I've always enjoyed watching obscure documentaries from the world war 2 era, so viewing as many of these as possible only helps me out. One that gets hardly any attention is Target for Tonight. It is not particularly well known in the US because it's a British film made by the Royal Air Force. The film shows pilots and bomber crews of the RAF (some were actual service personnel) and the preparations they go through in order to prepare for a bombing raid over Nazi Germany. It begins by showing how the germans are building oil tanks in Freiburg. The men get ready for the mission by attending a briefing. An officer stands at the front of the room and points to a large map being projected onto a screen. He says their objective is to attack this area at nighttime using Vickers Wellington bombers. Some of the planes are using delayed action bombs (which don't explode immediately) and others are using incendiary ones to burn the surrounding forest. A Wellington pilot named Dixon climbs into his plane with his crew and is cleared for takeoff. The british plane reaches the target shortly before midnight. All but one of the bombs miss, but this is all they need. The Wellington takes a hit from a german flak battery and one of the men is hit. Because of the damage, the plane starts to sink gradually. Luckily, they manage to make it back to england, and although the airfield is barely visible through a large amount of fog, Dixon flies to a perfect landing. The target is destroyed, and no Wellingtons were shot down. Made by the RAF Film Unit, who were responsible for many other propaganda pieces, Target for Tonight is a good enough film that gives viewers an idea of how it was like to be part of a bomber crew in the second world war. PC Pickard (a real life RAF pilot) plays pilot Dixon. It also features Gordon Jackson as the gunner of the Wellingon's rear turret. Sadly, not all the people shown in the film would survive the war. Pickard himself was later killed during Operation Jericho in 1944. He also happened to be the brother in law of Cedric Hardwick. While it may not be entirely historically accurate due to its use of model trains and scripts, Target for Tonight is still a solid piece of ww2 history. It's also worth noting that the footage of the bombardier aiming his bomb sight and then pressing the bomb release switch was used in the famous documentary World at War, on the "Whirlwind" episode. In that one, Jimmy Stewart also appears because he commanded planes during the war.
Review of Target for Tonight
