NAME.....The Wooden Airfield
CODE.....TR8714
ORIGIN...World War Two
STATUS...Undecided

During World War Two, the Germans built a decoy airfield in occupied Holland that was entirely made of wood. The 'airfield' was constructed with such detail that even the hangers, gun emplacements, oil tanks and aircraft were built entirely out of wood. The Germans spent so long building the decoy airfield that Allied photo experts had the time to observe and report it.

Finally, the last wooden plank was laid, and the decoy was at last finished. Any German celebrations were short lived though, as early the next morning, a lone RAF bomber crossed the Channel, came in low, circled the field once, and dropped a large wooden bomb.

Summary

This version of the popular wartime legend has been adapted from the book 'Masquerade: The Amazing Camouflage Deceptions of World War II', written by Seymour Reit, Signet, 1980. The legend was a popular tale amongst the allied forces, especially the RAF, and has been told ever since.

The truth behind the legend may be deeply entwined in wartime propaganda, and part of the psychological war that was being fought out between Churchill and Hitler. Stories like this were often used to boost the morale of the troops, and were deliberately spread amongst the forces during the war for this effect. If the legend were true, the mission carried out by the allied bomber would have been a risky propaganda stunt, carried out to demoralise the Germans and boost our own troops flagging morale. The stunt would have been carried out as a symbol of defiance, and a message to the Germans that the British cannot be outwitted.

The authenticity of the legend is in doubt because it is unlikely that the Germans would have spent so much time building a complex decoy airfield. The whole point of a decoy is deception, distracting the enemies away from the real target that may be miles away from the decoy. The bird's eye view from an aircraft would have been very limited, so only a simple two-dimensional structure would have been needed to achieve the deception. Another question is whether the allies would have risked an expensive aircraft and the life of a much-needed pilot just for a propaganda stunt? Risky missions were carried out for propaganda reasons, but it makes strategic sense to stay one step ahead of the enemy. The allies would have been far more likely to have played 'their cards close to their chest', not wanting to give anything away until the time was right.

Final Thoughts

Decoy airfields were used by both the British and the Germans, playing a vital role in the history of World War Two. To thwart the extensive damage caused by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), the British built a complex array of decoy targets including airfields, placing them miles away from potential key targets. The aim was to fool the Germans into reporting back, and bombing, the decoy targets. With resources running low, the decoys also concealed the vulnerability of the deflated RAF at the time. The British drafted in a whole array of skilled workman to help construct the decoys, making them look as realistic as possible.

The decoy tactics proved to be successful as the decoy targets were bombed more than the real airfields, wasting thousands of tonnes of German bombs.