Mappleborough Bombing Decoy Site
The site of a lighting and fire civil decoy site from the Second World War designed to confuse the enemy aircraft into dropping their bombs in the wrong place. Documentary evidence sites it 800m north of Outhill.
1 The site of a bombing decoy installation as part of the QL and QF programmes. The lighting decoy was set up to simulate factory lighting and protect the BSA factory at Redditch. A fire decoy operation was located at the same same site; fires were created to counterfeit the effect of incendiary bombs. The documented grid reference is SP107674.
Lighting decoys were a cheap and successful way of confusing the enemy; the first such deployment was operational in July 1941. Every site differed so that they were a sort of theatrical lighting show to mimic any local vulnerable point that needed protection. An associated shelter would have been built to house the generator/s and other equipment.
2 There is no evidence of anything at this grid reference in an aerial photo of 1947.
- For the sources of these notes, see the
- Timetrail record
- produced by the Historic Environment Record.
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