Episode 30: How the Allies punched the hole in German radar for D-Day

By 1944, the German’s had a highly-advanced radar system covering the entirety of the Channel coast. That radar would, if left intact, provide considerable warning of any unfolding allied invasion.

The task of dealing with those radar stations ahead of D-Day fell almost entirely on the fighter-bombers of the allies, and the RAF in particular. In a remarkable, and often bloody, series of operations they walked the fine line between blinding the Germans entirely in Normandy, and leaving enough radar stations intact to detect the fake invasion that would unfold further up the French coast.

As D-Day unfolded on the 6th June 1944, only 20% of the German radar stations opposing the invasion were functioning, buying valuable hours for the allies to get ashore. In this episode, we talk about the pilots and planes that made that happen.

Guest

Matt Bone, is an aviation historian and host of The Aviation Show on Youtube. He has extensively researched fighter-bomber operations during WW2.

Cats present

Napoleon

Useful links

https://www.youtube.com/@theaviation_show/videos

https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/theaviationshow

https://bsky.app/profile/theaviation.show

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