“Confound and Destroy“
Photo: RAF Bomber Command memorial in London
By 1943 the air battle over Germany had become intense and complex. Winston Churchill decided to establish a RAF unit to consolidate the increasingly complex business of electronic warfare and countermeasures in one organisation.
The RAF 100 (Bomber Support) Group was a special duties group within RAF Bomber Command. Established in June 1943 with the motto “Confound and Destroy” , much of the work was secretive, involving radio countermeasures (RCM). The group was responsible for the development, operational trial and use of electronic warfare and countermeasures equipment.
The main purpose of the RAF 100 Group was to reduce escalating losses of RAF night bombers to the ever-increasing effectiveness of the German air defence system. The group was pioneering. It specialised in secret electronic warfare, such as decoding enemy signals, identifying and jamming radar, intercepting communications, broadcasting rogue instructions, all with a view to confusing the enemy.
A number of different “devices” were used to jam enemy radar signals. For example “Mandrel” was the code name for a jammer deployed against Freya and Wurzburg radars. Other jammers had names such as “Airborne cigar”, “Window” and “Piperack”.
The photos below taken in 1944, show Lancaster aircraft dropping window and airborne cigars.
Credit: These photographs, taken by the RAF, come from the collections of the Imperial War Museum and are in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Additionally, Mosquito night fighters of the 100 Group engaged with their Luftwaffe opponents directly both in the air and by attacking airfields. 258 Luftwaffe aircraft were destroyed for seventy losses.
The RAF 100 (Bomber Support) Group headquarters was based at Bylaugh Hall, where the secret world of radar jamming was planned, as well as the Dam Busters raid.
In December 1943 the group expanded rapidly with new airfields and squadrons all across Norfolk. The RAF 100 Group flew its first mission on 16th December 1943. The group disbanded on 17 December 1945. During its existence it had one commander, Air Vice-Marshall Edward Addison.
RAF Bomber Command suggests that, by the end of the war in May 1945, operations performed by the RAF 100 Group saved at least 1000 bomber aircraft and their crews.
St. Peter’s Church is dedicated to the RAF 100 Group
On Sunday 21st May 2023, the church of St Peter in Haveringland was dedicated by Bishop Graham Usher as a memorial church to the RAF 100 (Bomber Support) Group, which flew from RAF Swannington and other Norfolk airfields in the latter part of the Second World War. See full details about this special service of dedication using the button below:
Haveringland Chronicles 