No. 826 Squadron FAA pioneered Pathfinder bombing

I wonder why it is that history has all but forgotten that it was a Fairey Albacore squadron of the Fleet Air Arm, No. 826 Squadron, that came up with the principle of marking night targets with flares followed by bombing the target.

They were doing this a year before RAF Bomber Command ever got involved in developing the Pathfinder Force.

No. 826 Squadron and their Albacores had been dumped into the North African desert at Ma’aten Bagush in mid-1941 after their carrier HMS Formidable was badly damaged off of Crete and had to make a run to the USA for repairs. The squadron was being given very little in the way of action from their Navy commanders, just an occasional mine laying or harbour bombing job. Other than this they were almost left to their own devices so the CO, Lt-Cmdr Corbett, got involved in offering their services to the British Army.

The squadron developed a method of night bombing where they would find the target, and lead aircraft dropped flares to illuminate the area while the following squadron aircraft came in and bombed. They became dab hands at wiping out German airfields, fuel dumps, transport depots, etc. Often they were flying for 8 hours in a night to reach the targets – refuelling at stops just inside the Allied lines.

Their reputation spread and soon Air Vice Marshal “Maori” Coningham began to take a genuine interest in their methods. Between Coningham, Corbett and the other squadron memebrs they came up with the idea that the Albacores could be sent to locate and illuminate the targets, and a much larger bomber force of Coningham’s Wellingtons would follow up behind with the bombs.

This squadron’s success during the Battle of El Alamein now seems to be largely overlooked, though at the time in the desert there was really no-one else doing night time precision bombing. The Army, both British and Afrika Korps, developed a healthy respect for these night bomber boys. And the Albacore being a quiet aircraft it often surprised the Germans completely. It may have been slow but it took a lot of punishment so very few were lost in these raids.

The squadron continued to also attack shipping and lay mines and do the other Navy tasks, but was mostly involved in Army and RAF co-operation raids.

No. 826 Squadron also did not have the advantages of the later RAF units with beams and other fancy electronic navigation gear. They relied initially on their Observer reading a map and the stars, and the pilot reading the compass – very good navigation on a moonless night in a featureless desert. Later the Army front line units would use petrol in the sand to mark and illuminate arrows and distances (i.e. 6 Miles) to guide the Albacore crews towards known targets.

It is clear to me, having met a kiwi member of the squadron, studied his logbook, and reading a little on the squadron, that these guys were the first Pathfinders. Yet when I read anything on the RAF’s Pathfinder Force there is never any credit given to them.