the pilots for Banquet Light would be students who had not yet graduated. The scheme required that trainee pilots should be introduced to bombing at an early stage in their instruction, in case they needed to go into action immediately. Instructors were told to "take every opportunity to carry out practice bombing". With no dummy bombs available early in 1940, training exercises were carried out with the aircraft flown from the front cockpit by instructors and house bricks were thrown over the side from the rear cockpit. It was discovered that the bricks fell slower than a diving Tiger Moth and instructions were given to throw the bricks forcefully away from the aircraft. About 350 aircraft were available but the Moths and their inexperienced pilots would have been vulnerable to enemy aircraft and the plan was widely regarded as suicidal. Consideration was also given to adapting civilian aircraft for Banquet Civil but the idea was dropped. Cancellation Operation Banquet was never put into effect but was periodically exercised under various guises. One "exercise" provided secret cover for the temporary reorganisation needed for the first 1,000 bomber raid sent against the city of Cologne on the night of 30/31 May 1942. This plan required considerable reorganisation including the contribution of bombers from Coastal Command and Training Command. Banquet was cancelled in October 1943 having never been put into effect. See also British anti-invasion preparations of World War II British hardened field defences of World War II Notes References External links Battle of Britain Cancelled military operations involving the United Kingdom Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom