That's one of the best films I have seen on the subject.
I was in the RAF starting in 1957 for 4 years and trained eventually as an Air radar fitter. Nearby was a training centre RAF Cherhill where there were 4 or 5 Lancasters but with the wings sawn off.
The radar gear we were training on was installed in the airframes and they were not easy to clamber into or out of even on the ground as mentioned.
When I was posted to Germany I worked on Canberra bombers and these had the same bombing equipment as the Lancasters had in 1944 as many of the radar boxes in the Canberras were marked 'Tropicalised 1944'. I had to learn Gee3 and Gee-H from the manuals, the bombing radar had a lot of similarities to Gee 3 (navigation).
As technology 80 years ago was not what it is now the method of bombing needed a timing clock to keep it accurate. The total distance of the outward journey was halved and you did this following the Gee 3 transmitters with your radar clocking the time. At the halfway point you ran the clock back to zero and this should give your distance but drift and differing wind speeds and direction were still a problem
The time was regulated using a very large tuning fork which worked at a constant 25 cycles per second. When halfway came it counted back on the number of cycles and then you pressed the hand held switch for releasing the bombs. There was a bomb aimers position flat on his tummy looking out and down to guide the aircraft.
The tuning fork did not always start vibrating and the pilot would kick the box to set it off. There were many boxes with radar in, all black except one, which was bright aluminium as the paint had been kicked away!
Gee 3 navigation for your area would use 3 transmitter stations and the transmissions produced parabalas printed on the ground map. The various coloured knobs on Gee 3 would be wound round until you got a signal which was the intersection of 2 but hopefully 3 transmitters. The 'Cocked Hat' which a navigator at sea would make when taking bearings on different landmarks or radio signals. You used this to plot the aircraft progress during flight.
The main benefit was you were receiving and not transmitting any RF. Pilots were told to switch off their IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) transmitters when going out as they could be seen very clearly on the German radar. The German radar was the most advanced until the USA was given the high power technology by the Brits early on and of course the other technology of the proximity fuse for gun shells. The UK did not have the time or man power to develop them. TV was already getting big in the USA and some circuits already designed for TV's were used for the radar.
With the American meld of Radar and Anti aircraft guns the guns became incredibly accurate. V1's flew at 3500 -4000 feet altitude at 350 mph, So they could really get a good beed on them as they flew straight and steady.
When we were besieged by the V1 (missile) in June 1944, the radar assisted guns on the south coast took down many of them before they crossed the coast and on one day destroyed 93 % thus saving many lives.
The Chain Home Radar we had at the start of the war was a dead end for radar development with I think 29 stations all around the eastern seabord. In 1943 a very large radar set up ( I seem to remember 30 tons in total) was installed from the USA which did all of the Chain Home work, but it was still left in use.
I had great respect for those technicians and aircrew who had trained there at RAF Yatesbury barely a dozen years previously.
Roy
