There are still people in Seattle who worked at Boeing facilities in the 1940s, carefully guarding treasures that could have saved their lives. These former engineers and company employees keep cardboard cars or trees, pieces of fabric that serve as grass, and even street names that never existed in their homes. They are part of what was once called Boeing Wonderland. Ghost town created in World War II.

But to get to that moment in history when even Hollywood did its part to build the greatest Potemkin town ever created, we have to go back a few years, roughly to the time when Boeing laid the first stone to become the monumental city. The company is today.

1st floor is too small for us

Boeing Factory 1 in 1917

Founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing, the company began operations in a modest factory in Lake Union in Seattle, Washington. It was called Plant 1, which was a milestone in aviation, considering that the first planes, including the Boeing Model 1 and Model 2, came from there.

During the First World War, Facility 1 played a crucial role in military aircraft production After the war (and partly due to its influence), Boeing focused on building commercial and military aircraft, of which the plant was a key part. Thus, in later years Many iconic models were released, such as the Boeing 247The first modern passenger aircraft that could seat several people, or the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, a heavy bomber that would play a key role during World War II.

Aerial view of Facility 1 in 1928

But despite its success (or precisely because of Boeing’s ever-increasing development and growth), the historic facility quickly needed renovation. By the 1930s, Factory 1 had become obsolete as Boeing transitioned from producing small wooden flying boats to larger, all-metal land aircraft.

The company clearly had two major development fronts: commercial aviation and the Air Force’s effort to produce war machines. Thus was born Boeing Plant 2, a factory-like building built in 1936 by The Boeing Company, also in Seattle, Washington. It was also built as a modern assembly line where airframe components could be produced and assembled in the same facility. finished aircraft had access to an airport.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The beginning of the famous Japanese attack

Today we know that II. During World War II, enemy bombers never took to the skies of any American city (except Honolulu, of course). But it was not so obvious at the time that Japanese bombers would never appear. In fact, people living on the west coast aren’t convinced it can’t happen.

On December 7, 1941, history changed completely. That day, Japanese air and naval forces Surprise attack on Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii, USA. In a coordinated series of air strikes, Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft launched torpedoes and bombs at American warships anchored in the harbor as well as military installations ashore.

The attack resulted in the destruction of numerous American warships, including the sinking of many battleships and cruisers, as well as serious damage to military installations. A sudden and destructive movement led to full entry of the United States into World War IIJoining the Allies in their fight against the Axis Powers (in reality they would have entered regardless, but this undoubtedly served as a trigger).

One of the direct consequences of the famous attack was that the American public experienced a certain psychosis towards other people like it. If people who used to live on the west coast weren’t convinced it couldn’t happen, now they are less so. Pearl Harbor was thousands of miles away from Japan, and if the enemy could launch a large-scale air attack on Honolulu and the surrounding area in two waves, what was to stop them from doing the same thing a few hundred miles away without warning? Are there any other major cities in Japan?

Wonderland Boeing

Plant 2 in 1940

After Pearl Harbor and with the onset of paranoia, Roosevelt and William Knudsen (a mass production expert and former president of General Motors) realized that the United States’ aircraft production infrastructure was dangerously vulnerable. If the same Japanese battle group focused on Pearl Harbor had targeted any of the buildings of the nation’s largest aircraft manufacturers, disaster would have been complete. They also realized (or thought) that the Japanese probably knew. And from all the factories, Boeing Plant 2 seemed the easiest target.

appears on stage Major John Francis Ohmer, Jr., a man with a plan. Ohmer, who was also an amateur magician and enjoyed photography, was interested in both the art and science of camouflage. In fact, in 1938 he established a battalion as a camouflage unit within the California-based Fourth Army. In an atmosphere of fear and paranoia, Ohmer was ordered to give the following order: developed an unusual camouflage scheme for the west coast. Major, who probably dreamed of such a project, found himself with a gift.

Wonderland Boeing

Ohmer’s proximity to Hollywood gave him access to an incredible talent pool; for example, he had direct connections with some of the world’s finest film set designers and large-scale landscape painters. Not only that. All the major studios were more than willing to lend their services to the war effort. Ohmer chose from top talent from Columbia, Twentieth Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount, Disney or Universal Studios.

And as the right hand of what they were about to create, Ohmer hired John Stewart DetlieMajor production designer and art director of over twenty films in the industry. He had previously worked on classic musicals of the late 1930s with Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, among other celebrities. But nothing he had ever done before was even remotely similar to this. To fool the enemy in battle, he had to build the best set he had ever designed.

The greatest decoration in the history of war

Wonderland Boeing

The plan: To make Plant 2, Boeing’s aircraft factory, “disappear” from the face of the earth by camouflaging it to look like an ordinary suburban neighborhood to a potential Japanese pilot flying at an altitude of 1,500 meters. The “trick” involved painting what appeared to be streets and vegetation onto real runways and erecting entire fake subdivisions on factory rooftops. Standard camouflage netting strung across massive wooden scaffolding served as the primary canvas on which Hollywood artists painted colorful details and contrasts that evoked the streets and all the paraphernalia we could imagine.

For example, the mesh was green, but areas were painted in many different shades to give the scene a more realistic look. Even some of the “grass” patches in the lower sections were stained brown to show that they had not been watered and were drying out. Dozens of fake houses, as well as schools and public buildings, were built from canvas. Hundreds of artificial trees and floor details were also created using every technique available to the industry.

Wonderland Boeing

Hollywood illusionists have developed a method of creating trees using tar and feathers. Wire mesh was lightly coated with tar and then dipped in chicken feathers. Reported to have a soft, leafy appearance, the finished product can be formed into a hard structure of any shape and sprayed in various shades of green. Magically, the fictional neighborhood had nature too. Meanwhile, chimneys and vents on the roofs of factory buildings were allowed to pass through the grid and were painted to simulate fire plugs.

In a few months they built a literal fake city consisting of at least three main streets as well as side streets and driveways. The streets even had names with a certain elegance. Like Synthetic Street, which crosses Burlap Boulevard. Frankly, they trusted that in the event of a Japanese attack, the pilots would not be able to read the names thousands of meters above sea level.

Wonderland Boeing

It was also revealed that at least two of the houses were built and were completely fake. they were occupied by real people. In 1942 and early 1943, U.S. Army personnel manning anti-aircraft guns at Wonderland were housed on the roof of Facility 2.

Another notable aspect was the scale on which everything was built. In reality, although the houses and trees were true to scale in plan, their height was smaller. In other words, almost nothing was more than 2/2.5 meters high (again, this is something the enemy won’t notice at altitude). The cars parked on the streets were made of wood and were about half a meter high.

Wonderland Boeing

We could go on and on about the details of the amazing environment created, but I think we get the idea. Finally, The Japanese never got this farand the fear and anxiety of those months gradually disappeared. Yet the open secret of the existence of these loft neighborhoods in Seattle remains unexplained. Actually, [1945yazınakadarresmiolarakaçıklanmadı. Haziran 1945’te Boeing’den yapılan bir açıklama bunu doğruladı.

Harikalar Diyarı Boeing

Temmuz ortasında, yani Japon hükümetinin Müttefiklere kayıtsız şartsız teslim olmaya hazır olduğunu açıklamasından neredeyse bir ay önce, Ordu Mühendisler Birliği hayalet şehrin yıkılması için sivil şirketlerle sözleşme imzaladığını doğruladı.

1946’da Hollywood’un şimdiye kadar yarattığı en ihtimal dışı ve olağanüstü senaryo ortadan kaldırıldı. Boeing Plant 2, Wonderland’in bunu mümkün kılan yüzlerce kişinin alkışlarıyla perdeyi kapatmasıyla yeniden güneş ışığına kavuştu.

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