What are spotlights on planes with bombs used for?

Answer 1

Spotlights were used to locate enemy aircraft at night so they could be shot down by anti-aircraft batteries. The British Royal Air Force flew most of their large bombing missions at night; while the US Army Air Force flew their missions during daylight. The British bombers were painted all-black. The Germans used spotlights to locate the bombers so their anti-aircraft guns could have a better chance to calculate their altitude and destroy them. The German air force also flew night missions over England and the British used spotlights for the same reason. The Germans also used airplanes configured as "night fighters". These were usually fast, twin-engine bombers that had more than one crew member and was outfitted with a radar(which was not common in WW2). Some were configured with extra machine guns or machine guns pointing vertically. The Night Fighter was usually painted in light blue(almost white) and medium blue wavy lines or splotches that gave the airplane an appearance of a cloud. The Night Fighter would use the ground radar and his on-board radar to locate the British bombers and he could fly underneath one and fire his vertical machine guns. The British also had some fast, twin-engine Mosquitoes and some fighters painted in all-black that were used to fly special missions. Their missions might be special drops for commandos or the French under-ground fighters.