An oil QF decoy at Portbury (RAF 106G/UK/1288 5240)

An oil QF decoy site located in the mud at Portbury photographed by the RAF on 25-MAR-1946. It was created for the defence of the docks at Bristol and Avonmouth, which were and still are a vast area of oil and fuel storage tanks, the protection of which was paramount.  The oil QF decoys were designed to do just that, by acting as bomb-damaged storage tanks to divert the bombing away from real oil supplies.  They are both located away from the main Avonmouth region but close enough to confuse Luftwaffe bomber navigators. English Heritage (NMR) RAF photography.