Yoda1PositivityStar
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At first glance, this looks like an ordinary day in a small village with people enjoying the sun outside
But underneath this ‘peaceful town’ was a big military secret: a Boeing factory
During WWII, the U.S. Army designed a whole neighborhood to throw off possible air attacks
On the roof of Boeing Plant 2, camouflage trees and structures were shorter than a person
Trees were made of chicken wire and feathers
A street sign plays off the fake neighborhood at the corner of “Synthetic Street” and “Burlap Boulevard”
Suzette Lamoureaux and Vern Manion examine one of the miniature bungalows in the “Boeing Wonderland”
Structures that look like cars from overhead are parked along a fake street
An aerial view of the camouflage on top of Boeing Plant 2 shows that the “streets” were aligned with real residential neighborhoods nearby
Joyce Howe, and behind her Susan Heidreich, walking over the camouflaged Boeing Plant 2
Boeing plant aerial photo taken from around 5000 feet. This was taken in either 1944 or 1945
Thousands of Boeing workers gather in front of Boeing Plant 2 for ceremonies marking the changeover from B-17 to B-29 production on April 10, 1945
The first B-52A is rolled out at Boeing’s Seattle plant on March 18, 1954. In order to clear the hangar doorway, the plane’s 48-foot-high tail had to be folded down
Boeing Plant 2. 5000th celebrations
Boeing Plant 2. B-17G Flying Fortress cockpits under construction
B-17F production line, Boeing Plant 2, July 14 1942
“Rosie the Riveter” at work at Boeing Plant 2
Here’s how it looks like now
Sauce: https://www.boredpanda.com/boeing-fake-rooftop-town-world-war-seattle
imgned
Hiding plane from sight
OkButWhyWereTheyFilming
Should've just bought a bunch of these and laid them on the roof. Prob would have saved a ton of time/money:
c2youlv
My grandfather worked there. He told great stories about it.
Nightcaste
I want to go Godzilla through there
Maaaaaalloooooo
Boom. I work here. Crazy how the factory actually produced clouds it was so big.
TheGrubermeister
They did something similar at the Hanford site where they refined uranium used for The Bomb. Except they just made it look like more desert
HockeyFighter69
@ilookfuckingcool
whythiskink
Same thing in Long Beach. Just last week I showed about 15 co-workers this and none of them had heard about it. 1/2
whythiskink
2/2 I stumbled upon this about 10 years ago. Why hasn't a documentary been made about it? If I had the $ and knew the right people I would.
ThatThog
Similar things were done to the Lockheed plant.
highteck9
this is in seattle! yay!
Ralter3
Japanese pilot: "Man it must suck for all those people living right next to an active runway."
AnAverageJho
"Let's not bomb them, they have it pretty hard already"
Rox2
Unless they knowingly moved there and then complain about noise anyway... in which case, bomb the hell out of 'em!
Thedaleksarebadnews2
I used to occasionally catch the bus outside Boeing when I lived in Seattle. It was really awkward when they were picketing by the road.
TheMythicalJackalope
So the Renton plant then or the Everett one?
Thedaleksarebadnews2
Neither. It was on Pacific Highway, towards downtown.
TheMythicalJackalope
Cool. I lived by the Everett one for a long time. Couldn’t go anywhere during shift change.
LurkerCatsu
these are amazing
ItsTorgueToYou
Wait, this was in America? First the Japanese would have to reach America. I never heard of their bombers ever doing that.
z1sv
They dropped bombs in the state of Oregon. Just as easy as hitting Pearl Harbor. Put planes on aircraft carriers.
cntrfldr
Didn't you see "1941" where a Jap sub destroyed the boardwalk ferris wheel screaming "Horrywood!"
smooshiebanana
https://imgur.com/z6i4OSA
r0b0tc0rpse
Did they actually expect them to strike that deep or to have spies over head?
z1sv
The Japanese did drop bombs in the state of Oregon. Certainly Seattle could have been hit too.
saiboogu
Deep? On the west coast, on the same ocean as the Japanese?
TheRealHelmsman
Used to build Kenworth trucks there in the 70s-80s the fake town was gone but they had pictures of it around the factory
captainfantasticfasterthansupermantheflashandthehulkcombined
"Pay no mind to the neighborhood situated in what is clearly a miltary/industrial area"
terryr
Giant bombers coming out of someones garage might have been a give-away though.
usernametakenisthestoryofmylife
It's.... a... bea-utiful day in the neigh-bor-hood... *wink*
SomeRandomDudeWhoUpvotesThingsHeLikes
Wait isn't masking a military target as a civilian one a war crime?
Ralter3
Only if it's an actual operational area that civilians live in. Like storing rockets in a working school, etc.
SomeRandomDudeWhoUpvotesThingsHeLikes
ah ok, thanks
BurntToast127
Well that answers the question of why they didn't let people live there. Like homeless people lol
MidlandRedux
This stuff works. When Rommel invaded Egypt, Brits had a guy mask the harbor at Alexandria against night bombing. He used a lot of lights.
synclinal
During WWI, the french made a "fake Paris" against zeppelin
trumpypumpyinyourrumpy
Good idea. Japanese would’ve figured it out though.
ItsTorgueToYou
If this plant was in Mainland USA, first the Japanese bombers would need to be able to reach us. Fortunately they never reached that point.
yourcommentisstupid
But they didn't... obviously
trumpypumpyinyourrumpy
They ran out of time and soldiers
buttbuttpartywagon
"Trees were made of chicken wire and feathers" those poor birds
hockeykeeperkit
For those people who go sick of scrolling up and down to compare... https://imgur.com/nsV6wR8
saltysasquatch
Great, now I have to scroll left and right?!
OrangeRanger
jbilly90
All women making the things. Fuck ya
zFUBARz
1) You know that the wars were a huge impetus for both woman's sufferage, women's right and women's rights int he workplace right? I mean
zFUBARz
2) yes, sure fuck year, but also, it was kind of a massive thing beyond just fuck yeah.
jbilly90
Pretty sure everyone knows that. Its basic history thats taught in school
zFUBARz
then why comment on it in a way that implies you think it's abnormal?
jbilly90
What
buzburbank
Good thing the "neighborhood" didn't have a Target store.
holymolyheded
And all the smart bombs in ww2.....
MiracleWhoop
FsImgur
This took far too long to get. Bravo.
TanithRosenbaum
Pfft. take your upvote
BrandonMoon
Walmarts only
IPoisonedDorcasMutton
Pfft. That just makes it more likely to be bombed.
Cthulhuchooseyou
ByMyOwnDesign
Oh I see what you did there
putzcommander
IwentLookingForWhatTheBiggestIdiotHasToSayAndHereYouAre
be funny if they did, and thats where they kept all their POWs
D4NG3RD4N3
Funny how?
IwentLookingForWhatTheBiggestIdiotHasToSayAndHereYouAre
I have a fairly warped sense of humor when it comes to things that definitely wouldnt happen anyway.
whatsisname
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.8856785,-93.2479785,298m/data=!3m1!1e3
buzburbank
Painted right on the roof, too, FFS. For the less confident pilots. :)
mikeatike
Ha, that is even closer to the airport than the Target near Pittsburgh International.
DeathAbuse
NatsukiIsMyWaifu
If I worked that day, I would have left on the spot.
LostCatWantedDeadAndAlive
I've watched this about 30 times. What's actually going on here? Did it fall on its own, or get hit?
Jujubee118
They might over stocked the shelves causing them to give out, saw it happen to candy on pegs the whole section fell over.
superquick76
And that’s how my grandma lost her hearing riveting those B17’s together.
gbombuh
It’s too bad PPE wasn’t really in fashion yet
NihonJinLover
My pop pop lost his sense of smell when they were testing gasses on the soldiers. He was in the air force.
IWantToHaveTheLongestUserNamePossibleJustToBeAnnoyingWhenIPost
(1/2) Her service is greatly appreciated. I'm sorry about the side effects due to her contributions. I just hope she knows what she did for
IWantToHaveTheLongestUserNamePossibleJustToBeAnnoyingWhenIPost
(2/2) this country. She's as much of a hero as anyone in uniform. From a US Marine (ret.)
dschuma
Army asshole here, I agree with my crayon eating friend here. Ooah brother (or sister). To original commentator: your grams is awesome
NAPSTABLOOK22
“Army asshole here, I agree with my crayon eating friend here”
Vaeevictiss
Air Force vet here, as always, thanks for her service. The real tragedy is that she was building planes for the war to end all wars.
FsImgur
I'm sure the 'ear protection' the government was handing out was a couple cotton balls. 1/
FsImgur
Like the women painted watches with glo-in-dark radioactive paint. Told to lick their brushes to keep them pointy. Cancers later occurred.
FsImgur
Pathetic working conditions back then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls
Lovethesmelloftoastedsourdoughbread
WHAT?
ALargeAgglomerationOfAtomsSuperficiallyResemblingAUser
MAWP
TanithRosenbaum
Random person from Germany here. Please tell her her service is greatly appreciated, here as well.
jlist
Cool! My grandmother was a news reporter in Washington, always told me how she typed the lists of the day's casualty reports for printing
jsnforce
Well now the Japanese know! Thanks for revealing our secrets, traitor.
JohnG34897
Why do those Americans build neighborhoods right next to a runway? Definitely not a hidden military base. - Japanese probably
StormtrooperDHX11317
It wasn't so much to hide the fact that airplanes were there, but more to hide the factory from getting destroyed which would be devastating
WithPride
I have a place that has a runway very close to the town. It's a good place to fly in.
chancethewrapper79
I'm sure it seems more likely that they have an emergency run way, than an entire base under a neighborhood. Probably tohigh a risk to bomb.
zFUBARz
Because both sides didn't hit civilian targets on more than a few occasions...
HowAboutThatUpdog
Because strategic bombing wasn't a strategy used by all sides to demoralize their enemies
zFUBARz
Not saying it wasn't done for a reason, shit the allies wrecked entire German towns, just saying high risk is maybe the wrong concern.
HowAboutThatUpdog
I know what you were saying
happenedtomeonce
Welcome to San Diego
SexualPeanut
I think you mean Whales Vagina.
happenedtomeonce
I don’t speak German
CommunCreator
The runway would have been a target anyway, though less so than a factory. The effectiveness of the camouflage was never really tested.
CharlesFosterLime
Not YET!
DodgerMac
It's much easier and faster to repair concrete than a highly advanced factory full of hundreds of invaluable bombers
throwawaynoms
It's not like carpet bombing wasn't a thing back then either.
BrumpoTungus
The japanese never really employed a heavy bomber capable of that type of air raid.
cb99
Guess where I lived as a child? Yep, in a neighborhood right up against the airport. Great commute for my dad. Those neighborhoods were 1/2
cb99
bought out by the airport and torn down many many years ago. Just fenced off woods and fields now. 2/2
Cheomesh
I live next to a not-at-all hidden military base and houses go right up to the fences in some parts.
HowAboutThatUpdog
Except for a few (IE Groom Lake) there's not much to hide. Even Groom Lake you can see a lot on Google maps, but there's still that whole
HowAboutThatUpdog
shady shit on that family that lived on the heights around it
RightTurnClyde
So true. My parents live in one..
AsianDad
That's what the military with a hidden military base and houses go right up to the fences in some parts would say!!!
Cheomesh
Correct!