BRITISH BOMBSIGHT

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 7, 8 July 1944, Page 8

BRITISH BOMBSIGHT

DETAILS RELEASED

Rec. 1 p.m. RUGBY, July 7. The triumph of scientific invention over the hazards of the war in the air is revealed in details of -a bombsight which are now released. This is the Mark XIV, which first came into operational use in August, 1942. Before that time the bombsight used by the R.A.F. was efficient only when the aircraft was flying on a. steady, level course, and enemy flak made, this practically impossible. As soon as it was realised that a bombsight that could be used while the aircraft was taking evasive action was essential if the maximum destruction to enemy industrial installations was to be effected by the R.A.F., British scientists set to work to design a bombsight which would be accurate even when the bomber had comparative freedom of manoeuvre. The Mark XIV was the result, and the first sights were allocated to a new pathfinder force, but it was, not long before they were in general use. It was twith this sight that all the great battles of the, Ruhr, Hamburg, and Berlin were fought. '" In these battles the bombing was directed:at.targets seldom less than a square mile ih area, but when the R.A.F. turned its attention to the French industrial areas producing war material for Germany it became imperative that the aiming should become sufficiently accurate to protect French lives. Often the targets were as small as. single buildings, bridges, or concrete casements. -The Mark XIV proved, equally effective: against such targets, which were repeatedly hit with deadly accuracy. The "Mark XIV has two advantages over the earlier sights.. Firstly, it gives the pilot comparative tactical freedom, and, secondly, it reduces the number of settings and computations required of the bomb-aimer, who looks through a sight and sees a cross moving over the ground. He knows that the point covered by the cross at the time .he releases tlie bombs is the place where the bombs will fall. Accurate aiming is made possible even if the pilot is banking, gliding, or climbing.— 8.0. W.