Observers and Navigators by Wg Cdr C.G. Jefford

Author:Wg Cdr C.G. Jefford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Aviation
ISBN: 9781909808409
Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
Published: 2014-05-18T16:00:00+00:00

The replacement of Coastal Command’s three-man Blenheims with two-seat Beaufighters created a demand for observers who were capable of handling Morse at speeds previously associated only with professional wireless operators. This one is R2198 of No 252 Sqn.

1941. The introduction of the Observer (W/T).

At much the same time as Fighter Command’s unique requirements were being satisfied by the creation of the specialist category of the observer (radio), HQ Coastal Command was facing a rather similar issue. Coastal Command’s heavy fighter squadrons had originally been equipped with three-man Blenheims but by the spring of 1941 these were being superseded by two-man Beaufighters. When this had happened in Fighter Command the tendency had been for many of the WOp/AGs already on strength to be retained as AI operators, at the expense of observers who became surplus to requirements. The opposite occurred in Coastal Command where long-range operations over the sea dictated the retention of the skills of a professional navigator. By the summer, it was apparent that this had left a serious gap in capability, because effective long-range communications implied the use of Morse at, at least, eighteen words per minute. Since an observer’s (and a pilot’s) ability to read Morse peaked at only eight words per minute during training (and will probably have tended to deteriorate thereafter) it was clear that neither pilots nor observers were able to handle this task adequately.

The solution was to train selected observers as wireless operators to create the sub-specialisation of the observer (W/T) who was to wear a standard flying ‘O’. Having previously undertaken a fourteen-week signals course after passing through an Initial Training Wing (ITW), the first batch of observers (W/T) began their eight-week navigation course at No 6 Air Observers Navigation School (AONS) at Staverton on 30 August 1941.66 The provisional syllabus, to which should be added 60 hours of air exercises, is sumarised at Figure 28.67

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