The Wooden Bombs of World War II Factoid

When will we ever learn? Those snazzy factoids that look so alluring when they are circulated through social media always promise a quick and easy article. Those promises, alas, tend to be as reliable as the facts they purport to convey. What started as a writing project that shouldn’t have taken more than half an hour, invariably develops into a marathon research session. The facts and fiction tend to be more convoluted than a White House press conference.

Case in point is this intriguing snippet that may have found its way into your social media feed: “During WW2, the Germans built a fake wooden airfield with wooden aircraft, vehicles, and hangars in order to trick the Allies. The RAF, having known of the secret project for months, patiently waited for them to finish and then dropped a single fake wooden bomb on it.”

That sounds like a great story to share. It’s fun. It’s intriguing. But… is it true? The story, though widely circulated, is surprisingly hard to pin down and verify. Could the story be as fake as the airfield, planes, and bombs? Join us as we delve into the mysterious legend of the wooden bombs of World War II.

Digging Into the Legend

The story seems to have first appeared in print in William L. Shirer’s book Berlin Diary. On November 27, 1940, Shirer writes: “X tells me a funny one. He says the British intelligence in Holland is working fine. Both sides in this war have built a number of dummy airdromes and strewn them with wooden planes. X says the Germans recently completed a very large one near Amsterdam. They lined up more than a hundred dummy planes made of wood on the field and waited for the British to come over and bomb them. Next morning the British did come. They let loose with a lot of bombs. The bombs were made of wood.”

It sounds like a plot from an episode of Hogan’s Heroes. Other accounts over the years add the detail that the bombs were emblazoned with “Wood For Wood” on their sides.

What a great story! No wonder it has captured our imaginations for decades. It’s a tale that blends strategic cunning with a touch of humor, painting Allied pilots as both pranksters and savvy warriors. But did it really happen? Or is it simply a fanciful myth that has grown with time, fueled by the fascination of generations far removed from the reality of World War II?

The Skeptical Perspective

For the same reason that we don’t believe in astrology (Sagittarius is known for being skeptical), we have our doubts. Critics point out the lack of hard documentary evidence to substantiate these claims. There are plenty of compelling anecdotal testimonies, but they often lack the corroborating archival proof that inquiring minds crave.

Critics of the legend suggest alternative explanations. What was perceived as wooden bombs might have been misidentified aircraft float lights. The float light was a smoke-producing flare designed to be dropped by an aircraft over open water for drift sighting during the day or night. Comparing a photo of a float light to the photo of the “wooden bomb” that is often circulated through social media shows a telling similarity.

The big question that really casts doubt over the story centers around the logistical and strategic implications. The account told by William Shirer places the incident during the days of the Battle of Britain. With England standing alone against Germany and limited resources available, would it really risk sending pilots and planes across the Channel on a mission to Holland that had no strategic value?

Additionally, if the purpose of the fake airfield was simply to deceive the Allies, why would the Germans go to the trouble of making one entirely out of wood? That would take a lot of time and resources — certainly more than using painted canvas stretched on plywood frames, for example.

The Psychological Warfare Angle

Yet, amidst the skepticism, one plausible explanation emerges: that of psychological warfare. Throughout history, military strategists have employed psychological tactics to unsettle and demoralize adversaries. Dropping wooden bombs – whether real or mistaken for such – could have been a deliberate ploy to undermine German morale, to mock their efforts, and to assert Allied superiority, both in intelligence gathering and in sheer audacity.

Former fighter pilot and historian Pierre-Alain Antoine suggests, “The use of wooden bombs could have been a way for both sides to signal their awareness of decoy tactics. It was a form of psychological gamesmanship, where appearances mattered as much as actual damage.”

Investigating the Evidence

Separating the fact from fiction led historian Pierre-Antoine Courouble to delve into this intriguing tale. His 2009 book Wood for Wood – The Riddle of the Wooden Bombs, conveys the findings of 303 meticulously gathered testimonies from former soldiers, Resistance members, military personnel, and pilots. In 2020, Courouble followed up on his book with a documentary film (watch it here through YouTube) that features several eyewitness accounts. Among those who were interviewed was Werner Thiel. As a Lieutenant-Colonel, Thiel was stationed at the Luftkriegsschule III, a Luftwaffe school in Werder near Potsdam in 1942. He was deployed to a training airfield in the village of Borkheide 23 kilometers south of Werder. In 1943, wooden aircraft decoys were set up to protect the airfield from an air raid but the next morning, Thiel only found wooden bombs strewn across the areas – they had “wood for wood” written on them.

In his research, Courouble also curated photographs that have circulated widely. One striking image shows German Luftwaffe soldiers working on a wooden replica of a Junkers Ju-87 dive bomber, highlighting the meticulous effort put into decoy airfields.

However, as with many wartime stories, evaluating the veracity of these accounts relies heavily on eyewitness testimonies and circumstantial evidence. Over the years, researchers have presented compelling arguments that support the notion of pilots deploying wooden bombs on enemy decoys as a form of practical joke – perhaps more than once.

Conclusion: Fact, Fiction, or Something in Between?

While hard evidence remains elusive, the plethora of testimonies and circumstantial accounts suggests that there might be a kernel of truth buried within the layers of storytelling. Whether Allied pilots dropped wooden bombs as a practical joke or as a calculated psychological move, there are too many eye-witness accounts to allow us to dismiss the tale altogether.

In the end, it’s the sort of story that is so good that if it isn’t true, it should be.

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