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Night Bombers (for anyone with an hour to spare)


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As a follow up the wonderful Luftwaffe nightfighter footage, I stumbled across this the other day, A fascinating insight into the planning and execution of a raid to Berlin. 

 

Looks like its from an old VHS tape so im not sure if the colours are original or not. some of the sounds seem post production but well done in order to provide an atmosphere.

 

 

Edited by Phartycr0c
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1 hour ago, Chek said:

I've long wondered - what are the two white circles on the Lancaster bomb aimer's blister for?

They are a device related to friend or foe recognition, I’d have to refresh my memory for more details but Z infra red rings a bell. 
 

Here’s an explanation: 

 

Top secret Z equipment used to prevent  friendly fire from Lancasters fitted with the AGLA Village Inn system. Z transmitted and picked up an infra red beam from any following friendly aircraft in the Bomber stream. Throughout Bomber Command, all aircraft had been fitted with "Z" equipment which would transmit the infra-red 'friendly' signal to any 'Village Inn' Lancasters they might come across. When picked up by the Z equipment  the guns in Village Inn Lancasters would be disabled and prevent friendly fire. 
 

“Village Inn” was the code name for an automatic gun laying system which enabled the rear gunner to line up on a target which would then be tracked and the guns fired automatically almost guaranteeing a hit.

Edited by mozart
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