The Royal Navy planned aerial illumination for night fighting and used Swordfish to drop flares at Taranto. The bright source helped crews identify targets in the harbour. It also forced defenders' eyes toward the illuminated area, making aircraft approaching from the dark background harder to see. Illumination was therefore part of the attack's tactical geometry as well as a source of visibility. This helps explain how a slow night-strike aircraft penetrated a defended anchorage successfully.
Notable Point · 1:53:31-1:54:12
How Taranto's flares helped hide the Swordfish
Flares illuminated the harbour targets while degrading the defenders' ability to pick out Swordfish approaching from the surrounding darkness.