Communications with airfields during WWII

Has anyone highlighted that the phonetic alphabets are very different pre-NATO?

A wee bit of google-fu throws up a nice wee collection of secondary sources for 40s ATC.

(Short version seems to be: lights/flares for take off, lights/flares and radio for landing).

The Isle of Man site also talks about the amusingly named "Darky" procedure:

"This was an ingenious procedure that allowed a pilot of an aircraft in distress, whose radio operator may have been killed or injured, to talk directly to Flying Control at the nearest airfield. It operated by H/F R/T on a fixed frequency of 6440 Khz and transmitter powers were deliberately low to reduce range to around ten miles. For example, a pilot requiring assistance would transmit 'Hello Darky, Hello Darky, Hello Darky, this is Koska Freddy, Koska Freddy, over'. If Jurby Flying Control heard the call they would reply 'Hello Koska Freddy, this is Jurby, this is Jurby, over' Once two way communications were established assistance could be offered to home the aircraft to the visual circuit for landing."

http://www.island-images.co.uk/ATC/zRon1940s/z1940s.html

and

http://www.pprune.org/atc-issues/512941-early-atc-wwii.html

http://www.pprune.org/atc-issues/512941-early-atc-wwii.html

Some interesting information at the above link Racoon.

You would have a signals square where the direction of take off and landing is indicated, also Aldis signal lamps were used to signal the aircraft either on the ground or in the air, they were also used to give the airfield's ID code or Pundit Code

Lots of journals and stuff on here too http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/default/raf-historical-society-journals.aspx

Pundit Beacon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pundit_Beacon

I believe the phonetics were:

RAF:

Apple Beer Charlie Dog Edward Freddy George Harry In Jug/Johny King Love Mother Nuts Orange Peter Queen Roger/Robert Sugar Tommy Uncle Vic William X-Ray Yoke/Yorker Zebra.

(and for the really confused:

http://natureonline.com/37/56-ap4-glossary.html )

USAF? :

Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox, George, How, Item, Jig, King, Love, Mike, Nan, Oboe, Peter, Queen, Roger, Sugar, Tare, Uncle, Victor, William, X-Ray, Zebra.

LW:

Anton, Berta, Caesar, Dora, Emil, Friedrich, Gustav, Heinrich, Ida, Julius, Konrad, Ludwig, Martha, Nordpol, Otto, Paula, Quelle, Richard, Siegfried, Theodor/Toni, Ulrich, Viktor, Wilhelm, Xanthippe, Ypsilon, Zeppelin.

Modern: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, Yankee, Zulu.

And in the early days the RAF did not reply 'Roger', they said 'OK'.

General comms procedures changed through the war and might range from carefully pre-planned mission procedures to minimal field procedures.

btw if anyone remembers the saying ack-emma that was very old phonetics for morning: "a.m." giving at least two letter phonetics of the past, ack - a and emma - m

Are you sure those RAF words from WWII era? X-ray looks strange for me.

 

Thanks for glossary anyway!

Have a look here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_radio_alphabet

Both use X-Ray and I have heard it in many old films.

For the 1921-1942 it shows Apple for A which is more likely instead of the really old WWI Ack - used for Ack-Ack or Anti Aircraft (Fire) - but it does still show the very old P - Pip as in Pip-Emma or afternoon (p.m.) .... and getting near to tiffin time old boy! :)

This is from the 1937 edition ('39 reprint) of AP1081, The RAF Pocket Book, p42 (see pic):

Ac, Beer, Charlie, Don, Edward, Freddie, George, Harry, Ink, Johnnie, King, London, Monkey, Nuts, Orange, Pip, Queen, Robert, Sugar, Toc, Uncle, Vic, William, X-ray, Yorker, Zebra

However, I have some recollection that it was modified slightly mid-war... maybe 1942?

(Apologies for the patchy info. I was flooded and most of my WW2 books are moved safely out of the way until repairs are completed...)

Are you sure those RAF words from WWII era? X-ray looks strange for me.

 

Thanks for glossary anyway!

I searched a bit on it, and apparently x-ray is correct.

It was apparently used as far back as 1914 in the British army:

http://www.royalsignals.org.uk/articles/alpha.htm

In a forum discussion I found this:

Apparently a code guide book issued to British soldiers at the beginning of the war.

(Source: WW2 Talk Forum )

Interesting research, guys.

Looks like some would have very limited infrastructures....

Bazenville ALG (B-2)

A few interesting snippets from Pierre Clostermann's book 'The Big Show'.

Situation: RAF Aston Down airfield (South West England) for a quick conversion course on Typhoons and Tempests.

Page 153:

“Two Typhoons who were in the circuit landed clumsily, but the controller seemed disinclined to give me the green light. I stuck my head out of the cockpit to make a sign, even though I would probably get a dollop of boiling oil in my eye. Still a red light. Christ, I must have forgotten something – and my confounded engine was beginning to heat. My radiator had already got to 95 degrees. A glance round – my flaps were at 15 degrees all right, my radiator was open.... Hell, the radio! I quickly switched it on and called: 'Hello, Skydoor, Skydoor, Tiffie twenty-eight calling. May I scramble?' The controller replied by at last giving me a green light. Here goes! I tighten my straps, release the brakes, carefully aligned myself on the white line down the middle of the concrete runway and slowly opened the throttle, with my left foot hard down on the rudder bar.”

Situation: Volkel. A tragic landing by Alex in a Tempest V.

Page180-181.

“Desmond called me on the phone and asked me to come at once to the control tower. Just as I jumped into the jeep the first Tempests landed in formation. A cluster of red Verey lights for the guidance of the third rose from the A.C.P trailer (A.C.P = Aerodrome Control Pilot). Desmond was on the balcony of the tower, microphone in hand. Without bothering about the stairs I joined him quickly by shinning up the outside ladder. 'It's Alex,' he said, handing me his field glasses, 'give him some advice'.....

'Hello Alex! Pierre here, try to get your port leg up!'

Note: 3 red Verey lights was a signal to other aircraft to clear the circuit and give priority to the emergency landing aircraft.

Situation: Rat (Me 262) catching in Tempest V.

Page 190.

As soon as the '262' crossed the Rhine towards our lines, Lapsley sent out a warning in clear from his control post straight to pilots as follows: 'Hello, Talbot Leader, scramble, rat, scramble, rat!' The engines were immediately started up, three red Verey lights went up to clear the circuit and give the rat catchers priority.

Very Lights are signal flairs.

So if I understood correct, red lights were in use not only for emergency landing aircrafts, but for priority take-off as well?

It would appear that way.

It seems that the red Verey light, which is a pistol flare shot up into the sky, was a signal for aircraft in the vicinity to clear the circuit and runway area to give priority to either an emergency landing or a priority scramble (at least 3 flares in a row it would seem).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flare_gun

A red signal light/lamp, electrical, seems to have been used (pointed at the pilot) to hold an aircraft on the ground at or near the runway threshold until it was safe to take off. Once it was safe to take off then the controller would signal a green light/lamp, electrical.

Like you, I am just trying to work it out by looking for evidence as I am not an expert in this.

Racoon, is this information of any use to you or do you already have it?

The Drem Lighting System

Of considerable significance was the development at Drem of a special airfield lighting system, which enabled Spitfires and Hurricanes to circuit and land safely at night. So successful was this system that it became standard at all RAF airfields, and was known as the DREM LIGHTING SYSTEM - click on link for more details.

THE DREM AIRFIELD

LIGHTING SYSTEM

The Problem

The Spitfire was a magnificent fighter, one which still kindles the imagination and awe in this age of fast jets. However, its spectacularly pleasing design had a few drawbacks. The aircraft had a very long nose, thanks to the powerful in-line Rolls-Royce Merlin engine it employed. When taxiing, or more importantly landing, the nose got in the way of the pilot's vision. While taxiing, the pilot would merely work the rudder pedals to weave slightly side-to-side and obtain the view ahead until, during the take-off run, the tail of the aircraft would rise and give an unobstructed view ahead.

On the landing approach however, things were not quite so easy. At lower airspeeds, the angle-of-attack had to be steeper to prevent stalling, meaning that a nose-high attitude needed to be maintained. The position of the wings on the Spitfire also meant that the downward view from the cockpit was quite poor when in level flight. During daylight hours, this could be overcome by briefly altering the aircraft's attitude, but at night doing so even briefly to view the landing lights could be both dangerous and impractical. Compounding the restricted forward visibility caused by the aircraft's structure, the glare from the six (later twelve) engine exhaust stubs also tended to drown out the pilot's view of the standard runway approach lights. This glare equally affected Hurricane pilots.

The Solution

The RAF Drem Station Commander in 1940 was Wing Commander "Batchy" Atcherly, who personally addressed this problem, and devised a revolutionary new system. Essentially, it involved mounting shrouded lights on poles 10 feet high at dispersed designated positions around the airfield in a particular pattern. These lights were only visible to aircraft in the circuit, and could be dimmed sufficiently to render them invisible to attacking enemy aircraft.

A circle of lights was laid out around the field, the radius being 2000 yards from the centre. A pilot would fly his landing circuit around this circle of lights, until he saw the flare path lights on the runway which were so mounted as to be only visible to aircraft on the approach. All these lights were on poles and specially angled to be seen only at the correct position. They were also hidden where possible, in hedges and bushes, to make them inconspicuous to enemy reconnaissance. At the runway ends, lights were also mounted on poles 10 feet high, with only the runway flare path being at ground level. When used in conjunction with special baffles fitted to the aircraft exhausts, the system virtually solved the glare problem, as pilots could see the lights at oblique angles instead of just dead ahead. The pattern was also specially designed to allow for Spitfire blind spots.

Atcherly's lighting arrangement was simple and worked well in operation. It certainly made landing fighters at night vastly safer. The Air Ministry was so impressed with the Drem Lighting System that they made it standard at all RAF stations, and in due course it was improved upon and perfected.

This diagram shows the Drem Lighting System. The Outer Circle, Funnel Lights and Runway Flare Path are all white lights. The inner circle with blue lights is the taxiway. At each end of the runway are Totems, either showing white lights (far-end of runway) or red lights (near-end of runway). These indicate landing direction. At the near-end of the runway is the Glide Path Indicator, which shows Amber/Green/Red, depending on whether an approaching aircraft is Too High/Correct Glide Slope/Too Low. A white double-flare and two amber lights on the left hand side of the active runway were distance indicators.

Just to clarify the Drem lighting system + Funnels

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?121779-Origin-of-calling-Final-is-this-true

http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv316/volvosmoker/drem.jpg

http://www.eastlothianatwar.co.uk/ELAW/Airfields_files/Halls4332.jpg

This next one is And the USAAF HILV lighting fitted in late summer 1944

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k227/ramc181/DPAFL2grab.jpg

But even assuming that all had gone well on the operation, that there were no losses or damaged aircraft, it still meant that as many as 30 aircraft manned by tired crews had to be brought down safely. The system developed to achieve this was called the Drem system. This comprised an ellipse of lights around the airfield and a series of lights along each of the (usually) three runways. When crews were returning home, the outer lights and the lights for the runway in use were switched on.

Aircraft approached the airfield at 1500ft and at right angles to the runway (1) in use. The pilot called the Control Tower identifying the aircraft, the Tower would answer "Proceed upwind." At this position (2) at an altitude of 1000ft the pilot called "Upwind" and later "Crosswind" at (3). Other pilots would be calling in at their position in the circuit. At (4) downwind, the aircraft began a descent to 500ft, the pilot reporting "Funnel" as he turned towards the runway; he hoped to hear the reply "Pancake" meaning he was clear to land. If there was trouble the command was "Overshoot". On successfully landing, (6) the pilot reported "Clear of runway." Extract from this site...

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct...Dyxl7x1ckP3SQA

Pretty sure in The Big Show there are references to code names for locations around the area of operations so position references could be given secretly even though the German listening stations would pick it up. I seem to recall my copy had a picture of a table of codes or code wheel type thing on the cover - I haven't seen it for a while as it's in storage due to renovations. Also there is a large section in Bob Spurdle's biography (The Blue Arena) about his time at the end of the war serving as a what was basically a FAC. The Allies recruited experienced pilots who were towards the end of a tour to serve attached to an Army Division to direct tactical support aircraft attacking build ups and bottlenecks around the front.

A few interesting snippets from Pierre Clostermann's book 'The Big Show'.

 

Situation: RAF Aston Down airfield (South West England) for a quick conversion course on Typhoons and Tempests.

Page 153:

“Two Typhoons who were in the circuit landed clumsily, but the controller seemed disinclined to give me the green light. I stuck my head out of the cockpit to make a sign, even though I would probably get a dollop of boiling oil in my eye. Still a red light. Christ, I must have forgotten something – and my confounded engine was beginning to heat. My radiator had already got to 95 degrees. A glance round – my flaps were at 15 degrees all right, my radiator was open.... Hell, the radio! I quickly switched it on and called: 'Hello, Skydoor, Skydoor, Tiffie twenty-eight calling. May I scramble?' The controller replied by at last giving me a green light. Here goes! I tighten my straps, release the brakes, carefully aligned myself on the white line down the middle of the concrete runway and slowly opened the throttle, with my left foot hard down on the rudder bar.”

 

Situation: Volkel. A tragic landing by Alex in a Tempest V.

Page180-181.

“Desmond called me on the phone and asked me to come at once to the control tower. Just as I jumped into the jeep the first Tempests landed in formation. A cluster of red Verey lights for the guidance of the third rose from the A.C.P trailer (A.C.P = Aerodrome Control Pilot). Desmond was on the balcony of the tower, microphone in hand. Without bothering about the stairs I joined him quickly by shinning up the outside ladder. 'It's Alex,' he said, handing me his field glasses, 'give him some advice'.....

'Hello Alex! Pierre here, try to get your port leg up!'

 

Note: 3 red Verey lights was a signal to other aircraft to clear the circuit and give priority to the emergency landing aircraft.

 

Situation: Rat (Me 262) catching in Tempest V.

Page 190.

As soon as the '262' crossed the Rhine towards our lines, Lapsley sent out a warning in clear from his control post straight to pilots as follows: 'Hello, Talbot Leader, scramble, rat, scramble, rat!' The engines were immediately started up, three red Verey lights went up to clear the circuit and give the rat catchers priority.

U.S. ATC trailer

http://www.twinbeech.com/images/vehicles/trailers/airfieldcontrol/airfield1.jpg

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234940206-ww2-runway-control-caravan/

British RAF ATC trailer

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?73758-Flying-Control-Caravans-Info-needed&highlight=Control%20caravans

Once the pilot was at the holding point for the runway, the hand held Aldis lamp, red, white or green, was used by the controller to signal RAF pilots to either hold (red) or take-off (green).

http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/h04AAOSwZVhWSc--/s-l225.jpg

http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/FhIAAOxydlFS~PC5/s-l225.jpg

Glim lights used to mark runway (RAF)

http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/equipment-field-gear/emergency-airfield-lights-12495/

Chance light used by RAF

http://www.milweb.net/webvert/a1932

Lots of info about what equipment was used between 1940 and 1945 with details on how it was used.

http://www.qsl.net/pe1ngz/signalscollection.html

Other links there take you to equipment used by other Allied countries during WW2.