marked in advance of the arrival of the main force. A specialist force was formed in August 1942 by transferring existing squadrons from the Bomber Command groups to make up the "Path Finder Force" (PFF). The PFF began with five squadrons; one from each of the operational Bomber Command Groups: No. 1 Group contributed No. 156 Squadron RAF (equipped with the Wellington medium bomber), No. 2 Group No. 109 Squadron RAF—then "special duties"—(Wellingtons and Mosquitoes), No. 3 Group No. 7 Squadron RAF (Short Stirling heavy bombers), No. 4 Group No. 35 Squadron RAF (Halifax) and No. 5 Group No. 83 Squadron RAF (Lancaster). The PFF was commanded by an Australian officer, Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett. Bennett was to be the youngest officer promoted to RAF Air Vice Marshal, at the age of 33, in 1943. However, Bennett was not the first choice—Harris opposed the first choice of the Air Ministry, Basil Embry, the leader of 2 Group. The squadrons were located on adjacent airfields within No. 3 Group at Oakington, Graveley, Wyton and Warboys with a headquarters at RAF Wyton. No. 3 Group was responsible for the Force administratively though it was under the direct command of Harris. Early action The PFF was first put into action on the night of 18/19 August 1942, when 118 Bomber Command aircraft attacked Flensburg. PFF bombers were the first 31 aircraft of the raid, including Stirlings, Halifaxes, Lancasters and Wellingtons – from No. 7, 35, 83 and 156 squadrons. Flensburg, on an inlet of the Baltic, was in theory an easy target for the PFF on their first operation, but the winds shifted and the bomber force drifted north of the target to a part of Denmark whose coast also had many inlets. 16 PFF crews claimed to have marked the target area and 78 Main Force crews claimed to have bombed it. Reports from Flensburg stated that the town had not been hit at all, but a Danish report showed that the towns of Sønderborg and Abenra and a large area of Denmark up to 25 miles north of Flensburg were hit by scattered bombing. 26 houses were destroyed and 660 were damaged but only four Danish people were injured. The raid was a dismal failure, much to the delight of both Harris and other detractors of the strategic force as a whole. The PFF's second mission was against Frankfurt on the