I bought this last week in a Surrey antique shop and have been unable to find out very much about it. It would appear that it was used by a bomb aimer in conjunction with a chart. I have no idea if it was used on a particular type of bomber or on all bombers. It has an Air Ministry reference number: 9/360 and is dated 1941. Anything that anyone can tell me abouts it use would be welcome.
I’m sorry. This instrument is new to me and I’m not well versed on the bomb aimer end of things. However, I believe this instrument would have become obsolete later in the war when bomb sights incorporated settings that took into account bombing height and air speed. From the 6-Group Form B for Chemnitz, March 4/5, 1944: “Red Sky Marking Flares with Green Stars. In the latter case, bombsights were to be set for true height and airspeed but zero wind and the centre of the sky markers was to be overshot by twelve seconds on a heading of 153o T (157o magnetic).” Bomber Command continually focused on reducing bombing errors due to wind and in the latter stages of the war, there were elaborate methods to transmit and receive wind speed information, with the last transmission to crews being bombing winds derived from the best information received during the progress to the target area. These included broadcast wind speeds at 20,000’ 15,000’ and 10,000’. The records of these developments are recorded in the 6-Group ORBs and also show up in logs from my father’s navigator. Jim
Jim, many thanks for your interesting reply. I have very little understanding of how bomb aiming worked during the early years of the war and there seems to be very little on line regarding the subject. A couple of years ago I came across a cardboard box that had contained some sort of bomb aiming chart that might have been used in conjuction with this device. I have tucked it away somewhere but I believe that there is a thread about it on here. I will see if I can find it. Simon.
There are a few “specialist researchers” (read as enthusiastic amateurs) on the RAF Commands Forum who are quite knowledgeable on aspects of Bomb aiming. I am not. Also the IBCC Digital Archive has a fair bit of interesting material from veterans that contain specialist material on the various trades, including Bomb Aiming. I find their search engine is difficult to use, but perhaps it’s operator error on my part. Digital Archive - International Bomber Command Centre Jim Edit: thinking about this subject, a publisher should commission some researchers to write individual volumes on the various trades in Bomber Command that would cover the evolution of methods, tactics, tools and equipment. A requirement would be to consult primary source material. Such an endeavour would be a major contribution that I think is heretofore lacking.
I came across this link: Proportional dividers, artillery plotting although despite the markings, they attribute it for artillery plotting use. Perhaps Sheldrake or another gunner may be able to say whether there was/is a counterpart? There is a contact offer at: The bombing teacher – Airminded and perhaps an approach may help, although it seems an old site.
Yes. But later on they also had the highly precise SABS bombsight for aiming of the Tallboy and Grand Slam Bombs. Jim
