Thanks Andy, a good lead I can follow up, I appreciate it. Bob
Quote:
Originally Posted by livewireless123
There was a long detailed article about WW2 bomber comm's in radio bygones mag, issue 159, spring 2016, sadly this mag has now ceased publication and has merged with the Radiophile mag as the owner/editor is in poor health.
if you get in touch with radiophile they may have back numbers but there may be copyright issues depending on what you want to do with the info.
|
Thanks Mike, I appreciate the lead, I will follow up... Bob
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesinnewcastl
In my research on the Stirling I got to talk to Jim Coman DFC, a W/O who interestingly had been on over 30 sorties but stated that very little had happened to them - that's statistics for you I guess. Mind you, his story of being 'coned' and his pilot dropping to roof top height with the 'computer' controlled flak guns shooting off the roofs of the said houses was something to wonder at!
He said that the communication with the ground was very clear and reliable - like talking on the telephone. Every 30 mins after take off he had to monitor a transmission from their airfield because the aircraft might be recalled.
He stated that he would play the BBC broadcasts to the crew - just low enough that the crews voices would be louder - just in case.
Part of his job was to broadcast a signal derived from a microphone in the inner engine nacelle so that he would deny that frequency to the Germans.
The crew would use nick names or Christian names on the intercom. All the microphones and earphones were common so that everyone heard everyone talking. I think that you had to switch your mic ON to talk and switch it off afterwards - you see crew doing just that on old films. The pilot did have another switch that he could let the crew listen to the Beam Approach signal - nice for them. I think that the W/O could connect his comms to the crew or keep them private.
I think that he said that he operated the Fishpond equipment.
|
Thanks James, very interesting stuff, as well as operational demands of the comms details like the playing of the bbc make it all the more touching, Thanks again, Bob
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesinnewcastl
I also collect real life stories so that I will be able to make an authentic documentary myself - here are some W/O sections:
The gunners and wireless operators went out to their aircraft to do their D.I.s (daily inspections); wireless operators had to change the two-volt batteries for the radio set. There were eleven of them to change, which was a problem of carrying eleven batteries out to the aircraft.
Once the under carriage and flaps were up I went back to my wireless duties where I kept a listening watch on the group frequency in case of recall and switched off the IFF (identification friend or foe) 50 miles out from the English coast.
As we approached the enemy coast the wireless operator's duties were to listen on frequencies he had been given at briefing and listen to German broadcast waiting to hear the word 'enda', which was the same as our word for 'over' at the end of a transmission. When we heard that word we had to back-tune our transmitters to that frequency and turn the transmitter to R/T (radio telephone). There was a microphone fitted in the port inner engine nacelle so when I switched to R/T it transmitted engine noise on that frequency and would hopefully interfere with the night fighters' instructions.
I had to get a fix on the MF DF (medium frequency direction finding); this gave us our exact position at the time so we could then set a course for home base. I switched on the IFF (identification friend or foe) at 100 miles from the English coast then I could get QDNTs (a course to steer to reach base with zero wind) from our HF/DF (high frequency direction finding) at Newmarket. This brought us right over base where we made a good landing.
OTU was almost entirely devoted to navigation practice. The w/op was fairly well occupied obtaining a quota of QDMs, loop bearings and radio fixes.
we lost Gee which was our primary position finding device. The navigator called for a radio fix, but to transmit on medium frequency I had to reel out the trailing aerial which was 150 feet of wire; this was also located in the mid-fuse, near the reserve oil tank.
The Loop Aerial, Radio Fixes and QDMs.
These facilities were of no use over enemy territory, but could be useful for finding your way home in an emergency. The loop could give a bearing from a radio beacon, or allow the pilot to 'home' on it. To provide a radio fix, there were groups of three Direction Finding (DF) stations at a number of points over the British Isles. The w/op called the control station on Wireless Telegraphy (WT /Morse) requesting a fix,and the three DF stations each took a bearing on the aircraft's transmission. The outstations relayed their numbers to the control station by land line where the bearings were triangulated and the position was transmitted to the aircraft. There were DF stations spread over the whole of the British Isles from where the w/op could obtain a QDM by WT. Strictly speaking, QDM meant "Your course to fly to reach me is ...", but in practice they were mainly used as bearings - at least by BC aircraft. Finally, there was 'Darkie', which was raised on channel D of the TR 1196 - the pilot's Radio Telephony (RT/voice) HF set. This was a low powered channel with a very short range which was mainly used by fighters to ascertain their position. However, it did have the added use of receiving 'squeaker beacons' attached to 'friendly' barrage balloons to warn of their presence.
There are a good many such stories on the internet - you just have to search for them really then draw out the operation sections which are fewer as the authors don't seem to talk a lot about their everyday 'jobs'.
I also have a document which details how the pilot calls up ground stations if you are interested.
|
Hi James, this is exactly the kind of detail I need and is very useful and yes Id really appreciate seeing the details of how the pilot calls up ground stations as, if I understand it correctly, the rest of the crew would have heard the interaction too. Its all building a picture but as you say details of the actual job are elusive ! Look forward to hearing from you, Thanks again, Bob
Thanks Roger
Thanks Dekatron!
Quote:
Originally Posted by gm0ekm cecil
|
Thanks Cecil, Ive had a quick look and its very informative, exactly the sort of info I need to digest, Thanks again, Bob