WIX Archives
Re: Bomber Command query
Posted by Tony Jarvis on Thu Dec 19, 2002 03:15:45 AM
In reply top Bomber Command query posted by Tony C on Tue Dec 17, 2002 11:09:30 AM
Actually the Kookaburra Publications series of books entitled "Bombing Colours" offers this from authors Bruce Robertson and Michael Bowyer:
1) "Up to 1937 only the heavy bombers, with their marking category of night flying aircraft, had been in drab colours. This had been traditional since the first world war when Nivo (dark green) had been introduced and continued for two good reasons; firstly, there were no heavy bombers stationed overseas where aluminum heat reflecting finish was desirable and, secondly, it implied an operational readiness to retaliate by the bombers stationed in the United Kingdom."
and.....
2) "By the 1930's there was no firm decision that bomber operations should be only by night, but it seemed possible......From April 1937, camouflage consisting of irregular patterns of Dark Green and Dark Earth to tone with the grass and bare land was ordered to be applied to all fighters and bombers leaving the aircraft factories, the undersurfaces of the bombers being Night, ie. Black, up to the 60 degree tangent line......This scheme was virtually unaltered antil April 16, 1946 when post war grey/black finish was promulgated."
So it seems that although the bombers may have been used during daylight raids with the night scheme, the plan appears all along to use them soley for night bombing. The reason may have been that targets were not able to be found at night with the 1939 technology and intelligence, a fact that would change with the coming war years. Thus heavy bombers on daylight raids painted in the night scheme may have only been a matter of necessity at the time.