It's actually somewhat of a legend since no one really knows if its the truth. Only account was from Jasper Maskelyne and no one knows how much of what he said was true. Would be amazing if it is though.

Hate to disagree strongly b/c I specialize in war but the photographic record backs him up. There are many pics of his rubber tanks, wooden aircraft, the 700 ft long fake battleship from an aerial view, and his tank conversions to fake trucks. There's also his rank of second Lt. of the Royal Engineers and his assistants were known as the "Magic Gang". There are many books out on him and his feats. Most people just don't know about the many secret wars within WW2. Heck, most people I meet don't know that the Germans had jet aircraft and every type of missile in WW2 , let alone experimental disc craft beyond jet engine technology! Ask just about anyone what the V-3, V-4, and V-5 weapons were and you'll get a blank stare. Tell them the Germans had prototype rail guns, EM cannons, electric guns, maglev trains, thermobaric weapons, FAEs, exotic gases, stealth, an Intercontinetal communications system BEFORE the Internet, and radiological weapons... and they think you are crazy. What IS crazy is the 1945 brain-drain of Germany, patents stolen, and lies told by the USAF and US Govt. over what it captured. German disc craft are classified until 2020 and Jonastal S.III complex until 2045 by the AEC. The Coler Free-Energy battery is the only one recorded in history that worked (just like the 1942 German Schmid Ornithopter over Munich) but in their BIOS Report made postwar when Coler reconstructed it, list it as working... but that they did not know by what means!!! And lastly, as I listed, the Germans pulled off deception as well. The photographic record backs them up too!

Once saw a US Army Aggressor Force manual with photos of inflatable trucks and tanks used in field exercises. 1940's National Geographic had aerial photo of California aircraft factory, underground, with suburban neighborhood built on top to deceive possible Japanese recon planes. "Quaker" cannons in the US Civil War, made from wood. Read story in gun magazine of yachtsman who saw suspicious boat lurking near his anchorage. Took a couple plastic water pistols, spray painted them black and stuck them in his belt. The other boat quickly moved away. Deception has always been a part of warfare.

Patrick, that's right- the California war plant was Lockheed's and both the British and US tried "Dazzle" camouflage on ships and planes for visual deception. The Germans disguised many installations along the French coast from '42 onwards and Berlin had huge camouflage netting to cover war plants.

i can vouch for this. My Nan worked during the war making fake wooden/cardboard planes etc to fool the german recon planes when they flew over.