Hidden WWII Military Base in California

http://stories-etc.com/hidden.htm ^

[Keltik]

This is a version of special effects during the 1940's. I have never seen these pictures or knew that we had gone this far to protect ourselves. During World War II the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant to protect it from a possible Japanese air attack. They covered it with camouflage netting to make it look like a rural subdivision from the air.

[oneolcop]

Another little known fact: At the end of the runway, just off the plant grounds, there is a little cemetery. It was dedicated to pioneers of aviation. It is named Valhalla, the place where dead Viking heroes were said to go.

As a kid, I was told that it holds the remains of some of the WWII pilots killed while flying to & from the Lockheed Airfield. It is also the final resting place of many from the Hollywood movie industry, including Laurel & Hardy. I grew up just a few blocks from there.

[YLLady]

Thanks for the clarification and the interesting history about MM; I had forgotten about that marriage. Of course you posted the photo as Norma Jeane, to see if anyone recognized her hehe - I haven’t seen very many photos of her before she was famous, but did recognize her immediately.

[Magnum44]

Nice post. Thanks.

[Magnum44]

Nice post. Thanks.

[dragnet2]

And ended in an extremely private funeral where thousands in the entertainment industry flew in from all over the world to LA, only to be told by Joe DiMaggio they were not going to be invited to her service, as Joe, in private, blamed most of those in the entertainment industry for her untimely death.

[Constitution Day]

That is AMAZING! I don’t think that I have ever seen these photos before.

I am really interested in the QF Sites you mention in North Africa, since my grandfather was stationed there in WW2.

I recall reading about how Maskelyne hid the Suez Canal in plain sight with the spinning array of mirrors. Cougar, is that story true or apocryphal?

[rottndog]

That is amazing...

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

I haven’t seen very many photos of her before she was famous, but did recognize her immediately.

Thank you for the link to the DC-6 ad photo. I hadn't seen that one of her before. It was obviously taken after she left Radioplane and started her modeling career.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

And ended in an extremely private funeral where thousands in the entertainment industry flew in from all over the world to LA, only to be told by Joe DiMaggio they were not going to be invited to her service, as Joe, in private, blamed most of those in the entertainment industry for her untimely death.

I've read that, too. As she was quoted as saying, "Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul."

If you'd like to read more (warning: graphic) details about her passing, see: Findadeath.com The Death of Marilyn Monroe

[dragnet2]

I am well aware of the on-line sites and what some of them say or allege in regards to her death and the events and circumstances leading up to her death.

Other than this post, here is something you will never see.

[CougarGA7]

The QF Sites were used more in England than North Africa, but the British did use them there too to fool Rommel's air support.

Maskelyne is credited with a lot of crazy illusions during the Second World War. Here's a list of the ones that I have looked into.

1. Made General Gort see the Graf Spee sailing up the Thames (after the Spee had already been sunk at Montevideo)
I could only find one reference of this. Gort never has made mention of this in any report I could find so I think this most likely FALSE.

2. Making British tanks look like trucks in North Africa.
Maskelyne arrived in North Africa on the 10th of March 1941 as part of a team of 12 camouflage officers. They made camouflage paint using of all things a mixture of Worcester sauce and camel dung to get the color right. The key to making the tanks look like trucks was to put a highly reflective piece across the front of the canvas covering so that it had the properties of a windshield. This one is TRUE.

3. Hiding the city of Alexandria.
The idea here was to use the same technique like that of the Q sites to make Alexandria appear about 20 miles west of where it really was so that German bombers would hit the fake site instead of the real city. Unfortunately, this tale is only related in David Fisher's account on Maskelyne (The War Magician) which has no documents backing it up. Odds are this one is FALSE

4. Hiding the Suez Canal.
This is the one you were asking about. Actually, the way the task is portrayed it was not so much hiding the canal as making it almost impossible to hit with bombers. Lights would be used in a cycling and strobing fashion to blind the bomber pilots trying to make an attack. Unfortunately, this one is also only mentioned in Fisher's book and there is no sources that back up the claim (well, William Bruener's Undercover Tales of World War II mentions it, but the source he uses is Fisher's book). So again, this is quite possibly FALSE.

5. Disguising a cruiser to look like a battleship.
This one would be really cool, but while the other possibly false accounts may just be a declassification away from being confirmed, this one is absurd. This is another one only attributed by Fisher and the way he describes it actually makes it appear that the effort was to disguise a cruiser to look like a battleship trying to look like a cruiser. Of all of them this one is almost definitely FALSE.

6. Operation Sentinel.
This one is pretty cool. Operation Sentinel was part of the preparations of an expected attack by Rommel at Alam Halfa Ridge south of El Alamein in late 1942. Sentinel was an effort by Maskelyne and the rest of the camouflage team to create two fake divisions at a forward position in front of Rommel while the actual divisions worked their way into a flanking position. This was done by creating huge fake ammo dumps, fake soldiers, vehicles, tanks, and even a maze of fake tire and tread tracks into the desert. This one is absolutely TRUE.

7. The pseudo-destruction of the Mosquito manufacturing plant.
This is an account from Ben McIntyre's Agent Zigzag in which the double agent Edward Chapman led German officials believe that he had completed his mission to sabotage the plant. This deception did indeed happen complete with creating a fake boiler that from the air appeared to have been blown through the wall of the plant's power station. As far as Maskelyne being involved, that is a bit iffy. There are no records of where Maskelyne went after the camouflage unit in North Africa was disbanded. He may have been involved in this but what documentation there is out there on the subject does not mention him by name. So I say to this one MAYBE.

This concludes my information overload. :)

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Other than this post, here is something you will never see.

Never is an awfully long time, especially in the information age.

[dragnet2]

He posted a copy, but considering only about 21 people were invited to the service, I’m very surprised he has a copy. The one I posted you’ll note, is not a copy, but is clearly sitting on my desk.

[dragnet2]

By the way, I also have the guest list to the service and a letter to all those in the entertainment industry from Joe DiMaggio, apologizing to all those that were not invited, as Joe told them it was due to privacy issues, as well as the eulogy. The fact is, Joe blamed the industry for here death. (I won't be posting any of those documents here.)

By the way, I had to check the list of those invited and Ralph Roberts was one of the few that was invited and he attended the service. His name is listed last on the list. So, I would assume his is not a copy.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

He posted a copy, but considering only about 21 people were invited to the service, I’m very surprised he has a copy.

Maybe it's a copy and then again, maybe not.

The image I posted came from Ralph L. Robert's web site. According to his bio on the site, he spent 3 years with Monroe as "friend, masseur, and actor; traveling from coast to coast with her many times". (See: The Life of Ralph Roberts - About Ralph)

Here's a link to one that was sold online recently.

Marilyn Monroe Funeral Program Invitation

Keep in mind that while only 21 people may have been invited, (other sources say that there were 31 people in attendance) that doesn't mean that only 21 copies were printed.

[dragnet2]

Maybe it's a copy and then again, maybe not.

Robert's attended...See 54

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

By the way, I had to check the list of those invited and Ralph Roberts was one of the few that was invited and he attended the service. His name is listed last on the list. So, I would assume his is not a copy.

I missed this while I was posting my response. I would assume his is not a copy, either.

Is this list of guests accurate?

Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio Jr
Lotte Goslar
Dr Ralph Greenson and his wife Hildi
Dan and Joan Greenson (Dr Greenson's children)
Agnes Flanagan
Anne Karger
Mary Karger
Aaron Frosch
Sidney Guilaroff
Mrs Eunice Murray
Mrs Bernice Miracle
Rudy Kautzsky
May Reis
Whitey and Beverly Snyder
Sherry Snyder (Whitey's daughter)
Ralph Roberts
Pat Newcomb
Lee and Paula Strasberg
George Solotaire
Enid and Sam Knebelcamp (former foster parents)
Pearl Porterfield
Milton Rudin
Pat and Inez Melson
Florence Thomas (Mrs Miracle's friend)

[dragnet2]

Keep in mind that while only 21 people may have been invited, (other sources say that there were 31 people in attendance)

Dan, there indeed only 21 invited and attended...But the fact is, there were a couple others there, who were not on the "Guest list" and were there in an "Official" capacity only.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Dan, there indeed only 21 invited and attended...But the fact is, there were a couple others there, who were not on the "Guest list" and were there in an "Official" capacity only.

Thanks for the info. Were you one of the invitees?

I'm just wondering how you obtained all of the things like the guest list and apology letter.

[dragnet2]

These below were not on the official invite list.

Dr Ralph Greenson and his wife Hildi Dan and Joan Greenson (Dr Greenson's children)

Whitey and Beverly Snyder Sherry Snyder (Whitey's daughter)

Pearl Porterfield

So you understand, the official list does not include some of the invitees relatives/spouses. But those above did not show up at all on the list. They could have attended, I don't no.

In any event, I can assure you, there were a couple others there that will not show up on *any* list of those invited.