It was 1940 and the British bombers were determined to bomb the Dutch airfield of Eindhoven, which was by then under German control. The Germans, well aware of their intention, constructed this airfield as a decoy. Their imitation of Eindhoven is complete with hangars, runways, landing lights, and barracks. The airfield even had a “plane”—a wooden contraption that would drive up and down a rail from time to time when enemy planes approached.
Hundreds of bombs were lobbed at the fake airfield throughout World War II—but most, if not all of them, were likely from the Germans themselves. The German fighter pilots used the airfield as a dumping ground, of sorts. When their bombers would return from England, they were often still loaded down with bombs that hadn’t been dropped. But the bombers couldn’t make it back to Germany without offloading their payload. To lose that extra weight, these bombers would fly as low as they could and drop bombs on their own (fake) airfield.
After the Royal Air Force discovered the fake airfield, legend has it that they bombarded it with at least one wooden bomb. (Wooden plane. Wooden bomb. Makes sense, when you think about it.) An information board that recounts the history of the airfield displays a wooden bomb for curious passersby to see, and the wooden plane survives—it’s on the right of the pathway, surrounded by forest. Though not in Germany, this location remains a peculiar reminder of that country’s WWII history.