BBC History Magazine

Hidden assets

Disguising the Taj Mahal with bamboo scaffolding to protect it from enemy attack in 1942 (Did You Know?, November) was just one example of the countless ways that factories, runways, power plants and other important structures were camouflaged during the Second World War.

In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, for example, it was vital to protect the militarily strategic Lockheed plant in California, and no expense was spared to do so. Set designers and artists were recruited from Hollywood movie studios such as Disney and Paramount. The main factory buildings and parking lots

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