VIII Bomber Command 190 OBOE TEST
23 January 1944Description
2 B-17s from 482BG are despatched to the German city of Duren to perform a test of the OBOE navigation system. Oboe was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology.[1] Using triangulation to determine relative location, the system consisted of a pair of radio transmitters on the ground, which sent signals which were received and retransmitted by a transponder in the aircraftt (typically a De Havilland Mosquito or Avro Lancaster). By comparing the time each signal took to reach the aircraft, its location could be calculated to a fair degree. In this way, an aircraft could be directed blindly over a specific target, all of which were pre-calculated and kept on file. ref. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oboe_%28navigation%29. 1 Aircraft turned back due to equipment failure and the other dropped on ETA due to special equipment failure.
Mission Details
DUREN
Description: OBOE TEST
Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Notes: OBOE test. One aircraft turned back due to failure of "Gee" equipment, the other dropped on ETA due to failure of the special equipment.
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 2.00
- Aircraft sent: 2
Revisions
Lee Cunningham 12-Jan-2016. Corrected statistics - no aircraft were effective per "The Mighty Eighth War Diary", Roger A, Freeman
Lee Cunningham 12-Jan-2016. Added Mission Narrative per "The Mighty Eighth War Diary", Roger A. Freeman.
Lee Cunningham, 8th Air Force missions research database / Stan Bishop's 'Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces', the Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces and the work of Roger Freeman including the 'Mighty Eighth War Diary'.