The Second World War left a significant legacy on which much of modern meteorology was built.The fundamental pillars of war—strategy and tactics— inevitably depend on an uncontrollable factor: the weather. It was during WW2 when radar systems were first used on a large-scale basis and WW2 that brought great advances to the aviation industry.The RAF Bomber & Coastal Commands were particularly dependent on meteorological advice at all times. Heavy bombers needed to take off and land again safely 8 to 10 hours later and their crews had to be able to get to and from target areas and locate their targets without straying over heavily defended areas.
One of the world’s most important weather forecasts ever made was during the Second World War. Meteorologist, Group Captain James Stagg (Royal Air Force) persuaded General Eisenhower to change the date of the Allied invasion of Europe from the 5th to the 6th of June 1944 – D-Day. The weather played a key role in the initial decoding of the complex German Enigma code as code breakers discovered the transmission of coded weather data.
The Allies launched a concerted effort to keep comprehensive weather data from the Nazis by blacking out the international
Weather Bureau Ceilometer, circa 1941
exchange of weather data through open radio transmission. For Europe, the most important geographical area for data gathering was the wintry expanse of the Arctic. The British went a step further, broadcasting bogus weather data into Germany to confuse the enemy.
Germany needed to act aggressively to defeat the data-gathering war. In January 1940, the German Naval Meteorological Service took the first steps in laying down a data grid network of its own to provide weather observations. Various trawlers and sealers were converted into weather observation ships to collect and transmit accurate weather data from Iceland northward to the east coast of Greenland and on to Spitsbergen. The Allies quickly realised what the ships were doing and attacked them.The most efficient means of gathering weather data over the North Atlantic and Arctic expanses was through air reconnaissance.
The Weather Service of the Luftwaffe prepared a special weather reconnaissance unit to collect weather data, the Grossraum Wettererkundungsstaffel—Wekusta for short. With the progression of the war, Wekusta squadrons would branch out along German borders, a total of 12 squadrons with nearly 1,000 flight crews.
By the mid-1930s, leading German airframe makers were developing three such twin-engine, low-wing planes: the Dornier Do-17, the Heinkel He-111 and the Junkers Ju-88.The Luftwaffe converted all three from medium-range bombers into photo and other recon applications. All had structured metal that provided some armor protection for withstanding light machine-gun fire, along with self-sealing fuel tanks for long-range missions. Wekusta crews were dedicated to manning lone planes and flying over thousands of miles of cold northern ocean. Crew size depended on the plane, but there was always a pilot, radioman and a meteorologist. Usually there was a gunner-mechanic as well. The regular flights of “Weather Willies,” as locals nicknamed the Wekusta units were recognised by British intelligence.
Meteorology or weather forecasting is a science that played a seldom-acknowledged role in World War II. Knowing future wind and weather patterns, even if only a few days in advance, allowed for better planning of shipping and airplane routes and for spying and reconnaissance. During the early 20th century technological developments in aviation and related sciences led to major advances in weather and climate science. Coastal Command Aircraft carried out anti-Submarine Patrols & Convoy Protection duties, meaning Flights could last for 12-hours or more. In both cases the RAF needed to know as much as possible about cloud cover and visibility.
Weather and the knowledge of its effects on both fighter and bomber operations would determine the aspects of the way in which the RAF (and US Army Air Force) would operate throughout the war. Pilots and operations room staff needed to know how to cope with poor weather and particularly fog which proved a hazardous weather type for returning bomber crews.
The Atlantic, however, remained the source of most of Britain’s Weather and the Weather Forecasting Techniques of that era required the analysis by hand of charts plotted by hand with as much detailed Weather Data as possible. Professionally made weather observations from an area chosen by the Forecasters were invaluable and the answer was Meteorological Reconnaissance.
Even now with the advent of Remote Sensing Systems like Artificial Satellites, the main method of finding out about the weather over the oceans is still to persuade Merchant Ships on passage to observe and report the weather. Knowledge of predicted weather was essential to the prosecution of warfare. One method used was Long-Range Aerial Reconnaissance and, in Britain, the bulk of this task fell upon Coastal Command.
The role of ships in transporting troops required improved knowledge of the effect of wind on the sea. Large‐scale military operations, in the air and at sea, and on land, would require forecasts several days ahead. As the need for troops to be dropped by parachute developed, there was a requirement for more meteorological accuracy. This was crucial to improve safety on descent and landing.Ocean Weather Ships, positioned at fixed locations, provided observations during the conflict, especially important given the dangers to shipping and the naval battles in all theatres of war.
Operation Magic Carpet, the code name given to the massive effort to bring Allied fighting men and women home from battlefields around the world, began in June 1945. Weather forecasting was crucial. Operation Magic Carpet involved approximately 370 ships of all kinds, from aircraft carriers to battleships, destroyers and even passenger ships.Following the end of WWII, the United States government funded a multi-agency meteorological study to better understand the causes and attributes of thunderstorms. The study was given the name “Thunderstorm Project” and involved using surplus high-performance aircraft from WWII to simultaneously penetrate thunderstorms at various flight levels and collect as much data as possible about the conditions within. The “met” staff of WW2 are forgotten today, but they provided a vital service on both sides.
Dishan Joseph