page_title: RAF Bomber Command aircrew of World War II
section_title: Target area
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Bomber Command aircrew of World War II / Typical operational sortie / Target area
caption_attribution_description: English: Avro Lancaster B Mark I, ME590 'SR-C', of No. 101 Squadron RAF, lies on the FIDO (Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation) pipework at Ludford Magna, Lincolnshire, after a successful crash-landing on returning from a raid to Augsburg on the night of 25/26 February 1944. See also File:Air Ministry Second World War Official Collection CE133.jpg.
context_page_description: The aircrews of RAF Bomber Command during World War II operated a fleet of bomber aircraft carried strategic bombing operations from September 1939 to May 1945, on behalf of the Allied powers. The crews were men from the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries, and occupied Europe, especially Poland, France, Czechoslovakia and Norway, as well as other foreign volunteers. While the majority of Bomber Command personnel were members of the RAF, many belonged to other air forces – especially the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force. Under Article XV of the 1939 Air Training Agreement, squadrons belonging officially to the RCAF, RAAF, and RNZAF were formed, equipped and financed by the RAF, for service in Europe. While it was intended that RCAF, RAAF, and RNZAF personnel would serve only with their respective "Article XV squadrons", in practice many were posted to units of the RAF or other air forces. Likewise many RAF personnel served in Article XV squadrons.
  A total of 126 squadrons served with Bomber Command.
context_section_description: Upon arrival in the TA (Target Area), usually in the middle of a barrage of heavy anti-aircraft fire, avoiding the glare of searchlights trying to latch onto a bomber and illuminate it for the flak gunners while dodging night fighters, crews were expected to "stooge around", (fly circuits) around the target and await radio instructions from the "Master Bomber", based on the different coloured marker flares or target indicators dropped onto/over the target at low level by the Pathfinder Force. Once satisfied with the accuracy of one or more of the "markers", he would give the order to start the attack based on a particular marker, and as the attack took place he would instruct bombers approaching to adjust their aim if the bombs were not landing as he required. A particular danger was being "coned" (illuminated by multiple search lights) and blinded, to become the target of concentrated anti-aircraft fire. Bombers would then approach at a pre-arranged height, the pilot taking instructions from his bomb aimer who would have sighted on the marker, the bomb aimer issuing frequent instructions such as "left, left, left a bit, steady ... steady ... steady ... hold that, hold that.." and then "bombs gone" after he released the payload and the bomber lurched upwards several hundred feet, relieved of the 5–9 tons of bombs.
   There would be a huge photo-flash as the bombing target photo was taken to show lighting up the ground below and the falling bombs. This was a highly dangerous period of time as the bomber had had to fly straight and level to bomb,  making itself a perfect target for gunners on the ground or enemy fighter pilots. The bomber pilot would typically then turn sharply and dive before heading on a course for home as a countermeasure to avoid predicted anti-aircraft fire or night fighter attack.
  During some attacks markers could be obliterated by the bombing, causing the "Master Bomber" to call a halt on bombing while the markers were re-set and confirmed acceptable before bombing could restart. During this time bombers were under constant attack. Airmen's memoirs mention 
  flying over target areas below which were like "Dante's Inferno", with acres of red and orange flame punctuated by percussion shock waves as bombs exploded and, while sympathy with anybody on the ground is sometimes expressed, mention is usually made of the prior German Blitz bombing of Coventry and London. Wartime reports and aircrew memoirs make regular mention of intense, brightly coloured violent explosions within the bomber stream which often showered clouds of sparks which aircrew referred to as "scarecrows" and believed were a type of pyrotechnic shell designed to scare aircrew. Post-war assessment confirmed that these were actually almost certainly bombers receiving direct anti-aircraft hits in their bomb bays, exploding in mid-air or from Schräge Musik cannon-equipped Luftwaffe night fighters shooting into bombers' wing fuel tanks or bomb bays.
caption: Lancaster which crash landed with battle damage on its return. The airfield is equipped with FIDO aka Fog Intense Dispersal Operation" or "Fog, Intense Dispersal Of"), hence the pipe running along the ground beneath the Lancaster
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