"Starfish site Starfish sites were large-scale night-time decoys created during the Blitz to simulate burning British cities. The aim was to divert German night bombers from their intended targets so they would drop their ordnance over the countryside. The sites were an extension of Colonel John Turner's decoy programme for airfields and factories (code named ""Q"" Sites). Following the bombing, and near destruction, of Coventry in November 1940, Turner was tasked with creating decoys for seven major cities. Turner referred to the new sites as ""Special Fire"" or ""SF"". However, one early site (near Bristol) was given the name ""Starfish"","
"no evidence of bomb craters. At the outbreak of World War II, the British government feared a German bombing campaign against the UK mainland. Colonel John Turner, an engineer and retired Air Ministry officer, was tasked, in September 1939, with establishing a broad range of day and night decoys to mislead enemy bombers. His initial work was with dummy aircraft, airfields, and factories – the decoys for which were dubbed 'K' Sites. Turner also implemented night decoys; dubbed 'Q' Sites, they consisted of lights mounted on poles to simulate an airfield. In response to the Germans' use of incendiary bombs,"
"Turner added fires to the 'Q' Sites - dubbing them Q-Fire or QF - to add to their plausibility. Initially very crude, the fires were controlled from a nearby concrete pillbox. The theory was that after a first wave of bombers dropped on the real target, the decoy would light fires to simulate the previous raid for further waves to home in on. Following the night bombing of Coventry, in early November 1940, the decoy programme was expanded to include towns and cities; the Air Ministry initially ordered sites to be set up for Bristol, Crewe, Derby, London, Manchester, Middlesbrough"
"from the American Ghost Army went to Normandy two weeks after D-Day to simulate a fake Mulberry harbour. The deception was created in such a way that at night its lights drew German gunfire away from the real Mulberries. Mulberry harbour Mulberry harbours were temporary portable harbours developed by the United Kingdom during the Second World War to facilitate the rapid offloading of cargo onto beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. After the Allies successfully held beachheads following D-Day, two prefabricated harbours were taken in sections across the English Channel from Britain with the invading army"
"over, so ruses were created to lure German bombers away from their targets. Throughout 1940, dummy airfields were prepared, good enough to stand up to skilled observation. An unknown number of bombs fell on these diversionary (""Starfish"") targets. For industrial areas, fires and lighting were simulated. It was decided to recreate normal residential street lighting, and in non-essential areas, lighting to recreate heavy industrial targets. In those sites, carbon arc lamps were used to simulate the flash of tram cables. Red lamps were used to simulate blast furnaces and locomotive fireboxes. Reflections made by factory skylights were created by placing"
"In World War II, incendiaries were principally developed in order to destroy the many small, decentralised war industries located (often intentionally) throughout vast tracts of city land in an effort to escape destruction by conventionally aimed high-explosive bombs. Nevertheless, the civilian destruction caused by such weapons quickly earned them a reputation as terror weapons with the targeted populations. The Nazi regime began the campaign of incendiary bombings at the start of World War II with the bombing of Warsaw, and continued with the London Blitz and the bombing of Moscow, among other cities. Later, an extensive reprisal was enacted by"
"black-out regulations. The decoy, known under the code name Starfish from the original code SF (Special Fire) used fires of creosote and water to simulate incendiary bombs exploding. In addition glow boxes were used to simulate the streets and railways of Bristol, the light bulbs were powered by electrical generators, powered by Coventry Climax petrol engines contained in two bunkers. It was laid out by Shepperton Film Studios, based on aerial photographs of the city's railway marshalling yards. The decoys were fitted with dim red lights, simulating activities like the stoking of steam locomotives. Burning bales of straw soaked in"
"a large warehouse, formerly a Second World War ammunition store. During the Second World War decoys intended to represent features of the city of Hull with the intention to mislead Luftwaffe bombers were built around southeast of Hull at 1/3rd scale. The decoys included representations of the docks east of the River Hull (Victoria, Alexandra and King George V Docks), as well as the River Hull and Holderness drain, with pole mounted lights shining on shallow concrete ponds to simulate reflections from the water of the docks and waterways. Other decoys included oil filled trenches that would be ignited to"
"to the confusion caused by the layout of Britain's cities (with their maze of narrow roads and alleys) and the removal of road signs. In the 1974 wargame conducted at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which assumed the had not yet won air supremacy and continued to divert much of their efforts into bombing London, the Germans were able to establish a beachhead in south-east England. However, the German ground forces were delayed at the ""Stop Lines"" (such as the GHQ Line), a layered series of defensive positions that had been built, each a combination of Home Guard troops and physical"
"a blacked-out target at night. Only the largest targets, cities, could be attacked with any probability of success. The concept of huge fleets of bombers flying unhindered over their enemy was so reprehensible that the Royal Air Force (RAF) built up its night bomber force largely as a deterrent. It was hoped that the fear of unrestrained attack against German cities would prevent the Luftwaffe from considering attacks against England. To support this mission, the RAF invested very heavily in navigation training, equipping their aircraft with various devices, including an astrodome for taking a star fix and giving the navigator"
"Plymouth Blitz The Plymouth Blitz was a series of bombing raids carried out by the Nazi German ""Luftwaffe"" on the English city of Plymouth in the Second World War. The bombings launched on numerous British cities were known as the Blitz. The royal dockyards at HMNB Devonport were the main target in order to facilitate Nazi German efforts during the Battle of the Atlantic. Portsmouth, some 170 miles away in Hampshire, was also targeted by the ""Luftwaffe"" due to the presence of a royal dockyard there. Despite this, civilian casualties were very high and the dockyards continued in operation. The"
"airships. During the Spanish civil war, German airplanes bombed the town of Guernica in April 1937, which had no military use or value. Less well-known bombings, such as that of the Polish town of Wieluń within the first two hours of the war and prior to any attack on Germany, either by air or land, are left out. Friedrich mentions the British use of explosive weapons followed by incendiary, a mixture designed to create large fires. He also mentions that the technique to create firestorms was a German development first seen in the bombing against British cities, such as the"
"Auxiliary Units The Auxiliary Units or GHQ Auxiliary Units were specially trained, highly secret units created by the United Kingdom government during the Second World War, with the aim of using irregular warfare to help combat any invasion of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany, which the Germans codenamed Operation Sea Lion. With the advantage of having witnessed the rapid fall of several continental nations, the United Kingdom was the only country during the war that was able to create a multi-layered guerrilla and resistance movement in anticipation of an invasion. The Auxiliary Units would fight as uniformed guerrillas during"
"launchers. The inflatable dummies are designed to present a realistic image to enemy radar and thermal imaging. An intercontinental ballistic missile may release decoys in addition to one or more warheads. Military aircraft on SEAD missions may carry decoy missiles such as the MALD which can create aircraft-like return signals on enemy radars. Military dummy Dummies and decoys are fake military equipment that are intended to deceive the enemy. Dummies and decoys are only one aspect of military deception. During World War II, dummy airfields and even towns were used in England to divert German bombers from the real targets."
"all of the SF decoy sites. The original ""Starfish"", in the Mendip Hills near Bristol, used fires of creosote and water to simulate incendiary bombs exploding. In addition, glow boxes were used to simulate the streets and railways of Bristol; the light bulbs were powered by electrical generators turned by Coventry Climax petrol engines contained in two bunkers. There is a starfish site, with bunker still visible, in the parish of Yatton, North Somerset, off Claverham Drove; this was also a decoy for Bristol. Glasgow was protected by various Starfish sites located on its surrounding hillsides. A decoy site existed"
"D-Day landings. Some of the hospitals which were built for the casualties of the war remain in use. The Taunton Stop Line was set up to repel a potential German invasion. The remains of its pill boxes can still be seen along the coast, and south through Ilminster and Chard. A number of decoy towns were constructed in Somerset in World War II to protect Bristol and other towns, at night. They were designed to mimic the geometry of ""blacked out"" streets, railway lines, and Bristol Temple Meads railway station, to encourage bombers away from these targets. One, on the"
"the Germans as to the location of the D-Day invasion using dummy military equipment. A naval example was the British battleship HMS ""Centurion"". Obsolete and disarmed by World War II, she spent two years in the Mediterranean fitted with wooden guns, to make British naval forces in the area seem stronger than they were. Likewise, ""Fleet tender"" was the codename for a number of British merchant ships that fitted with dummy structures to resemble warships. In Russia, a former hot air balloon factory has continued in the 2010s to make dummy tanks, aircraft, missile launch pads, radar stations, and rocket"
"to rubble – entered the German and English languages. In response, the Royal Air Force intensified the carpet bombings against German towns. On 8 April 1941 Coventry was hit by another massive air raid, which brought the total killed in the city by bombing to 1,236 with 1,746 injured. A common myth surrounding the bombing (due in part to such books as Winterbotham's ""The Ultra Secret"") is that Coventry was deliberately undefended to prevent the Germans realising that Enigma cipher machine traffic (information from which was termed Ultra) was being read by British cryptanalysts at Bletchley Park. This claim is"
"bombers because navigators focused more on reflected bodies of water, railroad tracks, or large highways. The chief purpose is to mobilize the entire civilian population, and provide a test to make sure they are obeying the rules. Plans to blackout British coastal towns in the event of war were drawn up in 1913 by Winston Churchill in his role as First Lord of the Admiralty; these plans were implemented on 12 August 1914, eight days after the United Kingdom had entered the war. On 1 October 1914, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police ordered that bright exterior lights were to"
"a sustained bombing campaign was mounted. It began with the bombing of London for 57 successive nights, an era known as 'the Blitz'. East London was targeted because the area was a centre for imports and storage of raw materials for the war effort, and the German military command felt that support for the war could be damaged among the mainly working class inhabitants. On the first night of the Blitz, 430 civilians were killed and 1,600 seriously wounded. The populace responded by evacuating children and the vulnerable to the country and digging in, constructing Anderson shelters in their gardens"
"Camouflages for sabotage equipment used by the German sabotage services in World War II During the Second World War, German saboteurs operating against Britain designed a range of unconventional bombs disguised as, amongst others: tins of plums, throat lozenges, shaving brushes, batteries, wood, coal and stuffed dogs. Arguably the most unconventional bomb was the ""chocolate bar bomb"" that was intended to be smuggled into the homes of the Royals with the purpose of assassination. None of the chocolate bars reached Britain, but British authorities did capture some in places as far away as Turkey, The bomb was made of steel"
"and Sheffield. The new ""Special Fire"" decoys were set up to simulate the bomb drops of German pathfinder squadrons. By 23 January 1941 the programme had been increased to 43 sites protecting 13 town and cities and by March operational sites numbered over 100. By the end of the war there were 237 Starfish sites protecting 81 locations. One of the first decoy sites was constructed on Black Down on the Mendip Hills; it was code-named ""Starfish"", derived from Turner's original SF code, and built to protect the nearby city of Bristol. The Starfish name was eventually adopted to describe"
"dormitory area for the cities of Bristol and Bath, although it has continued to be the commercial centre of the valley. During German bombing raids targeted on Bristol, many bombs fell in the parish: Ruen House on the road to Chew Hill was bombed. The nearly flat area just east of the Y-junction on Chew Hill was initially chosen as a Starfish site area to be lit by fires to simulate Bristol in flames. Later, about halfway between North Chew Farm and Manor Farm, North Wick was an area secured by Royal Air Force personnel, lit by fires, and with"
"bombing from the air to damage the morale and economy of the enemy, such as the German Zeppelin air raids conducted on London during the Great War. The Chinese wartime capital of Chongqing was firebombed by the Imperial Japanese starting in early 1939. London, Coventry, and many other British cities were firebombed during the Blitz by Nazi Germany. Most large German cities were extensively firebombed starting in 1942, and almost all large Japanese cities were firebombed during the last six months of World War II. This technique makes use of small incendiary bombs (possibly delivered by a cluster bomb such"
"simulate an oil refinery (i.e. Salt End) under attack, and area were controlled fires were lit to simulate an area under aerial attack. There were further similar decoys in the Holderness and North Lincolnshire areas. There were also heavy anti-aircraft batteries located in the Paull area during the Second World War. Post-Second World War military structures included a nuclear attack monitoring post on Holme Hill (Royal Observer Corps), used from 1962 to 1968. Paull Holme (""Holm"") was also listed in the Domesday report, also in the Manor of Burstwick. The family of Holme held the place from the post Conquest"
"over a single city. The practice of area bombardment came to prominence during World War II with the use of large numbers of unguided gravity bombs, often with a high proportion of incendiary bombs, to effect indiscriminate bombing of the target region – either to destroy personnel and/or materiel, or as a means to demoralize the enemy. This, in high enough concentration was capable of producing a firestorm effect. The high explosive bombs were often on timers and used to intimidate or kill firemen putting out the fires caused by the incendiaries. Initially, this was effected by multiple aircraft, often"
"enemy to wage war. London, Coventry, and many other British cities were firebombed during the Blitz. Most large German cities were extensively firebombed starting in 1942, and almost all large Japanese cities were firebombed during the last six months of World War II. As Sir Arthur Harris, the officer commanding RAF Bomber Command from 1942 through to the end of the war in Europe, pointed out in his post-war analysis, although many attempts were made to create deliberate man-made firestorms during World War II, few attempts succeeded: According to physicist David Hafemeister, firestorms occurred after about 5% of all fire-bombing"
"Sheffield Blitz The Sheffield Blitz is the name given to the worst nights of German ""Luftwaffe"" bombing in Sheffield, England, during the Second World War. It took place over the nights of 12 December and 15 December 1940. In 1940 Sheffield was a city of about 560,000 people and contained many heavy industries, primarily centred on steel and armaments. Hadfields steelworks was also the only place in the UK at that time where 18-inch armour-piercing shells were made. Most of the factories were located in the East end of the city beside the River Don. Documents captured at the end"
"Military dummy Dummies and decoys are fake military equipment that are intended to deceive the enemy. Dummies and decoys are only one aspect of military deception. During World War II, dummy airfields and even towns were used in England to divert German bombers from the real targets. At the Battle of La Ciotat in 1944, American aircraft dropped hundreds of dummy paratroopers (Paradummies) just north of La Ciotat, France. The goal of this operation was to divert German troops away from the main landing zones of Operation Dragoon. Additionally, during World War II, Operation Quicksilver was an attempt to mislead"
"of decoy sites were built with the intention of drawing enemy bombing raids away from the major cities. The main decoy for Bristol was at Black Down on the western end of the Mendip Hills, about southwest of Bristol. A smaller one was in the parish of Chew Magna. These were known as starfish sites, and were designed to simulate Bristol under blackout conditions, even to the extent of mimicking the flickering lights of railway marshalling yards. In the event of an imminent air raid, beacons were lit at the decoy sites. Later archaeological research at the Black Down site"
"were targeting the shipyards, and the area in the vicinity of the yards was consequently hit, with Clyde and Leven Street being severely damaged. In an attempt to lure the German aircraft away from the shipyards, decoy lights were routinely placed on the Kilpatrick hills above the town, lights were set out on reservoirs to mimic those of the shipyards reflecting on the waters of the Leven and Clyde. The ploy was sometimes successful in diverting the bombers and many bombs fell harmlessly onto the moors and lochs. The Auchenreoch Muir 'Starfish' site above Dumbarton was part of a system"
"– ""The Secret War"" Several memorials in Hamburg are reminders of the air raids during World War II: Bombing of Hamburg in World War II The allied bombing of Hamburg during World War II included numerous attacks on civilians and civic infrastructure. As a large city and industrial centre, Hamburg's shipyards, U-boat pens, and the Hamburg-Harburg area oil refineries were attacked throughout the war. As part of a sustained campaign of strategic bombing during World War II, the attack during the last week of July 1943, code named Operation Gomorrah, created one of the largest firestorms raised by the Royal"
"to be deployed quickly. Meanwhile, the reverse was also done, to make tanks look like trucks. A further device was put into use that both created simulated tank tracks and erased real ones. Inflatable dummies consisted of a fabric covering supported by a network of pressurized rubber tubes that formed a kind of ""pneumatic skeleton"". These were generally preferred in the field, despite their tendency to rapidly deflate if punctured by accident or shellfire. In one operation in September 1944, the British deployed 148 inflatable tanks close to the front line and around half were ""destroyed"" by fragments from German"