Hey y'all, hugs, kisses, yada yada yada...
I got this from our old buddy Cowdad, and it was just fascinating to me. Maybe y'all knew about this, but it's the first I've heard of it, so I thought I'd pass it along.
A little World War II stateside history here...
During WW II Lockheed (unbelievable 1940s pictures). This is a version of special effects during the 1940's.
I have never seen these pictures or knew that we had gone this far to protect ourselves. During World War II the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant to protect it from a possible Japanese air attack.
They covered it with camouflage netting to make it look like a rural subdivision from the air.
Before:
After:
HELLO EVERYONE - THIS SHOULD BLOW YOU AWAY IF YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER.
The person I received this from said she got back an interesting story about someone's mother who worked at Lockheed, and she as a younger child, remembers all this. And to this day, it is the first pictures of it she's seen.
Another person who lived in the area talked about as being a boy, watching it all be set up like a movie studio production. They had fake houses, trees, etc. and moved parked cars around so it looked like a residential area from the skies overhead.
"I lived in North Long Beach during World War II, I was 13 years old. (1940) The Long Beach airport was near Lakewood CA . There was a large Boeing Plant there. If you would drive down Carson St . going south you could drive under the camouflage netting."
Ed Pollard
"I am 85 and had much of my pilot training in Calif. I have been under this net and have seen it from the air. During pre-flight training I rode a bus under the net and was very surprised as I didn't know it was there. It was strong enough to walk on and they hired people to ride bicycles and move around as if they lived there to make it look authentic."
Warren Holmgreen Jr
That... is totally, freakin' awesome!
ReplyDeleteYeah Roses, I thought it was, too. The old guy that sent it to me is a long time friend, pilot, and actually remembers WWII. He's about a million years old now, but still as sharp as a tack.
ReplyDeleteGirl, I gotta e-mail you about Cowdad. He's actually a radio guy from WAY back. And, if I tell you his name, you would be astounded...and you'd think for sure that I was a liar that he is a real "face to face" friend of mine. But he is.
Just think WMAL, and NBC, DC.
The Discovery Channel, or mebbe it was the History or the Military Channel, have done segments on this and other incredible feats of military deception. The work in El Eh was some of the biggest and best, though.
ReplyDeleteBack in the saddle? I knew it was too good to be true, but you just couldn't stay away from your mistress, the computer.
ReplyDeletePretty amazing, huh? They did the same thing with the Boeing plant in Seattle during the war.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to visit the Kenworth factory in Kent, Washington, they showed us pictures of this same thing. Kenworth and Boeing were both instrumental in the US's war effort. They also hoisted a huge camouflage net over both of those production factories. It was quite the sight to behold.
ReplyDeleteBuck, BR, and CL, when I got this I snopesed it out, just in case.
ReplyDeleteAnd I came up with the info about the Boeing plant. But, I didn't read about the Kenworth deal. Interesting stuff.
That whole national effort is still astounding to me. And, the older I get the more I realize what a Herculean task it was to cross two oceans, and win two wars (along with our allies, of course).
And, the great sacrifice it was to all involved.
Really astounding!
I've seen this before, but it's still pretty dang amazing.
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool. I have tried to find some Military sites that I know are there by using google earth, but then I can't find them. Then I am surprised to find others that I don't think you should be able to see.
ReplyDelete