It seems to be my week for squeezing WW for its collective knowledge.

I've a very vague memory that one of the little oddities of WW2 was strips or coils of silver metal, maybe from trying to baffle enemy wireless? Picked up from the ground by small scavenging boys, anyway, or found serendipitously in some way. I want to hang them on my wartime Christmas tree.

Does anyone have any idea of what I'm talking about?

Emma

Emma,

We have a lot of WWII info books, I'll have a look and get back to you.

Katerina

They use something called chaff now which is released from planes to try and baffle radar.

I don't know what it looks like when it falls to earth. There's a bit here on it including WWII. It looks like where Christmas was would determine what nationality of chaff you'd hang on your tree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaff_(radar_countermeasure)

Chaff = aluminium foil.

Near Louth where there used to be a RAF Base, my Mother could remember me playing with rubbish and pieces , as boys do, but they were bits and pieces of the early Radar Jamming pieces, now known as ‘CHAFF’. Chaff was like tiny cut pieces of aluminium foil, that used to be dropped out of aircraft to confuse the enemy radar. Very useful on D-DAY and Paratrooper landings.


From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/75/a4374975.shtml

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Assuming it's more like confetti than narrow strips, she would have to use a needle and thread to create line of them to hang off the tree.

Why is everything more interesting than ironing!

Allied chaff:

http://www.chemring.co.uk/chg/releases/2003/2003-07-23/2003-07-23.pdf

I'd imagine axis chaff was of a similar nature. Interesting how both sides had it but neither used it operationally until 1943 incase the other lot copied the idea!

Interesting, Murphy. So it was cut into strips:

The final form of the early material was
an aluminium strip between 1 and 2 centimetres wide and approximately 25-30 centimetres long – around half the wavelength of the Würzburg/Lichenstein radars. The aluminium was paper backed to give rigidity; a lamp black coating on the aluminium and the use of black backing paper reduced its visibility and avoided light reflection from searchlights. The aluminium strips, in several hundreds, were assembled
into packets, each weighing about one pound or so, and by April 1942 stockpiles of the material were sufficient for it to be brought into use by Bomber Command.

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Stockpiled, but not used until the following year.

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Presumably, after lying around for a while, the paper would breakdown leaving small foil-backed pieces for the kids to pick up.

You are all such stars! That's so brilliant, thank you. They can have their Christmas decorations. Of just such small bits of silver is historical fiction made...

Emma

more dates and info on discussion forum:

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=30948

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I'm chaffed ;)

oh, I see that I don't need to answer now, well done everyone - I've only just found the answer after searching through all our books!

Katerina

Thanks so much for looking, though, Katerina. You've obviously got quite a reference library there!

Emma