German speaking Wireless Operators disrupting nightfighters?

[cmatthewbacon]

Just been reading Bill Gunston's history of nightfighters. Among the discussion of 101 Squadron, "Airborne Cigar" and the emergence of 100 Group ECM activity, he has a throwaway line about special duties wireless operators who were fluent German speakers being aboard Lancasters over Germany and tuning into night fighter control frequencies and misdirecting the hunters, rather than just swamping the frequencies with noise from the engine nacelle. He talks about these "men and women." I'm intrigued by the possibility that there might be a story there about a handful of German speaking WAAFs who regularly flew into harms way. But it's such a good story, I'm surprised never to have heard anything about it in the last 30 years. Does anyone know if there's any basis in Gunston's mention of women operators? Or is is just a stock phrase that he used an no one questioned it or edired it out?

 

best,

M.

[Graham Boak]

I suspect there will be an answer in Martin Streetly's excellent Confound and Destroy, the history of 100 Group.  I think there has been a more recent (if perhaps less thorough) work, perhaps by Martin Bowman?  I do recall that the Germans began using women as fighter directors in response to the actions, but I thought that the response involved women on the ground in the UK rather than up in the air.  Not sure how that would work...

[cmatthewbacon]

Well, for the princely sum of £5 from Abebooks, I'll be able to find out! Thanks, Graham. I've got the Bowman book, and it's really an operational history largely culled from war diaries and ORBs. Sounds like the appendices in the Streetly book have got the other stuff I wanted, with more detail on the technology and equipment, even if it doesn't mention the ladies of the night, so to speak...

best,

M.

[Graham Boak]

Streetly also wrote in Scale Models on modelling 100 Group, and his articles were published by PSL.  Possibly titled Modelling the Aircraft of 100 Group?    I'd recommend it strongly for modelling detail.  There was also information on the German night fighters too.

[cmatthewbacon]

“Aircraft of 100 Group: a Historical Guide for the Modeller”, pub. Robert Hale...

 

Sadly, that one is £50 and up, rather than £5... I’ll have to keep an eye on the charity shops...

best,

M.

[JohnT]

It is indeed quite correct. The extra crew member was kept apart and segregated from the rest of the aircraft crew. They were not told his name or anything about him. They did not associate or fraternise and the name given was clearly false if one was given at all. This was for reasons of operational and personal security. Invariably the extra “bods” were German Jewish emigres or refugees. Their job was to get on the radio and use their German language skill to give false information and directions to the Luftwaffe night fighter force. Extremely brave men as they knew only too well the fate that would befall them should they get shot down. 

Women also did this work from home based radio stations but I don’t think they flew as a female crew member would have been difficult to explain. 

I am trying to recall where I read about a crew that carried them. I am pretty sure it was a biography. If I recall correctly through the haze of reduced brain cells and time the author remarked he wondered if the “passenger” would jump if they had to abandon the aircraft. My books are in storage and packed away for the duration so can’t check the source. 

[Procopius]

3 hours ago, JohnT said:

It is indeed quite correct. The extra crew member was kept apart and segregated from the rest of the aircraft crew. They were not told his name or anything about him. They did not associate or fraternise and the name given was clearly false if one was given at all. This was for reasons of operational and personal security. Invariably the extra “bods” were German Jewish emigres or refugees. Their job was to get on the radio and use their German language skill to give false information and directions to the Luftwaffe night fighter force. Extremely brave men as they knew only too well the fate that would befall them should they get shot down. 

Women also did this work from home based radio stations but I don’t think they flew as a female crew member would have been difficult to explain. 

You've conflated two different countermeasures. AIRBORNE CIGAR was carried in bombers and jammed GCI stations broadcasting to German nightfighters. It was three 50w transmitters, "each capable of sending out frequency-modulated jamming signals covering narrow frequency bands selected within the 38.3 to 42.5 Mhz range by means of manual tuning controls. A 'panoramic' receiver provides means of locating enemy transmissions in this range of frequencies and setting jamming signals accurately upon them." (Carried on the Wind, by Sean Feast) The system weighed about 600 pounds and displayed results on a 3" CRT. The special duties crew member could monitor frequencies which were detected and decide whether or not to jam; not all were German-speaking, as all that was required of them was the ability to differentiate German from other European languages. Chris Ward's book on 101 Squadron contains the only known photo of the black boxes inside the aircraft that were part of the system.

 

CORONA was the spoofing of night fighter GCI by ground-based German-speaking personnel, some from Germany, some not, who would issue false orders to night fighter crews. These were both men and women; both would be available in case the Germans tried to switch fighter controllers in mid-stream, as sometimes happened.

 

EDIT: The microphone inside the engine nacelle was called TINSEL, and was controlled by the aircraft's normal wireless operator.

 

 

[JohnT]

Hi Procopius

 

yes I was aware about Tinsel and how that was used as one of the countermeasures and the other practice that you mention of having a special duties guy just jam frequencies as they were being used..    My recollection from reading a publication a good while ago was that the aircrew member (pilot?) that was reminiscing talked about a German speaking individual who was on board and monitored German nightfighter frequencies and then gave counter instructions as if he was a controller such as orbit the wrong beacon etc.   I was aware this was done from UK stations.   Without books to hand I cant find it and there is always the possibility that both my memory fails or the writers memory does so as it was a long time ago.  I thought I recalled the part about the individual being segregated from the rest of the crew though.  Vaguely I also think I recall a mention that the extra crew member could have caused problems on a bale out and capture trying to explain who he was.  Plus something also about German stations trying to identify their own side by using women and also by playing pre-arranged music - or something like that.  Annoyingly I cant recall the publication at all.  Anyway perhaps someone can add to it as its an intriguing scenario.

[Procopius]

The Special Duties operators were kept segregated from the rest of the crew, and some (but not all) indeed were German Jewish emigres who at considerable personal risk had volunteered for such work, but airborne jammers never broadcast voice instructions to German night fighters. The Chris Ward book on 101 Squadron goes into a useful amount of detail on all the various special countermeasures that specialist unit was involved with, as does Murray Peden's memoir A Thousand Shall Fall, which covers his time with 214 Squadron, who also used AIRBORNE CIGAR.

 

 

[cmatthewbacon]

Oh, well... I thought it was too good a story not to have been more widely known about these days...

 

best,

M.

[Don149]

Women radio ops . also flew in Mosquitos to speak directly to Resistance radio ops . at low level to collect vital information .

Nothing to do with nightfighters . Probably native to the country they were flying over . You have to admire their courage and determination .