Wed Jul 19, 2006 3:37 pm
It's a decoy for sure !
Ken Wakefield's great book 'The Fighting Grasshoppers' shows a picture of U-29, a similar dummy L-4 on a decoy airstrip near Herbitzheim, France on February 21 1945 !
The text tells a member of the 174th FA Gp (with the Seventh Army's 44th Inf Div.) is putting the finishing touch to this decoy....
Judging the trees on the picture it might be on the same strip !
Ken Wakefield's great book 'The Fighting Grasshoppers' shows a picture of U-29, a similar dummy L-4 on a decoy airstrip near Herbitzheim, France on February 21 1945 !
The text tells a member of the 174th FA Gp (with the Seventh Army's 44th Inf Div.) is putting the finishing touch to this decoy....
Judging the trees on the picture it might be on the same strip !
Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:06 pm
blacksheep wrote:Looks like an L-Bird decoy! LOOK there comes one now, get ready...
Yeah with a good spread, dawg and a Winchester, its a throw down hand!
Lynn
Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:47 pm
ditto, 1st i've seen too!! great pic!!
Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:39 pm
Found this going though some photos. Is this a L-bird or a decoy???
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Looks like a real L-2 to me. If it wasen't real, why are there guys working on it? Also, the open sides could be for litters.
Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:10 pm
Nathan wrote: If it wasen't real, why are there guys working on it?
You're assuming the guys are real, of course...
Re: ???
Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:44 pm
B-29 Super Fort wrote:Jack Cook wrote:What would be the strategic or tactical point in this?
Prior to D-Day, Gen Patton commanded an army of made of decoys
poised to invade near Calais. The hope being to draw the Germans away from the Normandy beaches.
I've seen many photos of the rubber decoy tanks but this is the first decoy play I've seen, thanks for posting it.
I can't remember where I saw it , but I know I've seen a photo of a airfield decoy "Spitfire" somewhere.
Seems like I recall seeing a bamboo P40 image from China as well.
Dan
Not an L-2
Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:43 pm
Looks like a real L-2 to me. If it wasen't real, why are there guys working on it? Also, the open sides could be for litters.
The aircraft shown is definitely not an L-2 (wrong canopy, wrong tail, etc). I think what we're seeing is the guys setting the decoy up.
It also appears to be 'ultra-slim', if you get my drift. From the image, the aircraft fuselage appears about 1-foot wide. Granted a real L-bird isn't much wider but this has all the makings of a decoy -- particularly the strut-like scaffolding supporting the wings, and tail. Also similar bracing midway up the fuselage.
L-2s are widely believed to have never served outside the US so (IMO) probably not much need for decoys wherever they were.
L-3s were used in N. Africa and then largely given to the French. Predominant type for Army Ground Forces (AGF) was the Piper L-4.
As for there being a litter compartment, that would be on the much larger L-5. I own an L-2M and can attest that its mightly 65hp engine is barely capable of getting aloft with 2 small people aboard. No way she's going anywhere with a litter in the back unless you're taxying to your destination!
!!
Re: Not an L-2
Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:56 am
L2Driver wrote:Looks like a real L-2 to me. If it wasen't real, why are there guys working on it? Also, the open sides could be for litters.
L-2s are widely believed to have never served outside the US
Not to mention the flying L-bird in the picture is an L-4.
Jim
Re: A Decoy L Bird?
Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:03 am
astixjr wrote:What would be the strategic or tactical point in this? I get the idea of an inflatable tank or a plywood P-40 but not this one. My favorite was the cold war era inflatable soviet submarine that was supposed to fool our spy satellites.
It would be probably be used as a decoy for a bogus Headquarters unit, that would be my best guess.
Dummies
Tue Jul 25, 2006 4:35 pm
Paul Patist had it right, the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops deception unit.
Here's front view of the bogus L-bird U-29, about half way down the page.
www.laynor.org/free_info.php
From a page introducing the book "Silent Soldiers", by Philip Gerard...
"Eisenhower's secret weapon—an elite troupe of 1,100 artists, actors, electronics wizards, designers, and writers drawn from the New York art world and colleges like the University of Chicago. These men created dazzling theatrical battlefield ruses, fooling the German high command into attacking the wrong place, defending the wrong bridgehead, even retreating from phantom attackers conjured by radio scripts, sound effects, a handful of convincing actors, and inflatable armored divisions.
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. helped pioneer the tactics of this unlikely band of heroes, which included future fashion king Bill Blass, abstract painter Ellsworth Kelly, and artist Hal Laynor.
Drawing on recently declassified records, interviews, diaries, and letters, Secret Soldiers provides a fascinating and long-overdue tribute to the men who executed one of the greatest military deceptions of all time."
Some more photos of ruse constructs, a couple of L-5's...
www.philipgerard.com/new/pix.htm
One thing to consider, these guys didn't have as easy a life as could be imagined.
Sometimes they purposely drew fire in order to enable "real combat units"
to change position in the field.
Here's front view of the bogus L-bird U-29, about half way down the page.
www.laynor.org/free_info.php
From a page introducing the book "Silent Soldiers", by Philip Gerard...
"Eisenhower's secret weapon—an elite troupe of 1,100 artists, actors, electronics wizards, designers, and writers drawn from the New York art world and colleges like the University of Chicago. These men created dazzling theatrical battlefield ruses, fooling the German high command into attacking the wrong place, defending the wrong bridgehead, even retreating from phantom attackers conjured by radio scripts, sound effects, a handful of convincing actors, and inflatable armored divisions.
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. helped pioneer the tactics of this unlikely band of heroes, which included future fashion king Bill Blass, abstract painter Ellsworth Kelly, and artist Hal Laynor.
Drawing on recently declassified records, interviews, diaries, and letters, Secret Soldiers provides a fascinating and long-overdue tribute to the men who executed one of the greatest military deceptions of all time."
Some more photos of ruse constructs, a couple of L-5's...
www.philipgerard.com/new/pix.htm
One thing to consider, these guys didn't have as easy a life as could be imagined.
Sometimes they purposely drew fire in order to enable "real combat units"
to change position in the field.