Allied Counter Measures 5/6th June 1944
K.V.Gruppe River-Bella (Sword & Juno Beaches) · AOK 7 Normandy · France
Allied Counter Measures 5/6th June 1944
To the south was France and the Atlantikwall, a wall of steel and concrete.
To the north was Britain, a countryside full of airfields, camps and ports.
Allied Counter Measures 5/6th June 1944
Allied Radar Counter Measures.
Diagram showing the various diversionary attacks, patrols and counter measures carried out during the night of June 5th/6th June 1944.
The code names indicated: -
''Glimmer'' and ''Taxable'' - Naval and air feint attacks.
''ABC Patrol'' - Aircraft jamming enemy radar and simulating top cover to a naval invasion.
''Mandrel'' - Areas of jamming by aircraft.
''Titanic'' - Dummy airborne drops plus SAS units.
Air Ministry
Allied Counter Measures 5/6th June 1944
'Glimmer' the dropping of large amounts of 'Window', which were strips of silver paper cut to the correct length to show up on the German radars. Creating the deception that a very large naval landing & air attack was going to take place in the Calais area.
Bombers of 218Sqn RAF were tasked to fly a very tight 'S' pattern dropping 'Window' to make it look as though a large slow force of ships were on there way.
Lancaster
Allied Counter Measures 5/6th June 1944
Small Royal Naval harbour defence and RAF pinnace were also used on the water with radar reflectors to make a small boat look like a large ship.
RAN launch.
Allied Counter Measures 5/6th June 1944
617Sqn RAF with ships of the Royal Navy used the same methods as Glimmer.
Lancaster of 617Sqn RAF
Allied Counter Measures 5/6th June 1944
Lancaster's of No 101Sqn RAF and five B-17 Flying Fortresses of No 214Sqn RAF established an Air-Borne Cigar (ABC) ground-air radio jamming and Window barrage along the line of the Somme Estuary to distract enemy night-fighters away from the transport aircraft carrying airborne troops to Normandy. One Lancaster was lost.
B-17 of 101Sqn RAF
Allied Counter Measures 5/6th June 1944
Stirling's, Halifax and Hudson's parachuted SAS teams and hundreds of dummies to simulate a massed parachute drop. The SAS teams met up with French underground to disrupt a German advance.
Stirling
Allied Counter Measures 5/6th June 1944
Twenty MANDREL equipped aircraft were flying barrage jamming operations. Sixteen Short Stirling bomber aircraft of 199 Sqn RAF were deployed in positions 1-8 along with four B17's 803rd Bomb Squadron USAAF in positions 9-12.
Short Stirling 199 Sqn RAF
Allied Counter Measures 5/6th June 1944
And was it successful?
Commandos