A Lancaster taking off from an airfield operating FIDO—'Fog Intensive Dispersal Of'—equipment, England, c. May 1945. The FIDO system involved pumping petrol vapour under pressure through pipes with small holes laid in a square along the edges of an airfield runway. When lit, the resultant flames shot up, raising the surrounding air temperature and clearing the fog up to a few hundred metres—but FIDO could use up to 70,000 gallons an hour. Unable to land because of fog at their own stations when returning from an operation, bombers could use one of the FIDO airfields. Peter Lake, who flew with No. 464 Squadron RAAF, recalled FIDO and the care in its use: And they had what was called Fido. You're under threat of death if you called up for Fido unless it was absolutely necessary, because all it was really, was galvanised piping like a watering system in the garden, running up the side of the runway, and they belted paraffin and petrol and all sort of things through it. We used it once, and it cut a swathe about 300 feet high, like a tunnel, through the fog and you could land in Fido, but you wouldn't be very popular if you called for Fido and it wasn't necessary. [Interview, Peter Lake, Australians at War Film Archive; AWM SUK14393]
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