Before
After
In February 1942, a Japanese submarine was spotted just outside San Francisco Bay.
Ohmer concealed key factories and assembly plants that may be targets, including Douglas Aircraft.
In a short period of time the entire area of the factory was camouflaged.
Small farm complete with animals, a barn, a silo and other buildings were erected.
Pastoral controls used frames of lumber and large spreads of canvas.
Hundreds of fake trees and shrubs were positioned to give the entire area a 3-dimensional appearance.
Air ducts were disguised as fire hydrants.
None of these aircraft looked real up close but looked great from a distance.
Fake runways were made by burning grassy strips.
Maintaining the illusion of a neighbourhood required signs of life and activity.
Workers emerged to relocate automobiles, and took walks on hidden catwalks.
Some took washing down from fake clotheslines only to replace it later at scheduled times.
Parked automobiles were moved to indicate drivers were using their cars daily and returning home from work.
Ohmer’s “suburb” brought requests for other camouflage projects.
In Seattle, Boeing Aircraft covered nearly 26 acres.
It became covered by a complete town with municipal buildings, a park, schools and homes.
The threat of a serious attack against the West Coast diminished, then vanished.
