Night bombing 17/18th September 1918

[Don Stainton]

Edmonds book "Military Operations France and Belgium 1918" Volume IV page 477 notes that the RAF made many bombing attacks on the night of 17/;18 September opposite the Fourth and Third Army prior to the start of the Battle of Epehy. I am particularly interested in the attacks on the southern sector around Fresnoy-le-Petit (NW of St. Quentin) of that front as my grandfather was in an infantry battalion about to attack that dawn.

Can anyone provide me with information (or lead me to any literature) about the RAF efforts for that night, please?

What planes were used from what squadrons? Where were the squadrons based? What were the characteristics of the planes? What type/weight of bombs did they drop. How did the planes find targets on the ground at night? How effective was bombing ground targets at night? What was the casualty rate for bomber pilots in night bombing exercises? Is there any site which tells the phase of the moon and time of dawn and dusk for a particular night?

Les Carlyon in his recent book mentions that during the advance from Amiens, low flying in daylight over enemy trenches was used to mask the noise of tanks getting into position. Would night bombing be used in this fashion.

Whatever - it didn't work as all the activity seemed to have excited the Germans who shelled and gassed the British positions before that dawn!!

Thanks for any help on any of these topics

Regards

Don

[Dolphin]

Don

The night bombing operations on 17/18 September are covered in only a few lines in The War in the Air (the Official History of the British Air Services). FE 2b night bombers from Nos 101 and 102 Squadrons "made many bombing attacks on defended villages opposite the Fourth and Third Armies". On that night, No 101 Sqn was based at Laboussoye, and No 102 Sqn was based at Surcamps.

The FE 2b was a two seater 'pusher' biplane that had seen much daylight service in 1916 and early 1917, and which had been used as a night bomber/intruder after it became too vulnerable for daytime operations. The type could carry either one 230lb bomb, two or (sometimes) three 112lb bombs, two 100lb bombs, combinations of a 112lb or a 100lb bomb plus 40lb phosphorus bombs and/or 25lb bombs, or up to fourteen 25lb bombs.

Great war night bomber crews found their targets and returned by use of landmarks when visible, following compass directions, and by the use of 'lighthouses' set up behind the Allied lines.

The Germans carried out a lot of night bombing in the Allied back areas in the last couple of years of the War, using AEG, Friedrichshafen and Gotha bombers, as well as Zeppelin-Staaken "Giant" bombers. On the night of 17/18 September, RAF night fighting Sopwith Camels from No 151 Sqn were credited with bringing down three German raiders.

I hope that this helps.

Gareth

[Don Stainton]

Thank you very much Gareth for that information.

Does anyone know how accurate/effective British night bombing of trenches and outposts was? Are there any accounts of ground forces experiencing it?

Thanks

Don

[Dolphin]

Don

As far as I know, there wasn't a great amount of night tactical bombing of trenches and artillery batteries, as the difficulties involved in finding particular positions in darkness precluded it. Night bombing tended to focus on aerodromes, railway depots, ammunition dumps and such installations. There are many accounts of the dangers and inconvenience caused by the frequent German harassing bombing at night. Quite a number of the first hand accounts of troops and airmen in France in 1918 seem to mention it.

Also, the heavy bombers (generally the Handley-Page O/100 and O/400) of the Independent Force, RAF, bombed static targets such as factories in the Ruhr Valley. Had the War continued into 1919, then Handley-Page V/1500s would have been bombing targets as far away from Allied territory as Berlin.

Regards

Gareth

[Flyvulcan]

Don,

Patrick Wilson has an excellent website that contains a scanned copy of the book "Annals of 100 Squadron". It gives a description of night bombing including crews/targets/bombs dropped etc that you may find interesting. Here is a link to it http://www.patrickwilson.com/annals/book.html.

Cheers,

Dave

[Don Stainton]

Dave

Thanks very much for that great link - and Gareth thanks for your last reply.

Cheers

Don