Bristol Blitz - Decoys

Decoys

In the early years of World War II there was a sophisticated system of decoy sites all over the country with the aim of diverting air attacks away from the major cities. The main decoy for Bristol was at Black Down on the western end of the Mendip Hills, about 25 km southwest of Bristol. A smaller one was in the parish of Chew Magna. These were known as QL sites, and were designed to simulate Bristol under blackout conditions, even to the extent of mimicking the flickering lights of railway marshalling yards.

In the event of an imminent air raid, beacons were lit at the decoy sites; these were sometimes successful in tricking the Luftwaffe bombers into thinking that it was Bristol, and they dropped their bombs harmlessly onto the hills.