[caldrail]

Agreed. I've mentioned this sort of thing before. Radios in military aircraft were a novelty at the start of the war and none too reliable in some cases. The extent of air traffic control varied according to circumstance. Whereas most fighters in 1939 operated from grass fields with flare gun signals if required, by 1945 in America a B25 slammed into the Empire State Building because he ignored the warning by a traffic controller about the poor weather over New York.

Flares were in common use in WW2 but they were used for communication when necessary, not as a matter of course. Under normal operation a pilot would take off and land as desired keeping a careful lookout.