One was locked onto the night fighter as soon as it entered the cell and as soon as the Freya picked up a target the second Würzburg locked onto it. Unlike the early-warning Freya, Würzburgs were accurate (and complex) tracking radars. Later versions of the Himmelbett added two Würzburg radars, with a range of about 30 km. Demands by the Bürgermeisters in Germany led to the recall of the searchlights to the major cities, which undermined this system. Once this had happened other manually controlled searchlights also picked up the plane, and the night fighters were directed to intercept the illuminated bomber. RAF bombers flying into Germany or France had to cross the line at some point, at which time the Freya radar operators directed the master searchlight to illuminate the plane. This technique of ground-controlled interception (GCI) was preceded by the use of single-engined non radar-equipped Bf 109s guided to the attacking bombers by the illumination of searchlights, termed Helle Nachtjagd – illuminated night fighting. The fighter used was usually a Dornier Do 17Z-10, Junkers Ju 88C or Messerschmitt Bf 110. Each cell was also assigned one primary and one backup night fighter. Each control centre was known as a Himmelbett (canopy bed) zone, consisting of a Freya radar with a range of about 100 km, a "master searchlight" directed by the radar, and a number of manually directed searchlights spread through the cell. The first version of the Line consisted of a series of radar stations with overlapping coverage, layered three deep from Denmark to the middle of France, each covering a zone about 32 km long (north-south) and 20 km wide (east-west). Measure and counter measure continued until October 1944, when German defenses were no longer able to respond. 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. The concentration of bombers through a few of the boxes resulted in the defenses being overwhelmed. On the night of 30/ in its 1,000 plane raid against Cologne, Bomber Command introduced the use of the bomber stream. However, the German method was analyzed by the RAF and a counter measure developed. The Line was very effective against early Bomber Command tactics. Each sector would direct the night fighter into visual range with target bombers. It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with radars and searchlights and an associated night fighter. The Kammhuber Line was the Allied name given to the German night air defense system established in July 1940 by Colonel Josef Kammhuber. The 'belt' and nightfighter 'boxes' are shown A map of part of the Kammhuber Line stolen by a Belgian agent and passed-on to the British in 1942.
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