this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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They hung up trees with ropes about 10 kilometers from the Russian border to hide the road from airplanes.

It looks like it's not enough to cover the road but, when the road was viewed from an angle (not directly above) and a high altitude, the trees concealed enough of the road to make it difficult to identify as a road.

Source for original picture is The Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive

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[–] GrammatonCleric 23 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Goddamn early access games

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

My first thought

[–] Gingerlegs 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Thought this was fake. Wild

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] CitizenKong 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Did we find a Swede?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Okay, so the trees provide enough coverage despite the spacing, but did they have to change the trees every couple weeks when the needles turned brown and started to fall? Wouldn't the Russians notice a straight line of dead trees?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

They're dead evergreens though.

[–] pozbo 5 points 2 years ago

They are looking a little grey now that you mention it.

[–] nbafantest 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Probably less noticeable when you're a mile high and a couple miles away

Roads stand out very much.

[–] WantsToPetYourKitty 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Wow this is nuts! Had no idea this was a tactic in WWII. Thanks for sharing and for the context

[–] TheLobotomist 1 points 2 years ago

I'm glad you liked it!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Looks right surreal.

[–] o_oli 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Very interesting! I'd imagine too that even if some of the road was still visible at different angles it still wouldn't really seem like a major roadway with the lines broken up by trees its much more likely to be dismissed as significant from the air.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

It's an attempt to reduce the ability to visually navigate. Major or not, you lose the road you lose where you're going.

[–] nocturne213 3 points 2 years ago

I have seen the picture and caption but never any explanation. Thanks for adding to it.