Kammhuber Line

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The Kammhuber Line was the name given by the Allies to the German night-fighter air-defence system established in western Europe in July 1940 by Colonel Josef Kammhuber. It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with radars and searchlights and an associated night fighter. Each sector would direct the night fighter into visual range to target intruding bombers.

The Line proved very effective against initial RAF Bomber Command tactics. However, the RAF analyzed the German system and developed a counter-measure. On the night of 30/31 May 1942 in its 1,000 plane raid against Cologne, Bomber Command introduced the use of the bomber stream. The concentration of bombers through a few of the boxes ovewhelmed the Luftwaffe defenses. In response, the Germans converted their ground radar into a radar network which would follow the path of the British bombers, while a controller directed the night fighters into the stream. Measure and counter-measure continued until October 1944, when German defenses were no longer able to respond.^[1]