First published in Great Britain in 1958 by Frederick Muller Ltd. © Air Vice-Marshal D. C. T. Bennett, 1958 First Sphere Books edition 1972 Conditions of Sale - This book shall not without the written consent of the Publisher first given be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. The book is published at a net price and is supplied subject to the Publishers Association Standard Conditions of Sale registered under the Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1956. Printed in Great Britain by Hazell Watson & Viney Ltd, Aylesbury, Bucks Pathfinder Air Vice-Marshal D C T Bennett, CB, CBE, DSO During the grim years of World War II the Pathfinder Force of the RAF won an admirable reputation as an elite strike force with its precision bombing of targets in Nazi occupied Europe. The Pathfinder squadrons were the brainchild of one determined man: Air Vice-Marshal Bennett, whose foresight and genius brought into being one of the most effective bombing forces in the history of military aviation. This is D C T Bennett’s own story, a personal account of a remarkable man. PREAMBLE EXTRAORDINARILY ORDINARY A KOOKABURRA MIGRATES WORLD WAYS RELENTLESS SKIES WINTER CONQUEST WAR WITHOUT AIM THE PATH TO VICTORY INEXORABLY ONWARDS SLEDGEHAMMER PEACE OR PERFIDY Cover Printed in England by Acorn Litho, Feltham, Middlesex Non-Fiction