Francis Chichester’s Pinpoint the Bomber
Bomber Command Air Navigation Training Wargame (1942)
The games in this book were made to help the navigators of
Bomber Command improve the chances of locating their target. Written by Sir
Francis Chichester, the games reflected his vast experience at the exacting art
of pinpoint navigation.
This book was first published in 1942 at the heart of World
War II. Bomber Command was flying regularly to hit targets on the content, but
the navigators in the individual bombers were struggling to find the targets.
Using his experience of long-distance flying, Chichester created three games to
help the navigators improve their skills prior to operations. Game 1 was a game
of chance, game 2 involved finding the correct longitude and latitude, but game
3 required the player to correctly locate themselves on the map. Reading the
paragraphs that describe the situation, then studying the map for clues offers
insight into the difficulties faced during the early stages of the bombing
campaign, before electronic navigation aids became widespread.
Further supporting material is available from the History of
Wargaming Project website.
The book can be purchased from link . It will be available from the online book stores shortly.
