-fighter RT control
frequencies. |
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COUNTER
MEASURE
|
|
System
designed to counter effects of enemy system |
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CREEP
BACK |
Royal Air Force |
The
progressive dropping of bombs before the target was reached. |
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DARTBOARD |
Royal Air Force |
Ground-based
interference from "ASPIDISTRA" of enemy RT and WT. |
|
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DINA |
Royal Air Force |
An
American improvement of MANDREL airborne jamming device. Also named
PIPERACK when used to counter FuG 220 AI radar |
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Do
17 |
Luftwaffe |
Dornier
Used as a night-fighter with an infrared detection system, |
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Do
217 |
Luftwaffe |
Dornier
The Do 217J and N were night-intruder
or night-fighter versions, |
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DR |
|
DEAD
RECKONING system of navigation |
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DRUMSTICK |
Royal Air Force |
Ground
based interference with enemy WT transmissions. |
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DUNKEL-NACHTJAGD |
Luftwaffe |
DARK
NIGHT HUNT German
night-fighter zone not backed by searchlights. |
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DÜPPEL |
Luftwaffe |
The
German version of WINDOW. Strips of aluminium foil dropped to confuse the
ground radar. |
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ECM |
|
Electronic
Counter Measures. |
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EMIL |
Luftwaffe |
Nickname
for the Messerschmitt Bf 109E. Single engine fighter. |
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EMIL-EMIL |
Luftwaffe |
Luftwaffe
Tracking signals to guide night-fighters to target. |
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EUREKA |
Royal Air Force |
Ground
station blind homing and approach aid for
aircraft. |
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FIDGET |
Royal Air Force |
Interference
of enemy high frequency night-fighter transmissions |
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FISHPOND |
Royal Air Force |
Device
fitted to H2S to enable wireless operators to scan beneath the bombers for
night-fighter attacks from below. |
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FLAK |
Luftwaffe |
FLieger
Abwehr Kanonen The shells from German anti-aircraft gun |
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FLENSBURG |
Luftwaffe |
(FuG
227) An air interception device homing onto MONICA tail warning radar. |
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FLOWER |
Royal Air Force |
Intruder
sortie, usually by Mosquitoes, against German night-fighter airfields
during bomber operations. |
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FREIJAGD |
Luftwaffe |
Bf
109s in independent high altitude sweeps over southern Britain to divert
Fighter Command's response. |
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FREYA |
Luftwaffe |
(FuG
221) A series of German early warning long range radars. |
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FuGe |
Luftwaffe |
Funk
Gerät A series of airborne homing devices used to illuminate MANDREL,
MONICA, H2S and ASV. Later modifications permitted their use as search
radars. |
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FuGe25 |
Luftwaffe |
IFF
radar on fighters for identification to Würzburg. |
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FuGe25a |
Luftwaffe |
IFF
radar on fighters for identification to Freya |
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Fw
190 |
Luftwaffe |
Focke
Wulf fighter single engine |
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GARDENING
|
Royal Air Force |
Code
word for mine laying by aircraft |
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GEE |
Royal Air Force |
Radar
navigational aid which could provide the navigator with a fix from pulses
transmitted by three ground stations. Range approximately 300 miles. The
pulses displayed on a Cathode Ray Tube provided a reading. The navigator
referred the reading to a chart to obtain ground position. First used
11/12 August 1941 |
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G-H |
Royal Air Force |
A
two-station radar position finding system used as a navigation and bombing
aid. |
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GISELA |
Luftwaffe |
German
intruder operation night-fighters following the British bombers back to
their bases. |
|
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GOMORRAH |
Royal Air Force |
Operation
to attack Hamburg |
||
GRAND SLAM |
Royal Air Force |
22,000lb
bomb. First used by No 617 Squadron 14 March 1945 |
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GROSS-BATTERIEN |
Luftwaffe |
Batteries
of anti-aircraft guns. |
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GROUND
GROCER |
Royal Air Force |
Jamming
device used to interfere with Air Interception radar. |
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GROUND
RECEIVER |
|
Ground
based station receiving signals. |
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GUSTAV |
Luftwaffe |
Nickname
for the Bf 109G. |
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H2S |
Royal Air Force |
“HOME
SWEET HOME". A blind bombing aid which produced a radar 'picture' of
the terrain over which the aircraft was passing.
First used by No 7 & 35 Squadrons 30 Jan 1943. |
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H2X
(MICKEY) |
|
H2S
used in the USAF. |
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Halifax |
Royal Air Force |
Handley
Page H.P.57 Heavy bomber, Four engines less known than the Lancaster but
almost as important. It was built both with liquid-cooled and radial
engines |
|
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Hampden,
|
Royal Air Force |
Handley
Page H.P52 Medium bomber, used during the first part of WW2. Heavy losses
were suffered on day bomber missions. The Hampden was abandoned by Bomber
Command in 1942. |
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HAPPY
VALLEY |
Royal Air Force |
Nickname
for the Ruhr industrial area. |
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HEINRICH |
Luftwaffe |
German
transmitter to jam GEE. First used 9/10 August 1942 |
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HELLE
NACHTJAGD |
Luftwaffe |
ILLUMINATED
NIGHT HUNT. German night-fighter interception involving searchlights. |
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HIMMELBETT |
Luftwaffe |
System
of directing night-fighter to a target. |
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HOMER |
Royal Air Force |
Ground-based
radio guidance system using transmission from aircraft returning to
landing ground. |
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IFF |
|
IDENTIFICATION
FRIEND OR FOE. Equipment carried by
aircraft of both sides, which issued a signal identifying it as friendly
to own radar stations. |
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INTRUDER |
|
Aircraft
used to infiltrate into the enemy air space. Often attacking landing
aircraft. |
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JABO
|
Luftwaffe |
JAGDBOMBER
Messerschmitt Bf 109s converted to carry 250Kg bombs and carry out
nuisance raids. |
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JAGDGESCHWADER
|
Luftwaffe |
Day
fighters. |
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JAGDSCHLOSS
|
Luftwaffe |
Rotating
long range early warning radar. |
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JAM
|
|
To
interfere with radio and radar transmissions |
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JAMMER
|
|
An
installation to interfere with enemy radar and radio transmissions. |
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JOSTLE
|
Royal Air Force |
Airborne
jamming device to interfere with enemy RT transmissions. |
|
Ju 88 |
Luftwaffe |
Junkers
88, One of the most versatile aircraft of WW2. It began |
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JUG
|
Royal Air Force |
Nickname
for the P-47 Thunderbolt escort fighter. |
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KAMMHUBER-LINE
|
Royal Air Force |
Nickname
for the system of air defence set up by General Joseph Kammhuber. |
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KAMPF
GESHWADER
|
Luftwaffe |
Bomber
wings. |
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KNICKEBEIN
|
Luftwaffe |
German
radio beams used to guide their bombers to their targets. Based on LORENZ
landing system. |
|
|
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KORFU
|
Luftwaffe |
(FuG
351) Ground radar used to produce fixes on the bombers using H2S
equipment. |
|
|
Lancaster |
Royal Air Force |
Avro
The most used British heavy bomber. Four engines. The Lancaster was a
development of the unsatisfactory twin-engine {Manchester}. First used 3
March 1942 |
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Liberator |
|
Consolidated
B-24 heavy bomber. Four engines. |
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LICHTENSTEIN
|
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