@simonzerafa @thegrugq oh good heavens no. and yes that's why things like Knickebein were developed, but even with all that, frequently it WAS a totally different city outside the cockpit window.

I grew up reading the memoirs of bomber pilots. Especially the UK night bombing missions, with radio guidance, people got lost all the time. Sometimes, crazy lost. And bombs fell where they were dropped -- what was it, half the munitions dropped on germany were dropped on coordinates without visual contact?

You're absolutely right that trying to use a sextant and a chronometer to gauge your exact lat and long coordinates in the middle of a bumpy aircraft ride that has presumably seen the navigation equipment shot up, would be nightmarish, and indeed I don't think I ever heard of such a thing. Even if they did have all that stuff, the difficulty of taking accurate readings would make them most likely decide to go with compass headings, charts and landmarks instead.

But they'd be going from point to point, worrying more about getting back to the English coastline and then going from there, than trying to nail the perfect heading from their starting point over enemy territory. So if for whatever dippy reason someone HAD hauled up that kit in their bomber, even getting within 25 miles of their airfield would probably be enough once they were over land again.