Anti-aircraft
guns were deployed on ships and around important defensive areas during
the Second World War. Light machine-guns
were used
against low-flying aircraft. Large cannon, with a range of 25,000
feet were employed against fighter planes and heavy bombers. The most
effective of these was the Bofors
Gun.
Those aircraft that were
capable of performing rapid three-dimensional manoeuvres were extremely
difficult to hit. So also were high-flying bombers and the main tactic
was to throw up an enormous barrage of time-fused shells in front
of a bomber formation. This was an expensive operation as research
suggests that only one per 2,000 shells hit the target.
Just before the war Robert
Watson-Watt, designed and installed a chain of radar
stations along the East and South coast of England. During the
Battle of Britain and the Blitz
these stations were able to detect enemy aircraft at any time of day
and in any weather conditions.
All countries used barrage
balloons to channel aircraft into corridors of fire. During night
raids searchlights were used to pick out individual targets. The British
also used radar to help gunners to calculate quickly and accurately
the speed and course of their targets.
Small ships carried light
machine-guns
but larger ships employed 20-40mm cannon against dive-bombers such
as the Junkers Stuka.
In the later stages of the war the Japanese Navy used phosphorous
rockets against enemy aircraft.
In 1943 the Allies began
using proximity fuses. These contained a small radio transmitter which
detonated the shell on interference from a nearby aircraft. These
were used against the V1 Flying
Bomb in 1944.
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