My Bombsight View of WWII by Casey Hasey

Author:Casey Hasey [Casey Hasey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781456713140
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 2011-09-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Oboe: Our Pathway in the Sky

Of all the B-26 Marauder airplanes, only the Pathfinders were equipped with Oboe, a top secret, state-of-the-art technology that enabled us to do night bombing and bombing runs right through clouds. The British had designed it and used it, and it was manufactured by M.I.T. Oboe was so new that the U.S. facilities were not yet offering training, so we learned how to use it while we were in combat.

With Oboe we could give Jerry hell every day and night. The only restriction we had was that we needed good enough weather to land after a mission. We were told that if anyone ever mentioned the words “oboe” or “cat and mouse” off the base, that they would be instantly jailed. Luckily none of us played the oboe. Oboe has been history for a long time now, but even today I hesitate before using those terms.

One role of the Pathfinders was to lead bomber Groups to the target when visibility was poor. Normally there would be two Pathfinders leading a box of 36 bombers to the target. Inky and I shared the duties of Navigator-bombardier, and of course we could do a more precise job together. Sometimes we flew solo, but usually we took off in the dark and went to a nearby base to lead one of the bomber Groups the next morning. The first Pathfinder B-26 would lead the first formation of eighteen planes, and the other one would lead the second group of eighteen planes. In case of a malfunction in the first Pathfinder, or if he was shot down, the first group would swing to the right and the second Pathfinder and his group would become the lead, with both groups following it.

Everyone thought it was easy for us because they assumed we could see through the clouds. But Oboe was not a device for seeing through clouds. We weren’t told how it actually worked. But basically, we used Oboe to receive a curved beam from a sending station that was located on the coast of England. This curved beam was our “Pathway in the Sky”. I would listen with the headphones for the signal. If we got too far on one side of the beam I heard “dits”, and moving off on the other side I heard “dashes”. When I received a series of interrupted signals, it was the exact instant to begin dropping the bombs. Once I opened my bomb bay doors, all the planes behind would open theirs. And when I dropped, all the planes behind would see my bombs drop and hit their toggle switches, and it was bombs away. When we reached our bomb run we would be required to fly straight and level for up to nine minutes, like sitting ducks. When our bombs dropped our plane would take an upward bounce, and we all knew it was time to take evasive action and get the hell out of there and head back to base.

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