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WW2 Decoy sites

22 Sep 2012 12:06 #141 by mbriscoe
Replied by mbriscoe on topic WW2 Decoy sites
BBC2's Wartime Farm this week had a recreation of an Observer Corps post and a Starfish site.

The Starfish site seemed rather improvised compared with pictures I have seen of decoy sites - firewood in wooden crates. I wondered if early ones were rather Heath Robinson?
Martin Briscoe
Lochaber
www.flickr.com/photos/doffcocker/albums/
www.mbriscoe.me.uk/stchristopher.html
www.qsl.net/gm8aob/
sites.google.com/view/edmund-otoole-vc/

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22 Sep 2012 16:55 #142 by Chris Lowe
Replied by Chris Lowe on topic WW2 Decoy sites
A good program & probably all they could afford on the BBC budget.
English Civil War Re-enactor with the Sealed Knot.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!

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23 Sep 2012 09:09 #143 by tarkey
Replied by tarkey on topic WW2 Decoy sites
Its a good program but doesnt give the right idea altogether. The last episode gave the impression that farmers only started using animal muck to put on field because of the War. That isn't true. In fact farmers have done this since time began. It showed them making tiles which no doubt went on but the ordinary farmer would not have got involved in this. Mole draining did go on but again the ordinary farmer would not have made hi own mole plough, in fact he would have been busy doing his normal jobs. Again it gave the impression that all farmers were in the secret army or in the R.O.C. No doubt some were but not huge percentage. Having said that, I think its a wonderful series.

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09 Oct 2012 15:04 #144 by Peter Kirk
Replied by Peter Kirk on topic WW2 Decoy sites
There is a narrative at TNA - AIR 41/3 "Decoy and Deception" dated 1950. Could this be an official history or a red herring?

Incidentally I notice that "Fields of Deception" by Colin Dobinson is being republished in February 2013. W H Smith have it on pre-order at £13.29! Bargain.
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)

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09 Oct 2012 18:05 #145 by a10694
Replied by a10694 on topic WW2 Decoy sites
My copy has loose pages falling out now, and lots of scribble in the back. It was second hand for £5 with HAA off Amazon, postage included. I was even more surprised when it came from Elephant Books, Monterey CA.

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09 Oct 2012 20:42 #146 by carnaby
Replied by carnaby on topic WW2 Decoy sites

My copy has loose pages falling out now...

In my review of another Dobinson book in Airfield Review a while go I said:

Perhaps the most disappointing factor in Dobinson is the publication itself. I showed my copy to an established publisher who noted:
1) The binding is not sewn; this is a cost-cutting exercise which will result in pages coming loose in a few years.

Plan A is always more effective when the problem you are working on understands that Plan B will involve the use of dynamite :twisted:

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10 Oct 2012 04:08 #147 by PETERTHEEATER
Replied by PETERTHEEATER on topic WW2 Decoy sites
Yes, my copy has many loose pages now and there seems to be no way to re-attach them.

I will be interesting to see if the reprint has better binding.

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10 Oct 2012 08:54 #148 by PETERTHEEATER
Replied by PETERTHEEATER on topic WW2 Decoy sites
Reading through the book again trying to piece together the opening dates for the declared 36 day decoy 'K' sites, I found that the locations scattered across pages 38, 39 and 40 total only 35. The missing one is Donna Nook which does appear in Table 1.1

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20 Nov 2012 15:59 #149 by mbriscoe
Replied by mbriscoe on topic WW2 Decoy sites
Radio 4's Making History just had an item about decoy sites - the item following it was also worth listening to.

Should be on iPlayer and I think there is a Podcast

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nxh4z

Decoy Defences of WW2
The Decoy site north of Great Yarmouth
In Norfolk Making History listener Andrew Fakes has come across the remains of a wartime defence installation known as a Starfish site. Its survival is unusual as it was part of a nationwide system of decoys that were built to be bombed, therefore luring the Luftwaffe away from more important civilian and military sites.

Threat of Invasion
Making History listener Cherryl Vines in Worcester has written a book loosely based on her mother’s wartime experiences. Called "Pamela's War" the memories include the traumatic moment in 1939 when war was declared. The family story has it that Cherryl's grandfather, who had fought on the Somme, made it clear that he would kill his wife and child if the Nazi's invaded. Mark Connelly and Stephen Cullen discuss people’s responses to the threat of invasion and the difficulty that historians have in researching this.

Martin Briscoe
Lochaber
www.flickr.com/photos/doffcocker/albums/
www.mbriscoe.me.uk/stchristopher.html
www.qsl.net/gm8aob/
sites.google.com/view/edmund-otoole-vc/

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21 Nov 2012 05:12 #150 by PETERTHEEATER
Replied by PETERTHEEATER on topic WW2 Decoy sites
I am a regular listener to the BBC World Service but find that accessing their webcasts is difficult. You link has a photograph of a 'decoy' site shelter and the title 'Decoy Defences of WW2' but typing 'decoy' in the search box turns up zilch!

Frequently, due to my location, I am denied access to podcasts for fear that they may be illegally copied. Clicking on the speaker icon on the header image produces a lot of mumbo jumbo about the playlist containing invalid data.....no connection left!!!!

Thanks anyway; was it worth a listen?

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