Product Description

Having suffered the devastating effects of the Manchester blitz, sixteen year old Salford lad Albert Smith signed up to join the RAF not thinking he would be lucky enough to complete 90 operations. His first tour of 38 operations as a Wellington navigator over Germany and North Africa was soon continued when he volunteered for Pathfinder Mosquitoes with 109 squadron at Little Soughton.
The Oboe navigation system was in its infancy and as one of only two Oboe squadrons, Smith was soon in the air illuminating bombing targets. Over 50 operations, Smith relives successes and failures with the new target marking system; triumphs and disappointments, mission aborts and successes, and all the fears and nervousness entailed in being the first aircraft over a heavily defended target. His narrative, interspersed with extracts from official Bomber Command records combines an official and personal view of the WWII airwar.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129901 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

Mosquito pathfinder
This was an excellent read. It was a very honest account of the experiences of a young navigator in WWII. The story covers the 90 missions flown by Albert Smith and also the experiences of a young man leaving home adjusting to life in the RAF. The human side of this story made this a book that I could not put down.

Mosquito Pathfinder review
Because I have had a lifelong interest in RAF Bomber Command operations during WW2 and in particular those carried out by No.8 Group Pathfinder Force, I was particularly interested in reading this book.
It is an honest recount by one young Navigator who joined Pathfinders after completeing a tour of operations over Germany and the North African desert. After a period at an OTU he then joins No. 109 squadron based at Little Staughton flying in Oboe equipped Mosquito aircraft. What follows is an accurate account of what it was like to fly Oboe missions to a wide variety of targets both in France and Germany. Often the first aircaft over the target Smith recounts the thrills and the fears of this type of operation. Smith goes on to complete some fifty odd operations until December 4th 1944 when operating against Karlsruhe....
As archivist/researcher for Little Staughton Pathfinder Association I can thoroughly recommend this book to those with an interest in RAF Pathfinder operations generally and Oboe Mosquito operations in particular.