Pfadfinder

The primary task of the German Luftwaffe during the winter of 1940-1941 was the destruction of the British war economy. Having failed to gain and hold air superiority over southern England during the Battle of Britain, an essential prerequisite for the intended invasion, the Germans turned to a war of blockade and attrition. After an autumn-long assault on London, the Luftwaffe widened the 'Blitz', as it was known in Britain, to include attacks on provincial towns producing munitions for the war effort and ports and centres of distribution. Night after night, whenever the weather permitted, German bombers went about the systematic destruction of Britain's major cities in what was, in effect, the world's first ever attempt at sustained strategic bombing.
In essence, the Luftwaffe was a tactical air force, yet it was able to cope remarkably well with the demands of strategic bombing. Although the British air defence system was supreme by day it was woefully inadequate at night but, even so, the magnitude of the task that faced the Luftwaffe should not be underestimated. Flying at night over north-west Europe in winter-time was not the comparatively simple routine of later years; navigational problems, mechanical failures, waterlogged or snowbound airfields, icing, fog and other adverse weather conditions brought difficulties enough for the German bomber crews. But their basic problem was one of finding and then bombing their assigned targets. To this end the Luftwaffe introduced the technique of what was to become known as 'Pathfinding' - the illumination of a target area by a special force to guide less proficient or less well-equipped bomber squadrons. Pfadfinder details the history and development of the German pathfinding operations over Britain during a critical period of the war.



by Ken Wakefield
Published by Tempus 1999 1st edition. 251pp illustrated, appendix. 19x25 mint, including d/j.




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