Radar Jamming - Radar
on D-Day
All of the systems mentioned in this story had a part to
play on D-Day: CH, CHL, GEE, IFF, GCI and H2X all played significant
roles.
During the preparations for D-Day, all the activity in all
the ports along the south coast of England meant that German
E-boats, very fast motor torpedo boats had to be kept at bay.
Some 200 10cm Coastal Defence [CD] radars had been deployed
for this purpose. There were also at least 40 U-Boats that
were known to be operating in the North Sea and these had
to be penned in.
Operation 'Point Blank'
The next task was to weaken the German industrial replenishment
capability. 13 heavy raids carried out in late February 1944
by Allied bombers achieved this goal. These planes were invariably
fitted with H2S (UK) or H2X (American). Mosquitoes fitted
with GEE and GEE-H carried out raids on German communications
posts with pinpoint accuracy.
Operation 'Transportation'
This operation was designed to bring the German controlled
rail network to a standstill in order that troop and munitions
movements could not take place. In March and April 1944, Mosquitoes
vectored onto their targets by OBOE were completely successful.
One of the first successes of the day was the taking of the
Pegasus Bridge and the Horsa gliders (towed by Halifax bombers)
were acurately 'guided in' using GEE.
Naval versions of H2S (Admiralty Set No 970) were fitted
extensively in the assault landing craft to ensure that they
landed at exactly the right location.
The
routes of the various invasion forces on D-Day |
|
|
|