NAME.....Carrot Vision
CODE.....FD3308
ORIGIN...World War Two
STATUS...True

By utilising the old folktale that eating carrots will help you to see in the dark, the British RAF managed to fool the Germans and disguise the use of Radar during World War Two. The story goes that the RAF bragged that the great accuracy of their fighter pilots at night was the result of them being fed enormous quantities of carrots. In actual fact, the successes of the RAF pilots were entirely due to the highly efficient newly installed onboard radars! The Germans bought the story because their folk wisdom incorporates the same myth about carrots as ours.

Summary

So it seems that the line, "Eat up your carrots, it will help you see in the dark", was not only used by our own mum's to nag us when we were younger, but the Germans have obviously had the same problem. There were other logical reasons why the Germans bought the story so easily, but I will come to that in a minute. First, I would like to explain the importance of radar, and the impact it had during the war.

World War Two was unique in many ways, one of them being that it was the first war where intelligence and information was recognised as a powerful tool in the art of strategy and tactics. At times, it was almost as if Hitler and Churchill were playing the war like a game of chess, each one trying to guess the other ones move and counter attack. With this in mind, perhaps you can understand the importance of the invention of Radar. Before Radar, advanced warning of enemy aircraft depended solely on how quickly they were visually spotted. Radar cut the response time, and made it easier for allied pilots to locate and intercept enemy aircraft. When Radar systems were fitted onto allied Bombers, night raids into enemy territory could be made with a high level of accuracy. With such advancement in the war of technology, you can understand that it was in British interests to keep one step ahead of the game.

It is not completely clear whether the rumours spread about the pilots eating huge amounts of carrots was used to disguise the success of the interception of enemy nightly raids, or for the highly accurate allied night time bombing raids on enemy territory. I believe it was the latter, and I will explain why. In 1942, the GEE system was introduced. The GEE system was a pulse phasing Radar system, with the receiving equipment fitted on board aircraft. It was the first Radar device to be installed on Bombers, and was used as a navigational aide during nightly raids. The use of the GEE system was a success, and the government were intent on keeping the use of the system top secret and out of enemy hands.

So, to keep the Germans guessing, the British government used a smoke screen with the use of the rumour. Just like in Wooden Airfield (TR8714), the British government realised the potential and power of UL's when used as part of wartime propaganda. But, as I have already said, the old myth about carrots was not the only reason why the Germans fell hook, line and sinker for the rumour. The German intelligence also knew that the British had been experimenting with high carotene roots varieties to try and reduce the effects of night blindness for pilots. Because of the experiments, the British had a large stock of carrots, and cleverly used this fact to fuel the rumour that the RAF pilots had developed superb night vision due to the consumption of large amounts of carrots!

Final Thoughts

So, I bet you are wondering whether the old myth about eating carrots is true (well, tough, I am going to tell you anyway!) To answer that question bluntly, no. But, having said that, carrots contain a reasonable amount of Vitamin A. Vitamin A is vital for our body, and lack of it could lead to blindness and defective growth.