How a ruse to keep German pilots confused gave the Vitamin-A-rich vegetable too much credit

By K. Annabelle Smith, Smithsonian

During the 1940 Blitzkrieg, the Luftwaffe often struck under the cover of darkness. In order to make it more difficult for the German planes to hit targets, the British government issued citywide blackouts. The Royal Air Force were able to repel the German fighters in part because of the development of a new, secret radar technology. The on-board Airborne Interception Radar (AI), first used by the RAF in 1939, had the ability to pinpoint enemy bombers before they reached the English Channel. But to keep that under wraps, according to Stolarczyk’s research pulled from the files of the Imperial War Museum, the Mass Observation Archive, and the UK National Archives, the Ministry provided another reason for their success: carrots.

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During World War II, when sugar was rationed to 8 ounces per adult per week, some vegetable alternatives were introduced. These girls don’t seem too happy about the “carrot-on-a-stick” option. Image courtesy of the World Carrot Museum.