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- Contributed by听
- Philip Jones
- People in story:听
- Philip Jones
- Location of story:听
- Hertfordshire
- Article ID:听
- A1155250
- Contributed on:听
- 25 August 2003
In early 1942 aged eight and a half my brotherand I were sent to a boarding school in the country approx 8 to 10 miles from Hertford as our parents felt it was safer than being in London. The school was based on a Victorian mansion which had a stable block situated on top of a rise. This block which had been converted to classrooms had a slate roof which in moonlight gleamed brightly and it was a rumour among the boys at the school that the German bombers coming from the East used it as a land mark to turn due South for London.
About five years after the end of the war I read Winston Churchill's "History of World War II" in which writing of the London Blitz he mentioned that the German bombers flew westwards along a radio beam until they picked up the roof of a school whereupon they turned southwards to London.
Subsequently using an OS map I checked this and found that broadly speaking the school was due North of the City of London and the Docks area. So there must have been some truth in the rumour
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Message 1 - German bomber navigation.
Posted on: 27 August 2003 by Bill G
Hi Phillip,
I read your story with interest as I have heard a similar version, but with reference to the large area covered by glasshouses near Waltham Cross, which coincidentally, is also in Hertfordshire. I imagine that, like our own bomber crews, anything that hepled pinpoint their position was welcome to the German crews flying over enemy territory at night.
Best Wishes,
Bill G.
听
Message 2 - German bomber navigation.
Posted on: 07 September 2003 by Philip Jones
Hi Bill,
I, also, heard about the Waltham Cross glasshouses some time after the war. I should imagine that the Germans used a number of flight paths with different marker points otherwise they would have been sitting ducks for the AA defences.
A sometime in the 1960's, I think, I had a book from the library written by a magician called Maskelyne who had been called up by the Ministry of War to advise them on ways and means of fooling the enemy. One of his first tasks was to see if the glasshouses could be disguised or camouflaged but events overtook him as the team working on OBOE found a way of deflecting the German bombers navigation beam which was easier than trying to cover up a large expanse of glass.
Incidentally, my uncle, Dr.F.E.Jones was a member of the OBOE team but even after the war he never told us much about his work.
听
Message 3 - German bomber navigation.
Posted on: 07 September 2003 by Philip Jones
Hi Bill,
I, also, heard about the Waltham Cross glasshouses some time after the war. I should imagine that the Germans used a number of flight paths with different marker points otherwise they would have been sitting ducks for the AA defences.
A sometime in the 1960's, I think, I had a book from the library written by a magician called Maskelyne who had been called up by the Ministry of War to advise them on ways and means of fooling the enemy. One of his first tasks was to see if the glasshouses could be disguised or camouflaged but events overtook him as the team working on OBOE found a way of deflecting the German bombers navigation beam which was easier than trying to cover up a large expanse of glass.
Incidentally, my uncle, Dr.F.E.Jones was a member of the OBOE team but even after the war he never told us much about his work.
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