CAMOUFLAGE OF PORTS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 208, 30 May 1941, Page 7

CAMOUFLAGE OF PORTS

Elaborate Nazi Scheme EFFORT TO MISLEAD R.A.F. (British Official Wireless.) (Received May 29, 7.5 p.m.) LONDON, May 28. The Germans are adopting elaborate methods of camouflage in an endeavour to check the devastating Royal Air Force raids on Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen, says the “Daily . Telegraph’s” correspondent on the German frontier.

A traveller who arrived from Germany after witnessing the effects of the bombing said the railway stations at Hamburg and Hanover and. other prominent targets were completely covered under a canopy of timber on which were placed artificial grass shrubs, giving the impression of rolling country from the air. The Germans have attempted to disguise landmarks by which members of the- R.A.F. check their course. They have altered the shape of two lakes near Hamburg by covering sections of the surface with boards on piles. The Germans erected dummy houses on top of oil storage tanks in Hanover after several tanks had been destroyed by bombs. Millions of marks are being spent on this camouflage. The traveller reported enormous damage in the three cities. Whole streets in Hanover were “blown completely flat.” The city’s transport was chaotic as the result of a direct hit on a tramway depot which destroyed 145 trams and buses.. There was tremendous havoc in the dock area of Hamburg and Bremen, and the Submarine dockyard at Wilhelmshaven was reported to be useless. It was estimated that 15,000 people were made homeless in the dock area of Kiel.