[smdyc1]

I read in A Bridge Too Far, the Hawker Typhoons that attacked German positions at the start of the Operation (called in by the Forward Air Comtroller), flew under the opening barrage and one Typhoon disintegrated as it was hit by a shell. I've often wondered if there was any system in place to prevent that sort of thing.

[lmm]

Hitting an aircraft in flight was hard enough if you were aiming at it, I doubt they felt any need to take countermeasures against such a rare occurrence.

[psunavy03]

As others have mentioned, in WWII, many of the things modern militaries take for granted were in their infancy. In modern times, there are lots of staff meetings and procedures involving nothing other than deconflicting fires. Fast jets hit this, artillery hits that, fighters cover here, surface-to-air assets cover there, etc.

But those lessons are written in blood due to exactly incidents like the one you mention. The "big sky, little airplane" theory is not something to bet your life on.

[smdyc1]

I also read there was some difficulty in target designation as the pilots had different maps, so the grid coordinates were off.