"Myth Or Real: Germany Built Wooden Airfields to Fool" Topic

… the Allies, So They Bombed It With Wooden Bombs

"This story has been told in many ways, where locations of where the airfield was and how it was bombed being different but the gist is this:

An enemy decoy airfield, built in occupied Holland, let to a tale that has been told and retold every since by veteran Allied pilots. The German "airfield," was constructed with meticulous care, made almost entirely of wood. There were wooden hangars, oil tanks, gun emplacements, trucks, and aircraft.

The Germans took so long in building their wooden decoy that Allied photo experts had more than enough time to observe and report it. The day finally came when the decoy was finished, down to the last wooden plank. And early the following morning a lone RAF plane crossed the Channel, came in low, circled the field once, and dropped a large wooden bomb…"

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Armand

Love the sense of humor of the cheeky British!

The Germans did make a lot of dummy airfields, and even complete, fake towns/cities to decoy the RAF night bombers into attacking, and/or patroling around them. Also, fake lakes too, along approach routes to make them look like the real target(s) further on.

Apparently, they were quite effective in drawing off enemy aircraft during the war when they were being attacked at night.

They were complete with realistic lighting, smoke pots, searchlights, and even model/dummy aircraft strung on a wire to simulate those taking off/landing at the "airfields" – the latter were flak traps for the British night intruder/nightfighter aircraft.

(smile)

Armand

LOL!
Wood for wood Awesome!