04-01-2025, 06:59 AM
Hello. I am new to this forum. I am doing historical research on the navigation by Bomber Command navigators during WWII. I have the charts and logs from my father’s navigator for 4 of their operations and I have used trigonometry to understand the calculations that he did. I have done a particularly “deep dive” into this area of study. The charts and logs completed by the navigator are “the Holy Grail” in understanding of the activities and challenges faced by aircrew.
Until recently, I had been of the opinion that navigators DID NOT undertake celestial navigation during the flight over Germany but I have recently found evidence that this was done. The Digital Archive of the International Bomber Command Center have a number of charts and logs completed by bomber command navigators during their sorties. The log completed by Flight Sergeant Thompson of 101 Squadron on 20/21-January-1944, records clearly record that he took astro shots of on the stars Pollux, Rigel and Polaris during the return journey from the target, Berlin, (page 2 of log):
[/url][url=https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/18575]Berlin · IBCC Digital Archive
These were taken between the hours of 2019-2117. I am uncertain as to the abbreviation S/R. Possibly Star Reading?
I would like to know what is meant by S/R Pollux 43.20 - 5 DR. DR I presume to refer to Dead Reckoning. Similarly, the other numeric entries associated by these star readings. Any assistance that anyone could provide on these records would be most helpful.
Note that there is a very good paper by Peter Hoare. 2007. Navigating Lancasters in WWII. The Journal of Navigation. pp 201-2015. I exchanged several emails with Peter and he kindly provided me with the pdf of the paper. Sadly, with most veterans, he is no longer with us.
Concerning celestial navigation, he writes. “I never used astro navigation on operations” and noting “The accuracy of the resulting 3 star fix was not conducive to the track and time keeping requirements of Bomber Command.”
Note that page 1 of the Navigator form records the "Flight Plan" which includes the calculations between turning points, including distances and "Course" or "bearings" between turning points. I have a spreadsheet I developed that replicates all calculations. Its useful to understand the calculations completed by the navigators using the Dalton computer.
Jim
Until recently, I had been of the opinion that navigators DID NOT undertake celestial navigation during the flight over Germany but I have recently found evidence that this was done. The Digital Archive of the International Bomber Command Center have a number of charts and logs completed by bomber command navigators during their sorties. The log completed by Flight Sergeant Thompson of 101 Squadron on 20/21-January-1944, records clearly record that he took astro shots of on the stars Pollux, Rigel and Polaris during the return journey from the target, Berlin, (page 2 of log):
[/url][url=https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/18575]Berlin · IBCC Digital Archive
These were taken between the hours of 2019-2117. I am uncertain as to the abbreviation S/R. Possibly Star Reading?
I would like to know what is meant by S/R Pollux 43.20 - 5 DR. DR I presume to refer to Dead Reckoning. Similarly, the other numeric entries associated by these star readings. Any assistance that anyone could provide on these records would be most helpful.
Note that there is a very good paper by Peter Hoare. 2007. Navigating Lancasters in WWII. The Journal of Navigation. pp 201-2015. I exchanged several emails with Peter and he kindly provided me with the pdf of the paper. Sadly, with most veterans, he is no longer with us.
Concerning celestial navigation, he writes. “I never used astro navigation on operations” and noting “The accuracy of the resulting 3 star fix was not conducive to the track and time keeping requirements of Bomber Command.”
Note that page 1 of the Navigator form records the "Flight Plan" which includes the calculations between turning points, including distances and "Course" or "bearings" between turning points. I have a spreadsheet I developed that replicates all calculations. Its useful to understand the calculations completed by the navigators using the Dalton computer.
Jim