Beam Bombers: The Secret War of No. 109 Squadron

Beam Bombers is the story of how British scientists and aircrew discovered and combated the invisible beams that guided German bombers to their targets in the dark days of 1940 and then, turning the tables on the enemy, developed one of Britain's most successful secret weapons which was itself beam-based. Its name was Oboe.This ground-controlled blind-bombing system, introduced by No. 109 Squadron into the Pathfinder Force, enabled RAF Bomber Command to pinpoint unseen targets with remarkable and previously unattainable accuracy.Michael Cumming has discovered much new and revealing material to tell how No. 109 Squadron, working with scientists at the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) in a range of radar-based activities between 1940 and 1945, established a unique position in RAF and aviation history, pioneering new forms of precision bombing against key targets. Supported by graphic eyewitness accounts and a selection of archive photographs, Beam Bombers tells the hitherto neglected story of No. 109 Squadron's secret war.